The fifteenth book: #15 Thomas of Reading
An odd book without a Wikipedia page... Really just a story of merchants in the middle ages. A lot of events, not much characters, and I'm not sure what the point of the story really is. It just bored me, the difficult language not helping, but there didn't seem to be much in it.
The twenty-fourth comic: #103 Jingle Jangle Comics
This comic didn't really do it. It's very much focused on children and the bad jokes match. Even so, children stuff can be good and clever, but that isn't the case here. This is a set of comics that matches exactly what you'd expect from a comic book from the 40s. The redeeming values? Clever use of very dynamic art and a lot of interesting things done with anthropomorphic items surrounding the characters. Even so, there's not much that's engaging in the stories and the jokes are mostly groanworthy to bad. And then there's the offensive bits... This was one we gave up early.
The first classical recording: #1 Anonymous - Carmina Burana
More upbeat than I was expecting to start off with - I believe these are at least partially religious texts, but the music is already not using the instruments I expect. The description of 'minstrel' music I heard does describe it, with drums, lutes and flutes.
Starting off on a new list like this, I do have my prejudices, but so far they have not been confirmed. This sounds quite different from what I was expecting, folksier music than what you'd associate with classical music.
About ten minutes in we do get something closer to this, but even that is a vocal performance enhanced by drums. It's slower, but works its magic just as well, not letting up. It refuses to sink to the background, without dominating. The performance here is also impressive, with a lot of force behind it. In other places, the vocals do sound odd - almost enforced laughter in places by the way it goes up and down, and it becomes odd to interpret. It does make the religious celebrations feel less solemn, and I can't help imagining how it would look like during worship or similar. I'll admit though, there were times where I was waiting for the flute or lute to come back.
More 'expected' female operatic voices appear near the end, where it presumably draws on those roots. These vocals do still sound as enticing.
The album has a wide variety of songs in there, presumably reflecting the musical tastes of the time, from oratorios to drinking songs. Just as an insight it's fascinating, and as music it's enjoyable. Especially so as it appears to introduce several tunes that I feel were reused plenty of times since.
The one hundred and thirty-third song: Tous les garcons et les filles - Francoise Hardy
When I think French songs, my mind usually goes first to chansons, the heavier songs of an Edith Piaf. More recent music is quite different, but that's where the sixties seem to be for that country. Here it sounds quite different though, still having some of the vocal stylings, but in a faster, upbeat song that combines sadness with something happier.
The one hundred and thirty-fourth song: You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me - The Miracles
I thought this sort of music was starting to die out. A good R&B vocal performance, it's a slow and sweet love song. At the same time, the music doesn't really get its hooks on me and starting drifting into the background quite soon.
The one hundred and thirty-fifth song: Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker
Speaking of which, here's some more blues. There's part of me that's waiting for the guitars to really kick in, there's something rocking in this song that never really comes out. I suppose it's one of those songs and stylings that predates and prepares the rock music that is to follow, but I wish it would commit to it a bit more here - it sounds good and interesting still, just holds back.
The one hundred and thirty-sixth song: He’s a Rebel - The Crystals
If he's a rebel, he probably would not have been listening to this. Not because the song is back - this is a real girl band sound (Phil Spector penned) that I'm not sure we've heard quite to this extent, but I'm sure we'll hear loads more coming up. It would be fairly inoffensive pop now, but for this list still sounds very fresh and enjoyable.
The one hundred and thirty-seventh song: Do You Love Me - The Contours
At least there's something more rocky in the year, something that swings more. It sounds a bit raw - the vocals aren't perfect - but the dancing that's described comes through in how the sound comes across and it sounds like it would be an amazing live performance. With this being an impromptu recording (done because they couldn't find the Temptations), there's something oddly happy about being able to do this performance.
The one hundred and thirty-eighth song: Your Cheating Heart - Ray Charles
And the last song of the year starts with more of a showtune feel, although that quickly reduces to something sweet and slow - an early soul track. It's a sweet, maudlin song, using background singers and extended strings to emphasize the point, but letting Ray Charles do his own thing when it's his turn, focusing on him and what he's saying. Best when it's at its simplest, it still sounds as maudlin as it should.
