MOGWAI - Classic or Dud?

Also, I casually wish flaming death on anyone who ever again compares the *TENDENTIOUSLY BORING AND OBVIOUS MOTHERFUCKERS* in Godspeed You Fucking Black Emperor to Mogwai ever again, or at least sentence them to listening to the Swans' "I Was a Prisoner In Your Skull" and realizing where GYBE got their schtik from, right down to the found- sound man-on-street sample. They're at least starting to have two moods instead of one, but still. Sigur Ros I'll let live because they sound like they appreciate the shoegaze.

Back in September 1999, I had the chance to see GYBE and Mogwai at two separate shows the same week. Mogwai had this little thing called 'dynamics,' which among other things meant, say, not playing the same damn song over and over again and again, including the encores. Now guess how quickly I feel asleep at the GYBE show -- standing ten feet from the stage, I should note. Labradford blew them off the stage while playing at one/one-hundreth of the volume level.

As it is, Labradford excepted, the likes of Timbaland create more dramatic and unique work than all of these bands, but I know where my allegiances lie nonetheless...

I don't understand how people could say that the early singles were their best, as many seem to say.

In all seriousness, I'm forming theories on this in my own head, and also incorporating my "whichever album you heard first is the one you'll treasure" theory. Consider Mogwai (a good choice considering the thread): I love love love Come on Die Young, but it's obvious to me that most Mogwai fans that have been there from the beginning prefer Young Team as an album. Is Young Team necessarily better? I don't know, and I'm not convince. I much prefer CODY because it was my entry point (although I heard Kicking a Dead Pig first, I discount it because it was not what I was expecting at the time, and it just slid off my mind like an egg off of T-Fal).

I think Mogwai is a victim of their own success with a certain group. Young Team was obviously a great record, and it set up unreasonable expectations for the followup, thus the fact that many people don't really like CODY all that much. And also thus, many people don't think Rock Action measures up. I personally like Rock Action just fine the more that I listen to it, even with the vocals. Over the past two years, there have been a host of albums that I thought were just not up to snuff, because the previous releases set such high expectations: David Sylvian's last one. The last Godspeed (sorry, Ned). The new Nick Cave (and the jury's still out). And now this one.

Fucking knob. No wonder you don't chart.

x-post -- Calum, "Blur: Are Shite" implies that not only the band but the individual members of the band are shite, which is far more effective than your proposed alternative. And since when have Mogwai given a fuck about being pop stars? It's a non-issue.

I still post like that!

Tim, what does it for you with Rock Action? I think it's a fantastic record, but it doesn't give me the glazed eyes quite like Young Team or parts of Ten Rapid. It's more consistent, maybe, but less intense. The slower, prettier tracks on Rock Action have a deliberateness, a literalness about them, whereas early "ballads" like "Tracy" or "Helicon 2" are gauzier, dreamier, more enveloping. That's just me.

I'll answer your question a bit later Clarke when I've thought about it more.

Gygax's comments re: Young Team are completely otm. I've never understood the fawning over that record. Yes, there are intense moments on YT that can't be found on any of their other albums, but there's a load of filler too. Once I discovered live Mogwai bootlegs I discovered I didn't need YT to get my Mogwai Fear Satan fix anymore.

I never listen to CODY, incidentally. Love the EP in between CODY and Rock ActioN though.

That would be me! And the new one too, though I don't listen to it anywhere as much.

Reasonably accurate. After reading a number of interviews with the band, they sounded like a band I would like -- brimming with a healthy disdain for pretty much everything else. Likewise, the influences they'd continually cite -- Stooges, Sabbath, etc. -- all suggested that their music would be right up my alley. Hate to say, however, but I just found their music to be staggeringly dull. Still do

Mogwai seem to be everything to everyone, because with the exception of "Ratts in the Capital," Happy Songs absolutely melts into a single blob of tepidness.

CODY blurs into one big homogenous blob for me.

tracy is one of the most beautiful tracks imaginable,and mogwai fear satan is incredible,really immense sounding without being ridiculous...
loads of the eps and other stuff were really good as well,and cody had its moments,but i never loved it as much as the others,although the run of three tracks towards the end was excellent...

they were great all the times i saw them live as well

i haven't really kept up with them though,i heard and quite liked rock action but never really bothered to get it,and i haven't heard anything since (unless that jewish hymn thing came out since then,which i really liked...)

this thread has made me really want to dig out some of their stuff,i must have a look....

thinking about it,its weird,cause i haven't payed attention to much of that sort of music in ages,even though i used to love it,and in a way it was mogwai who got me out of it,since i heard of surgeon through them and subsequently got into techno...

