Music is a flexible and shifting art form. Not only does it develop in style as technologies and artists thought processes change but our perception of music changes as we age.
In 2012 the Goat album World Music was getting a lot of praise and appearing on many critics end of year lists so I decided to give it a listen. Although I enjoyed it I couldn’t relate to it with the enthusiasm of several of my friends and peers. However the album has stayed with me over the past four years due to its catchy rhythms and great guitar hooks. Listening to it now with a bit more maturity I realise what a fantastic record it is.
On World music Goat stay close to the conventions of early psychedelic rock and the production styling could make the tracks easily mix between music from the 60’s without issue. However to keep it fresh they sprinkle instruments from different areas of world music with fantastic results. As a whole the album has a strong sound that unifies the tracks and also has a structure that has clearly been well thought out from its conception.
I could pick any track from this album as my TOTW but Run To Your Mama is probably the most instantly catchy. A strong groove is created by the entire band. The bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums (including hand drums) all provide rhythmic elements for the wailing vocals and lead guitar line to ball over. The track ends with xylophone freestyle solo that manages to stay within the conventions of the psychedelic rock genre but on an instrument not usually found there.
Above all else World Music is an album that focuses on the rhythms that make us want to dance on a primordial level. It keeps these up throughout its run time, taking them in exiting directions which catchy hooks and a production style that suits the sound of the record perfectly. Give the whole thing a listen and start with Run to Your Mamma.
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