The three hundred and eighty-second song: Child’s Christmas in Wales - John Cale

Moving on from the Velvet Underground, this rather accessible pop song feels a bit out of reach. There's maybe something vaguely off about the lyrics, but on the whole it feels quite gentle, focused on a more orchestral sound that creates a more accessible sound.

The three hundred and eighty-third song: Solid Air - John Martyn

When I see folk mentioned, I have specific expectations, but Solid Air defies them. While bluesy and ethereal in its sounds, Martyn's vocals and stretched in a disconcerting way, creating that disconnect between reality and his sound. There's a s ong to Nick Drake, his troubled friend, and the sound here feels a bit disconnected and alien, as it's likely intended to be. It doesn't quite work, though, as I found it more repulsive rather than actually enchanting.

The three hundred and eighty-fourth song: I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe) - Genesis

Another example of how rock exploded, Wikipedia classifies this is as psychedelic rock - and while I can see that, it's also a lot more grounded, taking some cues from the genre while still providing an standard verse and writing a song about living a happy life without as many ambitions. It's a good riff, a solid song that avoids going too big - like the person it tries to portray.

The three hundred and eighty-fifth song: Cum on Feel the Noize - Slade

There's something crowd pleasing about these Slade songs. It has a loud chorus to sing along to, with the song itself being a simple celebration of the music. There's something compelling and aggressive, but also jubilant about all of it. It's populist, glamorous, but it deserves it.

The three hundred and eighty-sixth song: Living for the City - Stevie Wonder

Shifting from a song to celebrate to one with a meaning, Living for the City focuses on the difficulty of African Americans, at least at the time, when it was difficult for them to find better jobs or move up in society, instead living in poverty. It addresses it quite clearly and the soul wrapping, adding upbeat music and a general fun time to it, helps making it more acceptable. There's no sting, just reality, but that feels enough.

The three hundred and eighty-seventh song: I Can’t Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles

Starting off with timbales, I Can't Stand the Rain sounds different and more modern from the start. Although partially meant to resemble the sound of rain, the swing of the soul music also gets its power from it at the same time. It's a nice sound and really sets it apart in this era.

The three hundred and eighty-eighth song: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

From the same album as Candle in the Wind - whose DNA this shares - this ballad is obviously bigger with the harmonies that are throughout the song, as well as some influence from Bowie in these sounds. It's big and sweeping, melancholic but with the big sounds that really make it sound that much better.

The three hundred and eighty-ninthsong: Future Days - Can

This song is listed as an early example of ambient music, and it shows. Aside from a louder guitar riff and some slow drums, everything is buried in the mix, with hints of vocals and other instruments breaking through, but mostly ambling along to create a background track. It doesn't feel quite right to focus on listening to it, instead it's a background to what's really going in. It's nice, an unexpected relaxed treat to end this group.

The fifty-fifth comic: #260 Cheech Wizard

This has been an interesting comic. Focused on the anarchic side of comics and comedy in the 1960s (this was published in the National Lampoon), we have a weird hat-covered wizard who lives in a semi-fantasy world. A lot of the story revolves around the wizard chasing voluptuous girls, as well as following other darker subjects. While it looks rather cartoony, the contents doesn't always go there.

It wasn't an amazing hit with me. The comics are occasionally funny, but just as often disappoint and it doesn't feel like there's necessarily that much to them in the end. A fine diversion, but not much more.

The fifty-fourth comic: #367 American Splendor

The (initially) yearly issues of American Splendor are a set of slice of life stories, sometimes somewhat humorous but all just telling a tale of things happening in the cartoonist Harvey Pekar's life. It's somewhat depressing - perhaps more grim than depressing, but never really that friendly. Life goes on and is bearable, but the real sunshine in the stories is rare and bleak. It's not something to inspire big emotions, but it's a fascinating insight into a simple life that I enjoyed reading.

