Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral): Mogwai – Helicon 1

Day 22.

This entry is as much for the video as it is for the song. The aching nostalgia conveyed by the grainy, stop motion footage is supremely powerful. Especially when paired with the grandiose melancholy of the song.

Due to this song being an instrumental, I decided it might be both amusing & informative to quote the Wikipedia page for the song’s description of its composition:

The song begins with almost inaudible guitar, heavily delayed and reverberated, playing a descending three note melody. At (0:25), a bass riff (based around the chords of D major and B minor) enters. At (1:00), slightly distorted, heavily delayed and reverberated guitars begin playing along to the bass riff, swooping in and out. At (1:34), a relaxed, slow drum beat begins. At (2:50), all of the instruments pause for a brief second, then explode into loud guitar-driven noise, backed by a steady, heavy drumbeat (to which every snare drum beat is accompanied by a tambourine clash). At (4:28), the distorted guitars and drums end, leaving the soft bass riff to close the song, aided by the guitar melody heard at the start of song, all of which gradually fade out.

Live versions of the song are performed at a substantially slower tempo.

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral) Spotify playlist.