Jeroen's Micro Blog

The one hundred eighteenth TV show: #613 Teachers

Some shows struggle more with losing cast members than others. A show like Doctor Who thrives on it, and probably wouldn't have survived without changing cast members. Soaps wouldn't be able to keep up without it, either. Teachers, however, is not so lucky, and it's at the top of my mind as the twenty episode cut off is at the start of season 3, after some major cast changes have taken place. Andrew Lincoln and Raquel Graves leave, and while their replacements do fine, they don't do quite as well. It's not helped by some of the supporting characters not working as well when they are given bigger roles - the focus on finding other people to 'shag' and other focuses like that don't work as well when they're more of a focus.

Putting that aside, Teachers creates an odd mix of absurd humour bits, mostly in the background or in short sketches at the start of the beginning of a scene or day, and some very real topics based on the life of teachers. It probably glamourises the life a bit compared to what I've seen of real life, but it works to tell these stories of life. There are plenty of times where it gets quite affecting and real and brings some good storylines. At its best though, it does that while staying funny.

One other standout is the soundtrack - the rock songs work really well to set an atmosphere and emphasize the slight punk mood they want to create for the teachers. The only issue is that you want to go to the first two seasons, after which it gets a bit too indulgent with its own tendencies.

The four hundred and sixty-fifth song: Stayin’ Alive - The Bee Gees

Running the albums list about a decade behind the songs list leads to some pretty schizophrenic takes on some bands. I suppose Jive Talkin' was in between anyway, but Stayin' Alive is a sign of the disco the Bee Gees are known for while the album list showed us the original prog rock they were known for. It's clear to see why Stayin' Alive feels like it endured, it sounds oog, feels unique and it swings. It's one of the big songs of the big reinventions of a band in music and it keeps entertaining.

The four hundred and sixty-sixth song: Wonderous Stories - Yes

Wonderous Stories is a decent prog rock track, bells and all, with some vocals whose profoundness get lost in the mix of all the other instruments playing - creating, I suppose, an otherworldly feel, but on the whole feeling a bit much for me. It sounds like this is one of their more accessible songs, but it's one where a bit less could have meant a lot more, as I got lost in the layers on this one.

The four hundred and sixty-seventh song: Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac

There is something classic about Go Your Own Way's chorus. While it feels like you could loud with it (and I am sure many karaoke performers would have done so), the restraint on it in this song feels more effective. There's a heavy drum and bass riff that keeps playing, but the lyrics stay away from the aggression of the break up lyrics, which creates the right atmosphere to keep it a bit more than that.

The four hundred and sixty-eighth song: “Heroes“ - David Bowie

Moving on to another classic song, Heroes is a song of strength and positivity instead. It's a song of conquering, moving forward and doing the right thing. It's inspiring, perhaps at times cheesy in the lyrics, but the music brings out the message that much better. Its link to the Berlin wall, when a meeting there inspired this song, grounds it in a way that brings some reality to the song. It may not always immediately change the world, but it somehow works to feel inspirational.

The four hundred and sixty-ninth song: Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers

While I struggle with the sound of reggae, there is also something inspiring about the way it is not afraid to involve politics and social issues in its lyrics - an approach that, at least at the time, was rare in other genres, with the obviously punk exception. Here, Exodus starts off with a fine rhythm and sounding fine, bringing across its message of political opponents of the regime being driven out. However, it soon comes down to being repetitive - well performed and tight enough, but still not enough to fill the seven and a half minutes this song brings. I would have preferred a radio edit.

The four hundred and seventieth song: River Song - Dennis Wilson

I'm still not quite sure what this song is. There are some wall of sound elements in the full sound of the track, clearly coming from a Beach Boys member, but at the same time the song rejcts that for a more natural life. It's beautiful in its adoration of nature, but also feels a bit disconnected at times, in a way I can't quite fathom. It's good, but different from where it came from.

