The two hundred and fortieth classical recording: #384 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - String Quartets no. 1
This is a wonderful piece that vibrates, hitting you deep in your soul as the music has so many places where it resonates.
The six hundred and fiftieth album: #650 Kate Bush - Sensual World
On the first round through, I didn't make any notes for this album. Kate Bush's Sensual World creates such a wonderful atmosphere that I kept wanting to stay immersed in it. The album has a lot of highlights, matching all of her other work, both thoughtful and intriguing.
The six hundred and forty-ninth album: #649 Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii
I obviously haven't heard much Senegalese music before. It's an interesting style to listen to, obviously with a lot of links to other African music, but there's an extra musicality and modern feeling to the lyrics I don't think I've heard as much. It's different, sure, but there's something entertaining to it that feels more universal.
The six hundred and forty-eighth album: #648 Neneh Cherry - Raw Like Sushi
It's nice to see the rise of funk and hip hop that leads to the rise of R&B. Neneh Cherry's tracks cover quite a range, going between more of a ballad to almost pure rap in a way that feels really natural. It's just a joy to listen to the album, no matter what direction I'm really coming from.
The two hundred and thirty-fourth TV show: #38 The Army Game
I don't mind watching The Army Game. It's a bit dated, sure, but the comedy still works well and stays amusing enough - I'm giving it some extra episodes and while I've got some others to go back to, I'll keep the DVDs so I can drop an episode in every once in a while.
The six hundred and forty-seventh album: #647 The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
The indie rock sound of 80s Manchester comes through here, with clear vocals mixed with a rock backing and some psychedilic moments in the music. It's an attractive and convincing sound, friendly and pleasant to listen to.
The six hundred and forty-sixth album: #646 John Zorn - Spy Vs. Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman
As music has diversified, jazz has taken on additional elements, to the point where Spy vs Spy creates a chaotic, aggressive atmosphere with little to let you in on it and not giving you much to go on. It's fine for a few tracks, but ends up wearing out its welcome.
The six hundred and forty-fifth album: #645 The Young Gods - L'Eau Rouge
Whiel the album doesn't start as outwardly hard, it pretty quickly descends into the industrial rock that more famously comes from bands like Rammstein. With the vocals loud and hoarse, the music becomes intrusive only for the few instruments it has been played with. The production is small, made up for with volume a lot of the time. It's absolutely doing its own thing, in a way that works.
The two hundred and thirty-ninth classical recording: #243 Franz Schubert - String Quartet in G major, D887
There is a certain intensity to this work, with a full on performance that doesn't need to fill the space, but gives you that feeling of being emotionally a bit off. It's not one that feels like it's letting up, instead pushing its emotions on you regardless of the speed of the work.
The six hundred and forty-fourth album: #644 Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
While praised as a great album that took a few years to find appreciation, I found Paul's Boutique to be a lesser entry for the Beastie Boys. The style is familiar, but in a way that feels sloppier than I associate with them, while the amount of sampling becomes too much for me, creating a bit of a dissonant sound that I don't think supports the rap lyrics quite as well.