The sixty-sixth album: #66 The Kinks - Face To Face

I feel like in the two first songs on this album, we're seeing two sides of the Kinks. While both are reminiscent of Beatles and Rolling Stones songs, the first is harder, while the second is a bit more of a ballad with psychedelic rock influences in its sound. It's the second that dominates the album after that, songs about real life at a gentler pace. There are some weird choices in there, with sound effects mixed into songs that were meant to link them together, but just feel like they interrupt the songs without reason now.

For the most part, it is a nice set of rocky ballads, with a handful of songs that rock more and try to get across a more aggressive point than the life stories in the quieter songs - in the former it swings towards punk. It's all about simpler things in life - again moving beyond love songs, but not trying to make their messages to big most of the time. We've had Sunny Afternoon on the songs list a while ago, and it stands out here as well. It's a still a pleasant melody and gives a good feeling overall. It's not quite typical, but tops off a nice album quite well.

The sixty-fifth album: #65 The Monks - Black Monk Time

Time for some garage rock. Unlike what I've heard before, the album clearly focuses on the rhythm, with very loud drums and the vocals over htat, again relying on repetition. It feels like hard rock, one where the loudness matters a lot. The lyrics have different influences, but the album plays much like a long concert, with shouted intros and the first song introducing the band.

Still, the album shares a lot of common elements - the songs aren't always that distinct, using repeated elements in the way the chorus and harmonies go (as much as you can call them harmonies). There are many elements in here that I do appreciate - there is a lot of energy in the songs and I like the move towards punk, a streak that's there musically as well as lyrically. It really feels like we're in an era where music is trying to mean more, with a youth voice arising that is trying to have an impact. For, it does it by sounding good while doing it.

The thirty-fifth book: #35 Candide - Voltaire

Candide felt a lot more readable as a book than the previous few. It was reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels in places - visiting a very mythical El Dorado, as well as setting up other odd situations and miraculous survivals. It's fine with the tone it's going for - over the top, clearly to go against other works that might be less miraculous but try to be serious. In that sense, it's more like Gulliver's Travels: The tone is satirical, making fun of some established tropes, but also making a philosophical argument.

I sort of got the point, but it didn't matter too much. When you accept the outrageousness and bad luck - taking a tour around a bunch of recent disasters and at one point meeting several deposed kings - it's quite interesting to read some of the banter and discover the characters. There's some preachiness to it, but for the most part it's paced well enough to still work. A welcome break after the past few setups.

The two hundred and seventy-seventh song: Sister Morphine - Marianne Faithfull

The eerie vocals of Marianne Faithfull make this partially Rolling Stones-penned song the chilling song that it is. As a song about addiction, this was apparently prescient for her later life, but on its own it also stands out as something that strikes me as somewhat harrowing. It's dark, and while the melody was written first, the lyrics overpower that in the sentiment and sound of them.

The two hundred and seventy-eighth song: Okie from Muskogee - Merle Haggard

Here's a country song that, as so many relies on the lyrics to stand out. And the tone of them... One of the best I can look at for this one is where we place King of the Hill - it is sympathetic with those living in a smaller mid western town, but also makes fun of them, a sympathetic look at the flaws if you will. It sounds decent, but is hard enough to read that you can always find something in the lyrics.

The two hundred and seventy-ninth song: Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin

Heartbreaker is a song that suits my tastes more closely. It's a really good rock sound, heavy and hard, taking all of that on board without pushing it too far. The (later edited in) guitar riff feels a bit out of place, but makes for a good solo, setting up the guitar even more as its own individual sound and focus.

The two hundred and eightieth song: Is That All There Is? - Peggy Lee

We just took a break to wash some fresh cherries, bought a few hours ago at Borough market, and it has made for a great break to jump from Led Zeppelin's hard rock to this gentle pop song that harkens back to the big band days. This sounds good, the story being told well, but with the happier music contrasting with a depressing set of lyrics, all speaking of disappointment. It's an obvious contrast, but works well. It has a sense of humour about things that works well as an anthem to keep going, regardless of what life throws at you.

The two hundred and eighty-first song: Sweetness -Yes

While I understand Yes later really becomes one of the faces of prog rock, here it feels like we're listening to a Beatles song, a love song that experiments a bit with its sounds, but in this case draws from its influences. It takes a lot from the Beach Boys harmonies as well, and in that sense we're seeing the groundworks of post-Beatles rock emerge, going towards its own style.

The two hundred and eighty-second song: Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley

Elvis had an impressively long career, where he keeps up with musical trends and does his best to seek out contemporary sounds. While it has big band influences, Suspicious Minds is bringing in a lot of rock as well, using his voice to meld the sounds quite well. His voice is as strong as ever and it shows why there was a comeback here - it brings you along to sound that good.

The two hundred and eighty-third song: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills, & Nash

This is a suite - a collection of linked songs as we see more often in the classical list, but is clearly a rarity in modern music. What we're getting here are a lot of complex harmonies that sound amazing, the guitar underlying the song feeling unnecessary for the first two parts as the harmonies do so much already. Aside from the harmonies, the most impressive part here really are the four parts of the song, creating a unified sound that's still all different that doesn't otherwise come out in that many performances. The final section, with a release, especially comes out naturally while creating an upbeat coda that wouldn't otherwise fit in.

The two hundred and eighty-fourth song: Pinball Wizard - The Who

So somehow, during a late night TV showing, I have seen the movie this song was a part of. It's an absolutely bizarre piece of watching, but the music is very good even if the subject is odd. The lyrics, too, are clunky, but the sound, call and response and so on, sound good and as much as we had a concept album here, it works out. There's so mch energy put into this that it convinves you based on that alone.