The four hundred and seventy-first song: Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DC

Unlike these last few songs, AC/DC has no pretensions of making music about anything deep. Whole Lotta Rosie is a hard rock song about a one night stand with Rosie, a big woman who is, to quote the book, has "the enthusiasm and endurance to do it (...) around the clock". It's not ambitious, it's a song that works in stadium, giving room for guitars and heavy drumming and drives forward. It's not sophisticated or special, but it comes in and does what it needs to do.

The four hundred and seventy-second song: Black Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

Looking at punk, it feels like a lot of it was dominated by British bands. Richard Hell & The Voidoids, however, were based in New York and Blank Generation ties into the tradition. Going against the media and their peers, rather than authority, it feels like more of a commentary on how people go through their life. There's a happier beat to it even if the lyrics are more dismissive and there's something that really appeals to me in here.

The four hundred and seventy-third song: Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf

In the book, this is described as being not so much a heavy meatal song as it's a symphony. While built out of several parts, Bat out of Hell works as a single whole, leading from one section to another as it tells its story. It feels suitably epic and while there were rock songs before and after that do this, the way it's constructed makes it a short story told in song. Meat Loaf's I'd Do Anything For Love is similar to this (and can be referenced by this) but it all has this symphonic rock feel, fusing Meat Loaf's operatic performance with these metal songs to create something amazing and big.

The four hundred and seventy-fourth song: Lust for Life - Iggy Pop

As trite as it sounds, the titular lust for life feels like it comes through in the music. Iggy Pop's darker vocals subdues it, putting some doubt on it, but there's some sort of excitement in them. Perhaps it's the music written by David Bowie, sounding upbeat while still recognisably punk, that creates this, but there's something that riles you up and brings up this feeling. It's a classic, maybe not how you'd expect, but as a song to close out the write up of 1977, this says a lot about the year.

The seventy-first classical recording: #649 Karol Szymanowski - Myths

Myths is a set of three works, each telling a story from Greek mythology. The Fountain of Arethusa stands out most with the way the piano imitates the sound of water, including the sound of a water falling down from a spring. It's lovely and evocative and the music alone tells you the basics. Narcissus feels the most traditional, with a dreamy violin and enough buildup but nothing quite as special. The final piece, Dryads and Pan, creates its own sound though, and while the score calls for no wind instruments, the violin evokes the sound of flutes far more than I would have expected. It's tantalizing, drawn out and creates a hypnotic effect that you would associate with Pan's flutes. It's all beautiful, but the first and last pieces feel like they stand out for me with what they bring out of the instruments, in the way they evoke mood and setting of the stories these are meant to score.

The one hundred sixty-second album: #162 Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Transit Authority

I don't think I ever really thought of jazz rock as a genre before starting this list, but it seems like we've solidly entered the time period where it has become a thing. I don't mind it too much, although Chicago Transit Authority (now known as Chicago)'s self-titled album doesn't do massive favours. As it is over an hour of music, it needs to justify itself, and it's highly variable whether it manages to do so. At its most inventive, there is a variation and sound to a song that's interesting to listen to. At its most indulgent, such as during parts of Poem 58, it's a jazz improv using rock stylingsthat doesn't go anywhere and doesn't do anything. Free Form Guitar was actually quite painful to listen to and it feels like it shouldn't have been on here in the first place - to the point where I skipped it and didn't look back.

It's a mixed bag of an album, with some good songs, a few terrible ones and beyond that mostly decent ones. The jazz rock fusion works well, but I feel like it loses me when it strays too far away from rock - the jazzier songs just don't work as well and it feels liek the band needs structure in its songs.

The seventy-second book: #61 Jacques the Fatalist - Denis Diderot

In writing Jacques the Fatalist, it felt like Diderot wanted to be clever. The novel leads with a lot of imaginary conversations with the reader about how the writer isn't going to explain things or skips the boring bits, in a way that I found quite off putting. On the other side, when we get to hear the stories (and stories in stories) Jacques, his master and his compatriots tell, as well as the few bits we get told off that they experience, they are amusing and interesting. There are a lot of digressions and not all the stories actually finishes, but it tells enough that you need to know.

It works when Diderot doesn't try to be too clever, but in the end it ends up feeling a bit unsatisfying as a whole - an okay experience, but done better elsewhere.

