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The two hundred and twenty-third TV show: #843 The Only Way is Essex

We could only stomach three episodes of this - more to see a few different samples from different seasons than because I ever wanted to really watch more. The mix between realism and pre-written shows why actors and improvisers have decent training, as here you don't get any of that. The situations and drama are predetermined, with the lines improvised within what they want to say - not unlike, say, Curb Your Enthusiasm - but they're done by "normal" people whose money-filled glamorous life is meant to be accessible enough that people want to aspire to it. On an intellectual level, I get that people might be looking for a soap here that feels more real with actual people in it, but soon enough it feels like badly-acted soap operas that don't mean anything, with people I just can't like.

The one hundred and twenty-fifth book: #470 Foundation - Isaac Asimov

THis obviously isn't the first time I've read the Foundation series before - although, between library availability and going by titles, I believe I read the prequels before reading the original trilogy. Rereading them now, with a more critical eye, has been good, and shows off some of the great building that surround these stories.

Originally a collection of short stories, they go through the happenings of the Foundation, an organization first said to write a galactic encyclopedia, but later revealed to be focusing on the rebuilding of a second Empire in the far future. It's a great setup that allows things to go elsewhere - and their basis in the fall of the Roman empire makes it have quite a clearanalogy to how things go.

Each of the stories manages to build a strong world that evolves and shifts through the years it covers, and although the initial setup seems like it might get repetitive - there's a crisis, a solution is arrived at, Seldon appears in a projection from the past to confirm it - soon after it turns to not need that, and there being an instinctual understanding from some people on where to go next. It's an interesting take that looks at the long story of a world, and it's enticing me to go back to the series and read more of it again. I just feel safe to do do so again now.

The six hundred and eighteenth album: #617 Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff

Starting off as a short album - punk length - the later rerelease expanded this to full size. What that does is add a bunch more tracks that are in the same vein as the original - loud, unapologetic punk music, with screamed vocals and more of a variety of guitar sounds. I'd argue it's simple but effective - the sound is incredibly punky, but there's a decent melody and variation in the sound and it all creates the right feeling.

The eight hundred seventh-fifth song: Save Me - Aimee Mann

This is a simple (post-)love song, sweet and pleasantly accessible. It's nothing complicated, but it works well.

The eight hundred seventh-sixth song: No One Will Ever Love You - The Magnetic Fields

While the vocals of this song are for a fairly simple and straightforward pop song, the heavy electronic instruments gives it that nineties feeling that adds pressure to it. It's not heavy, but it's much more present than you otherwise would, combining two straightforward but distinct elements in something that makes it more unsettling sounding.

The eight hundred seventh-seventh song: Surfacing - Slipknot

Slipknot's heavy metal is, for me, too far into the other side, where it becomes a bit too much. With that said, it does what it does quite well, The percussion is incredibly heavy through the track, while the melody is in there sporadically.It's aggressive lyrically as well, and there's something really effective about the entire track.

The eight hundred seventh-eighth song: Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers

I quite enjoy RHCP, even though they've never really been my favourite, and Scar Tissue is pretty good. It's light and simple, the track being quite melodic and sweet even as Kiedis' rougher vocals contrast with it. It's mostly just so sweet and caring in a weird way, something that works well here.

The eight hundred seventh-ninth song: Ms. Fat Booty - Mos Def

There's a nice, gentle flow to this rap song. Both the gangster rap and the looser styles that are more common these days are rap styles that don't suit me as much, but this older style is that much nicer and accessible and the various additions are as nice.

The eight hundred eightieth song: Caught Out There - Kelis

As a nice hip R&B track, the verses of this song are pretty sweet and nice. The shouted chorus, on the other hand, really stands out with their shouting anger that really bring out a lot more of the emotion. It's really engaging and what really makes the song a standout.

The eight hundred eighty-first song: Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - Moby

It feels like there's a real pull going on. While on the whole, this song has a fair bit going on, there's a sparseness in the simple vocals and the high, dreamy, music adds to a sense of weightlessness of the entire song. It's engaging and feels tuned to the right level, with an impressive amount of emotion in it.

The eight hundred eighty-second song: I Try - Macy Gray

While I Try is a strong soul song - there's nothing bad to say about it, it hits all the notes and is really good that way - Macy Gray's vocals are what really stand out. They're raw and dark rather than the mellow, flowing sound that you usually get from soul performers, but it's that sound that actually builds on everything else.

The eight hundred eighty-third song: U Don’t Know Me - Armand Van Helden

Seemingly the only dance track for this year - I think we can contribute the dearth of these to the comparative lack of attention given to this era in music - this is a strong candidate. The beat is strong throughout, but what makes it stand out above and beyond that is the track's vocal performance. It's a good song, giving a lot of room in the mix to add more meaning to the track. It might not matter in the club, but threading it through as both a music and text gives it a lot of context outside that as well.

The eight hundred eighty-fourth song: Race for the Prize - The Flaming Lips

The initial lyrics of this song sets it up as being about something different from most songs - especially as the title could easily imply a love song anyway. Instead, it covers a race for a cure between two scientists, something as lofty but not something you tend to see explored like that. It's all layered through a poppy rock song, with some loud drums for part of it and a heavy synth use, which again contrasts with the text of the song. It's a neat combination, and something nice and different to listen to - while creating more room for future indie bands to experiment with their songs.