The ninety-fourth TV show: #699 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

We've been watching Sunny for a long time now, although we took a break for a while from getting through it. Coming back to it, though, has been a delight, and it's amazing how fresh the show is in its thirteenth season.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia takes the "no lessons learned" philosophy of Seinfeld to the extreme, creating a show around four, and later five flawed characters to its messed up extremes, between psychopathic and vile behaviour of them as they descend further into madness throughout the seasons and take those around them with them - something seen especially well in the fate of Rickety Cricket, a friend of the gang who not only can't get his life together, but makes it worse at every turn.

While you want to follow the adventures of the gang, the show threads things well enough that you never sympathize with the characters. Bad things happen to them, but they deserve it, and the way of their comeuppance is always a moment to look forward to. The fact that they can carry it off, and the main pathos comes from these characters failing in a deserved way, is an amazing treat, and I would argue this is one of the best sitcoms out there now, with some great ongoing performances.

The ninety-third TV show: #849 Downton Abbey

There is a group of historical dramas that focuses on the early 1900s, including the fall of the British aristocracy. Previously, Brideshead Revisited covered that, through time jumps that showed how times changed and why it would have fallen. Bleak House covered an earlier period, but the focus on the class system is still there.

Downton Abbey starts off examining some of this as well. Starting at the sinking of the Titanic, there is an older generation that clings on to the known ways while others are seeing how it cannot be maintained. It starts to feel, however, that after the first season got succesful, it got to glamorizing this era, as something to look back on as something better. It doesn't connect with me on that level and feels weird sometimes. The tension that was underlying the first season dissipates and the second season feels a bit toothless because of that. It's a shame, because the underlying concept might have been nicer. The show just doesn't actually keep up with that.

The fifty-third comic: #605 Madam & Eve

Today's comic is on the list in part (I'm sure) because of the time it embodies. A South African newspaper comic, started as apartheid came to an end, starring a white woman and her black maid, touches the zeitgeist in its own way. I don't think I'm qualified to entirely pass judgement on the contents of these - some concepts feel off, but this goes both ways and as this is about these characters adjusting to a new world, perhaps it's right that they're not always comfortable.

The jokes themselves are a mixed bag, as you get with most of these, with some hitting well and others falling flat. This probably happens more because we don't know the politics and situations as well. Still, it's decent, and the way it can be more cutting than others feels telling in itself.

The fifty-first Classical Recording: #17 Thomas Tallis - Spem In Alium

Going back to older motets, this was written for 40 voices, which especially reveals itself as the different parts go their own way, the different vocals mixing more masterfully than you'd expect for a situation where several lyrics are sang together. This creates an effect of all of them mixing and in my head an effect of these parts of prayer ascending together.

The one hundred fourteenth album: #114 Leonard Cohen - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen

A contemporary folk album feels like it suits the slightly melancholic mood I have at the moment. Starting off with the famous Suzanne (which I more know from the Dutch version), there's something comforting in the sweet and soft lyrics. It's basically incredibly well executed and a treat to listen to throughout. The various instruments and harmonies help with this and I feel I had a lovely folk album here.

The fiftieth classical recording: #894 Aram Khachaturian - Spartacus

Part of our trip to Athens gave us a special treat - a performance of the Spartacus ballet in an ancient Greek theatre. We were sitting in the shadow of the Parthenon as a ballet was performed on a stage that was about 1800 years old, thankfully with some cushions to alleviate the trouble from sitting on a stone bench all day.

The ballet itself, then, sort of fit the environment - the events aren't that far off from when the theatre was built - and performed by leading Russian dancers really felt amazingly polished. The whole is a lot more modern than Sleeping Beauty, with some jazz influences in the music and the percussion from the dancer (very clearly heard on the wooden stage). The music is a big contributor to it - it's swelling and big in the right places, tender sometimes but mostly supports a lot of the military elements well.

It's a case where the music benefits from being more contemporary even where it follows classic elements and does it for that dance form - and creates an evocative story that's comprehensible all the way through.

The sixtieth book: #1012 Cecilia

Halfway through, I gave up on this. It’s another story of a woman too good for this world, surviving in society, being wooed by multiple men. It feels overdone and I don’t feel this adds anything, except for too much length. The writing is becoming more readable, but it stops really providing anything that was worth it.