The seven hundred and thirteenth album: #713 Baaba Maal - Lam Toro
I struggle a bit with the term world music as the catch-all term for everything that's not western, and even something like 'worldbeat' isn't that much clearer to me. What this album has is a fusion of Senegalese music, which has similarities to its surrounding countries, with a heavy Latin American influence that serves to broaden the appeal of several tracks. Although the original local music shines through, I don't struggle to relate to it as I might have with similar tracks in the past, instead its light fusion elements really bring the strengths to the forefront..
The seven hundred and twelfth album: #712 Morrissey - Your Arsenal
It's tricky to separate the man from the music when the music involves so many personal beliefs and feelings, but here it creates an image of someone just a bit miserable. The music is fine - mostly gentle rock - with a layer of accessible lyrics, opinionated enough but not too strong to have an impact. I think I can see what makes this good in places, but there's something missing to really make me want to engage with it - I'm more inclined to want a bit of distance.
The two hundred and fifty-fifth classical recording: #306 Mikhail Glinka - Ruslan & Lyudmilla
This time I've experienced the opera purely through audio, without looking at the story or any visuals. Instead, it's been good to hear the proper music - dramatic and imposing - with the vocal performances with a lot of depth. This one feels more choral in places than others, the chorus feeling more focused than I feel I often hear and the flutes and small touches adding the fantasy elements of the folk tales this is influenced by. There are also a number of dances - harder to identify the details from just sound, but there's a real lightness in the sound of all of that.
The seven hundred and eleventh album: #711 Koffi Olomide - Haut De Gamme: Koweit, Rive Gauche
As the world reaches a stage where it's increasingly more connected, it's becoming less common to hear world music in the list. Koffi Olomide's album feels influenced by Latin American music, with some rumba influences, but also brings some tracks that sound more traditional in, as well as a chanson-feeling sound in some of its tracks. It's a fusion that works well, even without getting all the meaning and context behind the tracks, it's accessible and listenable.
The seven hundred and tenth album: #710 Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Live of Arrested Development
While we've seen rap lyrics get more aggressive in a lot of the recent albums, Arrested Development takes a different tactic, taking the more upbeat party atmosphere that's been more common with past hip hop. At the same time, it still has depth, with some thoughtful lyrics about religion and a broader context for its lyrics that are otherwise often missing. It's an accessible album that allows for some messages without getting lost in that, something fun to listen to while giving you something to think about.
The seven hundred and ninth album: #709 Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
These ambient tracks fade into the background by design, making it difficult to attribute too much to the sound. There's a variation between the tracks, but a lot of it is a repetitive base track with the occasional changes thrown in. That's not a bad thing here - it makes for something simple and accessible - but while they have their own identity, the tracks are, for the most part, just there. There are very occasional distorted vocals, but even those don't impart any meaning or do more than add some variety to what you hear on the track.
The two hundred and fifty-fourth classical recording: #176 Joseph Haydn - String Quartets, op. 76
As the last of his string quartets, there's a maturity in its sound. They are solid works of music, sophisticated and complex without being flashy, giving energy while moderating the output. It's an accessible set of movements that doesn't challenge too much, but also has enough depth to lose yourself in as you want to.
The two hundred and forty-seventh TV show: #52 The Untouchables
It feels like there's still a lot of work going on for television story telling, more than you might expect considering how long movies had been going on but perhaps more closely reflecting radio plays with the scenes linked together with narration, leading to quite a show-don't-tell feeling where you never really get into the flow of a story and can't really get as much of a performance. This includes learning character names or as much of who they are, as they don't get a chance to do their own exposition. First of all, it's tricky enough to learn much about the main characters - there's nothing about them to really define them, leaving them quite blank. Second, in a rotating ensemble cast, they don't get a chance to build up their own personality and it's just playing the roles. It slowly shifts a bit in later seasons, but for the most part the style is one that I don't find that appealing to watch.
The seven hundred and eighth album: #708 Pavement - Stanted and Enchanted
Stanted and Enchanted is an album that doesn't do much that feels special, but it delivers a dose of indie rock that feels simple and straightforward. There's little doubt about what they're doing and saying and a lot of it feels quite accessible, which is what makes the album work.
The seven hundred and seventh album: #707 Metallica - Metallica
I've mentioned before how Enter the Sandman is one of those tracks that influenced and stuck with me through time, a real classic track. The rest of the album manages to appeal just as well, whether it's a (relatively) sensitive ballad (Nothing Else Matters might still be my absolute favourite) or an all out loud banger. The riffs stick and you can follow through with them and the emotions of the song come through in their lyrics. The album and its track are set to be spectacles, but they're spectacles with a lot of depth.