Listen to this one in the dark for added spookiness. If you've been following my blog, you are aware that the music I love is mostly from the 60s and 70s. Although Half Day Closing can no longer be considered recent, it should be noted that it came out 31 years after yesterday's choice.
The 30 second intro takes us deep into a strange and unnerving place, with haunting low strings and other discouraging sounds. When Beth Gibbons's voice comes in, it is not to calm us but to up the ante and lead us into Blair Witch territory. It's all distorted and panicky. Yoinks! Where's the Mystery Machine? More scary sounds appear after the first verse. Beware of darkness.
Fortunately, around 2:00, a guitar pokes its head into this desolate landscape to remind us that there is indeed a pretty cool chord progression going on here. This is my favorite part of the song, especially that little riff around 2:13. After another chorus, Beth's voice is given the siren treatment and sent off into electronic space. Whew, what a trip. Now let's find out who our witch really is...Geoff Barrow?! "And my music would have scared away the whole town if it wasn't for those meddling kids and their dog."
Noteworthy: this song was inspired by the obscure 1968 album The United States of America, particularly the song 'The American Metaphysical Circus.' You can really hear it...if you choose to listen, that is.
I bought this CD in 1997, when I was living in South Korea. I read a review of it in Q magazine, which also reviewed Radiohead's OK Computer, which I also bought. I think I paid around $12 for the magazine, not sure how much the CDs were, probably more than necessary. Such was life, pre-youtube.
No comments:
Post a Comment