Favourite Cloudkicker moments
I've been on a serious Cloudkicker binge lately, these are a selection of my favourite moments from the man otherwise known as Ben Sharp.
As i've not heard a great deal of Portmanteau or Little Histories those won't feature heavily. Also the song names for Subsume are a prick to type so i'll be abbreviating them for your reading pleasures. |
| 1 |  | Cloudkicker
Subsume
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX3p5GXvmU8
Track 3 - "He would be riding.." .The moment starts at 21:53 and at about 22:20 the layers of guitar start building to a crescendo which climaxes from 24:24 - 25:56 which sounds like a holy siren. It is almost otherworldly and it's now my favourite moment in his whole discography. |
| 2 |  | Cloudkicker
The Map Is Not The Territory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N8vmUJ58lc
Track 3 - "Ever Thus To Deadbeats"
The progression from 1:57 - 4:15 and then out of nowhere at 4:16 that beautiful gothic melody which sounds almost Smashing Pumpkins (think Soot and Stars) just tops off one of his best pieces. |
| 3 |  | Cloudkicker
Fade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FoIIxqi6fA
Track 3 - "Seattle". The piece from 3:50 which starts out sounding eerily similar to "But home is nowhere.." from AFI Sing the Sorrow. It builds into a crescendo and once the drums kick in at 5:53 it builds into a climax at around 8:00 minute mark and then fades out with a beautiful arpeggio which is stylistically similar to the above tracks. |
| 4 |  | Cloudkicker
Beacons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfm_ROTbUCw
Ah Beacons you sly dog. So many highlights on this bad boy. The first is obviously the part at 0:41 on "Here, wait a minute" where he just goes off on a riff frenzy. The second is the part in "We're going in" at 3:11 where the guitars explode into an epic melody. The tapping solo on "Oh, god" at 12:21 is another. Then on "it's just wide open field" the melody at 25:23 where the guitar plays a nice arpeggio. On "it's bad man we are hit" the piece at 30:42 is godly. On "Amy I love you" the piece from 33:40 - 34:13 which manages to sound both uplifting and morose at the same time. The continuation at 34:51 which leads to another holy sound at 35:20 which is my favourite moment on the whole album. |
| 5 |  | Cloudkicker
Let Yourself Be Huge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZsovPmnTE
Track 4 - You and Yours
From that opening sludgy riff this song is my favourite off this album. The layers upon layers of guitar dubs climaxing at 3:15 is epic. I also love that bass line at 1:35. |
| 6 | | Cloudkicker
Let Yourself Be Huge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpjmvYbAvhc
Title track "Let Yourself Be Huge". The whole track is amazing especially that little guitar melody at 1:12. Wow. |
| 7 |  | Cloudkicker
The Discovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB75rvrv5YA
Track 2 "Dysphoria". That riff at 1:00 makes you sit up and take notice. This guy means business! I love that murky melody that plays over this riff it adds so much atmosphere to the song. |
| 8 | | Cloudkicker
Fade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akso0DT1tDc
Track 1: "From the balcony".
The moment at 2:41 which sounds like a cross between "Silverfuck" from the Pumpkins and "Trail of Fire" from Oceansize but he still manages to make it sound undeniably Cloudkicker. |
| 9 |  | Cloudkicker
]]][[[
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Rt7u7fnIk
Track 2 - % (not a typo is actually a percentage symbol)
If you pay attention to this song closely you can hear how close it sounds to "He was riding"...from Subsume which suggests he took the basic framework from this song and built on it. The little progression at 2:54 sounds triumphant and evokes images of a rocket launching through the stratosphere. |
| 10 |  | Cloudkicker
Little Histories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mruTAPwbnLc
Track 5 "Hassan". The progression from 1:29 where Ben lays down some solid bass lines to the climax at 3:20 is another ethereal moment in the Cloudkicker cannon. |
| 11 |  | Cloudkicker
Portmanteau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMbYC6A3co
Riff at 1:43 melts face. Later in the album the breakdown at 16:39 with the drum fills and the layers of guitars is almost tribal in the way it evokes images for me of marching armies and of clouds rolling over mountains. |
| 12 | | Cloudkicker
Subsume
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrq0X52MZjQ
Track 3 (again) "He would be riding" The riff at 28:00 sounds a little Karnivool "Cote". It's among his best riffs. |
| 13 | | Cloudkicker
Subsume
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrq0X52MZjQ
Track 4 "You could laugh forever"...and so the list ends on an optimistic piece from 30:50 onwards that sounds like it could've fit on "Let Yourself Be Huge". It is moment of peace that ends the album on a perfect note. The melodies at 32:20 are pretty fucking incredible. So that's my list of Cloudkicker. Thoughts? Feedback? |
|
