MOGWAI FEAR SATAN

"'Mogwai Fear Satan'" (sometimes referred to as "'Fear Satan'"^[1] and sometimes just "'Satan'"^[2]) is a song by Scottish post-rock group Mogwai, which ends their 1997 debut studio album, ''Young Team''.

Contents

Overview

Musical composition

Media appearances

Remixes

Personnel

Notes

External links

Overview

"Mogwai Fear Satan" is a sixteen minute long instrumental, using basic rock instrumentation; guitars, bass, and drums, along with flute. It is a fan favourite and a regular part of Mogwai set lists, often being played as a show-closer or an encore. When it is played live, Mogwai make use of an extreme contrast between quiet and loud, going from playing almost nothing, to blinding and deafening the audience with a huge explosion of light and noise.^[3] It was originally born out of an jam session.^[4] The origin of the song title stemmed bassist Dominic Aitchison’s fear of the Devil, due to his Catholic upbringing, which continues to this day as Aitchison is the only religious member of Mogwai.^[5] English musician Kele Okereke mentioned "Mogwai Fear Satan" in a ''Mojo'' interview, describing it as "really yearning, beautiful guitar music".^[6] The song was alluded to in the Pitchfork Media review of Japanese post-rock group Mono's second album, ''One Step More and You Die'', comparing the track, "COM(?)" to "Mogwai Fear Satan", saying could almost be titled "Mono Fear Satan".^[7] In the Pitchfork Media reviews of ''Young Team'' and "My Father My King", "Mogwai Fear Satan" is mentioned:

Musical composition

"Mogwai Fear Satan" begins with a guitar melody played by Stuart Braithwaite and John Cummings, which is soon joined by bass played by Dominic Aitchison and a frantic drumbeat played by Martin Bulloch, which fades gradually in. The same guitar melody is repeated throughout the song; at times almost frighteningly distorted. During the quiet parts of the song, in the build up to the explosion of sonic noise and feedback which Mogwai are known for, there is a quiet haunting flute melody played by Shona Brown over tribal-sounding drums. The song slowly fades out into feedback and noise.

Media appearances

★ In 2002, a short excerpt of "Mogwai Fear Satan" was featured in "", an episode of the documentary television program, '', hosted by English comedian and actor, Russell Brand.

Remixes

There are five official remixes of "Mogwai Fear Satan". The Mogwai Remix (LP Version) can be found on the remix album, ''Kicking a Dead Pig''. The second disc of ''Kicking a Dead Pig'', entitled ''Fear Satan Remixes'', includes the Surgeon Remix, the Mogwai Remix, the μ-Ziq Remix, and the My Bloody Valentine Remix.

Personnel

★ Stuart Braithwaite – guitar

★ Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar

★ John Cummings – guitar

★ Martin Bulloch – drums

★ Shona Brown – flute

★ Paul Savage – producer, mixer

Notes

1. ''Fear Satan Remixes'' on Discogs
2. Mogwai – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, Scotland (23 September 2006) Set list
3. Mogwai – Mogwai Fear Satan (Live at Flog Auditorium, Firenze, Italy on 18 April 2006) on YouTube
4. Email Interview with Stuart Braithwaite, 1998
5. Phone Interview with Stuart Braithwaite, 1999
6. ''Mojo'' #162, May 2007
7. ''One Step More and You Die'' review on Pitchfork Media

External links

★ "Mogwai Fear Satan" on Last.fm

★ "Mogwai Fear Satan" Guitar Tablature