The one hundred and twenty-fourth book: #94 Dead Souls - Mikhail Lermontov

When looking at Dead Souls, there are two parts I need to look at. The first half of the book is an interesting look at Russian bureaucratic life, with landowners selling dead serfs for reasons of taxation. It satirizes many different types of landowners you might see, but runs it in a way that takes time to explore these characters, making them more than just charicatures. And the liberties they take surrounding a beneficial transaction to them flows from that in an interesting way.

The second half is broken up, with chunks omitted and ending mid-sentence. Although this isn't quite as intentional - it seems like he burned the manuscript for it as part of delusions in his last days - but it works for the story. We're hearing the story of a fraudster, but it makes it feels more secondhand as there are parts that are missing and instead you just get fragments as you see passages from his life. It's a decent device here and even though it's not intentional at this point, it ends up enhancing the work further.

The six hundred and eleventh album: #611 The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God

It feels like as I make it through the years, my appreciation for the Pogues has grown - or perhaps they've moved closer to my sensibilities. While it's easy to discount their sound as just folk, the lyrics have more expletives and their own songs have a far more modern bent, addressing contemporary issues that wouldn't be in the traditional songs. It does so with the upbeat, faster sound of Irish folk, sped up by rock or punk influences, but it's the raw vocals with lyrics that actually look forward that make it work - in the sense that old folk would have been looking at contemporary issues of that day, but set up in a way that works that well for a modern audience, while still having the folk background.

The two hundred and twenty-third classical recording: #543 Maurice Ravel - Sheherazade

Potentially predating more manic lifetimes, these are three lovely, wistful tracks that feel like they can pierce your heart still. it's a lovely, wonderful sound that is just gorgeous. They're short but they really give you that emotion.

The two hundred and eighteenth TV show: #12 This Is Your Life

There's something nice about watching this show - seeing celebrities visited by family and friends, giving an overview of their lives. It's with some overdone enthusiasm sometimes (they clearly don't remember all the guests that visit), but when the guest is on, like with Carl Reiner, it's a lot of fun. If anything, I prefer the later editions as the early fifties edition moves, quite unexpectedly, a bit too quick, at times not giving the guests or anecdotes enough room to breath. A lot of it depends on how well you know the person - which I did select for - but on the whole you can see why it would appeal even if I wouldn't track down too much.

The six hundred and tenth album: #610 Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby

I haven't heard Terence Trent D'Arby's name before, but listening to this album I recognised the strong funk sound of, for example, Dance Little Sister. The rock background modernises the track compared to the earlier funk albums and the development works well for smooth, listenable songs that come from the same direction as Prince's works and other artists I know better. I guess this is as much of a stepping stone, though, and in the development of this sound it works incredibly well, while As Yet Untitled shows he doesn't even need the production, just his voice alone is strong enough.

The eight hundred forty-second song: Devil’s Haircut - Beck

The slightly lazy, grungey delivery of this song works well with the stoner vibe that seems to come with the song. Its polish is in the music, but nothing feels entirely focused - something that just works for the music here.

The eight hundred forty-third song: I’ll Be There for You… - Method Man featuring Mary J. Blige

The combination of hardcore rap and soft R&B tones creates a lovely combination, with a musicality that rings through. From what I understand, this was one of the first to do it, and I think the combination rarely flows as smoothly as it does here.

The eight hundred forty-fourth song: The Beautiful People- Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson's hardcore, deliberately offensive metal is quite known by now and this builds on all those influences - the title a serial killer reference, with a quote included, the driving aggression emphasizing that, and kicking against anything it can. It's a wonderfully strong hit and hits for me, but you need to be able to listen to it without clutching your pearls.

The eight hundred forty-fifth song: Criminal - Fiona Apple

This is a song my husband loves listening to and so I've heard it often enough even recently. It's good to listen to, a nice pop song with interesting, slightly dark lyrics and a good combination of sounds. I loved it. It's intense, but it works.

What a contrast with the previous song though.

The eight hundred forty-sixth song: Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band

I've never really sought out the Dave Matthews Band, despite being surrounded by plenty of people who are into them. His folk rock is decent, sounding quite good and working well at making its point, and this track performs it well, but there's not enough of a push that gets me, not enough of a message, not enough variation in the music or anything else that would hook me in.

The eight hundred forty-seventh song: On & On - Erykah Badu

There's something familiar to this sound of soul that we didn't hear before, but fits in that soul category. The track is intentionally sparse, with limited backup vocals and very few musics, unlike the bigger soul tracks of the past. Instead, it can really show Erykah Badu's vocals, which are strong in a specific way that really makes them stand out even further. It's a lovely track that I wasn't really expecting here.

The eight hundred forty-eighth song: Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check - Busta Rhymes

While it's tempting to explain Busta Rhymes' sound as a throwback to the earlier rap music, it feels like it takes the feeling of gangsta rap and combines it with a lighter, different sound of vocals. It's quite infectious, but creates a sound I feel others are just trying to imitate.

The eight hundred forty-ninth song: No Diggity - Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre

Blackstreet's smooth R&B has always worked so well for me, especially in this track. The vocals are so good, they really shine despite everything else going on. The music isn't too complicated - supporting those vocals more than anything - and Dr Dre's rapping is good as you'd expect, but it really doesn't need it. It's gorgeous and just not something to be ignored.

The six hundred and ninth album: #609 U2 - The Joshua Tree

While far from predictable, there's something familiar about what you get from a U2 album. It's a strong rock album, with a lot of anthem-like tracks, with incredibly strong, socially conscious lyrics that speak to the world at large. At the same time, the performance is emotional, it's driven, and it often manages to focuses on the smaller, human aspects of the subject rather than its grander story. It's skillful, it's impactful, and it works. With the Joshua Tree being one of their earlier works, there's a rawness and honesty that feels more fair, but there's always a strong undertone supporting it.

The two hundred and twenty-second classical recording: #980 Philip Glass - Violin Concerto

This is a lovely, abstract violin concerto, a bit of mystery and slower speed that gives a lot of time to contemplate and listen. It's sweeping and big, but not loud and overbearing, and the combination is one that works well here.

The two hundred and seventeenth TV show: #11 American Bandstand

I've covered Top of the Pops before and it's safe to say that built on this formula. Quite simply, they play popular contemporary music and the audience of the show dances to it. What's probably most notable is that almost all of these are recordings, rather than being performed (or at least mimed) live. I can see the appeal of being in the club without having to go out, but aside from how much feels dated, it just doesn't have as much to actually watch. I would have been almost as good as a radio show, and indeed that's how it's shaped, with the visuals not doing much. There might be a wider point here of how in these days, people are more connected and don't need this parasocial connection, but that'd just be a lot more speculation.

The six hundred and eighth episode: Pet Shop Boys - Actually

I've said a lot about my admiration of the Pet Shop Boys' music before when covering several of their songs, so it's good to reach the first album on the list as well. When listening to this album in full, rather than having the tracks in isolation, one thing that stands out is the darkness that comes through in the songs. It's clearly against the political establishment of the eighties, as well as challenging a lot of other societal expectations. It works, though, the more upbeat track getting well balanced and the darkness really having its impact.