The eighty-eighth comic: #901 Sardine in Outer Space
I have to say that in this case, dealing with a comic that's clearly not aimed at me is quite frustrating. I'm sure that it's fine in its category, but it's hard to see how this comic aimed at young kids is that important. The jokes are obviously kid friendly, following an anarchic set up of naughty jokes, kids being naughty and all of that enabled by the fun parent. What really gets to me is that the entire story line is immediate, throwing in sudden changes and expectations and just feeling unfulfilling. It is as if it's written by a five year olds - including their sudden "but they win because of this new thing" twists - which ultimately feels unsatisfying.
I'm sure it works for the target audience, but as a comic on a list of recommendations, it doesn't hold up.
The eighty-seventh comic: #572 Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga
On some level, Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga has shades of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, in that it tries to break down the comic in a meta fashion. However, where the latter focuses on breaking down the medium, analyzing it and trying to say something about the art form, Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga has a more down to earth, almost exploitative bend in the way it talks about drawing manga. The focus is more on creating a comic that's popular and will sell, without going deeper. While that works for the comedy (as over the top puerile as it is sometimes) it means getting lost in technical details that get a bit bewildering for a Western audience.
Ultimately, it means the comic is fun - really good from the start - but loses steam as it gets to some in depth genre 'analysis' (how do I reach the biggest audience, usually with some sexual undertones) that just doesn't appeal quite as much. Still a worthwhile read, but it's a concept that stretches itself just a bit too thin.
The two hundred and fourty-sixth album: #246 Neil Young - Harvest
The potential in folk and country rock is one where musically, it keeps itself a bit more contained - there can be more going on, but it avoids screeching guitars as well as the musically 'full' wall of sound. Not necessarily a man and his guitar, but while there's an orchestra on some of these tracks, it doesn't dominate. The connection you get with the work is more personal, from the vocals and what is there getting its hooks into you.
While Neil Young's technique follows these elements, I haven't actually felt a connection with the music in this album. For a large part, he appeals towards a sense of Americana in the lyrics that I don't connect with, the country roots of the music shining through in a way that's not aimed at me. The songs are good, proficient in what they do and they're an easy enough listen (probably helped by them not seeming that political compared to others in the genre), but ultimately the lack of real consequences makes them feel hollow, while not having anything else that grasps me. It's a fine album, but doesn't seem to reach the heights I'd expect.
The one hundred and fifty-third TV show: #366 Neighbours
Here's another soap - I'm trying to get through them a bit - but rather than the British ones I've mostly seen so far, this is an Australian series. It's a show that skews young - a lot of it seems to revolve around showing off a bunch of hot young people and the problems they get into, while mostly living the sort of middle class lifestyle that leads to and almost requires more complex storylines - amnesia from boiler explosions, charity sales to cover debts while pretending it's for underprivileged kids... I'll be honest, I found it hard to connect, even more than the other soaps I've covered here. Beyond that, it's a case of different people, same problems, made up to the standards you expect from a soap, but I personally I don't really get it.
The ninety-sixth classical recording: #627 Sergei Rachmaninov - The Bells
While originally based on a poem, setting it to music, more interesting is how this work explores the four different moods that resonate with the different bells reference - the cosy, communal feeling of sleigh bells, the formal and almost menacing sound of wedding bells that fades towards the angelic, the loud and imposing alarm bells clearly causing panic and ending with the mournful bells at the end. It's a simple story structure but works well as an arc of emotions
These four movements are supported by different vocalists, a different sound of the music, and some use of the glockenspiel, bells and other percussion instruments that give the sound of these bells. They are mostly used as emphasis, rather than dominating the work, but feel like a nice and welcome relief - I always feel they're a bit underused. Even so, the emotions and feelings created by these bells resonate through the work.
The eighty-sixth comic: #449 Akira
I knew of Akira through the movie adaptation before the manga, probably like most, and coming at a comic from that angle is interesting. Having seen its post apocalyptic world animated prepared me for a number of the beats - mostly at the start and end of the work, which follow similar beats. They set up a destroyed Tokyo after a big explosion, the military research program that goes in with them, and at the end it tracks some parts. It looks like that end was written after the movie was made - an ending that feels relatively abrupt following the longer exploration of the shows, and it's hard not to feel Katsuhiro Otomo was done with the series at that point
What lies in between those two sections are arguably as interesting, if not more so. While we start in a dystopian Neo Tokyo run as a police state, with gangs roaming the street, we see the government driven out in favour of a regime led by Tetsuo as a supernatural force, with the titular Akira as a figurehead. He doesn't necessarily have as active a role in the story, but there's that doubt in the background on how much control he exerts indirectly when we find out he could communicate telepathically.
