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Mogwai Fear Satan

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"Mogwai Fear Satan"
Instrumental by Mogwai
from the album Mogwai Young Team
Released21 October 1997 (1997-10-21)
StudioMCM, Hamilton, Scotland
Genre
Length16:19
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Paul Savage
Mogwai Young Team track listing
10 tracks
  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"
Audio sample

"Mogwai Fear Satan" (sometimes referred to as "Fear Satan") is an instrumental by Scottish post-rock group Mogwai. It appears as the closing track for their 1997 debut studio album, Mogwai Young Team.

Overview

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"Mogwai Fear Satan" is a 16-minute instrumental, using basic rock instrumentation: guitars, bass, and drums, along with flute. The origin of the song title stems from bassist Dominic Aitchison’s, the only religious member of Mogwai,[1] fear of the Devil, due to his Catholic upbringing.

Musical composition

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"Mogwai Fear Satan" begins with a guitar melody riff consisting of three chords 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 gradually fades in. The same guitar riff is repeated throughout the song, at times heavily distorted. During the quiet parts of the song, in the buildup to the explosion of sound and feedback which Mogwai are known for, there is a quiet flute melody played by Shona Brown (who was thirteen at the time of recording)[2] over tribal-sounding drums. The song slowly fades out into feedback and noise.

Media usage

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Remixes

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Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes
Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes

There are five official remixes of "Mogwai Fear Satan". The EP Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes (released in March, 1998) includes the Mogwai Remix, the μ-Ziq Remix, the Surgeon Remix, and the My Bloody Valentine Remix. The remix album Kicking a Dead Pig (released in May, 1998) features the Mogwai Remix, LP Version. A later re-issue of Kicking a Dead Pig included Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes on a separate CD.

Both versions of the Mogwai Remix are remixed by "Cpt. Meat and pLasmatroN" (John Cummings and Stuart Braithwaite).

Personnel

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  • Stuart Braithwaite – guitar
  • Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar
  • John Cummings – guitar
  • Martin Bulloch – drums
  • Shona Brown – flute
  • Paul Savage – producer, mixer
  • Brendan O’Hare – sonic glue, percussion

References

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  1. ^ Phone Interview with Stuart Braithwaite, 1999
  2. ^ "shonabrown.com / Homepage". shonabrown.com. Retrieved March 8, 2020.