The one hundred and eighty-first classical recording: #598 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 10
Mahler's tenth symphony runs longer than I'm used to - the slow, sad first movement running as long as some other full works we've covered. Reading about the history, it feels like the ups and downs of the works reflect the emotional turmoil he felt - the slow adagio followed by a manic scherzo. It's a moving piece, not the fanciest, but it still feels like it's a lot more raw in places, ending on a contemplative note.
The five hundredth album: #500 The Cure - Pornography
Let's be honest, you know what you're getting when you listen to an album by The Cure. It is a dark, moody album, slow and draining. It's not a slog to get through, but it feels like something in there slows you down on such a basic level that it can't help but get to you. It's a well made album, the music is good, it's just exhausting to listen to.
The four hundred and ninety-ninth album: #499 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello hits similar beats as before in Imperial Bedroom - quite smart, thought out new wave music featuring some good, memorable tracks and a lot of interesting variety. They're not samey - his range is large enough to bring a real mix to the album - but it feels like it continues on the same, strong track, without any of it wearing thin. Again, it's his songwriting that all of that is build on, and this whole album shows it off really well.
The one hundred and ninety-fifth TV show: #872 New Girl
It's been a while before I could back to this, having put this on hold around when we started this list. It's been good to come back to, though. The series sticks to its loose premise - quirky girl Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moves into an apartment that has three guys living there. There are some relationship back and forth, but mostly it has wacky, exaggerated adventures in a way that a lot of comedies of the 2010s have been, done so well. It feels like a lot are, as you get, expansions on their existing characters, leaning into the goofier side, but it has enough leeway to not push it too far. It's great comfortable, but fun viewing, even five seasons in.
The one hundred and eightieth classical recording: #833 Benjamin Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
There's something unsettling about this serenade. Pears' voice, who did was written for, isn't quite as steady, which adds some emotion and instability to the piece but also stays a bit off putting. The strings are taunting and harrowing and the horn's low, deep sounds add to that. The work is sad and distant in a way that's hard to fully come to grips with. It's beautiful, but so haunting at the same time.
The one hundred and ninety-fourth TV show: #75 Z-Cars
I mean, Z-Cars was never a show I was going to watch for long, but it really didn't connect on any viewing. I understand that this show would have been more real at the time - the police characters are flawed, the stories don't always go right, there's no lesson to be learnt - but it doesn't quite hit the modern pacing even as it is edited to be quick for its time. Instead, the characters are unlikeable and the action unconvincing, to the point where it's off putting rather than engaging. While you may feel it gives an example of TV as it's developing, there's little to recommend it as a show to actually watch.
The four hundred and ninety-eighth album: #498 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message
When listening to The Message, there's something slightly off about it. There's a mix of R&B and funk in there with its harmonies, but it also has some early rap tracks that don't feel like they fit quite the same pattern. In the current times, it feels like it doesn't quite commit, but with Prince and Michael Jackson being contemporaries, they actually make a lot of sense in context as the music styles overlap. I guess I'll see it evolve in the coming albums, but just as rock grew out of earlier genres, we've got a new hip hop style emerging here.
The four hundred and ninety-seventh album: #497 Prince - 1999
So much of 1999 makes for a catchy album - it's hard to get away from all the songs that stick with you. There are some long funk fadeouts - still too much for my taste - but when it hits the groove and the song really gets going, the album is amazing. Even its double length mostly doesn't matter because so much of it is infectious enough to keep you going along. At the same time, parts of it feel forward looking, experimenting with electronic music in a way that hasn't intersected with R&B before. I'm not sure how many of those will move forward, but it does feel like an album made with a license to experiment and figure stuff out, with something polished still being released at the end.
The one hundred and seventy-ninth classical recording: #776 Ralph Vaughan WIlliams - Symphony no. 4
This symphony's large, loud opening belies the smaller sound that follows. It never recedes completely, but goes back to be more stylized and more straight laced, at times quiet and menacing rather than being in your face like the start. It still alternates, with a very frantic third movement building to the triumphant finale that matches the start of the piece. It's big and bold, but that's what works.
The four hundred and ninety-sixth album: #496 ABC - The Lexicon of Love
It's difficult to fairly judge a band when it's so clearly the inspiration for a Drew Tarver Comedy Bang Bang character... The Lexicon of Love hits all the known beats of the synth pop love songs, the bit of break up, the highs of love, the harmonies and the tortured metaphors. It's well put together, but to be honest, it's a lot and not always convincingly so.