Like Herod

Song_infobox
Name = Like Herod


Artist = Mogwai
Album = Mogwai Young Team
Released = 21 October 1997
track_no = 2
Recorded = MCM Studios
Hamilton, Scotland
Genre = Post-rock
Length = 11:39
Writer =
Label = Chemikal Underground, Jetset
Producer = Paul Savage
Tracks =
# "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"
# "Like Herod"
# "Katrien"
# "Radar Maker"
# "Tracy"
# "Summer (Priority Version)"
# "With Portfolio"
# "R U Still in 2 It"
# "A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters"
# "Mogwai Fear Satan"
Misc =Extra musicsample |filename=Mogwai.like.herod.ogg |format=Ogg |title=Like HerodExtra tracklisting
altAlbum =
Type = compilation
Length = 18:32
Tracks =
# "Hunted by a Freak"
# "R U Still in 2 It"
# "New Paths to Helicon Pt II"
# "Kappa"
# "Cody"
# "Like Herod"
# "Secret Pint"
# "Superheroes of BMX"
# "New Paths to Helicon Pt I"
# "Stop Coming to My House""Like Herod" is a song by Scottish post-rock Mogwai from their 1997 debut studio album, "Mogwai Young Team", written by Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, John Cummings and Martin Bulloch. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Like Herod
work = Mogwai: Roster - Songs
publisher = Chrysalis Music Publishing
date =
url = http://www.uk.chrysalismusic.co.uk/core/musicdetails.cfm?songid=101668&aid=100707&is_writer=0
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-11 ] As well as being a fan-favourite, the song is a live staple, and an extreme display of Mogwai's quiet/loud dynamic contrast method.cite web| title = Ground and Sky - "Mogwai Young Team" review|author = Wu, Brandon|publisher = [http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=mog-yt Ground and Sky] |url = http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=mog-yt|accessdate = 2008-01-11] An 18 minute-long version of "Like Herod" (recorded live by Steve Lamacq from a BBC Radio Session at the BBC Recording and Broadcast Studio in Maida Vale in March 1999) appears on Mogwai's live compilation album, "". [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title ="Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003"
work =Discography
publisher = [http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/ Bright Light!]
date =
url =http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/eng/governmentcommissions.php
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-11 ] The song was originally titled "Slint", referring to the influential American post-rock band Slint. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =List of Alternative Mogwai Song Titles
work =Discography
publisher = [http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/ Bright Light!]
date =
url =http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/eng/tracks.php
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-11 ] Stuart Braithwaite has said that "Like Herod" is his favourite song from "Mogwai Young Team". [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Interview
work =
publisher = [http://www.diskant.net/ Diskant]
date =1998
url =http://www.diskant.net/interviews/mogwai4.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-11 ]

Musical composition

"Like Herod" is an 11 minute 39 second long instrumental. The song begins with a bassline:

This is joined at (0:04) by a guitar, doubling the bassline, and at (0:16) by quiet drumming, and an additional guitar counter-melody. At (0:46), the song progresses into an alternate melody, based around the chord of C major seventh, which is repeated, then the song goes back to repeating the main melody until (1:30), where the alternate melody is repeated once more. The drums then begin to get quieter and quieter, coming to a halt at (2:15), leaving only the guitars and the bass to play the main and alternate melodies themselves, which they do until (2:57), when all the instruments explode in a barrage of deafening noise, featuring a heavy drumbeat and highly distorted, screeching guitars. This continues until (4:51), where the original bassline is introduced once more, and the original drumbeat begins playing. At (5:17), the drumbeat stops abruptly and all that is heard is the bassline, and a guitar, plucking a muted note. This continues, with the plucked note becoming gradually more erratic, until (6:15), when all of the instruments explode into another torrent of noise, almost identical to the last one, albeit with more guitar feedback in the background. This continues until (8:08), when the drumbeat becomes calmer, the guitar feedback becomes more subdued, and the bass can be heard quietly in the background, repeating a heavily distorted note at the start of each bar. At (10:11), the drumbeat ends and all that can be heard is the steady pulse of the ride cymbal, the distorted bass note, and a guitar feedbacking, until (10:20), when it seems to go gradually upwards in pitch, ending at (10:29). Snippets of feedback are heard momentarily as the bass note continues to be played, until (11:05), when the bass note plays one last time, and begins feedbacking, along with subdued guitar noise in the background, until (11:35), when all the instruments cease playing and the song ends.

Critical reception

During professional reviews, "Like Herod" received mostly good reception. The song is an album track pick at Allmusic. [cite web| title = "Mogwai Young Team" review|author = |publisher = Allmusic|url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dekxiknkbb79|accessdate = 2008-01-11] Brandon Wu of Ground and Sky notes the "raw power in [the] piece, but unlike the best Mogwai pieces it lacks any sort of melody or beauty." However, Ian Mathers of "Stylus Magazine" dismisses the song as "good-but-redundant." [cite web| title = "Stylus Magazine" - "Mogwai: Young Team"|author = Mathers, Ian |publisher = Stylus Magazine|url = http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/playing_god/mogwai-young-team.htm|accessdate = 2008-01-10]

Personnel

* Stuart Braithwaite – guitar
* Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar
* John Cummings – guitar
* Martin Bulloch – drums
* Paul Savage – producer, mixer

Notes

External links

* [http://www.last.fm/music/Mogwai/_/Like+Herod "Like Herod"] on Last.fm
* [http://www.tait58.freeserve.co.uk/tab/likeherod.txt "Like Herod"] Guitar Tablature