Song of the Week: Thebes - Om

Thebes - Om - God is Good

I just finished listening to this record on LP. I listened to the A side, then B side, then A side again, and loved it. I don't even know if this is my favorite song on the album. I can't even remember what the B side sounds like. The only thing in my head is the literally room shaking bass and piercing sharp drums that ends Thebes. Its 19 - nearly 20 - minutes of hairy bass, sparse drums, and hypnotic chanting. It's hard to write an review for this in pieces, because the music is so much more rewarding when listened to continuously, without distractions or much thought. Really the difference between weather this will sound hypnotic or boring is the amount of thought you have during it. If you are captivated by the rumble and fall of bass and drums then you wont mind mind hearing those endless repetitions , but if you instead seek to analyze each moment you will really take yourself out of the song and will probably sit there wondering why you've been hearing the same damn thing for twenty minutes, and how this could be considered music. The instruments themselves require a complete approach too, it's not about the parts of the band, its about the whole thing together, just sitting back and being transported. It's hardly a song, more of a happening, or an atmosphere. And it still manages to have intense jaw dropping rifts of sound that instead of jarring the listener, move him along peacefully. Simply amazing.

Song: Here

(Disclaimer - I've really only listened to Om on my big speakers at home through which the record players plays. With a band like Om i do think that the quality, and volume of the speakers make a huge difference... See picture at left)