The one hundred and thirty-seventh classical recording: #309 Hector Berlioz - Le Carnaval Romain
As a collection of parts from another opera, this is technically an overture even if it never opened one on its own. There's a large party feel to most of it, big and hurried along while swept up in everything. Clocking in at under ten minutes, it's short, but leaves an impression in part because it feels more focused on the single work.
The three hundred and eighty-second album: #382 Talking Heads - Talking Heads 77
Talking Heads 77 is intriguing. I enjoyed listening, but not in a way that I would initially seek out - but at the same time, I wanted to hear more. There were enough surprises and different ways of approaching their sound in here that I felt curious about what else they're going to do. Psycho Killer cements this, being so much more high energy than the first half of tracks that it really feels like they're able to go anywhere next, and although it can feel mellow at times, it also shows how well the album manages to build that energy. It works, while still keeping the tracks distinct.
The three hundred and eighty-first album: John Martyn - One World
One World isn't easy to describe. It feels close to blues, is influenced by jazz, but has a poppy rock background that's ambient at times. It's listenable, a bit off putting in its weirder segments, but never something I felt I could settle into.
The one hundred and thirty-sixth classical recording: #489 Claude Debussy - String Quartet
One of the advantages of jumping around a list like this is the differences you can spot, even if you can't see how they build to those moments. There's a lot of complexity in this string quartet and it feels like it has been refined into a sound that requires active listening and a bit more engagement to listen to and understandThey both have their place and moment, and today the sophistication is one I can take where often older pieces are there more for the energy and presence, which this lacks sometimes. It's still a lovely piece and, from what I understand, one on the road of an ongoing shift in the music.
The ninety-seventh book: #77 The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr - E. T. A. Hoffmann
I don't think I expected the Tomcat of this novel to be a literal tomcat, even as literate and erudite as this one ends up being. It's an interesting way of looking at the work, taking the first person narrative story telling but letting an outside perspective judge it. It's not trying to really innovate that, but it makes for a nice and more whimsical look at the intrigue the work describes. Spliced together with Keisler's more human perspective, weaving in the narrative our feline comments on, it's a fun read, entertaining in a lot of places, though never quite giving you enough story before yanking you out and moving you to the other side.
The one hundred and thirty-fifth classical recording: #844 Oliver Messiaen - Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus
In the end, not all works will give me the emotions I need. As a work written in the final months of the German occupation of Paris in 1944, the tone of this work is sombre and sad in a way that hits at that same depressed point. While still a well played piece, with the listed performance by Yvonne Loriod sounding great, there's a delicate black cloud hanging over the piece that doesn't connect to me more deeply, like other pieces have tended to do.
The three hundred and eightieth album: #380 Wire - Pink Flag
Quick and hard, Pink Flag feels like the quintessential punk album: short tracks with just enough changes to make them stand out, an aggressive sound supported by its lyrics, acknowledgement of what came before but crystallizing into this style. Wire sticks around after this with a big post punk influence, but this already stands out as a good, inventive album that goes many more places than I would expect.
The three hundred and seventy-ninth album: #379 Steely Dan - Aja
One thing I wasn't preferred for on a Monday morning was a helping of jazz rock. For the most part, Aja goes for a milder, simpler tone with a lot more jazz sounds and feeling. From the jazz side, the rock instruments add much needed body to the work, with a direction that works better, while the jazz makes the rock calmer and probably better for a gentle introduction. The tracks go on a bit too long, but it generally works in context.
The one hundred and thirty-fourth classical recording: #33 Thomas Weelkes - Anthems
There's something listenable and accessible to Weelkes' Anthems that I haven't gotten before. Earlier choral works we listened to delighted in having a lot of building voices, thriving in complexity, but Weelkes keeps it simpler, focusing on fewer sounds and simpler compositions. While not as special, perhaps, it feels like it allows the music and songs to thrive more than the 'tricks'. Add to that a less sombre feeling to the works, where there's some fun to be had in some of them, and the various works come together really well.
The three hundred and seventy-eighth album: #378 David Bowie - Low
David Bowie does what he does best, avant garde pop that builds, in this time, on Brian Eno's more electronic and ambient work, mixing in more standard pop sounds with others that fade more. It's heavy on the instrumental areas compared to what I would have expected from Bowie's work, but here it just feels like another direction to go in rather than a complete change.