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The thirty-ninth TV Show: #532 Silent Witness

There are a bunch of crime shows on this list, and a lot of them on TV. One thing that is already becoming clear when it comes to these, is that they need their own angle to have them stand out. For a lot of them, it's the force of character of one of the leading roles, while others pick a specific area to focus on. The latter is less seen these days - we more tend to see them follow the Sherlock Holmes model - but here it's present. Silent Witness focuses on solving crimes using forensic evidence and while it has a central characters in the first few season, once Amanda Burton leaves it becomes an ensemble piece. This is its weakness - as another part of the story is how it impacts the main character, diluting it makes things a bit less effective. For that reason, we focused on early seasons and the hand over.

These have been incredibly engaging, darker and more difficult to watch than most other shows. The reality of this work is messy, that comes through, but the stoyrlines themselves also embrace it. All are two parters, with the cliffhanger at the end of the first part usually including another death that makes things worse. It's engaging and rarely fails to shock - at least so far.

The sixteenth classical recording: #439 Jules Massenet - Manon

The last in my catchup list, here's another opera - a comedic one this time. It's (again) a forbidden love story, but one taking on some different elements from the previous love story. Starting at a bawdy inn rather than a fancy party does that to you. It's all lighter and more open to play and discussion - it sounds more fun, to listen to, to watch and even to perform. The characters are more flawed, and at times hypocritical, which adds more complexity because they don't have to be as dramatic. It works quite well to set them up right.

Despite the lighter touches, the quality of the music still comes through. It's not as memorable, perhaps, but supports the setup so well it works throughout, whether it's to encourage chaos or tenderness. It's been a very entertaining listen, even if just because it's not all quite as you'd expect beforehand.

The two hundred and eighth song: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys

While this song may be best known by its refrain, the song switches between several styles - and even mixing them at several points - creating a complex combination of sounds that doesn't quite come across by just lifting out a single aspect. There is undoubtably an exchange here between Brian Wilson and the Beatles, both experimenting with creating bigger sounds, even if this song sounds like the biggest example of it, being bigger than any other song in the amount it works to create. It works as it though, with this being its own magnum opus. Don't just think of the refrain - it's almost the most boring part of the track - listen to everything that surrounds it.

The two hundred and ninth song: Dead End Street - The Kinks

Coming down to the ground, this is a poppy song about how life isn't great for everyone. It's a lamenting anthem, complete with several shouts, that indicates how much life... well, just sucks for some. It sounds good, but it's the incisive lyrics that dominate and leave the lasting impression, supported by the instruments and a sad trombone.

The two hundred and tenth song: The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore - The Walker Brothers

We really have different streams of music here - while the Beatles and Beach Boys, together with the following acts, are creating their own young sound, here there's a different sound, more led by producers - it's not quite Phil Spector, but the sound definitely feels inspired by that style of music. It still sounds good, creating a great atmosphere, but where before the music supported the lyrics, here it feels the reverse. It still sounds good, but there's almost an interesting counterpoint here.

The two hundred and eleventh song: Season of the Witch - Donovan

Apparently, early on, Donovan was known as the British Dylan, a moniker he was trying to shake at this time. The instruments here seem a lot smaller than the last few songs we listened to, instead getting a guitar, bass and drums together (there is probably a bit more, but it's kept small), creating a simple rock song that relies on the vocals to really take off. There's a crescendo that comes in, but the song doesn't reach the same heights for me as its contemporaries do, not quite making an impact to quite the same extent.

The two hundred and twelfthsong: Friday on My Mind - The Easybeats

Just looking at the title, I was expecting a simple wall of sound style song, but instead we get a bass line reminiscent of Paint it Black, leading into a rock sound that has a nice energy to it - not high or frantic, but enough to set up some excitement. It carries that through, not quite reaching other heights with its lyrics, but working well musically. I think I should probably keep this around for my Friday afternoon anthem, carrying me through into the weekend.

The two hundred and thirteenth song: I’m a Believer - The Monkees

We need to get back to this when we reach this show during the TV writeups, but this is a big enough song that it stands out. I mostly know it from later versions - making this recording sound quite subdued - but it creates a pleasing sound. Of course, The Monkees members themselves don't have quite as much of an influence on the end result as other bands of the time did, but it makes for a more polished, consistent sound that, of course, was also more manufactured rather than reflecting personality. Mostly, it's an infectious, happy song, and that's what works so nicely here.

