From Paramore to house DJs: The musicians inspired by Beetham Tower's 'eerie' HOWLS
19.02.2022 - 20:51
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The sounds of Manchester have long inspired the masses.
We’re the city that has produced The Smiths, New Order, Oasis, and now…Beetham Tower screaming?
Yes, you read that right. The city centre landmark has become well-known to residents for its eerie howls in high winds which were first reported in 2006.
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But a sound that some have described as “causing distress” is music to the ears of others, with several artists from near and far choosing to sample the strange noise in their music.
Perhaps the most famous, though little-known, use of the sound, was in 2017 by American rock band Paramore.
Beetham’s eerie wailing features on their song ‘Idle Worship’, a fact revealed by guitarist Taylor York in an interview with Radio 1’s Zane Lowe.
“In the UK there’s this building and I can’t remember which city but there’s this skyscraper that has got this metal grate on top of it, and when the wind blows super loud it makes this crazy loud howling noise, and that’s the noise in ‘Idle Worship’,” York told Lowe.
And in 2016, Mancunian DJ Darius Syrossian released ‘Beetham Tower’, a track that builds Beetham’s wails into a house mix.
Beetham Tower, situated on Deansgate and home to the Hilton hotel, was not supposed to make a noise in high winds.
The moaning is due to the glass fins at the top of the skyscraper, which hum when strong winds move across them.
Work has taken place to try and eradicate the noise, but nothing has been successful so far.
In the meantime, musicians continue to be inspired…
Harry Critchley, a 26-year-old composer from Warrington, is one of the many who has been inspired by Beetham’s mournful howls.
He recently made