The two hundred and nineteenth classical recording: #959 Pierre Boulez - Notations
The original Notations by Boulez are shorter pieces, each an exploration of a sound, while this entry takes a later update of a number of them and improves them, still giving some short impressions. They're all strong hits, with a short build up that works because the pieces don't last for long. It's pretty neat, staying good throughout the work.
The six hundred and fourth album: #604 Napalm Death - Scum
When I started the album, I thought I must have been looking at a later rerelease, as it listed 28 tracks, but it turns out that this album did indeed manage to put 28 tracks in 33 minutes, with only three being longer than two minutes and one, You Suffer, holding the world record for shortest record song at just over a second. Although both sides have almost completely personnel (only the drummer stays the same) the sound is from the same family, with the second half going shorter, harder and louder than the first. It starts to lose a lot of the musicality and I think it's probably too much, but at this point it also feels like the genre is in that place where you'll either hate it or love it.
The eight hundred sixteenth song: Army of Me - Bjork
This is a Bjork track - you know what you're going to get, vocally at least. The big difference is in the music, which is far harder than what I usually associate with her music, even though it draws on the punk influences of her earlier work. The contrast works though, givin the vocals more menace and making it all feel rougher.
The eight hundred seventeenth song: Champagne Supernova - Oasis
The slower sound here is one that matches what I expect from Oasis, although the slow, wistful lyrics feel like more of an extreme of it. It works well in that abstract lyrics, where you can question someone's absence, but not everything entirely connects. It's a lovely song that I'm happy to have me lure into its sound.
The eight hundred eighteenth song: The Fever - Garth Brooks
I'll happily admit country rock isn't my genre and while this is a competent cover, I don't feel like style really elevates the song and as an imitation it doesn't land for me.
The eight hundred nineteenth song: Kung Fu - Ash
This is a nice little pop rock track, nothing overly amazing but doing a job pretty well and making for a fun enough track with a light theme and lyrics.
The eight hundred twentieth song: 1979 - The Smashing Pumpkins
This is a pretty chill rock song, nothing complex but something nice and simple to listen to here. It hits a simple spot, just a lovely little song to listen to.
The eight hundred twenty-first song: Common People - Pulp
There's something addictive about the chorus of this track, a bit of an outburst of energy after the subdued verses. It's nothing that complex musically, but there's enough in the lyrics that the layers work so beautifully.
The eight hundred twenty-second song: Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
There's an odd magic to the combination of these two performers. Kylie Minogue's vocals are sultry and deep enough to make it ethereal, while Nick Cave's deep, dark voice betrays the menace even as you can see where the charisma came from. The song is dark, but that seductive feeling doesn't leave it either. It's such a strong song, it feels timeless and powerful.
The eight hundred twenty-third song: Insomnia - Faithless
It's fair to say this is part of the house music I grew up with, the drone of this still sitting deep in my memory, with the sparse vocals setting that image and even then preparing me for staying up late (even if it wasn't, for me, in the club). It's not going to be my focus to listen to, but it does work really well.
The eight hundred twenty-fourth song: Scream - Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson
This song is really representative of the Jacksons' style of pop, with Michael's production skills really standing out, it starts off as a strong dance track, but with a drop that pushes it into stranger theories, really giving the variety a chance to shine. It's another masterpiece like you'd expect from him, even with the anger behind it.
The six hundred and third album: #603 Laibach - Opus Dei
Starting off with a heavy industrial cover of Live is Life, lending a far darker bend to the song, there's a statement made from the start that this isn't the energetic upbeat sound that's common in the eighties. With its rebel origins, you have to link the sound to the oppressive Soviet communist vision that would have been there in Eastern Europe as Yugoslavia was falling apart and everything must have seemed to crumble while there are the feelings of oppression. There's obviously other metal music that follows up on it, and the link to the more well known Rammstein is obvious, but it also makes it hard where their opinions fall. It's certainly deliberately provocative, in a way that becomes oppressive the more the album goes in, and the full CD version moves to being too much of the one thing, especially since it can't help but affect you as you listen.
The two hundred and eighteenth classical recording: #271 Gioachino Rossini - Stabat Mater
The scope of this piece feels massive, a large choir supported by a large orchestra. The vocals can absolutely carry it, but there are several places where the build of the full orchestra turns it into something grand. It's an amazing piece to listen to, with a power that doesn't leave you.
