The three hundred and ninety-fifth album: #395 Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
Any type of avant-garde, art rock or similar experimental music will always be more hit and miss than music following the proven formulas. It means that when you start listening, you appreciate the music rather than enjoying it. It's a weird listening, there's somethign to it, but you wouldn't add it to your rotation. It's a fascinating sound, but as many misses as hits for me, sometimes having both in the same track. It's like a piece in a museum - you look at it, appreciate it for a while, but never end up getting the print.
The one hundred and eighty-first TV show: #629 Takeshi's Castle
It feels like Takeshi's Castle was the first of many extreme physical gameshows, followed far later by the likes of (Total) Wipeout. A lot of players start doing a bunch of challenges, often involving falling into water or mud, and the ones who reach the end have a chance to win the prize. Takeshi's Castle was the first, airing between 1986 and 1990 but made internationally famous by the episodes that aired in the UK in the late 90s with Craig Charles' voice over. It's clear that this version is the easier watch for us - it feels like it cuts out a lot of the comedy sketches and explanations, giving it a proper focus on the falls and action you're watching the show for.
It's a fun watch, the difficult challenges making for great TV when they succeed (although apparently the best failures went through each round as well). With that said, there are only so many ways you can fall off rolling logs and dealw ith teh other challenges, and so the 200+ episodes that are available are probably a bit too much to be worth watching, but it's a good show to put on every once in a while for some mindless simple entertainment.
The one hundred and eightieth TV show: #458 2point4 Children
There's something weird for me watching this show - it had a Dutch remake that used the same scripts, but translated and localized. It's still pretty familiar with some of the beats being the exact same - something quite disorienting when I remembered it, with some of the translations being spot on like that.
With that aside, the show is good, The concept is similar - a fairly standard sitcom family - but one that's written more as a British comedy, with less recurring gags and denser episodes with the shorter seasons. It's well acted, with some dramatic turns and a lot more continuity and carry over between episodes, without having to reset at the end. It's a lot of fun and still a great series that holds up after all these years.
The one hundred and fourty-second classical recording: #858 Arthur Honegger - Symphony no. 3, "Symphonie Liturgique"
The heavy handed start of this symphony stands in contrast to a lot of its following, delicate sounds - according to the composer a reflection of the Second World War that had just ended and his desire for peace after. It becomes lovely, sweet and dreamlike, making for a lovely piece in general.
The three hundred and ninety-fourth album: #394 Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
For a lot of the album, you will know what to expect - it's the Sex Pistols, their vibe and sound are well known and God Save The Queen is defining for both their sound and the direction of punk in general. Like the band's initial career, it comes it, is loud and brash, but leaves almost as soon as it arrives, leaving its mark.
The three hundred and ninety-third album: #393 Ian Dury - New Boots
And Panties!!
Just as I thought I'd started to pin down this album, Billericay Dickie starts and we get a music hall song - complete with innuendos - that breaks the punk-leaning rock songs. It shows the depth of Dury's song writing though, complex and more layered with more of a feel of where the lyrics come from. Dury's vocals are often quite flat by comparison - intentionally, as some tracks make it clear he can mix it up, but it creates a focus on the lyrics that is underscored by the straightforward music that accompanies them in places. It's always clear he could do more - showing off in other places - but it feels like an intentional choice to keep the focus on each area as the song goes on. There's a lot of rock still, ups and downs, but it's an album that feels like it has more lurking underneath than most.
The one hundred and fourty-first classical recording: #136 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Idomeneo, re di Creta
I try to reserve operas for days where I have the time to fully listen to them, as the three and a half hours Idomeneo takes is something I need to set aside. It's worth it, even if, as with this one, I am not really attempting to follow along.
While the score has several of the big opera scene sounds, it also features a lot of the more delicate music you get from Mozart's work. It flies along, keeping its sound minimal and delicate, which helps enhance the performances.
The three hundred and ninety-second album: #392 Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
After yesterday's meander through styles, Lust For Life's titular track starts the album. Droning on, its punk is aggressive and droning, the drum riff dominating without fail. The following tracks move to and away from that, but it keeps having this stronger voice throughout. While Bowie's hand is still in it, his influence has diminished and it feels like the album features Iggy Pop's voice more, whichsuits his strengths and makes for a stronger collection of songs than The Idiot.
The three hundred and ninety-first album: #391 Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
I don't think there's a track on My Aim Is True that truly stuck with me. They are incredibly well written, with a variety and skill that makes the album really intriguing and fascinating to listen to. Each song needs some time to listen to and get and it never gets boring. It's just the case that it never quite works to really grab me further either, no real identity and nothing unique. It's a really good listen, I'd just struggle to find what to come back to.
The one hundred and fourtieth classical recording: #245 Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in G Major, D894
Described as serene with dark moments - the latter something Schubert is known for, but kept restrained here - there's a world in this sonata that I, again, enjoy seeing conjured. There's a tenderness in the sonata that really got to me, floating through as I was listening to it.