The six hundred and seventeenth album: #618 REM - Green

It feels like there's something grown up about enjoying REM. The tracks are accessible, but it's the layers that are in the music that stand out, the harmonies on a rock song that harken back to older songs but in a way that feels modern here. The lyrics have a lot more to say, while the music has more to discover and needs a few listens. It works on so many levels, it's really good

The two hundred and twenty-second TV show: #19 Father Knows Best

When I found myself swearing at the screen about the resolution of the second episode I watched, I knew not to push myself much further. For a lot of it, the comedy isn't funny. For most of the show, I feel like the kids - in particular the teens - are the funniest, which feels like a rarity here. But the family is too perfect and the father, played by Robert Young, in particular feels like he's too much of a lecturing good guy, showing how the world is and how people should behave. It just doesn't work as a comedy and the values and everything feels like it's too much. I've enjoyed other shows of the era more than this - this is just a failure for me.

The two hundred and twenty-first TV show: #18 Fabian of the Yard

Although not quite a lost work, it's difficult to actually watch this show. I found a DVD copy of a set of episodes, but for whatever reason it didn't play more than one episode. Only that episode - The Executioner - is on Youtube, or any other video source I could find, with the remainder being clips. To be fair, I probably wouldn't watch that much more - the staid-feeling crime show has more action than Dragnet, but the voice overs are fairly frequent and distracting and it's still working out its story telling. There's an interesting look at history, with the start of some excitement in it even as it ends with a moral, but it plays the action and investigation fairly straight. It's good for its dime, but you can see how quickly it would have been overtaken.

The one hundred and thirteenth comic: #427 Corto Maltese in Siberia

With two Corto Maltese comics on the list, it seemed like a good idea to do them back to back. This later comic feels like it meanders a bit less than the previous, but it replaces it by a James Bond style multiple location structure that feels trite, and it's more predictable in a lot of places. It still has a shallow main character, who isn't quite as passive as before, but still feels more like an observer who happens to get into different situations. It just never really got satisfying on this round.

The six hundred and sixteenth album: #616 Living Colour - Vivid

This feels like an album of good decisions or skills. Splitting it up, musically it's a strong rock track that does what it does incredibly well, really hitting that hard rock vibe. Lyrically, it's a socially and politically conscious album that includes a lot of good commentary and really has something to say. The funk influences from the band's African-American roots come through in places, creating a unique sound but it's also clear that's not a direction they're fully interested in - it's enough to give us the metal/rock sound and make you sit up and listen, which it what it really did for me.

The eight hundred sixty-seventh song: Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill

There's a really catchy chorus that anchors this track, while the rap verses have their message but go at such a speed that the R&B chorus, with their doo wop feeling, get their chance to stand out a lot more.

The eight hundred sixty-eighth song: Kelly Watch the Stars - Air

Oddly enough, the start of this song sounds more like a mid-90s adventure game soundtrack, something like Day of the Tentacle, than a 1998 song, but it's clear the electronic music from this track takes from a similar sound palette. The vocals are simple, their distortion to the musicality of them, but it's a fairly gentle, straightforward electronic pop sound through it. Lovely to listen to, but possibly fading into the background a bit too much.

The eight hundred sixty-ninth song: You Get What You Give - New Radicals

I've talked about the influence of Green Day on my music tastes earlier, and I'll be hitting more, but You Get What You Give had an earlier, bigger impact on me that I can't quite attribute. There's some association with the first time I tried acting, and it being a song in the play, but there's a joyful atmosphere that I've enjoyed anyway, something dreamy and out there while also keeping something fun about it. It's very personal, but this is really good.

The eight hundred seventieth song: Music Sounds Better with You - Stardust

Why does 1998 only have eight songs featured? I might be a bit biased, but there are so many good songs in this era that it suddenly feels really underserved compared to what came before - and maybe even after. We have the Daft Punk beat here, evocative lyrics - perhaps not deep, but it works - and a combination of instruments that's stripped back just enough to give you everything you need without feeling the need to add or produce anything more. Stripped down to its essentials, something good really came out here.

The eight hundred seventh-first song: Erase/Rewind - The Cardigans

There's a bit of a back to basics here - there's certainly some electronic effects in this, in particular with the amount of distortion much, but we're also back to a more classic alternative rock sound. I suppose it shows how the nineties changed music, hearing how electronic music got integrated into these sounds and built further. It's a strong showing here that's captivating to listen to.

The eight hundred seventh-second song: Teardrop - Massive Attack

Continuing the feeling of dreamlike songs being released this year, there's something otherworldly about Teardrop. The electronic beat is heavy, sitting deep in you through the song, but the slight, nervous vocals add some emotion to it that both contrasts the sound but also embodies a fear of that dark sound. The lyrics are abstract enough that you can read a lot of different things into it, but they set a tone and feeling for the song that complements it just as much. It's a track where everything mixes together as they should.

The eight hundred seventh-third song: Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

To follow my praise we get to this soft rock song, almost a ballad when it starts. You can sing along so well, there are moments where it feels real and raw and it still touches me that well.This is, again, so gorgeous and well put together.

According to studies, your music tastes start to form in your early teens, and while I did get some more addition in punkier and harder rock in the next few years, it's been eye opening to see how much 1998 made that true.

The eight hundred seventh-fourth song: Bok Espok - Kepa Junkera

This is what feels like the lyrical oddity of the year, a Basque-Irish waltz that has its modern influences but stays classic in how it sounds. Still, it's a nice party atmosphere and something new to hear here.