31 Days Of Panda, days 20-22 (FAIL)

Normal service resumes after an action-packed Sarah Health Escapade. The pain got much worse on Monday evening and we ended up calling 911-James and heading off to St Paul's. Excellently, they took pretty good care of her, kept her in overnight, and concluded that the mesh they installed for her hernia repair was probably reacting badly - fibrosis? - but it would get better itself and meanwhile here are some "potent" painkillers. Speaking from a point two hours or so after she took the first of them (it took a while to collect them from the pharmacy), they appear to be (a) indeed quite potent, and (b) working quite well.

So that accounts for where I was on Monday night, and I was kinda worried so I didn't go to sleep till 6am on Tuesday morning - and Sarah called at 7:45am to arrange us picking her up and bringing her home. 105 minutes' sleep is not really a lot, for future reference, but I survived the day at work and then I survived the opening session of Strongbow Chorus. A whole bunch of us were pretty much dead on arrival - Elena freshly back from Paraguay, James suffering the same sleep deprivation as me, and so forth - but I think fun was had. This season we're doing the ensemble version of "Tonight", which Sarah has arranged for more ensemble-ness (the four-part female vocals she's added behind the big male solo are absolutely gorgeous, and yes, I do realize I'm talking about Sarah having the skills, and the balls for that matter, to not just attempt to but successfully improve upon Leonard Bernstein), and "The Swingle Song", which confounded us a little but then improved dramatically (I may be mostly talking about the tenor section there). Tara did sterling work at the keyboard while Sarah sat relatively still. Next week neither of them is here so I have to lead the rehearsal - by using Finale as a sequencer and the big keyboard as the sampler, with a lot of muting and solo'ing tracks to help people out. Which should be fun - I hope you all look forward to that, Strongbowers! But it was great fun, even though I was moderately punchdrunk.

Exercisewise, well, bit of a disaster until today, when I managed to walk back from work. Only takes me about 35 minutes though, and I had no music, having exhausted Zen during the day (too sleepy to recharge it recently).

But what have I been listening to lately, you ask... well now:

• Jean Grae, "Jeanius"... okay, she's amusing and she can rap reasonably well, but her material gets a bit monotonous after a while, and I'd rather listen to Sarah Jones:

• Juno Reactor, "Bible Of Dreams" and "Labyrinth"... so they have an awesome band name, and that's why, after a deeply unpromising start with "Beyond The Infinite" a while back, I tried them again today to help get me through some lengthy spots of coding. And, hey, their brand of averagely-inventive techno was somewhat more serviceable this time round. It's not like they do songs that will ever crack the charts (of any relatively tasteful record-buying public) but it's mood music and it does the job. They could do with more tracks like "Conga Fury", mind you. And they could also, really, just do with being better. Like this, for example:

• Jupu Group, "Ahmoo"... I didn't know what this was, and a day after listening to it, I don't remember what it is. I would take this as "not a recommendation". I think it was New Age keyboard stuff, if that either helps or deeply shocks you.
• Method Man, "Tical 2000 - Judgement Day"... ahh, one of the last great Wu-Tang solo albums. A winner in every way, frankly. The title track doesn't show up until the end but it has a fantastic beat and spacey keyboard decorations with a cross-rhythmic chorus. Before that point you've heard over 20 proper songs (with a couple of surprisingly amusing skits). A thoroughly worthwhile album, great value for money, and, er, yes, don't buy anything by the Wu-Tang Clan that's dated after this point, would be my advice. Think of this as "a great way for them to go out". And don't worry about the turgid visuals in the video, just give it a listen:

(And, in what might be considered a special kind of bonus content: there's no sign of U-God making any sort of guest appearance on this album. Winner!)

• Missy Elliott, "The Cookbook"... now here's the problem with most women rappers, exemplified to perfection: they're different from men, but the only thing they rap about is that they're different from men. It's dull as ditchwater. Missy was a whole lot better when she was trying to be funny and not self-important. Her last four albums have all sounded like this: monotonous cascades of songs indistinguishable from one another, demonstrating how old-school she is, how true hip-hop is dying, oh, and how she wants to "ride a nigga", and all that crap. A lot of that. Rinse and repeat. Even the beats are getting old. Missy. Stop. Now. Please.
• Moby, "Wait For Me"... I listened to this today and, well, it just kinda drifted past my ears in a general way. I'll withhold comment. It was pretty at the start and end, but that's all I remember.

And amongst all that lot, I listened to one other album. But before I mention what it was... you might be asking yourself, "How the hell" - and maybe even "Why the hell" - "... does Gil listen to so much music and find himself unable to recall it mere hours later? Shouldn't he enjoy what he hears a bit more? Shouldn't he listen more carefully and then he'd be able to remember and tell us what happened on that album? Is he really telling us that Moby made an entire album and forgot to make it even remotely interesting?"

Well, the answer to all those questions is "Yes" - except the "how and why" one, to which the answer is, well, frankly, that's how I learned to filter out music which isn't really very good. I got into the habit in my 20s of listening to tons of music while doing something else, and relying on good music to intrude on my concentration and distract me so much that I have to listen to it simply because it's too good to miss. After all, why should I waste time listening to garbage? (I don't mean the band Garbage: their stuff usually does attract my attention.) If you want my attention, if you really think you're that good, Mr Musician, then prove it. Don't bore me while I'm listening to you: impress me while I'm not.

And that's why I now draw your attention to Radiohead's "OK Computer", because ten years later, this album is still able to focus my attention on it while it's playing. It's riveting. It's awesome. It was called the best album of the 90s, and there's a reason, man. I listened to it again today, and it made me listen to it.

Here are some of the disturbing videos it spawned. Warning: these push buttons. Be advised.



And this one's "Karma Police" - can't find an embeddable version, soz. But I should point out, this album is not all about creepy videos to songs of alienation. It's hard to describe, but this was one of the first albums to articulate the modern unspeakable, the unutterable that philosphers talk of. What is wrong with your life? What is wrong with our lives? How can that be voiced?

Radiohead tried. They did a magnificent job. This is why I listen to so much music. I'm always trying to find something else magnificent.