The six hundred and twenty-sixth album: #626 Dinosaur Jr. - Bug
The indie rock of Bug is straight forward, not too complicated and quite nice and accessible. It's exactly what you expect - garage rock with simpler vocals, more a mood piece than full-on story, and nothing too complicated happening - but it's done in a way that works well, even when it veers towards shouty hard rock at the end.
The nine hundred and twelfth song: Tiempo de solea - Ojos de Brujo
We're starting 2002 with a Spanish dance song. One thing that stands out compared to the past is how much heavier it leans on the beat, creating a more modern, danceable song with scratching and electronics and fusing that with the traditional sound. It flows faster and quicker and feels more modern, in a way that still works really well.
The nine hundred and thirteenth song: Freak Like Me - Sugababes
While the core of the Sugababes are the specific harmonies they share, being ballad focused in the early output I remember, there's a notable bass sound included in this track that hits you quite hard. The vocals match well against it, not getting lost, but it feels like they could get more focus in this to really work.
The nine hundred and fourteenth song: Mundian to bach ke - Panjabi MC
The Indian track that underlies this song feels quite traditional - in fact, I believe I've heard it used several times as a stereotypical version of it. The bass line, when it kicks in, is incredibly effective in creating a dance song, with the sparseness of the track creating an additional switch that means the original sound keeps its focus more - as it should be.
The nine hundred and fifteenth song: A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley vs. JXL
In the era of remixes, you can see how much mileage there can be in older recordings when pushed to new heights. The original song is a decent effort, but the way the remix amps up the instruments, it makes the chorus more jubilant and really imparts the happy atmosphere of the original track. It shows off Elvis' vocal charisma while elevating it completely.
The nine hundred and sixteenth song: Gimme the Light - Sean Paul
There's something about modern reggae that's working better. I'm still not entirely in love with it, but this weed anthem lyrically matches the themes while also building on the sound to draw in more mainstream influences - a better beat and more experimentation with sounds that gives that broader appeal while still sounding like a reggae track.
The nine hundred and seventeenth song: I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
While hard rock is not a modern genre, there is a poppy feel that makes this feel contemporary again, the excited, happy vocals creating a more positive feeling to the hard rock track. It feels performative, sure, but in a way that creates that good performance you want to go with it.
The nine hundred and eighteenth song: Ashes of American Flags - Wilco
On the opposite side of the rock spectrum, Ashes of American Flags is dark and depressed, a sound that would have come from the mood at the time, but that would be the band's sound and works today as well. It's a sad and contemplative song, one that works through the emotions it means to impart on you.
The six hundred and twenty-fifth album: #625 Metallica - ... And Justice For All
The dark worldview of Metallica is as appealing as it was when I discussed it before, and central strong track One really shows that element of it. Their dark sound remains evocative, which is part of that longer build up, and the longer tracks - only nine in a double album, two per side - help it develop that story most of the time. It really makes the album shine, engaging you rather than boring you.
The two hundred and twenty-ninth classical recording: #501 Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Sonatas
One of the wonderful things about the clarinet is the gentle, delicate sound that apparently had grasped Brahms around this time, and he's composed a wonderful wrapping that shows off the instrument incredibly well. This is a tender, sweet set of sonatas with plenty of life and I think it's given me a new favourite instrument to enjoy.
The one hundred and fourteenth comic: #411 Charley's War
I didn't connect with Charley's War. At first I was wondering whether this was because I was further removed from the war, but since this started over sixty years after the end of WWI, that doesn't seem to have been it. The war setting isn't one that appeals to me, the slightly comedic elements didn't connect and the whole thing felt quite boring to me. It ended up something I skipped quite quickly.
The six hundred and twenty-fourth album: #624 Pixies - Surfer Rosa
This collection of punk rock tracks keeps it self contained, moving between some songs with real anger and slower, sometimes dreamy sounds in other places. Nothing really gets deep or goes too far, but it stays accessible.
