The one hundred fifteenth TV show: #660 State of Play

There is something luxurious about these BBC mini series. Not because they're necessarily high budget - State of Play doesn't look cheap, but the budget probably didn't go that high either. Instead, it makes the best use it can of the full hour each episode can run for - not wasting time, but giving scenes and the story time to breathe and creating a natural flow for the plot. It might not be strictly needed, but it makes the story work so much better.

Then there's the acting. Looking at the list of names, it shows what talent is working on this. John Simm, Bill Nighy and others were somewhat known at this point and deliver the strong performance you'd expect, but there's also an impressive job by James McAvoy, who was just starting to arrive on the scene. It feels like they all give it their best and live through their roles. It's a joy to watch and they sell all of it.

In everything else, everyone is also at the top, down to the use of handheld, shaky cameras for some key scenes that feel slightly disorienting and important. All these choices feel considered and just right to create the atmosphere. The way the story comes together at the end is satisfying, while keeping parts of its decision close to the vest. It's a great show, from start to finish, and the six hours feel just right for it.

The one hundred fifty-sixth album: #156 The Band - The Band

So I guess we're in the era of self titled bands now, and especially those who draw from blues or, in this case, country to define their sound. They're some pretty relaxed songs, straightforward without tricks. The lyrics are well written - set in its own western world, but it works well as some relatively simple sounds.It's a good sounding album, present without being in your face and it feels it delivers all the way through. If anything, it's music you don't have to think about - leaving you more of a chance to think about the lyrics where you want to - and that's something that's been suiting my mood lately.

The one hundred fifty-fifth album: #155 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

As I've mentioned several times before, this is the time period where rock starts to evolve. With the Beatles' influence waining, we see other bands step up and create their own sound. The Rolling Stones were still around and it feels like they influenced Led Zeppelin more than anything, with a hard rock soudn that draws heavily on blues as well. There are more eclectic touches, and Black Mountain Side feels quick different, but there's a unifying sound that ties the album together, while still keeping the songs distinguishable. It's a good, solid rock album, living up to what it wants to be without unnecessary flourishes or additions.

The one hundred fifty-fourth album: #154 Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails

Happy Trails feels like a pretty experimental album, with an experience that's clearly divided in two halves. The first takes the song "Who Do You Love" and creates several movements out of it, with the band members each improvising or creating a "movement" around it in an almost solo piece. The solos are good and while some of the more improvised pieces take it a bit far, the ocncept and execution of this are good to listen to.

The other side of the album are classic rock songs - mostly instrumentals or with light vocals, focusing on harder guitar riffs with some odd sounds - some more leaning towards the psychedelic than others, leaning more towards some hard rock rather than being as experimental as the first half.

The seventieth comic: #218 Asterix the Gladiator The seventy-first comic: #245 Asterix in Britain The seventy-second comic: #274 Asterix at the Olympic Games The seventy-third comic: #341 Asterix in Corsica

We've got four entries on the comics list from Asterix. While there are four different books on the list, there are quite a few similarities. Besides, I've read a lot more entries in the series, so it makes sense to treat it as a whole.

There are a couple of layers to the books. The first times I read it, I just saw the basic jokes and had a comic book set in the past. As I grew up I started to understand some of the history jokes and the juxtaposition of the two worked. Now, the broad jokes may not land as well, but understanding the mafia subtext in Asterix in Corsica becomes a lot more amusing. The books deal in pretty broad stereotypes, but it only becomes amusing when you get deeper in it. Obviously, the books play fast and loose with history, but at the same time there are enough reference sin there that it feels like it tries - using the history without it getting in the way.

At the same time, there are times where the plotting isn't as tight. It can take a while to get going and the action is pretty constrained through parts of it - the diversions for jokes don't always seem worth it, while they leave the final resolution to the last two pages, which feels like a letdown. It's unsubstantial, which I felt some books did better than the other, but which I also remember being good elsewhere. This may not have been helped by the four stories being journeys away from the main village, where that village works as a better base. It means that at this point, the books were fine, but at my age, and having read more, not amazing.

