The one hundred and fourty-seventh classical recording: #896 Joaquin Rodrigo - Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre
While we usually listen to older pieces, we get the 'proper' orchestra instruments - violins, wind instruments, perhaps a piano or organ. A guitar, though old in its own right, doesn't feature in that list, and it's a treat to hear it here, being supported by the rest of the orchestra. THe second movement, the longest of the four, dominates with its maudling tone, but it's surrounded by more upbeat pieces that do help lift the piece, giving it the variety and energy it needs. It shows off the guitar soloists well, while giving the rest of the orchestra as much time to build around that.
The four hundred and twelfth album: #412 Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
I'm not sure whether there is that much to this live album. It's fine to listen to, pretty standard hard rock fare, but I haven't had anything latch on - no memorable riffs or good lyrics, and its double album run time doesn't help make it all feel like it drags on.
The four hundred and eleventh album: #411 Throbbing Gristle - D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle
As an industrial and experimental album, it's hard to warm to it. You get a track that works, sort of, as an electronic rock track followed by some off putting screeching and some random conversations put together that don't really lead to anything. Is it something you end up liking? Probably not, or at least not for me - I think a live performance may enhance some of the tracks, but that's hard to tell from the album. I think I ended up appreciating the tracks more - at times they're composed, like a symphony going through its areas, bringing in motifs and changes as it does so.
The one hundred and first book: #1018 The Albigenses - Charles Robert Maturin
I'm giving up on this book very early. Aside from the one copy that I could find being low quality, it has all the downsides of the historic novels like Walter Scott's that I've found before - overwrought language, too many unneeded historical details and just nothing that managed to draw me in. It's not worth making it through a full four volumes of this.
The four hundred and tenth album: #410 Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
As a funk rock album, while this brings the rock, it's at its best when the funk repetition isn't there. To be fair, Funkadelic does this quite well compared to most, and I found that the music worked better for me at an album length than when listening to the individual track before. It's a nice fit, not amazing, but I did enjoy the album a lot.
The four hundred and ninth album: #409 Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
Possibly as part of a busy day, this album just ran away - the rock sound that you expect from Springsteen just driving forward continuously without any real interruptions to the flow. It works well, with some good music and interesting lyrics to go into. They're perhaps not always one I'd connect with, but it's recognisable and understandable still.
The one hundred and fourty-sixth classical recording: #856 Aaron Copland - Symphony no. 3
This symphony focuses on a fanfare melody, one used quite tenderly for a fair bit of it, but that it builds up to these big, booming pieces. There's something quite stirring when they come in, but it's the small, gentle parts where it feels the sound really works and gets a chance to explore itself. It's a lovely interpretation - entering my head as describing things in a forest, the quiet glade, chases happening and some playfulness, and it gives that sense of building quite well to its triumphant end.
The one hundredth book: #078 Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - James Hogg
It was interesting to see a different structure in this novel. It's a classic twist these days - tell the story from two perspectives, first the clear then the inner thoughts of another player to show what's really going on. In this case, we first hear the sotry of a nobleman's firstborn and favourite son, up to his murder and the chase of his murderer, his half brother. It's a straight forward tale, quite interesting and well written. It's the other half, though, where we see through the half brother's eyes (supposedly from his various memoirs) as he explains how the religious sect he's raised in said he'll go to heaven regardless of his actions, becoming a justified sinner. It makes it an interesting psychological novel at this point, never really engendering sympathy in its protagonist, but adding so much more to the exploration of this character and where it leads. It really felt like a step up in storytelling that I hope to see more often.
The four hundred and eighth album: #408 Magazine - Real Life
Between yesterday's album and today's, I think it's become more clear that the best post punk comes when an album does more than just that. In the case of Magazine, the accessibility of new wave does a lot to appeal to my interests, a lighter touch that makes the songs a lot more digestible. That's not to say it's gone completely soft, but it doesn't push as much as it did before and there are more interesting tracks in here, with the second side especially building up to a happier atmosphere.
The four hundred and seventh album: #407 Public Image Ltd - Public Image
John Lydon's next venture after the Sex Pistols led off which their self-styled album (also subtitled First Issue) and it continues exactly as you'd expect - a post punk cacophony with some tantalizingly offensive seeming lyrics and some simple love songs. It's all still pretty much coming with similar sounds, which are fine but not amazing in any real way, and then brings in Fodderstompf which is probably one of the bigger wastes of time we've had on these albums. This might be notable from music history, but it has little that appeals to me.
The one hundred and fourty-fifth classical recording: #372 Camille Saint-Saens - Piano Concerto no 2
Varied and engaging, there is a lot going on in this recording - allowing the piano to shine, but giving it so much more context as time goes on. It's an abstract piece, but what we've heard so far works well.