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Fruitonica · 07-02-2009, 08:13 AM

One of the more disorientating moments that can spring from listening to music is an achingly familiar sound that you just cannot place, usually coming in the form of a sample. You can drive yourself insane trying to remember where you first heard it, on the flip side, if you can preserve this moment in your head long enough to run accross the original encounter, it's incredibly satisfying. Or maybe that's just me.

This post was set in motion a few weeks ago when I went for a bleary eyed, early morning trip to McDonalds after spending the night on some derelict wharf, with my skateboard as a pillow.
Standing at the end of the line, the siren announcing a finished order blared out, and maybe it was just my scattered hung-over brain, but it snatched me away to some other place, a place I'd been before, but the moment slipped from my fingers and I was left standing nonplussed in front of a depressingly fat counter girl.

The obvious answer was that I'd heard it before at McDonalds, it didn't feel right, but after a day of mind racking I let it go. Until just yesterday when I thought enough time had passed since my listening burnout, to throw I'll Sleep When You're Dead on again. And as TPC faded, it hit me, the siren was identical to the ascending wail that is so distinctive in Smithereens (Stop Crying).

Do American McDonalds use the same siren? I'm not sure but otherwise it seems like some pretty impressive crate digging. In some ways it seems like a bit of a lost opportunity to add some thematic flourishes with the sample, after all the consumerist madness of EMG is only one song away, so why did he choose it for the stream of consciousness tale of a graffiti artist in some cyberpunk nightmare?

But if you indulge in a little over analysis, this creates a more interesting subtext. Have the Golden Arches taken over the world? Is Ronald Mcdonald lording it over us all as the villainous Mayor Doombug? I'm sure El-P wasn't thinking of this when he made the song, it just fitted nicely in his claustrophobic soundscape, but hey, little things like this are fun to obsess over. Hopefully it wont lead to some Helter Skelter Manson scenario, but anyway.

07-02-2009, 08:13 AM	#18 (permalink)
Fruitonica Pale and Wan Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Aus Posts: 917	One of the more disorientating moments that can spring from listening to music is an achingly familiar sound that you just cannot place, usually coming in the form of a sample. You can drive yourself insane trying to remember where you first heard it, on the flip side, if you can preserve this moment in your head long enough to run accross the original encounter, it's incredibly satisfying. Or maybe that's just me. This post was set in motion a few weeks ago when I went for a bleary eyed, early morning trip to McDonalds after spending the night on some derelict wharf, with my skateboard as a pillow. Standing at the end of the line, the siren announcing a finished order blared out, and maybe it was just my scattered hung-over brain, but it snatched me away to some other place, a place I'd been before, but the moment slipped from my fingers and I was left standing nonplussed in front of a depressingly fat counter girl. The obvious answer was that I'd heard it before at McDonalds, it didn't feel right, but after a day of mind racking I let it go. Until just yesterday when I thought enough time had passed since my listening burnout, to throw I'll Sleep When You're Dead on again. And as TPC faded, it hit me, the siren was identical to the ascending wail that is so distinctive in Smithereens (Stop Crying). Do American McDonalds use the same siren? I'm not sure but otherwise it seems like some pretty impressive crate digging. In some ways it seems like a bit of a lost opportunity to add some thematic flourishes with the sample, after all the consumerist madness of EMG is only one song away, so why did he choose it for the stream of consciousness tale of a graffiti artist in some cyberpunk nightmare? But if you indulge in a little over analysis, this creates a more interesting subtext. Have the Golden Arches taken over the world? Is Ronald Mcdonald lording it over us all as the villainous Mayor Doombug? I'm sure El-P wasn't thinking of this when he made the song, it just fitted nicely in his claustrophobic soundscape, but hey, little things like this are fun to obsess over. Hopefully it wont lead to some Helter Skelter Manson scenario, but anyway.