The two hundredth and sixteenth TV show: #8 Dragnet
Early TV is inspired a lot by several different sources. Dragnet takes from an early radio show and it is easy to see that as you're watching. While there are bits of action, often underneath narration, most of the show are static conversations. They manage to make them more interesting where it can, but you're dealing with quite static set ups, everyone sitting or staying the same place, and basically no other actions. Sure, it's the style of the show, but it gets pretty staid and boring. I like to think I have more patience than a lot of others for it, but it still is more an artifact than a really interesting show.
The six hundred and second album: #602 Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Shaka Zulu
It's a pleasant surprise to get an a capella performance in an era where most music seems intent on going bigger and louder. The traditional sounds are complemented by the multiple voices included, with a gospel feeling sitting behind it as well. It's an interesting diversion from the western version of these sounds, one that builds up quite pleasantly.
The eight hundred sixth song: Hurt - Nine Inch Nails
Dark and grim, this song really feels like it captures the depression that went through a number of rock bands at this time. Nine Inch Nails is known for it, of course, but it gets so low, with such harsh counter sounds, that it really enhances that feeling.
The eight hundred seventh song: Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
And then we get Black Hole Sun, where the music, especially in the chorus, sounds more positive than it is. Clearly, the title and idea feels suicidal - a black hole sun is evocatively apocalyptic, and it's hard not to read this as a suicide reference. It's a feeling it pulls off so well that it really becomes that engagingly dark.
The eight hundred eighth song: Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
Interstate Love Song doesn't feel as raw as the previous two songs, but there's still not much that feels happy about it. It's a song about relationship difficulties and it carries a similar sadness, even if not as fatalistic. It's closer to a normal rock song, doing well what it does.
The eight hundred ninth song: Waterfalls - TLC
There is a depth underneath this hip hop track, a contrast to the smooth chorus. The stories of crime and the problems of the day stand out as being quite effective when you listen, and the raw, hoarse vocals really add to the feeling more is going on here.
The eight hundred tenth song: Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos
There's a haunting sound at times to this pop rock song, with lyrics that aren't easily understood without digging deeper. It doesn't let you sit comfortably, creating an alt sound that I think I'm still trying to wrap my head around.
The eight hundred eleventh song: Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
This is such a tender and soft cover of Hallelujah, the sadness really coming through. It feels like a story from the heart, one that just hits really close.
The eight hundred twelfth song: Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The dark, deep vocals that appear on this track add a blues feeling to a country rock twang in its music. It's a merger, a bit of a throwback, with gothic lyrics that create so much menace. Even lyrically it calls back to the old blues crime songs that were omnipresent in the fifties for some time. This is hypnotic in the way it grabs, dark and seductive while setting you up for danger.
The eight hundred thirteenth song: Sabotage - Beastie Boys
I've been enjoying the Beastie Boys in previous appearances, but it's hard to feel Sabotage isn't something special in its own right. There's a dark energy in here, samples that keep you on your tones and a lot of it seems almost deliberately off putting, but it feels like it sets up something more going forward.
The eight hundred fourteenth song: The Most Beautiful Girl in the World - Prince
After all that darkness, it's good to get a simpler, less complicated love song, done by the R&B master Prince. It's a poppy ballad, so smooth and straight forward that it's lovely in how it pulls you along. It's a simple message, but the whole song works.
The eight hundred fifteenth song: Sour Times - Portishead
A seductive electronic track, there's something foreign about it, the music varying quite a bit while the sultry vocals slowly overlay it to generate a love song that gives the song a different, slower momentum. It's completely its own thing, but in a way that plays it really well.
The six hundred and second album: #601 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
Although there are some faster songs peppered in, Darklands mostly has a number of slow alternative rock songs, not skimping on the guitar sounds but still having a more relaxed vibe to most of the tracks. The opening is usually more energetic, but it really settles into a groove.
The two hundred and seventeenth classical recording: #405 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations
The tenor of this piece is dark. It's not dreary, there's something happier in there, but it's deep and imposing, even when it's a cello solo, and the title's association helps form that feeling. It's interspersed with moments of lightness, which help cement that contrast and make it land, but it's all done in such a lovely way that the piece really works for its mood.