The one hundred fifty-third album: #153 The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground

For me, the first song on this album starts off as strongly as anything. Candy Says is a lovely ballad about Candy Darling, a trans woman, and how she's unhappy with how she was born. It feels touching and effective, immediately reaching me. While not all the subsequent songs make as much of an impact on me emotionally, the other songs remain good pop ballads, with enough rock sounds to qualify as such but not going as experimental or weird. The album clearly sets out to make good songs rather than be experimental. Murder Mystery is the one exception to this, and it stands out for not fitting quite as much into the rest of the album. Even here, though, it mostly comes from the spoken verses interrupting the sweeter chorus, drawing from the contrast of the sounds of this album and these frantic interruptions. It just feels incredibly appropriate for the entire album - some lovely pop songs with that bit of art mixed in.

The four hundred and fifty-fifth song: Black Betty - Ram Jam

Probably one of the oddest covers on the list, Black Betty has a white rock band covering a work song - mostly keeping the lyrics, of course, but it's nonetheless interesting. The high speed drive of the song is quite a stand out in how it becomes form over function, a driving rock song over the contets of the lyrics, working to create its own classic.

The four hundred and fifty-sixth song: Born for a Purpose - Dr. Alimantado & The Rebels

There's an odd juxtaposition to this song. I can't say I've credited reggae songs with much meaning or value, but here the sound I started to find obnoxious fade to the background and the lyrics take more of a front stage, which feel like they have more meaning than in previous songs, giving the song more power. It clearly feels like it's intended to be more palatable for a larger audience, who would want to take the message on board, and despite my concerns at the start, this worked out really well.

The four hundred and fifty-seventh song: Zombie - Fela Kuti & Africa 70

I always dread it when a twelve minute song comes it. When it does, I hope for something that has a good reason to be that length and knows how to hold your attention. This being a song that draws on jazz that, of course, isn't guaranteed, and it takes over five minutes for any lyrics to come in, instead starting with a long introduction that manages to fade into the background quite effectively. After the lyrics come in, the song takes on more energy and the driving refrain of "zombie" works well to support the rest of the music. The drawn back instruments make sense as Fela Kuti's lyrics drive through. I only pick up words here and there, but there's something frantic about his delivery, shouting "fallout" and putting on a performance that, if you were involved in the conflict that was happening at the time, would have inspired me.

The four hundred and fifty-eighth song: Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush

Having been reading a lot of gothic novels recently, it feels appropriate that this song comes up during it. Based on a gothic novel itself, Wuthering Heights has its own sense of mystery and the supernatural in it. Kate Bush's ethereal, slightly distant vocals have a lot of power, but also feels ghostlike enough that it's not quite clear what going on and the music supports that as much - it's not quite as timeless as the lyrics, but still helps create that same sense of mystery that the vocals bring in. There's not been something quite like it, and it feels up there with the most experimental artists as almost creating its own new corner of music.

The four hundred and fifty-ninth song: Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna

Here's a new version - reggae with two female vocalists. It creates a slightly different sound the song that feels a bit out of place. Many of the same elements are still there, but it feels like the song is recorded more for fun rather than to tell a story, creating a friendlier vibe. It still feels like it doesn't give me that much more, but at least it feels like a twist on the genre.

The four hundred and sixtieth song: I Feel Love - Donna Summer

Reading up to prep for these songs, I saw that this is where electronic music really starts. Aside from Donna Summer's vocals (and a kick drum) everything is electronic and it just stands out how different this song sounds from everything before it. Sure, Kraftwerk has some of these elements, but here it is obvious and in your face and the sound is different from beginning to end. Donna Summer's vocals work great for the song and fit in smoothly, but they don't stand out as much as the ongoing electronic beat and sounds that you hear throughout, sounds that must have sounded alien at the time. There is so much musically that I can trace back to this idea and again, we see new options in music open up.

