Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home

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“Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home”
Instrumental by Mogwai
Album Mogwai Young Team
Released 21 October 1997
Recorded Chem19 Studios
Hamilton, Scotland
Genre Post-rock
Length 5:58
Label Chemikal Underground
Writer Dominic Aitchison
Producer Paul Savage
Mogwai Young Team track listing
  1. "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"
  2. "Like Herod"
  3. "Katrien"
  4. "Radar Maker"
  5. "Tracy"
  6. "Summer (Priority Version)"
  7. "With Portfolio"
  8. "R U Still in 2 It"
  9. "A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters"
  10. "Mogwai Fear Satan"
Music sample
"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"
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"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" is the opening track on the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai's 1997 debut album, Mogwai Young Team. The song was primarily written by the band's bassist, Dominic Aitchison, prior to the 1997 Mogwai Young Team recording sessions.

The song is instrumental, featuring electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kit, organ, and glockenspiel, bookended by sampled monologues from friends of the band. The song is an example of the predominantly electric guitar-based genre the band employed at the time; featuring quiet, clean sections contrasting with loud, distorted sections, usually connected with crescendos and diminuendos. This dynamic contrast was referred to by the band as "serious guitar music."[1]

"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" received a positive reception from music journalists, with album reviews focusing mainly on the effectiveness of the dynamic contrast featured within the song, the band's usage of instrumentation, and the track's overall representation of the band's genre at the time.

Contents

[edit] Production

[edit] Origins and recording

The first documented live performance of what would become "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home", then going under the working title of "Dom", was on April 24, 1996, at the Monarch in London—the band's first show outside of Scotland.[2][3] It was later performed live several times throughout 1996 and 1997, first going under the title of "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" at a show on April 6, 1997 at Highbury Garage in London—the band's first show promoting the Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996–1997) compilation album.[4]

The band recorded the song during the Mogwai Young Team sessions from July to August 1997 at Chem19 Studios, known then as MCM Studios, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, where the band had previously recorded the majority of their earlier material.[5][6] The song was produced and mixed by Paul Savage, who handled production and mixing duties on the bulk of the band's previous recordings.[5][6]

[edit] Musical composition

"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" is a 5 minute 58 second long instrumental, in the key of A major, in 4/4 time.[7]

The song begins with an organ pedal point of an A note, accompanied by a recording of a passage from a Bergen Student Newspaper, being read by Mari Myren, referring to when Mogwai played a show on March 15, 1997 at the Hulen, in Bergen, Norway. [8] Myren describes the band's music as "bigger than words and wider than pictures" also stating that "If the stars had a sound, it would sound like this."[9] The sound of clapping is heard, followed at (0:54), by a bassline. This is joined at (1:09) by a soft drumbeat and a clean, two-note guitar melody, based around the chord of A major. At (1:31), the guitars and bass guitar modulate to the relative minor chord, F♯ minor, and play alternate melody, before returning to the main melody.

This is repeated until (2:32), when the drumbeat gradually fades out, leaving only the ride cymbal keeping the beat, and the guitars, which repeat a melody based around the chord of A major, using harmonics. At (3:11), the bass guitar joins in, followed by the drum kit, building to a gradual crescendo, eventually climaxing at (3:42) into a distortion-laden chord progression, using the chords F♯ minor, D major, and A major. At (3:46), a guitar solo is played over these chords. This continues until (5:09), after all instruments have faded out except for the tremolo-laden feedback of the guitar.

From (5:27), the backmasked voice of Barry Burns can be heard saying things such as "When ah shag a bird yee'd think Antarctica hud defrosted oan her bed!" and "Sometimes when ah'm puffing hash ah get a bird tae suck mah dong!".[9] This backmasked recording ends with the sound of laughter.

[edit] Reception

During professional reviews, "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" received positive reception. Ian Mathers of Stylus Magazine described the song as "gorgeous, moving from a gentle beginning to a series of shattering crescendos", also noting that it "describes almost all of Mogwai’s music at this stage of their career."[10] David Wilson of The Daily Nebraskan described the song as having "low-key harmonics and [a] delicate melody", followed by "a blistering shard of explosive distortion [bursting] out of nowhere", noting that the dynamic contrast within the song, "sets the seesaw pace for the whole record."[11]

Lee Harvey of Vox also referred to the dynamic contrast, noting that it "[goads] and [entices] you with gentle percussion, leaving you helpless before the surge of sky-swallowing guitars that follows".[12] Scott Irvine of UpBeetMusic described it as a "standout track", also noting "[the] track alone is worth checking out 1997’s best bet for an instrumental tour de force".[13]

Christopher Jackson of Fluffhouse described the track as a "to-the-point introduction to the classic Mogwai sound - elegant musings on a web of bass-heavy guitars, growing patiently to a peak filled out with massive distorted chords and fat drum fills".[14] Brandon Wu of Ground and Sky described the song's progression, "[starting] with a quietly pretty melody [...] [building] to a massive climax of guitar and bass noise." and "woven through [the] crescendo is a beautiful, lyrical guitar line [...] simply stunning."[15]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Brightlight! About. About. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2008-04-01. “...to make some serious guitar music.”
  2. ^ Mogwai @ The Monarch, London - 26/04/1996. Gigography. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  3. ^ Alternative Titles. Tracks + Tabs. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  4. ^ Mogwai @ Highbury Garage, London - 06/04/1997. Gigography. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  5. ^ a b (1997) Album notes for Mogwai Young Team by Mogwai [liner]. Glasgow, Scotland: Chemikal Underground (CHEM019). Mogwai Young Team at MusicBrainz.
  6. ^ a b (1997) Album notes for Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996–1997) by Mogwai [liner]. Glasgow, Scotland: Rock Action (ROCKACT05). Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996–1997) at MusicBrainz.
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. All Music Guide Review - Mogwai Young Team. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  8. ^ March 1997. Gigography. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  9. ^ a b "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home". Lyrics. Brightlight!. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  10. ^ Mathers, Ian. Stylus Magazine - Mogwai: Young Team. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  11. ^ Wilson, David. "Hard work, intensity keys to Makovicka's success", A&E, The Daily Nebraskan, 1998-10-09. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  12. ^ Harvey, Lee. Vox - Glasgow's lo-fi's get all the stars. Vox. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  13. ^ Irvine, Scott. UpBeetMusic - Mogwai - Young Team. UpBeetMusic. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  14. ^ Jackson, Christopher. Fluffhouse - Mogwai - Young Team. Fluffhouse. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  15. ^ Wu, Brandon. Ground and Sky review - Mogwai - Young Team. Ground and Sky. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.

[edit] External links