The seventh album: #7 Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers
On this, Frank Sinatra's tenth studio album, he apparently made swingier, faster versions of classic songs of the day. I can see it in there - some songs I can easily see how they'd be slower even if I didn't know the original. For just as many, however, these feel like the classic way. Even through audio, Frank Sinatra comes through as charming and likeable, a certain happiness shows through in his songs.
The songs are well executed, great instrumentation combined with the amazing vocals from Frank Sinatra. It sounds good and never sinks into the background as other similar songs might do - he sounds too interesting for that. And with the classics on here - I've Got You Under My Skin especially notable - it's obvious why this is all the case. An aboslutely swinging album.
The fourteenth book: #14 Unfortunate Traveller
After a good performance two days ago, the next book disappointed a bit. The Unfortunate Traveller is a lot shorter, but it didn't quite hit for me. There are parts that feel more like they're just speeches or preaching as they go from (at the time) celebrity to celebrity. There's some story, but nothing strong in there and to me it felt like it was mostly trying to be too self important.
The thirteenth book: #13 (Monkey) Journey to the West
I'm not sure whether I read the officially listed version of this, but if anything, it's because I read the unabridged version of the book known as 'Monkey' in its abridged version.
It might be the translation helping here, but this feels like the most modern novel so far. There's a lot of good banter, especially once the main characters are in place and progresses. They tease each other, help and become three dimensional character. Monkey, the real protagonist of the story, is a flawed character trying to do his best - the typical prankster personality. The others are basic archetypes too, but they certainly grow a bit during the 100 chapters. The original bits - the initial chapters after Monkey's origin story and last few chapters of the book set in India - feel like they're written earlier, with a more formal style and less interesting characters. After that more stories seem to have added in between to pad the story, which also seems to include the first chapters of Monkey's origin. The characters are looser here, developed more and they are more fun to read.
The main downside is that the adventures on the journey tend to be fairly predictable. It is often a case of the group arrive somewhere to rest - part of the group gets kidnapped (at least the monk) - monkey needs to bail them out. Often he gets outside help (making him feel a bit weaker than he should) but also relying on his transformations and cudgel. You rarely see him win a battle outright, even if he's the strongest warrior, against the 'big' enemies.
Sometimes Monkey is chased away for not being the good guy, forcing the others to do more until they ask him back while they're also showing their strengths. There are some other variants as well (and Monkey relies noticeably less on deities and buddhas in later stories) but we could see it all coming often enough.
Still, while the 1400 pages of this book were off putting at first, it was a lot of fun to read. I'm glad I did - one of the first there was.
The sixth album: #6 Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport
Jazz is fine, really. Mildly pleasant to listen to, often livened up with vocals, but not something I get excited about. The enthusiastic shouts with which the performers are jeering each other on with in some of the lengthy, good songs feel a bit out of place for me. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, and the length of play makes htis all the more impressive, but it's still jazz, not rock n roll.
It's when it's at its swingiest where the album is most notable. Several areas just feature a slow drone that you associate with slower jazz, and that would work well as background music, but not as an album to actively listen to, nor (I'd imagine) as a great concert piece. It clearly must have been, this having been a great night in music (or at least jazz), but I'm not sure I'm quite as taken by it.
The fifth album: #5 Fats Domino - This Is Fats
I should have knwon this, but I didn't quite realise that Fats Domino was more of a blues singer than something swingier, but the album veered closer to jazz and blues than I expected - not quite as much rock n roll as I was expecting (or hoping for). It's a pleasant swinging album that defines some of what's coming, but I just can't really get into it.
The one hundred and twenty-third song: Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
This song was recorded soon after Ben E. King had left the Drifters, who we've heard before. There's still some doo wop here (what happened to that in modern times?), but the song focuses more on just his vocals, together with a musical arrangement that brings in strings and trumpets to create a dream-like atmosphere. The song is trying to invoke that as well, talking about a rose that grows in Spanish Harlem, an area of New York. It's mostly esoteric, with some Latin hints from the marimbas.
The one hundred and twenty-fourth song: Mad About the Boy - Dinah Washington
The most famous version of the song, where the lyrics of the song are good, Dinah Washington turns this song into something special. The dark sound of her voice adds a maturity to the adoration expressed in the song. It's got power and character to it, making it more than a simple love song. Performed incredibly well and distinctive enough to stand out.