The four hundred and sixty-first song: Peg - Steely Dan

And after some genre-breaking works, Peg is a pretty standard soft rock song. There's nothing wrong with that - it works well here anyway - but in a revolutionary year this moves along as it should, a jazzy song that sounds good, has a good beat and gives a bit of a chance to sing along. It's a competent respite and probably does more to solidify the solid rock genre than it does anything more remarkable. Sometimes that's what you need, anyway, and it's a good prep before starting another long one.

The four hundred and sixty-second song: Marquee Moon - Television

Although Television is considered a punk band, Marquee Moon leans more towards the glam rock and art rock end of the scale, a decent but straight forward rock riff combined with lyrics with their own symbolism, but vocals that don't go too complicated. There are no screeching guitars, no loudness for the sake of being loud and subdued drums. There are times in the song where it shines through, but there's a restraint that you don't really here in other punk songs. Instead, it's a well constructed song, building to its moments well and capable of enough variation in its music to keep you interested, but that wears off about seven minutes in - there's just one solo too many in there, which feels like it goes against the way the rest of the song is set up.

The four hundred and sixty-third song: Like a Hurricane - Neil Young

I feel like I've heard most from Neil Young from his collaborations, which led me to be more disappointed by this solo song than I expected. I was hoping for something a bit more lyrics-driven than this is, with the vocals not convincing me while they feel combined here with a fairly standard rock track. It's not necessarily bad, but it doesn't feel as big or fresh as it could be, which is mostly what's disappointing about it. It's a bit uninspiring, in a year where there are so many more standouts.

The four hundred and sixty-fourth song: The Passenger - Iggy Pop

There's this weird side-genre to songs of travel songs. It has a driving beat, like a train racing along or trees passing your car as you race down the motorway. The Passenger is one of these, a rock song with an on going beat and chorus and Iggy Pop's low voice singing about his travels along some road or tracks. David Bowie's backing vocals are one of the things that break up the monotony of the trip. It's well executed as it all fits together, but also creating something that's a bit of an anthem and that feels layered enough to not belabour the metaphor - there is enough variation for that and all of the song works here.

The sixty-ninth classical recording: #59 Henry Purcell - The Fairy Queen

With today's classical peace we're looking at a Shakespeare play turned into a musical by Henry Purcell. It's fairly early in the list and shows how much movement classical music goes through in these early stages - these aren't the monk's chants we got 30 earlier. Instead, this full-on opera has a lot of musical interludes. It has decent music - not quite the otherworldly charm the title implies, but it sounds decent regardless, with some decent songs but mostly as its own orchestral piece that would, I assume, normally accompany the spoken word. I don't think this is one where I felt I really missed out by seeing the performance - it all stood out well enough on its own.

The sixty-ninth comic: #205 Jungle Book

Not based on the Kipling novel, this Jungle Book is a collection of stories by early MAD's Harvey Kurtzman. Some of these four are pastiches of popular genres at the time, while The Organization Man in the Gray Flannel Executive Suit is a satire based on his early experiences with publishing. It's probably the most interesting story, even though it's a fairly straight forward satire the structure is good and it doesn't work out its welcome. This works with Thelonius Violence's take on detective stories as well, playing with the jazzy noir stories while still delivering a strong story - it feels like it holds up well.

The other two story don't work as well though. The western story gets repetitive and boring while the southern story never quite grabbed me - I think it's the one where I really didn't know enough A mixed bag in the end - with a clearly stronger first half.

The seventieth book: #59 The Monk - M.G. Lewis

We've really arrived in the era of the gothic novel. The Monk has a fairly convoluted plot with a lot of characters who often have their own side stories and go off for a chapter or two to give some change of direction. The core character, the titular monk, is Ambrosio, a devout monk (raised by the monks after being left at the door as a baby) who through the novel descends into sin and becomes a definite villain, even until he's literally taken away by Lucifer at the end.

I found it hard to focus enough to keep track of the story. There are plenty of diversions that I lost tracks of parts of the story and the prose was overwrought enough that it started to bore me. I can see how it would inspire others, but I am looking forward to this developing a bit further.