The two hundred and fourteenth song: Dirty Water - The Standells

Although not exclusive, this is the year of the rock bands, manufactured or not, and this last third of 1966 really seems to reflect it. Dirty Water goes back to more of a raw sound, more towards the hard rock we've heard from the Rolling Stones before, as well as the punk sounds we've heard in previous batches. Here singing a song 'admiring' dirty Boston. Musically it doesn't go to special places, but the sound and commentary enhances the sound of the song and becomes the real star. Knowing that this wasn't written by the band, who stayed in LA, but instead by their manager, removes little from that impact.

The two hundred and fifteenth song: I Feel Free - Cream

Cream is apparently the first succesful supergroup, made up of more bluesy performers doing rockier stuff. Here, it takes psychedelic rock, roughly at the intersection of rock and blues. It sounds good, smoother than most, relaxing while still bringing in the urgency rock often seems to instill in me. It's a nice challenge as a song that really has its own appeal in sounding slightly different.

The two hundred and sixteenth song: You Keep Me Hangin’ On - The Supremes

We're getting away from the rock bands we've had so far, and the white male look of all bands, and go to The Supremes, with their more produced sound that focuses on creating simpler pop. It's still a fairly straightforward love song - or break up song. It layers its instruments quite well for the standard uniform sound. It works well and just creates a good song, with its own good pop sound. More interesting is that the rock influence is in there, that meant that many rock groups later decided to cover it.

The two hundred and seventeenth song: Happenings Ten Years Time Ago - The Yardbirds

We're getting back to another hard rock sound with heavy guitar riffs and clear drums, although with a clear vocal line over it, rather than the rawer voices other bands would prefer. The contrast sounds really good, creating a more ethereal sound. That's what probably drives the song most for me, this clear constrast between the two elements (the music getting interrupted by what sounds like sirens and explosions, mostly well created through the instruments and some loose comments) that sounds slightly odd. This is a precursor of heavy metal, and the band a precursor of Led Zeppelin. This feels like a real step towards it, and is notable enough that way.

The two hundred and eighteenth song: Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles

And we end 1966 with a familiar band, but not a familiar sound. The Beatles were getting more experimental through time, and this seems to be a clear example of John Lennon experimenting with a new sound and creating something that's difficult to place. It's psychedelic rock, something that has started to infiltrate previous song, but here we get a disconcerting song that feels like it's thrown a lot together. For me, it doesn't always work as a song, although it's an experience for sure (just quite off putting at times). It is a consistent sound, just not one that I feel I've heard before and one I'm not sure I'll hear again. It's a song to experience, one that stands on its own, and that I feel I can't question too much. I just had to listen to it.

The fifteenth classical recording: #580 Gustav Holst - The Planets

A fifty minute piece, rather than the two and a half hours from before? It feels like a cakewalk now. These are seven connected sections, one for each of the astrological planets (so no Earth) and before Pluto was discovered. They are linked in motives and sound different - Mars is bombastic, Venus gentle, Mercury more ethereal. They make for quite pleasing, varying sounds that made me sit up every time a new planet came along as they sounded so different. You can mostly tell which planet is being covered based on the music being played, which feels like a special achievement on its own.

The twenty-seventh book: #27 Joseph Andrews - Henry Fielding

As a book Gutenberg provides in two parts, I thought I'd wait until I had enough time to properly read it. In the end it wasn't as long as the two parts implied (it's no Arabian Nights), but it didn't hold my interest either. As a comic observation of an existing literary style, it doesn't meet Don Quixote's standards of being interesting - it never connected, partially because I don't feel as much of a fan of the morality tales it's influenced by, and partially because the target of the satire mostly passed me by.

It's of its time, and while sometimes that interesting, there's nothing much in there that feels timeless enough either. It doesn't feel quite timeless enough to be at the top of it. Worthwhile to get a different view on the genre, but nothing special.

The fourteenth classical recording: #407 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

I'm not sure whether listening is the best way to enjoy a ballet, but that is the focus of this list. I did this listen just trying to immerse myself and see what I could get out of it. The score is still said to be what stood out in the original heavily criticised performance. It's an evocative performance that goes through the moods of the piece quite well. Even if there are 'hooks' for the dancers at points, it doesn't feel quite as necessary.

