Archive of 2020-09-01 00:00:00

The ninety-first classical recording: #324 Robert Schumann - Symphony no. 3 "Rhenish"

There's a beauty in this piece that I can't quite put into words. There aren't these stand out phrases or specific movements that have something extra, instead there's a lovely, gentle flow between them with each having their own identity, but the symphony also sounding more uniform than I feel I've heard with other pieces. It's a lovely set up,


The two hundred and thirty-seventh album: #237 John Prine - John Prine

Country folk isn't entirely my thing and it's hard to ignore those instincts when listening to this album, which goes all in on that and makes me feel vaguely uncomfortable as a result. It's all a bit too maudlin and a bit too twangy to work for me, a bit too morose to make me want to connect with it. Even the song I know most, Sam Stone, doesn't work for me in this rendition. It's one of the situations where I don't see the appeal of this music at all.


The ninetieth classical recording: #192 Ludwig von Beethoven - Piano Sonata in F minor, op. 57, "Appassionata"

While we've been listening mostly to more recent classical works, it feels like the older ones have been neglected. Going back to the Appassionata really made an impact. Gone are the big orchestra scores and instead it's a masterful piano performance. There's an intensity in the performance, starting off quite forceful and dark in the first movement but becoming more delicate and peaceful in the second. It calmly repeats itself through several variations. It gets more frantic in the repetitions and stays forceful, but it feels like some of that anger has dissipated, leaving (as per the title) a work with passion even as it has some darkness.


The two hundred and thirty-sixth album: #236 Gene Clark - White Light

From the moment this album opened with a harmonica blues guitar playing, I know that what I was in for was a simple country rock album, rather than anything more avant garde, following the return to basics that acts related to the Byrds seem to follow. While that's fine - this is a good country rock album, the folk route works for Gene Clark - it's also not a sound that I can say excites me. It's a lovely album, well made, but in the end it'll never jump out at me as something I have to listen to again.


The one hundred and fourty-eighth TV show: #15 The Quatermass Experiment

Can you fairly judge a six part serial on only the first two episodes? I've certainly made snap judgements on other shows, but it feels difficult here, in part because I did enjoy it. Due to its age, only the first two episodes of remain - not because the recordings of the other four episodes were lost, but because recording it turned out to be so difficult that they decided not to bother for the others. It's hard to imagine now, but they would have had actors come in to the play again - live, as happened here.

The issue that arises here is one that I've also noticed in old Doctor Who serials, and others with that set up: while the first episode is interesting in the way it sets up a story, the middle episodes can feel like they're spinning their wheels until the final episode or two resolve what's going on. The skill is on dividing it well enough that it keeps being interesting, with stuff moving in and out, at which point the episodes in the middle feel like they are important in keeping things moving. With the conclusion missing, the second episode looks a bit worse as it's a lot of exposition and waiting around, a bit of a let down after the dynamic parts of the first episode. There's still some sitting around in labs, but there's some quite exciting crowd scenes that feel like they're more impressive live.

The fact that these were live - per the way the BBC worked at the time - adds to how impressive and interesting it is. There are some sound issues, where the performers aren't that clear, but on the whole it works out. Sure, they have theatre experience, but having to deal with more sets and cameras makes this even more interesting since, unlike later serials in the Quatermass series, it sounds like nothing was prerecorded and there's no room for mistakes.

I would have loved to have seen the entire serial, as the way this abruptly ends makes it a bit more awkward. Even more important, it sounds like this was incredibly influential in one of my favourite genres, I do plan on watching the other serials so I can experience those and hopefully see how the full arc works out and I hope that will keep paying off.


The one hundred and fourty-seventh TV show: #254 Abigail's Party

Some of the best comedies are the ones that are rooted in reality, that take people you know in real life, have them do their thing and have it all fall in place in a real way. Abigail's Party is about a party in the seventies that don't feel entirely different from what I would expect my parents to have (although, of course, there are no kids here), but with most dysfunctional relationships. Beverly, played by the brilliant Alison Steadman, has invited a new couple in the neighbourhood to a party at her place, together with Sue, the mother of the titular Abigail, so she can be out of the way during Abigail's party. It's an awkward affair, with the subtly bossy Beverly ordering everyone around, her husband Lawrence trying to show how elevated he is in a way that seems snobby, while the mismatched couple of Angela and Tony seem to suffer in front of us.