It takes its time, working out the many battles and the ebb and flow of power in the former capital, while at the same time Americans (or an international force) come in to take back the capital as well. Several factions are at play, and while we never get a scene of them coming together, there's a lot to keep track of there that switches who gets to do what. In the end, though, that fades away for the ultimate battle, but the lead up to it is tense and interesting enough. It's a great mix of places, shifting from a gritty gang dominated world to a Mad Max style world, resolving itself in a body horror disaster movie with art that seems to move in my mind as I see it, drawn that fluidly.
Slightly rushed ending aside - it feels like it drops a couple of threads in favour of an ending that reinforces the dystopian nature - it's an interesting journey to go on with several characters, seeing them grow and build in this world, without a great attempt to improve or fix it - it's to exist and make a good place for yourself while helping others. There's an independence in it that's fascinating, and a slight bleakness that it can't quite overcome.
The two hundred and fourty-fifth album: #245 Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
Sometimes you don't really realise what you're missing in the albums until you hear them, and Steely Dan is just hitting that spot - a pleasant soft rock album, nothing extravagant but just cruising along to a gentle sound. That doesn't mean there's no energy to the performance - it's there, and something like Reelin' In The Years really adds some pep to your step, but it's not as extravagant. The poppy sound, with some country influences, is incredibly pleasant to listen to and I'd happily have kept it on for longer.
It sounds like this is a sound that might get more elaborate, and I've got three more albums to see how it goes, but at this point the lack of big production, a focus on simpler lyrics and sounds, is welcome.
The two hundred and fourty-fourth album: #244 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4
Did I mention yet that we've reached the era of heavy metal? Sure, this album features a ballad in Changes, more sensitive songs scored with piano and mellotron, and a weird experiment in the form of FX (I can only assume drugs were involved in that one). The majority are what you expect - loud guitars, heavy drums, and Ozzy Ozbourne's almost shouted, strained vocals that almost seem to struggle to get on top.
Heavy metal is a music style I need to be in the mood for, and I certainly prefer lighter rock than this, but it feels like this album walks the line quite well. It gets a bit much for me sometimes, but there's enough of a flow to it that the sound doesn't grow tiresome. I know it's a genre that's still early, and I'm more looking forward to how it evolves, but it needs the more deliberate choices and darkness of Under the Sun more than the comparatively generic St. Vitus Dance.
The ninety-fifth classical recording: #275 Vincenzo Bellini - I Puritani
My day today is dominated, as far as listening is concerned, by a three hour opera, in Italian of course, about the English Civil War. Of course, with my focus on the music rather than the visuals, a lot of this does tend to escape me, but often musically a lot comes through.
While other operas can be fairly jubilant in places, with a tendency to 'go big', it feels like here there's more of a focus on the solos and the smaller, personal sounds, often dropping music to let the vocalists stand, with a violin punctuating it instead. The lack of the chorus in those places really makes them feel more personal, even more when the soloists get the focus over the more complex interplay, and it feels more of a case of the music supporting the text than you would see in other operas. It's a great piece from that perspective - feeling unique without really losing your interest during the three hours.
The two hundred and fourty-third album: Big Star - #1 Record
With the rock world at this point dominated by glam rock and the start of metal, with big instruments and hard guitars, the simpler rock of Big Star stands out, foreshadowing later bands doing the same. These are the gentler ballads like Thirteen, which have a slight folk influence but mostly come out as a lovelier explanation. Then there's Don't Lie To Me, which feels like a throwback at this point but sticks through a simpler garage rock style.
While I've never heard of the band before, it feels like this is setting up a lot of what will follow - not exactly back to basics, but something that goes back to a focus on the music and lyrics. I'm obviously only seeing that from a snapshot - others would have done the same, but it feels like a good album for it nevertheless.