Even so, without the visuals to lead you, the music does lose some impact. There are times when it really is just music, and this clearly isn't the best way to experience it. Something to try and figure out for the future. For now, at least, it was epic enough often enough.

The twenty-eighth book: #28 Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus - Alexander Pope

This was the result of a single train journey. There's not loads to comment on here - written as the first book of a longer satire, the collaborators never really finished their parts and this is what remains. The product of the first chapters for a memoir, these are mostly short stories from the life of... A lot of them are satirical - which, as mentioned earlier today, doesn't always land well a few centuries later - and a lot of it seems disjointed, unfortunately. There are some good bits in here, but I didn't have the annotated version, where notes outnumber actual text by what seems like at least two to one, and so this disappointed for me.

The thirteenth classical recording: #331 Guiseppe Verdi - La Traviata

I think this is my first full length opera, and it's one of the most famous - apparently the most performed in the world. It's familiar - just the fifteen minutes sound incredibly familiar, in a way that sounds epic and evokes the right atmosphere now I know where it's from and when it's played. I occasionally looked up the video - clarifying what was happening - but just listening explains it quite well. It sets up a simple love story, but does so well, as well as putting you in the place of the party that's going on. Even so, often the music and song can carry you away without knowing the details. Story aside, this is an evocative piece to listen to, and performed well in the given version.

The thirty-eighth TV show: #677 House

House is an odd show. Technically, I suppose, it's a drama, set in a hospital, with a bunch of ongoing story elements. However, it's also a medical procedural. The first scene of an episode sets up someone with a disorder (in later seasons making it a mini drama of who actually has the problem and why it goes wrong). Then after the opening credits, the real story unfolds, mixing the doctor's personal lives with solving the case.

The titular House is played by Hugh Laurie, who puts in an amazing performance as the brilliant doctor who is, to keep it polite, not a nice person. He's a medical Sherlock Holmes, set up to be brilliant and finding the right things, but not that focused on personal interactions. He's certainly morally ambiguous in several places, getting too up close in his staff's personal lives to gain control or seeing it as something else to investigate.

And what makes this all work so well is the sense of humour that comes through. Hugh Laurie is originally a comedian. He can pull off the serious work as well, but there's enough of a dark humour to make it work. It gets samey when binging it, but at a right pace it works well to watch.

The thirty-eighth album: #38 Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square

Another live album, and the artist's introduction immediately tells me where this will go - time for some more soul. Recorded in 1963 (the year used on the list), it wasn't released until 1985 because of the racuous nature of the music. It means, here that the music flows quite well, seamlessly moving between the tracks and recreating the atmosphere quite nicely. It keeps up the energy quite well - not going as high as others might, but creating and continuing a nice baseline that carries you through quite well.

It carries on the soul music quite well - one of the first artists to do so? - and it's been good to hear this genre getting my foot tapping this time. The album being live really adds to it - there's an interchange of energy that comes through in the record far more than if this had been played in isolation. Playing up for the crowd, and to it, means that the energy really needs to be high to reach them.

The thirty-seventh album: #37 Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift For You

Today we have a bit of a coincidence - we were putting up the Christmas tree and happened to put this album on. Two songs in, I realised what it was, and here we are...

Phil Spector always goes for big productions, showy, and it shows here even if it tries to pull back a few times. It mostly works, creating some classic interpretations of these songs, but the Silent Night - which has a spoken introduction - sounds weirdly unconfident because of it. It certainly gets you into a Christmas mood.

If you ask me, as a Christmas album, it's not the best, but when looking at it from the perspective of the artists and the time, it really works well.

The thirty-seventh TV show: #808 Archer

We've been keeping up with Archer for some time now. Covering it this time is a matter of revisiting the best ofs and enjoying those. It's one of those clever/stupid things, where there are a bunch of dumb repeating gags (like, just now, the mad scientist Krieger shouting 'smoke bomb' and running way) but also jokes that take a while or are smarter.

While mostly a spoof on a spy show, there is a lot more character development than expected, both growing new characters (such as Krieger) and expanding existing ones from, say, HR secretary to fellow spy. That doesn't mean it isn't pretty much all comedy episodes with a smattering of good gunfights, but so much of it starts to flow from the characters that it's pretty amazing.

The big heroes of the series, aside from the amazing voice acting, are the editors. Although all parts are recorded separately, they are edited together as if they're in a same room, with amazing overlaps - often working best when they act as links between scenes. Still absolutely amazing.