The seventy-fifth classical recording: #527 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 4

For a four movement symphony that is small by Mahler's standards, there is still plenty of big things on display here. The symphony never gets frantic, even if it's rarely solemn, instead displaying a confidence in its sound that is happy and pleasant. It's mostly peaceful and gentle, but explores that space as well, and the energy is always still there.

Once the soprano comes in, as a listener I had settled into a comfortable, peaceful place that felt engaging, and even some of the tempo increases there didn't phase me as much as I thought they could have. There's something to the nergy that pulls you along, while avoiding becoming that dreamlike - it just works out that much better on its own.

The eightieth comic: #634 Understanding Comics

I'm not sure what the best point would be to to read this, but I feel like 80 comics in, I got a decent base to understand the specific comics and styles Scott McCloud was referencing throughout - knowing French comics, for example, is incredibly helpful.

This work starts off by defining what a comic is, then after that analysing and explaining the medium in several ways - levels of abstraction, words versus pictures, as well as exploring the gap between panels. It's an engaging thesis - mostly right, and leaving plenty open to resolve - that gives me a lot more to think about when trying to understand comics in the future. The differences between different styles - especially Japanese and Western - is well explained here and it feels like subsequent works really made use of these ideas to create a way to produce comics.

This means that this is not only a fascinating read - and it really is worth reading for any fans, or anyone trying to understand comics and why they qualify as art - but also give you a better grounding for other styles.

The one hundred eightieth album: #180 The Doors - Morrison Hotel

With the original Doors album on the list being nearly ninety albums ago, it's odd to see the throwbacks of sorts we get in this album - although in reality, less than four years has passed between he albums. The blues rock feeling here feels a bit outdated, with harder variants having taken over, as the psychedelia has been toned down - the organ is there, but it blends in and the good, strong riffs take precendence. A song like Blue Sunday veers there more, but it's a song like Peace Frog or Land Ho! that stands out more. The lyrics aren't alway sthe most out there, but they work well in the road movie sense - decently meaningful wtihout being too complex, they work well enough together.

The seventy-ninth comic: #540 Zenith

It's a bit hard to talk about this comic, in part because I'm not always convinced they entirely knew what it was meant to be.

Zenith is a slightly vacuous 80s popstar who's also a pop star - I'm not sure how often that's used during his performances, but it explains his way of travelling without much concern about the world of his powers. He's the son of two other superheroes, who disappearing in the 60s, together with all the others that exist. The first volume explores this odd world, bringing back some past superheroes to stop the ancient evil and exploring some of the things that would have changed and the generational conflict involved.

Later issues bring in an anti-Thatcher and (for a special) anti-Blair element, with a former/current superhero with mind control as part of the Tory government, which it hints at but doesn't address enough to really work. There's a story of fighting evil in there which works well in the original issues, and a "are we right to destroy some things after they're overrun by evil" section that sadly gets undercut later. The fourth issue breaks down and the story doesn't stick as well.

It's a decent read, but the story fails to engage near the end - which stays unfortunate.

The one hundred seventy-ninth album: #179 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

The other side of rock in the seventies feels like it really emerges here, as heavy metal comes to the foreground. The drawn out, bassy blues tones of the opening number set the scene for a gothic, intense album that indulges in the theatrical, including its dark lyrics, but also has some good, rocking tunes that sound good on their own - the choice is yours on whether you dig deeper, but it works on both lev

The seventy-eighth comic: #325 Ayako

Ayako really plays with your emotions through its run. Set, initially, in a small Japanese village, we follow a Japanese soldier who was a prisoner of war as well as a spy while he was there. He stays involved in shady dealings throughout, but slowly the focus shifts to his youngest sister, Ayako. Because of his involvement, her life turns rough and she is held underground for a long time. We explore her psyche partially, as well as the developments during and after her capture. She's part of a rotten family, staying an innocent but not always acting that way, and in a way, after a long time, resolves the crimes that were committed. The ending is incredibly fitting, and it was engaging throughout, a lovely work that really manages to get you in places.

The seventy-fourth classical recording: #799 Bohuslav Martinu - Double Concerto

Reading up a little about the tensions at the time it was created, with Europe on the brink of the second World War, the music makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of tension in it, a lot of anger as well as slow, tense bits that really get to you. It's quite impactful, making me feel the anxiety but also bringing in some moments of hope, which is just as welcome. It feels like it reflects my disordered mind at the moment - the perfect sound for me today, really.