The nine hundred and third song: Fell In Love with a Girl - The White Stripes
In less than two minutes, this song makes a strong impact. The lyrics are straight forward, with the rock music really pushing it to have that distorted, punky vibe. It's short, but it really works.
The nine hundred and fourth song: Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
Get Ur Freak On wisely focuses on its chorus, a hypnotic encouragement that creates a good good feeling while the verses' start stop nature break up too much for me.
The nine hundred and fifth song: 21 Seconds - So Solid Crew
The concept behind this track is interesting - you have a large crew, so each gets twenty-one seconds to showcase their verse. It's impressive how much variety comes from that, while still all flowing together and making sense musically. Everyone is doing their thing, but it's still to create a cohesive track rather than being as combative as that might feel.
The nine hundred and sixth song: Stay Together for the Kids - Blink-182
While also known for their more frivolous music, Blink-182 hit some emotional beats that I recognised even if the exact theme (here divorce) didn't specifically hit. This punk rock ballad hits both the sad notes as it explores the theme, and the anger as the chorus strikes a far more accusatory tone. It's painful, and perhaps more raw than you'd expect from the band.
The nine hundred and seventh song: Schism - Tool
This is a far darker track, as a properly depressed dark sound dominates the sound of the band. It has its message of a relationship breaking up, but you can feel it dragging deeper than that.
The nine hundred and eighth song: Rock Star - NER*D
As smooth as other tracks of theirs might be, there's something really aggressive in this song, the mix between rap and rock that's coming from the other side, integrating rock into rap and electronic music. While it has the energy of a live performance, they also have enough production in there that it has more going on. It's working at a speed that you can't ignore, while not giving you a chance to expect the track to end.
The nine hundred and ninth song: Fallin’ - Alicia Keys
The opening of Fallin' is so strong, feeling like the theme the track gives as well as introducing her impressive vocals. They drive the R&B track, the music and composition being appropriately minimal as it allows itself to focus on that performance. It's not the most complicated lyrically, but it gives a lot.
The nine hundred and tenth song: More Than a Woman - Aaliyah
Smoother and more produced, this still is a good vocal showcase, but also one that sets a more erotic, forward angel on the love song than Fallin' does - both still worthwhile, but it's good to hear the difference. Vocally it might not be as impressive, but it makes up for it elsewhere.
The nine hundred and eleventh song: 911 - Gorillaz
Although virtual rock band Gorillaz thrives on its collaborations, D12 doesn't feel like a likely collaborator to show up, especially this early in the band's life. As the titular terrorist attack had them stuck in London, it's a coincidence that this could happen, but the anger and disappointment of life that the rap group was feeling suits the sound and really creates an atmosphere that, when you know the context, shines through really strongly. It's an impressive feat and something that sets the stage for a lot more.
The six hundred and twenty-third album: #623 My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Isn't Anything, My Bloody Valentine's debut album, doesn't do a lot to establish the band's identity. It veers from gentle, dreamlike rock to loud drums and dark, gothic sounds and each track is a new surprise on what you get. The breadth and variety is interesting and welcome, but it's quite hard to pin down what they want to do.
The two hundred and twenty-eighth classical recording: #695 Jacques Ibert - Escales
In a way, movies - or at least earlier movies - and their scoring really have given us the opportunity to develop more of a visual language to go along with classical music. There are different speeds and timbres in this work and the different movements take you on different trips, with a notably more Arabian sound in the Tunis section. It immediately gives you the movie style imagery - not the visual storytelling, but you recognise the cues to form your own images. It feels like an additional visual metaphor for what is already a telling piece of work, enhancing it while keeping it personal, and this just gives that opportunity to you in the best way.
The two hundred and twenty-fourth TV show: #20 The Tonight Show
Having watched various incarnations of the show to get a feel for it, it quickly starts feeling stale - rehearsed anecdotes, middling, at best, jokes and a stillness that makes it all feel too inoffensive. That the best interview might well have been Johnny Carson interviewing David Letterman, where nothing of relevance was said and everything was avoided with jokes, says it all. I wouldn't want to impugn the show's audience, but even know it feel staid and too comfortable for me.