It makes for a comedy of awkwardness, one where nobody quite gets along but everyone stays polite enough not to cause a scene. There's a constant underlying tension that comes out further as everyone drinks more, with a dark and explosive end that both resolves and removes some of the tension, but seems to leave things worse. As a play, it's an amazing tour de force with characters that interact believably with each other creating the small stakes that the party brings, but it's also intense enough that it's difficult to watch at times. It's a known masterpiece, and it shows clearly here why that's the case.


The two hundred and thirty-fifth album: #235 Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head

Teenage Head goes back to an earlier era of rock, taking the Stones' blues-inspired sound, using a simpler sound that avoids the more eclectic sounds contemporary rock took on. Sure, it bypasses the innocence of earlier rock, but with this listed as garage rock, the album takes on that simpler rock sound that we'll later see flow into punk and its companions. It makes for a compact half hour, with some good different riffs between tracks - Teenage Head sounds more threatening and darker than what came before, but also brings in more blues stylings than previous tracks, while Evil-Hearted Ada could easily be an Elvis Presley song.

It's in a weird way more timeless for it - a throwback to the early 60s that also fits in with the early 70s and at least resonates further down. I'm not sure I'd consider it a masterpiece as such - it doesn't line up with my tastes quite well enough for that, and there's something lacking here, but it is just a really good rock album.


The one hundred and fourty-sixth TV show: #314 The Chinese Detective

In theory, the concept of this show should have appealed to us. A Chinese detective in the Metropolitan police - a distinct minority, especially in the eighties - faces prejudice as he does his job. He's also a maverick and pursues the case of his father being thrown off the force unfairly and the corruption that underlies it.

In practice, the case of the week structure doesn't blend well with the ongoing plot and while the two can inform each other, it feels like usually, the weekly case gets removed and stays unresolved in exchange for a favour or two. It's missing some connective tissue and I think the show was made a t a time where this structure hadn't necessarily developed far enough yet. It feels like it's best when it avoids that plot and deals with a maverick detective who also fights against prejudice - creating enough of a tension to work. However, just as much of it seems to come down to Ho's father abusing him, the chief going a bit further just to be mean and it all feeling unnecessary. I guess I may have missed part of the timing, but all in all it was too much of a mixed bag to keep diving into.

The show was the first British show to feature a British Chinese lead and, I believe, might still be the only one to do so, and it's certainly notable for that. When it addresses that, the show is as interesting, as the way John Ho deals with it in the context of its day works well, but it doesn't do enough to elevate the story - an ongoing plot that built further on that might have suited better.


The two hundred and thirty-fourth album: #234 Faces - A Nod is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse

It's not hard to draw a parallel between this album and the blues rock of the Rolling Stones. There's the same drawl, the same instruments, the same country-ish guitars. The album follows tha pattern, without any major surprises - not going into the really hard numbers the Stones tended to put one or two of in an album - but it flows along with some experimentation. It's still pretty straight up country and blues rock, a formula that works here.

The eighty-ninth classical recording: #718 Alexander Zemlinsky - String Quartet no. 3

I'm still not sure I've fully got the vocabulary down to talk about these recordings, which means that for these string quartets it gets harder to say much here. They can be fairly abstract - creating nice music without feeling like they have any story to them.

For me, there's always some longing in a melody using only string instruments, with this piece having a lot of those moments. There are the bursts of energy, but it really lives in the quieter parts. The main change to this is in the final part, described as 'burlesque' in one of the lists I have for this, with a far more upbeat sound. It feels a bit of an odd choice to put that at the end - usually the energetic piece comes earlier - but to be honest, it was the pick me up here that I did need today.


The two hundred and thirty-third album: #233 Fela Kuti & The Afrika 70 With Ginger Baker - Live!

How should I address an afrobeat album? As a fusion of west African music, soul, rock and jazz, there is a lot to unpack in these, with some complex arrangements that take some time to really make sense of. It's an interesting style of music, removing the droning repetition of soul while maintaining its call and response in places. It has the rock energy and mood, jazz's at times looser style and drum solos that last for ages. At the same time, this is its own sound, an album with a different style of percussion and a different way in which it makes music. Does it get tedious to listen to? Yeah, sometimes, but there's a craftsmanship in here that's incredible to listen to, and at times feels more like a classical symphony arranged using modern instruments than anything else, and that's good enough for me.