The one hundred seventy-eighth album: #178 Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

While the album has a lofty title, Spirit's fourth album doesn't quite have the ambition or storytelling to make up for it - there's no Dr. Sardonicus through line or anything exciting like that. Instead this is a solid prog rock album, well produced but mostly with a solid musical core that lends itself to some good music. It's good early 70s rock, with some experimentation but toning down the psychedelic rock that came before - it's still in there, but it's mostly well produced, entertaining rock. No tracks stand out individually, for good or bad, but they combine into a really good one.

The four hundred and eighty-fourth song: Human Fly - The Cramps

While the influence of punk on Human Fly is clear, its country roots are as obvious and interesting. The music is calmer, more suiting to country if not for the harder guitars and the hissed vocals that stay clipped through. It's a different, unsettling sound that I don't think we've heard as often, but creates an atmosphere of its own.

The four hundred and eighty-fifth song: Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) - The Jacksons

While we move into disco here, for me this Michael and Randy Jackson-penned work falls flat. There's often a big push on repetitive calls to dance in disco, with a comparatively simple song surrounding it, but the fact that this has an eight minute version that, I suspect, repeats itself a lot, grates. I was hoping there'd be more to the song, but it stays where it starts and doesn't really seem worth it.

The four hundred and eighty-sixth song: (I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Even without the title, there's something quite British about this song, with Elvis Costello's vocal performance standing out as being that bit different. It's a nice, almost happy song that talks as much about the movies set in Chelsea as the desire to stay away. There's something quite entrancing and good about it - I'll get to more one day.

The four hundred and eighty-seventh song: One Nation Under a Groove - Funkadelic

There's somethign a bit lackluster about this batch, and as much as Funkadelic tries to set up a world to dance away, the music is too mellow to really get me going. It's a fine beat, but the whole thing again feels a bit flimsy without offering much to enjoy. It picks up halfway through the song, where it picks up and brings in a nice bridge, but it struggles to really get out of the funk it starts with

The four hundred and eighty-eighth song: Das Model - Kraftwerk

There is something incredibly German about this song. We already expect the electronic melodies of Kraftwerk - in fact, I'd argue this is more melodic than other songs of theirs - but the almost-monotone, deadpan delivery of the lyrics by Emil Schult is exactly what you'd expect, creating a distance between you and the song and making it feel more mechanical. It's what suits the Kraftwerk style and brand, but there is also some humanity that comes through the otherwise dispassionate observations.

The four hundred and eighty-ninth song: Shot by Both Sides - Magazine

There's a darkness throughout this song, a commentary originally based on DeVoto's political beliefs, but possibly something that applies now. It's a hard, angry punk song that works well for me and works as a punk brand.

The four hundred and ninetieth song: Public Image - Public Image Ltd

As a follow up to the Sex Pistols, here John Lydon tries to make a statement on his own public image changing, with the expectations others have of him. I'm not sure musically that's entirely successful - while the song feels lighter than their work, there is so much punk in there that it's hard to separate out. As a message, however, it's quite effective, and the song stays good to listen to regardless of its origins.

The four hundred and ninety-first song: Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers

While we have another punk number here, the Northern Irish lens the music is filtered through makes for an interesting point of view. Stiff Little Fingers writes about the Troubles, but is formed by people from both sides, and there's a lot of substance here talking about the problems that are happening. It's a powerful number that really brings out what's happening and shows how music can comment on the world around it.

The four hundred and ninety-second song: (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash

Fusing punk with reggae, it feels like the Clash is trying to make a statement about commercialization with a bit of scattershot approach, addressing several different places. It's not the most powerful as a song - the nearly shouted lyrics not fitting in with the relaxed reggae rhythm. While it's a bold experiment, it doesn't create a working whole through the song.

The one hundred seventy-seventh album: #177 Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

In my effort to get a last album in before the end of the year, I've ended up with a 90 minute jazz classic.Perfect, I suppose, to work to, but not quite the upbeat album I was hoping for. Bitches Brew does swing in places, running faster than some other jazz arrangements, but while the energy is there, it doesn't grab your attention or elevate things.

What it does manage to pull off more than most jazz albums is variation. There's a lot going on in here and while parts riff on the same chord, there's so much variation in here that it gives you new things often enough.

The seventy-third classical recording: #98 Johann Sebastian Bach - Christmas Oratorio

As Christmas is approaching, it seems appropriate to listen to a Christmas-themed work. An oratorio doesn't feel quite like a classical Christmas work - the German lyrics alone make it harder to get into that - but the music is lovely, with the instruments creating a decent variation as well - it's not over two hours of the same thing.