The thirty-sixth classical recording: #279 Frederic Chopin - Ballades
Here's a different way of approaching it. Where we mostly listen to these songs online, often through Spotify, on a recent holiday to Chopin's homeland of Poland we went to a live concert. A talented pianist played a selection of works including Chopin's four ballades. The atmosphere of such a concert, with about 30 people in the room, felt quite different, more intimate as the pianist got into the music completely. The ballades made this even more impressive, as they sound complicated, mixing speeds and generally seeming full on. There are breaks in the music, but they're quite deliberate to lead up to a further theme. It's a wonderful variety in sounds that lead to amazing music that's enough to carry you away. I'm glad I got to see this live - it made it even more impressive.
The ninety-ninth album: Merle Haggard - I'm A Lonesome Fugitive
In between the different rock albums I feel I've been covering lately (with a Frank Sinatra diversion), country has gotten lost. I have, in fact, been expecting one more often than I've had one actulaly play. Here we really have one, though, the title track immediately dumping you in a country blues song, describng life on the run as an escaped convict. The songs continue in that vein, with different levels of energy, but it's country, and mostly good country for me at that. Sure, there's a lot that blurs together - but it gave a good background to my day, while being impactful enough. I don't expect to ever really love country, but this was decent, especially with the mood it was trying to invoke.
The ninety-eighth album: Donovan - Sunshine Superman
For the songs list, I covered Season of the Witch, the sixth song on this album. I feel this song might not have been the most representative, as the album won me over a lot sooner, with the folk rock music of these songs being amended by psychedelic rock elements, introducing different instruments and sounds to enhance the song and the story it tells. Legend of a Girl Child Linda, the second track, was enough to do that, and it both sounds really good and tells its story well. Even Season of the Witch works better in context, although it doesn't feel like the strongest on the album.
The ninety-seventh album: #97 The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks
With the Kinks moving towards a poppier rock - without too much psychedelia or hard rock, this album feels inclined towards easier listening - we get a friendly list of songs with diverse, smart lyrics, somewhat of a variety of styles, but all staying within a 'normal' sound, aimed at a wider audience. I'm not sure whether this is intended or the sound they wanted just felt this way, but there's some good pop songs in here, even if they have a rock bend. Even then, Love Me Till The Sun Shines takes it the other way, mixing in more psychedelic sounds - I guess we get a lot of different influences here and Dave Davies seems to lean more towards that while Ray goes for the poppier songs.
I prefer these songs though. I've mentioned my appreciation of Waterloo Sunset before and it still is as good, and the other songs that draw on this are the ones that are best to listen to. There's some Beach Boys influence, but it keeps it simple, as much as it needs to be, and doesn't go too far. Here, this is where that approach works.
The eighty-first TV show: #435 Twin Peaks
Man, that was a ride. We watched the full original run of the series (minus the movie) and it was an amazing treat. The world of Twin Peaks feels so realised, it's easy to slip in, which allows for a heightened mystery - it's a soap opera with a mystic crime story mixed in. It's fascinating and, ignoring the less interesting second half of the second season, has many things to hold your attention. What's going on, how will it resolve, but also, what weird thing does it come up with next? And the season finales steadfastly refuse to tie up plotlines, to the point where we got the big reveal partway through the second season, to help with the outrage.
I hate to call this Lynchian. While elements of his work are present and have a noticeable influence, a lot of other notable elements come from Mark Frost (the soap-within-a-soap being one of the meta elements that is such) and people imitating Lynch's style - and in the best cases putting their spin on it. Kyle MacLachlan, playing Dale Cooper, the protagonist of the series, is impeccable, creating a fully formed, quirky character that help in a strange world that wants to stay grounded.
And then there are the red curtain rooms and mystical happening, but I feel that also just needs to be experienced, really. Go do that instead.
The ninety-sixth album: #96 Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
I'm sure I've said this before, but the songs list has primed me for the innovations in rock that are about to happen, and these psychedelic rock albums really tell me how we're still stuck somewhere before that. I'm not sure this is the most psychedelic fare out there, but it takes the gentler sounds that we've seen come from folk rock and the Beatles and plays with that. The first recognisable song here is Somebody to Love, a rock classic that I can only imagine successors would want to play with. It's not necessarily ambitious (although this might be hindsight speaking) but it's solid music.
The fourty-seventh comic: #417 Kampung Boy
Now to a somewhat sweeter story. Kampung Boy is the story of a boy growing up in a kampung, a village, in Malaysia. It covers his parents, his education (mostly religious, at least initially) and his friends. There's stories about his daily life, but also how the modern world enters this life, both by the machines mining for tin and traveling in cars. It's a story of life that doesn't exist much anymore and the story ends as the protagonist leaves the village, both because his parents sell their rubber plantation and because he goes to boarding school - as he leaves the kampung, he is no longer a kampung boy.
It's a small, simple story. There are no big threats or adventures, but they are parts of life, combined into a narrative. It's a fast, satisfying read that entertains and enlightens well.
The fourty-sixth comic: #169 The Marsupilami Robbers
Spirou (or Robbedoes as I know the character) is a comics character I've been aware of for ages, and the Marsupilami might have been going around me for even longer. I never was a big fan of the character, either in comics or TV series - too goody-good and not enough interesting stuff going on there. Fantasio (or Kwabbernoot) was more interesting as the sidekick, but others were more of a favourite.
Here, it doesn't quite land for me. I don't hate it, but not all of the gags landed and the timing felt off - the story seemed rushed by putting in a few too many things. The Marsipulami is a nice idea, but doesn't come off well here and I'm not quite sure why this story, in particular, would be chosen. It's fine, but doesn't feel that great.
The fourty-fifth comic: #498 The 110 Pills
We have to cover a couple of erotic comics during these adventures, which is somewhat awkward considering most of my comics reading is on the train. I bit the bullet for 110 Pills and was happy that the black and white lineart somewhat obfuscated what I'm reading to the casual observer. 110 Pills got explicit, with drawn nudity and sexual acts, as, in a way, suits the story. It revolves around a leader (I want to say a Chinese nobleman, but I'm not sure that's intended) with several concubines. To help his sexual prowess, he gets pills from a monk that help him out - 110 pills of Viagra, you could say. He is told to take them only once every full moon, but of course he doesn't stick to that and it leads to his end.
There are a bunch of gratuitious scenes, embracing the concept to show off, but the art is done quite well and the story and characterization is strong enough to take it beyond that. It's been a good read - while I wasn't trying to hide it from my fellow commuters.
The thirty-fifth classical recording: Aaron Copland - Rodeo
Looking at some sources, this is described as Broadway influenced - and indeed the ballet is abundant and loud in a way most aren't. It's, indeed, a play in the form of a ballet, and the two styles are an interesting mix - a traditional instrumentation with what feels like a more modern score (by the standards of the 1940s, of course. Can't go too far). There's also an old west influence, about a cowgirl trying to impress the cowboys. It's an unexpected mix, but it works - it's special and more than you might expect from a ballet at first.