The one hundred and twenty-fifth song: Lazy River - Bobby Darin
Is it possible to be bored of jazz pop already? This song sounds fine, but it doesn't really quite work. It's upbeat and swingy, but seems to hold back a bit and "Lazy River" doesn't really get the impact of the song across. It just doesn't seem to add much for me.
The one hundred and twenty-sixth song: Back Door Man - Howlin’ Wolf
We're getting to a double act of Howlin' Wolf blues songs. It sounds more raw than I expected, dirty and filthy as it goes around to see house wives while the husbands are out - escaping by the back door, as the vernacular goes. The book describes the character as a Casanova/predator, and that comes through. It's clear the women in the song wants him, but he has a raunchy side to the performance (even if it's not quite there in the lyrics) which is dark enough on its own.
The one hundred and twenty-seventh song: The Red Rooster - Howlin’ Wolf
While the obvious interpretation of the song, about a lazy rooster, is the source for the song, Howlin' Wolf's delivery and voice turn it into something more. Indeed, going out to town occasionally gives it a more sexual connotation that makes you wondering what he is really up to. Again, despite a good composition, it's the performance that really impresses and gives this body.
The one hundred and twenty-eighth song: Johnny Remember Me - Johnny Leyton
There's intentionally something eerie to this country-like song. A song about remembering his dead girlfriend, the female lyrics make it sound spooky and add that weird edge to the song. It invokes the idea of a ghost even if it is not actually so. He can't replace her and will always hear her song. It's an amazingly memorable sound.
The one hundred and twenty-ninth song: I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline's country ballad feels like a bit of a come down after that. A simple love song about a (former) lover who doesn't want to come back, it is a slow and simple song, sang to perfection. It's a simple country ballad, sung by someone who was probably the best at it in these days and seems to have originated it. It's fine, but... it's a country ballad. It'd never really wow me.
The one hundred and thirtieth song: Stand by Me - Ben E. King
Based on an old gospel song, this feels like such a standard. Ben E. King, who is the first artist to perform the song, feels a bit slower and less ostentatious than other later versions, but uses the strings and Latin influences in a way that makes it a breezier, happier song (the musicians coming in because they were hired from Spanish Harlem - this was recorded in time left over after Spanish Harlem had finished recording). It's an amazing composition that works well here.
The one hundred and thirty-first song: Blue Moon - The Marcels
This is not the version of Blue Moon that you were expecting. Although the basics of the ballad are here, The Marcels give it a doo wop twist, starting off with a lot of that, and surrounding the basic lyrics with a lot of their own additions. It's expertedly crafted, but sound off the cuff and more uptempo than the original. I really enjoy these doo wop songs here, and this makes a really good case why. It sits somewhere between doo wop and rock and roll. Just up my alley.
The one hundred and thirty-second song: Crazy - Patsy Cline
It feels like there's more power to this song than Patsy Cline's earlier entry this year. Recorded two months after a near fatal accident, there's a determination in her voice that is striking and empowering. Willie Nelson, the composer, described her performance as magic, and that's certainly in there. An impressive tour de force.
The twenty-second TV show: #339 Blackadder
For this write up, we really have to ignore the final episode, and especially the last few minutes of the show. It's such a sad and special moment that works well (and is led up to by plenty of jokes), but isn't quite the same.
This show is divided in four series (we're also ignoring the specials) and they really are four different series. They're all set at different periods in times and the main characters, though all called Blackadder and played by the same actor. The first is notably less intelligent and they descend down the ranks and classes as time goes on, from being a prince to a captain stuck in the trenches of the first world war.
They're all good - although you could argue some are better than others - for different reasons. For a bunch of backstage reasons, the first season is quite different from the others, with Black Adder feeling like a different character and everything being on film. The second and third are probably most alike, with Blackadder subservient to royals (in different positions, but partially dealing with their weirdnesses). The fourth season's war setting is quite different. Because of it, it's darker and less upbeat.
There's several elements that make it work. The performances are excellent. Rowan Atkinson is at his best - better, in my opinion, than the Mr Bean role he's known for. Tony Robinson as Baldrick is so pathetic and disgusting it's strangely endearing. From the less regular cast, Hugh Laurie puts in such an amazing effort that that might make the seasons he is in my favourite, creating characters that aren't intelligent, but have enough depth to them that they go beyond just the jokes they seem to be. The writing helps as well, creating more complex characters sometimes to enhance the comedy.
For me, this is one of the great British comedy series, where it all comes together and works well.