The thirty-sixth TV show: #469 As Time Goes By

When we started this show, I was warned that it would be somewhat... old fashioned. Twee, perhaps. And sure, it is in place - when you make a show about a September romance, you're not going to get flashy, fast scenes or anything too risque. The same opinion, it seems, was also based on later episodes, while we watched this from the start. It both means things are probably fresher and that we have more time to get to know the characters. The humour relies a lot more on learning the characters and what follows from there.

From there, parts of the show are very 90s, but as many of the concerns are timeless. How do you make a relationship work after you haven't seen each other for 38 years, which covers a bunch of questions that are universal. Moving in together, for example, is something that they slowly build to, making for endearing, fun viewing. Far better than I expected - and a show we will keep watching, rather than throwing out after as we expected.

The thirty-fourth album: #34 Ray Price - Night Life

Getting some country in now, it's already a nice step up from the jazz I've been fairly ambiguous about so far. Ray Price sounds fairly good, although I'm not quite sure these country songs require the biggest vocal workout. The songs cover the standard familiar territory of love and places, and I'm not sure it quite leads me many places. It started off as a good change of pace, but I'm not sure this has the variation you see even in other country albums.

The lyrics are much more distinguishing. While there are a bunch of standard songs, others tell more of a story (as it often feels country does), of loneliness and pride, and thos estand out more. They may not quite get everything there, but it's still pretty decent. That's where the album seems to shine, rather than the music as others would.

The thirty-third album: Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba

The start of the bossa nova trend, we're back in gentler, jazzier territory - unfortunately, as I was hoping for more to follow in the rock footsteps from before. It's pleasant, slightly more swing than you otherwise get, but is still somewhat inoffensive jazz. It keeps your attention more than others, but doesn't really stand out in any way for me.

The thirty-fifth TV show: #545 King fo the Hill

We finished watching this show probably a year before we started the list, so quite a bit of it was still fresh - this watch was mostly down to reminding myself. King of the Hill is an interesting show. A Texan family might be a stereotype in other circumstances - leaning one way or the other - but the show mostly sticks in the middle, showing them up while also showing when they're right. It's a nice balance that shows off rounded characters. It allows you to draw in further, mostly with smaller stories that are far more relatable than most.

The breakout star is Bobby Hill, the son of the family, with interests that don't seem normal enough for Hank, causing some of the conflict, but allowing for something far more fun to watch for us. He's portrayed perfectly in the show by Pamela Adlon, who makes him real, more than, sometimes, other larger than life characters can be.

The twenty-sixth book: #26 A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift

Here's a short one - more an essay or pamphlet than a full novel - extolling a rather drastic solution to the overpopulation problems in Ireland of the day. It's short, with a simple premise, but incredibly well written and fun in the satire it presents. It's more obvious than Gulliver's Travels, sure, but it works. And on some level, this still feels applicable as a commentary on crazier schemes these days.

The thirty-second album: #32 Booker T & The MGs - Green Onions

We're slowly seeing rock creep into the list. Whie this isn't quite it, the guitar is starting to sound closer to rock. As an instrumental album, this will always have a higher hurdle to clear for me, but the songs hold up better already.

The Beatles are a few albums away, and it feels like this is heralding them and a lot of other artists approaching.It's quite exciting - especially as this is already good and, compared to instrumental jazz albums that came before, more varied. I really enjoyed having this on throughout

The one hundred and eighty-seventh song: Et moi, et moi, et moi - Jacques Dutronc

A nice poppy French song - a bit of a departure of most others coming from the country before. I'm not sure if the revolution had finally reached France, or took a while to take notable hold. Still, it means this makes for a nice, swingy pop song that I really fun to bob along to.

The one hundred and eighty-eighth song: Stay with Me - Lorraine Ellison

A song that came about - at least with this orchestral setting - almost by accident, it's quite powerful from fairly early on, a long, loud shout drawing out the emotion between relatively calmer, more contained verses. It works best when the emotional outbursts comes in, when Ellison goes all in, but the quiet buildups are required to work and make the effect work just as much.

The one hundred and eighty-ninth song: Al-atlal - Umm Kulthum

A ten minute song in Arabic, apparently recording the vocals from six feet away because of the power of her voice. It sounds traditional, but after a while becomes more clearly aimed at dancing, rather than any ritual focus. As a recording of a concert (it seems, based on the applause that interrupts the song a few times) the sound quality can be a bit uneven. It feels like a music genre, however, that we never really learned to appreciate.

The one hundred and ninetieth song: You’re Gonna Miss Me - The Thirteenth Floor Elevators

It's weird when garage rock become a palate cleanser before moving on to other known songs. It's pretty standard punk, aggressive, shouty, working up to its crescendos but not doing anything that really stood out. It's a good example of where the genre was at the time, and how it could even feel a bit mainstream. Then the harmonica comes in and it feels like these guys almost just want to do something weird.

The one hundred and ninety-first song: Substitute - The Who

This song is less aggressive than my generation - more Beatles-like in nature, a more poppy song than you'd expect from them. The vocal style is still there, and the protest is their in the lyrics, the guitars are just played less aggressively. It's not quite clear to me what underlies it, but it's an interesting evolution.

The one hundred and ninety-second song: Eight Miles High -The Byrds

Psychedelic rock comes in here. Good harmonies and good guitar work, it sounds very Californian, very polished. But what makes it special is how it drifts off, not aimlessly, but leading you away from where you are. It sounds slightly distant and otherworldly, exploring this different venue, which is what makes it interesting to listen to and sets it apart at this point.

