11. Into The Magic Land

[Wildfire]

So in love with this tune. Probably the simplest song on the album with regards to melody and arrangement. Totally invokes something form my childhood (Gen X, born mid 70s) but I can't put my finger on it. Segues perfectly into Blood In The Labyrinth. The production on it is utterly beautiful, but lets face it that can be said for the entire album.

Off topic but I love that there is barely a single synth bassline on the whole album, all played live with a real bass I think.

[outhudd]

Love it

[Evrox]

Pure sonic magic. What a beautiful piece.

[TheStatPow]

""John Denver "I'd Rather be a Cowboy" RCA, 1973
For collecting firewood, you need something really back-country, and you don't get more denim than this. I always get wood when I hear this. Try and find the vinyl album (Farewell Andromeda), it has mysterious cowboy/space imagery. Imagine that""

This track has a cowboy/western adventure type of feel to it and I think it's inspired for their love of Cowboys and Westerns which If I am not misremembering they've mentionned more than once in interviews

[PlatrixECV]

Yes on the Cowboy/Western theme. It immediately reminded me of a Morricone theme to a Spaghetti Western.

I could just repeat this track for hours.

[Stavorius]

This one has to grow on me a bit.

[Buckie High]

Brilliant bass and electric guitar parts. Sounds like a lot of Björn Olsson's great solo albums.

[Ottomatik]

This one really stood out to me. Simple but really effective.

[DFD21]

On my second listen now. What a piece. Reminds me a bit of old ECM recordings but I can see the cowboy connection...

[ParticleGhost]

That sample in the right channel that begins at 1:33 is bugging me so much! It sounds like something used in campfire headphase but i can't remember where exactly.

[fractalz42]

The picture in the booklet that spans two pages with the dogs and the man on horseback near the wall. That was for this song right?

[Soul_Slip]

This one is my second favorite. This song sounds like a lost Pink Floyd song to me. That bass is so good and acoustic. Also reminds me of Tomorrow’s Harvest in some odd way.

[RVeldhuis]

God I'm a sucker for them using guitars. Also love the little lull in the song around 2:38

[harpoon dodger]

Absolutely agree on the cowboy vibes! This track to me has a very Old Tunes feel to it, but...modernized? Love the progression in it, and all the guitar bits.

[Hellstreets]

Super post-rocky to me, at first it actually really reminds me of a song that would appear in the soundtrack to 28 Days Later or 28 Years Later, super apocalyptic / desolate vibe. I also hear the western / morricone influence too. Feels like its the soundtrack to this photo from the art book specifically:

[paultomba]

God I'm a sucker for them using guitars. Also love the little lull in the song around 2:38

That little lull reminds me of this part of Turquoise Hexagon Sun.

[Decorah]

Super post-rocky to me, at first it actually really reminds me of a song that would appear in the soundtrack to 28 Days Later or 28 Years Later, super apocalyptic / desolate vibe. I also hear the western / morricone influence too. Feels like its the soundtrack to this photo from the art book specifically:

Fuck yes I just came here to post exactly this!! Right on.

[Ellis island rejects]

DJ Shadow vibes in this one

[magrathea_ultima]

Absolutely beautiful, this one probably speaks to me in the most intimate way, what a gorgeous rhyme of layering.

[PlatrixECV]

So just to nerd out on why it sounds Western to a lot of us (probably especially in the US) . The root-fifth pulse that begins this track is basically a Country and Western trope. It's the sound of clopping hooves.

Here's the most salient Morricone example:



And then the echoey guitars is very reminiscent of Morricone and 60s country generally. E.g. like Nancy's Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood's "Bang Bang" (which incidentally also is built on a root-fifth progression)



Johnny's Cash's Folsom Prison Blues is a perfect country example and is actually descending like Into the Magic Land.



Another classic example most may know (from Fallout at least) is Marty Robbins' "Big Iron" where the base line alternates between alternating and descending root-fifths.



I'm not an expert music theologian but what then makes this track special and pure BoC is how they build on the basic sequence and melody (and I believe it further delves into circle of fifths in terms of harmonic progression)

Just a left field masterpiece.