Tag Archives: mobile

#916: Mobile – New York Minute

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This track goes in the long list of those that I have to thank EA Sports for. FIFA 2003 to about FIFA 11/12 were the golden years in which their games had the most memorable soundtracks, each filled with songs of various styles from all over the world, which helped mould my music tastes as I got older. ‘New York Minute’ by Canadian band Mobile was on FIFA 07, then released in September 2006 and a time when I was precisely in my very first month of secondary school. Eleven years of age going on 12, how about that.

On a soundtrack that also featured Muse, Keane, The Feeling, and the theme song from The Inbetweeners, ‘New York Minute’ stood out for many a reason. One mainly being that its chorus was an absolute belter. “Hey now” is a small phrase that’s very much universal, and even if you didn’t know what the singer was saying in between the repetitions of it, you can guarantee that at least that part would get stuck in your head. The riff that propels the verses onward was very decent too. I found that the guitars were playing separate melodies during those sections when I hadn’t fully plugged in the audio cable for my PlayStation 2 one day, so I was essentially hearing one speaker and hearing one guitar following that riff while one another day I heard the other playing something completely different. Sounds a lot better with some good headphones on. Plus, after a while it was a track where I got the lyrics down just from hearing it over and over. The FIFA songs that had that effect were usually the best ones.

Despite all that, I never really took the time to listen to any Mobile music. There was a lot of school work to be done, you know how it is. Also, it wasn’t as easy to just find an album by any artist you wanted and play it like it is today. But maybe it’s for the best. That’s actually how it’s been for a lot of songs I’ve grown to like from these games. The artists might be one of those where that’s the only good song they have, you know? Wouldn’t want to put myself through that disappointment. It appears that the band were only around for six years, and were in the middle of working on their third album before deciding to call it quits. Which is a shame, as it is for any band that feel they can’t go on. Nevertheless, they’ll always be that band who made that great song that appeared in a game that one time and a small kid that little bit happier in those days.

My iPod #447: The Who – Going Mobile

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“Going Mobile” is the seventh track from The Who’s classic album Who’s Next from 1971. The track features only Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon on their respective instruments. But don’t come to the conclusion that this track can’t be compared to the other eight just because it misses the presence of Roger Daltrey’s monstrous voice. In fact, the song rocks just as hard as them. Even if Pete does play the acoustic guitar for the majority of it, it is again the wonders of Moon and Entwistle that give the track its emphatic edge.

The track concerns the wonders of being on the road, on the move with no sign of stopping, just generally feeling free with the cool air blowing in the wind and not having a care in the world. And as much as the track is about continuously moving lyrically, it also gives this idea in it’s actual execution. Keith Moon particularly pulls off an incredibly energetic performance (as ever) on the drums, ending every single measure with thundering drum fills and generally playing them as if he has more than two arms. At one particular point, he turns the track into some sort of barn-dance before seamlessly transitioning back to the regular pattern. It’s crazy. John effortlessly keeps it all together with his fluid bass playing, and Pete can’t contain his excitement on the vocals, ad-libbing at any given opportunity.

Being on the same album as tracks such as “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again“, “Going Mobile” tends not to get so much attention. But it should. It is honestly just as brilliant.