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My iPod #268: Billy Talent – Devil in a Midnight Mass

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The opening track to Billy Talent’s second album was built upon an ‘evil guitar riff’ that guitarist Ian D’Sa started playing one day. Lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz wondered what kind of evil would suit that riff, and found it one day when he read an article about a Catholic priest who was molested 150 children in the 90s and was then stabbed to death during his time in prison. As a result, one of Billy Talent’s darkest songs was created. A song which gets the blood racing and sends shivers down my spine each time it plays.

The thing is – I wasn’t so enthused by it when I first heard the song via its video all those years ago in 2006. Thinking about it now I am not so sure why. It was very quick, and was finished before I could absorb anything that was happening. The first time I really understood it was when I actually listened to it through my headphones – that’s when it hit me.

Starting with Ian’s lone menacing riff – the song explodes when the drums kick in along with an almighty “YEEEAAAAHH” from Ben. The verses describe the priest – the ‘devil in a midnight mass’ – whilst the pre-chorus and choruses depict the scene when the priest is killed in jail who will now sing ‘silent night for the rest of [his] life.’

That is all well and… good, but the most threatening part is the last forty-five seconds of the song when the riff repeats on and on as Ben says what could possibly be the priest’s last words before he dies, “Whisper, whisper, don’t make a sound/Your bed is made, it’s in the ground”. That comes to a halt for a split second before those two phrases are ceaselessly screamed at you by Ben, Ian and the bassist Jon before climaxing with an astonishing shriek which echoes right into the next track.

This song is scary. This song is awesome. The best Billy Talent album opener. Hands down. I look at another one tomorrow though.

This is the band’s impression of it when they heard the album mix for the first time.

My iPod #248: The Beatles – A Day in the Life

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“A Day in the Life” is the grand finale of The Beatles influential 1967 album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Many consider this to be the greatest song the group did, and see it as the pinnacle of the experimentation the four guys had been undertaking during the mid 60s.

2007 was its 40th anniversary, and it was of an immense deal that the cast of Eastenders did a cringeworthy tribute of it for Comic Relief (take some time to think before you go to this) and a whole bunch of other bands (from Stereophonics to The Fray) got together to do a cover album as a tribute too. But it was two years later in 2009, when I first listened to the album and therefore the song. I did not think that it was worth all that fuss. I found out that it was. It’s still not my favourite of theirs though.

In terms of the track… I think I was looked at its article on Wikipedia one time (God knows why) and the overwhelming detail it listed about “A Day” – its background, the dates it was recorded on, the crescendos of the brass, the combination of Lennon and McCartney’s separate song ideas, the almighty piano chord at the end – it made me think I was missing out on a song of epic proportions. I had to listen to it.

Funnily enough, I didn’t care for it so much the first time. I was thirteen. This opinion has changed. It is one of the greatest album closers ever.

My iPod #214: Billy Talent – Covered in Cowardice

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Ah, Billy Talent II. Almost eight years old now, my god. I know Billy Talent’s debut album turned ten in September last year, but I actually remember the lead up towards this album. I was eleven, the “Red Flag” demo was on the band’s MySpace as well as Burnout Revenge, the band’s website design had changed from the glowing red and yellow design to the simple yet powerful white . I can see it all. Where does the time go?

For a while, before it was actually released, the band uploaded the album onto their official website. Now I don’t know whether it was my computer, but for some reason the track lengths that appeared were much longer than the actual duration of the song. I would be waiting there for a minute and a half through silence until it changed to the next. Sometimes it wouldn’t play at all.

Nevertheless it was on the band’s site, their MySpace profile or some other website that I was able to listen to the album in full. “Covered in Cowardice” was a track that I really liked when I first owned the physical copy. Ian’s guitar playing is as flawless as ever, and it still baffles me how he can do the work of two separate guitarists on one lone guitar. He’ll be playing a lick on the three high strings before pulling off a riff on the lower three, it’s very difficult to tell where you’ll end up next. There is plenty of that on this song. That’s one reason why I like it so much.

Essentially, it’s a song about Internet trolls/cyber-bullying. Ben doesn’t stand for that shit, calling them ‘bitter pricks’ and… cowards, obviously. There’s also screaming in the track, which is a thing the lead singer seems to have left in the past for now. I miss screaming in Billy Talent songs.

My iPod #205: Panda Bear – Comfy in Nautica

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A very recent addition to my iPod. Maybe one or a couple weeks ago, I took on the experience of listening to “Person Pitch”, the third album by Panda Bear. Panda Bear is a cool guy, who performs with a cool band called Animal Collective. He also made an appearance on Daft Punk’s new album. Do check out Animal Collective in your spare time though.

Getting back to the subject, “Comfy in Nautica” starts “Person Pitch” off with a sample of some sort of tribal chant which repeats throughout. While this is all happening, Mr. Bear sings a mantra on how to live your life. He doesn’t really sing, he changes the pitch of his voice on a new syllable. Which is further accentuated by a large amount of echo. That echo doesn’t go away for the rest of the album. It is still very effective, and a very simple melody that you’ll never forget.

The only bad thing I about the track is the really long and out of tone note at the end. But that’s about it really.

My iPod #204: Feeder – Comfort in Sound

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The title track from Feeder’s fourth album is one that has an ambiguous effect on me. Sometimes, it fails to raise a positive emotion in me. Sometimes I hear the song and I feel sad for no reason and quite dispirited. Other times it’s a song I would play when I’m with my friends or family and think “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than where I am right now, at this point in time.”

I told you the context of the album already with “Come Back Around”. Whilst that song (although having somewhat of a similar message to this) excites me with its pace and forceful instrumentation, “Comfort in Sound” stops me where I am and makes me think about life… about what I’m doing presently, about making most of the time I have.

I do love the song. Lazily looking upon the lyrics now, it has a positive and heartwarming aura. It is about finding solace in the things that surround you. Mostly in the things you hear. Its mid-tempo pace and the key(which was altered for the single release, and is the version I have) make me feel at home… and really warm inside.