The one hundred seventeenth TV show: #876 Portlandia

We started watching Portlandia when it first came out - mostly from seeing Fred Armisen on SNL and wondering what else he'd do. We took a break from watching after the fifth season, until we came back to the show recently, which seems like a break that's done us well. There is something specific about the Portland (Oregon) shown here, based on the reputation the city has but obviously exaggerated. It's a pastiche of liberal characters, though not maliciously, and what appeals mostly is the world it creates - recognisable, but absurd enough that it can get away with a lot. It commits to its bits, which is part of the same appeal.

Not all of the episodes are winners - they're at their best when they juggle a few storylines and combine them, rather than focus on a single one, but on the whole the series pulls it off, and it wouldn't work as well without that world building.

The one hundred and sixty-first album: #161 Tim Buckley - Happy Sad

Unlike his first album, TIm Buckley's Happy Sad starts off with a jazz chord, a bass being played until it fades into a jazzy number with folk rock vocals.While the jazz influences stay, these get dialled back to more common folk rock, with some emotional and affecting songs. They are long, but the folk rock/jazz fusion mean that the songs don't outstay their welcome even at ten minutes - there's not enough repetition to get boring. Instead, it gets you into this flow state that's quite appealing and feels good throughout.

The one hundred sixtieth album: #160 Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!

As we keep up on the non-rock bands, Sly & The Family Stone's funk works for me. It did when I came across it for the songs list and here, too, the upbeat music works well while avoiding the repitition that bores me with other funk artists. There's a lot to each of these songs, in a way that works both for intense listening and when it fades into the background.

The oddity is on side B, where Sex Machine is a lengthy jam that goes it some pretty weird places, using distortion to create some weird sounds. It's not something that holds up for thirteen minutes, and mostly detracts from the sound of the rest of the album, but I can see why they might want to try.

The seventy-first book: #60 Camilla - Fanny Burney

Reading Camilla was a struggle for me - a bit unfortunate, perhaps, knowing the book's reputation, but I struggled to feel it. In parts, this is the stereotypical romance novel I've disliked before, where the main protagonist is perfect, surrounded by wicked people, and led down the wrong path. Camilla isn't quite that, but she doesn't come across as that interesting - everything seems to happen around her or to her. As annoying is that halfway through, the book turns into a lesson on why everyone needs to be taught personal finance. Camilla seems to be perpetually poor and rather than sorting that issue, she keeps borrowing so she can keep spending... it feels so stupid, I found it quite off putting. Its length just doesn't seem worth it.

The one hundred fifty-ninth album: #159 The Temptations - Cloud Nine

While rock still seems to be dominating the list, a break for something else is always welcome and the soul from the Temptations is a welcome change.The vocals are strong throughout the album, the five leads working well together through the record. What pushses the soul further here is the soundtrack - while at times rather standard for soul, from time to time it moves further with its sounds and creates what's called psychedelic soul. It means we get some good, strong soul songs with the occasional oddity, which works well as the more psychedelic sounds blend well.

The one hundred sixteenth TV show: #640 Peep Show

For some series, it feels like it's easier to judge when you reach the end of them - and in this case having had a break before watching the final season. While it starts off as mostly covering two loser friends trying to make their way through life, the main thread now is how terrible these people are. A lot of it stems from the filming style. Everything is filmed from the point of view from characters in the scene. We hear the inner monologue of Mark and Jeremy, the two leads played by David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It shows the double layers of all of their decisions and in particular how manipulative Mark is (Jeremy being misguided more often).

The filming style defines a lot of the feel of the show. Not only is a lot of the acting focused on the face as characters talk to each other, the way their gaze changes tells stories as well - both zooming in and out, but also looking up and down from time to time. If nothing else, the status differences that come from it are portrayed so much better than anything else would. It feels very intimate, which makes these depraved stories become a lot more human - bad behaviour feels more acceptable but also comes out of their motivations far better. It's a unique show, with a good arc throughout that works well, and played well - you care about the characters, as much as you hate them. Not unlike Sunny, but coming from a different type of motivations.