The one hundred and ninety-third song: Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks

My first feeling? "We've become such wealthy musicians, but now we have to pay tax!". I'm not sure it's quite that intentional, as they seem happy with their life here. The some is relaxed, playing it cool, making everything feel good while a bunch of bad things have happened to the singer. It's still a simple, lazy day.

The one hundred and ninety-fourth song: Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones

This always gives me images of the Vietnam war, based on its use in the TV series Tour of Duty. It's a mysterious sound, partially from the sitar that dominates a lot of the song. Beyond it it's raw and emotive, aggressive and loud without being overpowering. Despite its oddities, it draws me in, in a way that sympathises with a certain depression and a way to try to dispel it.

The one hundred and ninety-fifth song: Summer in the City - The Lovin’ Spoonful

It took me a few seconds to recognise it - but once the lyrics start, you know. It's another poppier song, summery and relaxed - there doesn't seem to be much more to the lyrics, but it certainly sets a mood. It mostly just puts me in a good mood, in a way that keeps its own sound as well. It probably helps that there is a folksy bend to the music, in a way that doesn't get to me as much as it has in other songs. It works well here.

The one hundred and ninety-sixth song: God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

It's been a while since I've watched an episode of Big Love. That doesn't matter much at the moment, but that's the reason I've heard this song quite often. While a sweet love song, there are some creepy elements to it as well, in what feels like a weird dependence. The harmonies work really well and make a nice, smooth song - the Californian roots are there, while pushing it along as well to become its own thing.

The twenty-fifth book: #25 Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift

Here is another large work - although I swear most adaptations only do the first part, on Lilliput, while ignoring some of the later (sometimes more esoteric) chapters. It's true that the book goes weirder as time goes on, and gets more philosophical, but there's some more interesting reflection in that as well. There are still more interesting action parts in the last fourth of the book, although there were bits where the philosophical pondering got me a bit. What doesn't help there is that a lot of it covers British politics of the day, something I don't have much of a connection with. Still, read on past the famous bits, as the book stays quite good - and in a way gets better, with more of a message.

The thirty-first album: #31 Ray Charles - Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music

Again, a nice change from the jazzier albums that have been appearing repeatedly. The country/R&B album comes out swinging, nice and upbeat in a style that I felt I needed. It slows down in the second song, but in a good way. Obviously thiese sounds are no longer modern, but Ray Charles was clearly trying out different genres at the time, and succeeds here in making an enjoyable, engaging album.

The twenty-fourth book: #24 Moll Flanders - Daniel DeFoe

This has been an incredibly interesting story. Based on the stories of a known criminal of the day, Daniel DeFoe met with her several times while she was in prison. I'm sure that the criminal happenings were at least partially taken from real life, with a bunch of personal details (including the redepmption and happy ending) might also have been produced to create a happy ending. And it's true, those tales of criminal proceedings are probably the most interesting parts, the turns and twists to escape and stay safe.

Still, it's quite a life story, with some odd twists and turns - she ends up marrying her own brother at some point - that always keep me entertained. At the same time, it also gives an interesting view into life at the time, for multiple social classes.

The tenth classical recording: #7 Jean de Ockeghem - Alma Redemptoris Mater

Two shorter motets today, the first is this angelic choral song. It sounds good, although hard to place without context, and there's not much context coming forth for this work. The multiple voices work well in creating a uniform sound and it's a good composition, even if fairly uniform even for its shorter length.

The eleventh classical recording: #8 John Browne - Stabat Mater

On the recording: I do feel the Tallis scholars tend to elevate any song they perform, sounding clear and good without losing the work. It might elevate the performance here of a song that feels more complex already, compared to the previous work, playing more with the different voices. It's honestly a pleasure to listen to, and feel like a good step forward with the choral works.

The thirty-fourth TV show: #595 Rejseholdet

Our first Danish crime show. For some reason, Scandinavian crime shows have gained a good reputation in the past two decades and it seems that this show (Unit One) has helped with that. They, first of all, have interesting weekly (or sometimes two part) crime stories, based on real life cases from a team that gets called in when regular investigators havve trouble figuring out a murder. On top of that, however, some light serialization is applied. No on going cases, as you see more often these days, but there are occasional callbacks to earlier places - especially well done in a second season episode where the defending lawyer in a trial from an earlier season is called in.

More notable, and interesting, is that the personal storylines carry on through. Unfortunately a lot of it seems to come down to different marital and relationship problems, but at least it tries to vary them occasionally. The lead's storyline, Inge, is the most interesting. She becomes the leader of the unit and the first woman to do so. The first season then starts a storyline about balancing work and family, with a supporting husband, son and adopted child. This all changes when, near the end of the first season, the husband dies following a hit and run incident. It's heavy stuff, and takes it time to explore without getting too dramatic.

Then there are the internal relationships, which is what make the show entertaining. While they start off frosty - with the newcomer getting scorn - but the length of the episode allows for a lot of time to explore that. The crime is more than just a setting, but it makes it more interesting for sure. We're not quite done with the show yet, but we'll certainly continue it.

The ninth classical recording: #190 Ludwig von Beethoven - Violin Sonata in A major, op. 47, "Kreutzer"

The opening here worried me a bit, as I needed (and expected) a more energetic song. It takes a little while to get into the fury of the opening, which sounds aggressive in its speed and ferocity. There are points where it teases a more gentle sound, but it doesn't quite let up from all of this. The second is calmer, making a counterpoint to the first movement, in a way that's calming while still somewhat uplifting - a restful tune. The music plays with that, building on it and varying it where it can. It focuses on the contrasts, which seems to come together at the end, which mixes between the manic early parts and quieter second movement, tying it together quite nicely to create a more uplifting sound.