My Thisbit Spotify Playlist

I was introduced by a friend at university to the Thisbit school of music criticism. It consists of listening to the chosen track, saying, “Wait”, and then, with an expression of rapture: “Thisbit!”

So what follows is not simply a list of my favourite pieces of music, but of pieces of music with the moments in them that do that thing. People talk about the hairs on the back of the neck. I never got that; but there are a few moments in music that can give me a bit of a tingle in the scalp.

These are they:

1. “Rain Song”, Led Zeppelin. The “Thisbit” is when the quiet guitar gives way to the noisy one, with a bit of plinky plonk piano in there, which makes all the difference. The guitar then goes quiet again and the tempo slows down again before coming to an end rather than a fade. (Houses of the Holy album cover, above, from Classic Record Sleeves.)

2. “Almost Gold”, Jesus and Mary Chain. Two thisbits, or the same thisbit, twice, after each title refrain.

3. “The Hindu Times”, Oasis. There is a key change in there that always takes the pleasure centre by surprise.

4. “Tellin’ Stories”, The Charlatans. The band is a recent discovery of mine (I was doing other things in the ’90s). This track is unusual in that it starts with a thisbit.

5. “Sheep”, Pink Floyd. The thisbit comes after a long and sometimes dull build-up, followed by the delayed gratification of the return to the main guitar theme, which then gives way to a long fade into silly sheep and bird noises.

6. “Comfortably Numb”, Pink Floyd. Yes, the floydsters make a second appearance. (There may be others, but when I listened to Wish You Were Here to remind myself, the sensations remained untingled.) The second guitar cadenza at the end of “Comfortably Numb”. Only thing wrong with it is that it fades out — not again— too early, after a number of steps down the scale when the brain expects a rising note.

7. “The Wanting Comes in Waves”, The Decemberists (from The Hazards of Love, for the recommending of which I am grateful to Simmy Richman, my colleague on The New Review, The Independent on Sunday magazine). An unusual song, alternating with another one called “Repaid”, so there are two thisbits, when the main refrain comes in with the hoo-woo backing voice.

8. “He Did”, Anais Mitchell. Another recommendation of Simmy’s; and another lovely thisbit, when we get into the open-throat yodelling at the end, just after you think it is all over.

Now the only question is how I get the Spotify playlist (exluding Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, who I think are not on Spotify) on here. Let me know if that does not work.

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• Pacificweather

  I presume the picture of naked children is an album cover. Must have been before the world discovered pedophiles. I am going to guess at pre 1979.

• Carlos Sourdis

  Man didn´t you forget the duplicated solo guitar in Pink Floyd´s (yes, PF again) “Dogs”? Natalie Merchant´s and 10.000 Maniacs’ “What´s the matter here” is a ThisBit from start to end. Antonio Vivaldi´s “Spring” in the “Four Seasons” has a beautiful violin ThisBit, too, also duplicated as it is “Dogs”‘ guitar. And how about The Beatles in “It´s only a northern song” and in “Norwegian Wood”? I find it rather perverse and even abusive on you part not to include any ThisBit song from the Liverpooool´s quartet, it being so full of golden ones. It comes to my mind this Belle & Sebastian´s “The boy with the Arab´s strap” and “I could be sleeping”. Iron Maiden´s “Hallowed be thy name” has at least one great ThisBit when the guitar goes naaaaannanana naaaa nana nanananaaaaaa near the end. Blatant abscences aside, I think your “ThisBit”-music-listening-style qualifies for a great musical collage, just pasting, one after the other, your favorite ThisBits, no solution of continuity allowed. Hey, sorry, but what about good old Janice when she goes “from the Kentucky coal mines to the California sand…” in “Me & Bobbby McGee”. Also, “One night in Bangkok” (Tim Rice´s, among others) and Madness´s “Our house”… And The Manhattans’ “Kiss and say goodbye”… “It´s alright, Ma”, as sung by Robert McGee (definitively not by Dylan), and Fleetwood Mac´s “Dreams”, and Supertramp´s “School” and “The crime of the century”… Well, I guess this could go never-end…, have a nice time; may you be happy, may you not suffer. Errr… but, WAIT, how come you didn´t include G&R´s “Sweet child o’ mine”? Man, I tell you, you´re just pure evil.

• TheOnlyWayIsNorfolk

  Your taste in music is as awful as your taste in politics, Giovanni.

• Rouffian

  The problem isn’t that I disagree with you, it’s that your terminology doesn’t work. I have little idea what you are talking about even where I love the track, e.g. “Almost gold”.

  The wonderful YouTube invention of a sliding progress bar is what you need. Then you could say “Sweet Child O’ Mine” 0:00 to 5:56 (Album version only) and we would all be able to listen to it and then explain why you were wrong.