The four hundred and eighty-first album: #481 The Go-Gos - Beauty and the Beat
While the Go-Gos punk roots occasionally shine through in a few of the tracks on this album, for the most part it's unapologetically new wave, often as dancy pop tracks that stay really accessible. The tracks stay listenable, easy to absorb and full of energy.
The four hundred and eightieth album: #480 Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
The punk roots of the rock styles that emerge in the early eighties feel especially on display this time - as much as the electronic sounds of Penthouse and Pavement create an upbeat feeling to the entire album, the lyrics are more subversive (as is clear from the BBC banning the one single from getting any airtime. It's railing against the class system, against capitalism and war in various songs, but the wrapper is less in anger and more in the ironic detachment that would follow. It's not as immediately powerful, but it still hits quite well for anyone paying attention. It hits home a lot more than I expected, in the best way possible.
The four hundred and seventy-ninth album: #479 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju
Juju hits you from the start with a post punk, new wave sound that stands on its own more clearly than the first album of the band did. There's still a haunting sound to it, but the music is far more in your face and feels more aggressive. It feels like the whole album fits its sound and identity, a coherence that I don't think I've heard as much in albums lately but really feels on display here.
The one hundred and seventy-second classical recording: #25 GIovanni Gabrieli - Sacrae Symphoniae
First - I'll admit I didn't listen to all of these - aside from length, this many choral pieces can get exhausting to listen to. The music itself - several motets and such - are lovely choral music, quite well composed following the style of the time even if they aren't the most exciting. It just ends up with a lot that's feeling the same if you're not keeping up with the individual meaning of its song, which is where it ends up dragging - there are the occasional changes but it can get hard to feel where those moments will come.
The one hundred and fourty-sixth book: #85 Eugenie Grandet - Honore de Balzac
Eugenie Grandet is a novel about miserable people. It's not a miserable read, but it's hard to like many of the characters by the end of it. For example, Eugenie's father is a miser, greedy while denying himself and his family everything. His turning point appears to be when his wife is about to die and he might lose her half of the estate, but it never rings true. Her mother is an incredibly religious, subservient woman, indulging all these faults and letting herself go as a martyr - something that fits some of the perceptions of the time, but reads as extreme even in their reading. Her cousin, who she falls in love with, goes from carefree to miserable after his father's death, effectively steals Eugenie's savings (she's listed as a creditor but never gets it back) and becomes as greedy as his uncle. And Eugenie goes from the naive romantic female protagonist to being as miserable as her father. It's something that grows throughout the latter half of the novel, even if most of it is explained in a one chapter time jump. It's frustrating to read and the transformation only at times earned as it is more stated than being seen through her actions, but it feels like a good enough theme. It's a story about cycles and how misery persists, frustrating to read both as the initial innocence and later turnaround, and while the lack of introspection is telling, any sort of it would be slightly more helpful even if it seems inevitable.
The four hundred and seventy-eighth album: #478 Einsturzende Neubaten - Kollaps
I'm not sure whether German industrial punk is the best way to get me started after a rough night of sleep, but here I am - hearing someone bang on various metal objects while a very distorted guitar plays with occasional German exclamations dubbed over it. It's aggressive and harsh, at times off putting with the aggressive sounds. It's a lot - fine in small doses, but this pushed it too far for me to keep my attention throughout.
The four hundred and seventy-seventh album: #477 The Pretenders - Pretenders
Behind the Pretenders' perky new wave musical style lies a punk edge, a rougher and harsher set of lyrics that carries far more of a message than I'd associate with the style. Even as it gets closer to a ballad, to reggae or just generally poppy sounds, there's a craft put into it that feels like it doesn't usually show up like that.
The one hundred and seventy-first classical recording: #603 Alexander Scriabin - Prometheus
There is a lot of unfocused energy in Prometheus. The work is bold and aggressive, but never focused on one thing until the end, when it all coalesces on a single melody and sound. It's a weird, uncertain experience that's been putting me on edge, but it also manages to pull off that discordant feel quite well without it becoming too chaotic to handle.
The one hundred and ninety-first TV show: #297 Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister
Considering the turmoil the UK ws in, Yes Minister also shows how comedy was almost gentler. These days we look at The Thick of It and Veep as a surprisingly accurate look at the political system. Yes Minister did the same - apparently there were comments about how accurate it was, while it pierced the illusion about the control of politicians and the civil service. Minister (later prime minister) Hacker is in charge of the vague Department of Administrative Affairs - covering everything and nothing - and his plans to make an impact are often foiled by permanent secretary (and later cabinet secretary) Humphrey Appleby. A lot of the comedy comes from both of them going after their own goals, often with private secretary Bernard in between. It hits closely these days, with a lot of it feeling familiar in current politics, but once it gets out of the gate it's engaging in seeing where the machnications go and how it all falls out. It's often at the strongest when the main characters end up having to band together against the rest of the system, but the show balances that between the conflict between them quite well. It's been a long wait to watch it, but it's been worth it.
The one hundred and ninetieth TV show: #385 It's Garry Shandling's Show
Garry Shandling's first comedy series is a bizarre beast. It frequently acknowledges being a TV show, the audience gets involved and it all becomes incredibly meta. These days, we've seen several examples of it, but in the 80s it was still fairly unique and it shows. The standard sitcom plots don't work that well, but when it leans into it, the show is pretty fun to watch. It just doesn't have the polish or focus yet that you get in later examples of the genre. It's probably not worth watching for the full run anymore, but there are some highlights that are a lot of fun.