The two hundred and eighty-fifth song: Je t’aime…moi non plus - Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg

These ballads make for a weird change of pace when listening in an era where rock dominates. Dominating love scenes around the world, this sounds sensual and close and while nothing happened in the recording booth, Birkin and Gainsbourg are clearly close enough that they bring those feelings into the recording and it sounds real and convincing. Part of the song, after all, is just empassioned moaning, other parts just whispered, which is really enough to be convincing.

The sixty-fourth album: #64 Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

Starting off rather racuous with a loose 'Rainy Women', the album sets up a misleading first track. All of this sounds like Bob Dylan - the sound is still there, just, perhaps, slightly bigger in sound in places. That doesn't mean the lyrics are ignored, but everything seems build up nicer around it.

It also gives the songs far more of an individual feel. When there is so much of a same style, songs can start to blur together, and while there is a clear risk of that with Dylan, it doesn't happen here, each time it was enough of a difference to make me sit up and recognise those differences.

The thirty-fifth comic: #705 The Sojourn

I have read and seen a lot of different takes on World War II and the ones I enjoy best - possibly because of my own background - are "life during..." narratives - the events of people resisting but also adapting to life in wartime. Military stories generally don't interest me as much, and it's rare that WWII narratives have it in a way that's palatable. For me, it's the small human stories that get me.

You see, Sojourn is set during the second world war, in conquered France, where a soldier taken away by the Germans escapes the troop train. His escape stays hidden because the train was bombed soon after, without survivors, and his papers were found. He's thought to be lost, and gets away from his fate that way. He hides for some time, aided by the villagers while trying to remain undiscovered. It ends with him following his love to Paris.

It's a recognisable story, starting small and avoiding the big action elements you often see in these stories - while we see the resistance, most of the story is more about Julien's survival, and the trouble of those around him. It looks good as well, drawn in a semi-realistic style that sets up the story well.

The sixty-third album: #63 The Byrds - Fifth Dimension

Back to our folk rock band, it feels like we're in a new stretch of folk music on the list (Bob Dylan is next). The same gentle rock plays through this album, with lyrics that are more refined and intelligent and require some more work. It's musing about life and the world a lot more, the title track inspired by Einstein's theory of relativity. It's a lot more challenging and interesting this way. The music also feels more ambitious and I do have to say that to me this is quickly became better than Mr Tambourine Man.

Perhaps it's because psychedelic rock infects the album as well. The subject matter suits it better, and Eight Miles High soudns just different enough in the same way Beatles songs will tend to go. It creates some strange and experimental sounds that take the music in its own direction, whilch is where its appeal for me really comes in.

The thirty-fourth book: #34 The Female Quixote - Charlotte Lennox

It's been a while since I finished a book - partially taking a rest after some difficult books, but I've also been distracted by Jojo's adventures still.

The Female Quixote was a tricky one to get back to, in part because by its nature, it isn't one that works well for me. As much as I enjoy the pastiches of existing styles, these old books have the downside of not having a modern translation - Don Quixote seems in part more readable because a modern translation updates the style, while the (now) random capitals and oddities in laying out feel like they make this novel more difficult to read. It's not quite worked.

At the same time, I don't care much for the romance novels this is commenting on, and other works have been better at making fun of them. Perhaps it's because this is based on a society and worldview that's unfamiliar to me. It's making me look forward to more modern novels, although next is some French (hence translated) satire. Perhaps that will work better.

The fifty-fifth TV show: #823 RuPaul's Drag Race

My LGBT colleagues have been into Drag Race a lot recently and their obsession made me want to watch it. Of course, with it being on the list, it might not have come up a lot... so I spent half an hour trying to find the strip so we could watch it.

Peter wasn't sure - not being into drag - and so this was almost trying to win him over. He loved it and that suited me, as I have been gettin ginto the show a lot more than I expected.

For full disclosure - we watched the fifth season (described by my local experts as the best) and the first (so we could continue watching everything else). The distinction is clear, with more entertainment challenges in the later scenes and loads more polish. But what it shows most of all is that this is a type of performance that requires a lot of different skills - both make up, styling and couture, as well as performance through dancing, lip syncs and comedy. I think personally I go slightly more for performance over looks, but the best ones are those who develop a style in both - one with enough flexibility to vary both, but enough to stand out.

Beyond that, it's just incredibly entertaining. Especially when there's just enough drama, just enough style, just enough everything. There are times when it feels incredibly edited, but it also has moments where it feels real (and where they later confirmed the moments were). On the whole, it's entertaining - both because we see accomplished, experienced entertainers at work who have to show a wide variety of skills and because there is so much going on that's set up to create fun and drama, while the circumstances allows them to have more of this happen as well.

I'm looking forward to our next season.

The sixty-second album: #62 Fred Neil - Fred Neil

I don't think I quite got folk music. It really feels like my parents' music - or mostly my father, in my case. It has a dated feel to it and it takes some time to get past that. Bob Dylan manages to do that with some evocative lyrics (though it may be a bit much to describe him as purely a folk rock musician) and later fine experiments, but Fred Neil doesn't do it quite as well. While there are certainly some interesting sounds in here, for a large part they feel like basic country . The lyrics, when they're present, don't do much for me and on the whole it didn't get me, where other albums do so from the start.

It's not that the lyrics are bad, but musically they simply don't inspire me. Case in point is the big song from the album, Everybody's Talking. Sure, it sounds fine, with a decent message, but it just never manages to grab me and make me interested. A bunch of the vocal stuff he does - mumblng at times, a weird vibrato at others, also feel weirdly affected, unnecessary and to me a bit off putting. I guess it's his style, but then it's a style I don't care for. It's a shame, but on the whole this feels lacklustre compared to what I want.