(i can't find any of my mogwai cds,its wrecking my head)

Well when it comes to Young Team I'd say more like Smashing Pumpkins.

On the way up, only Hunted By A Freak and Ratts Of The Capital grabbed me at all. On the way back just now I thought I'd give it another try - Ratts Of The Capital didn't sound as good as it did yesterday. Hmm.

Jesus! Thanks for the tip. I might have bought that thing on a whim or something someday.

Sorry Ned!

right OTM.

I like Slint though.

and they're playing ATP, huzzah huzzah.

The BBC version of "New Paths To Helicon" is like a hot wet fuck.... yes it is. Sorry.

1. Happy Songs For Happy People
2. Young Team
3. Ten Rapid
4. Rock Action
5. Come On Die Young (I don't dig CODY)

Mogwai: Are mostly classic but with more than a smattering of dud.

I haven't been completely convinced by an album since Young Team, and the single version of Summer marks a high spot they've never reached again (so it's a shame it came so early). In fact, sometimes I think Summer is the best quiet/loud song evaarrr.

Hahahahahaha

anyway. i am very excited about this. errors (rah) and trout (oh jesus) supporting. roll up, roll up. pints at the bar. etc.

ye gods the loud bits are shit

Still can't bring myself to enjoy this album.

Barry Burns was Mogwai's Yoko.

To be honest I'm still a bit bitter that they used "young team". I really wanted to call a band that or something.

a graphical representation of the quality of mogwai's music over time

http://qi.yarnslave.com/Blocks/Templates/Template4inRightTriangle.gif

True dat.

so from now here the only way is up?

so so so true. they really were an incredible band in about 1997, and a pretty bad one by 2001 or so.

Young Team reissue bonus disc tracklist @ http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/eng/news.php :

from chemikal underground:

mogwai young team - remastered and augmented by additional disc of material

we told you that we had given young team a bit of a reworking and we weren't kidding. the original album has been remastered and tweaked and will now (and until the end of time) come to you in a 2cd format with another cd of young team era recordings nestling alongside the album proper. the second cd tracklisting is as follows...

1. 'untitled' [previously unreleased track from the young team sessions - summer of 1997]
2. 'i don't know what to say' [from the young team sessions - originally released on radio 1 sound city cd (nme 1998)]
3. 'i can't remember' [originally released on 'glasgow' compilation 7" by plastic cowboy 1998]
4. 'honey' [originally released on a spacemen 3 tribute by rocketgirl in 1998]
5. 'katrien (live)' [recorded live at lounge ax, chicago 15th october, 1997]
6. 'r u still in 2 it (live)' [recorded live for the mary anne hobbs show, bbc radio 1, 28th october, 1997]
7. 'like herod (live)' [recorded live at t in the park, strathclyde country park, summer 1997]
8. 'summer (priority) (live)' [recorded live at wnyu , new york city, 1998 should be 1997]
9. 'mogwai fear satan (live)' [recorded live at chemikal underground's 5th birthday party: the garage, glasgow, for the john peel show, bbc radio 1, 12th march, 2000]

in more good news for you vinyl enthusiasts out there, we can also confirm that this pretty magnificent package will be available (for a limited period of time) on quadruple vinyl. we say again: quadruple vinyl - extravagant? it's all this album deserves to be honest...

They haven't announced a release date though, not that I can find at the moment.

This looks like it could be a great reissue. I'm really pleased that it sounds like the original album will appear without any annoying bonus tracks on the first disc but then with a genuinely interesting bounty of extra stuff on the second CD. I'm excited all over again.

mogwai bores me to death. not sure why. demographically i should totally love them. more research is necessary.

Their new cover of Gouge Away is absolutely terrific.

I thought it was pretty poor (the Gouge Away cover).

It's a pretty straight cover, I'll admit, but the intensity of the song matches well with the Mogwai sound.

bored of Mogwai, bored of life.

saw them last night at triptych in glasgow. massive set, mostly dominated by new stuff. all awesome, one track in particular absolutely transcendent. sounds to me like they've really gone back to the "young team" dynamic but are re-tooling it with the benefit of 10 years' experience.

fuckin' godlike, basically.

With Alex's original thoughts on this - Why? On paper I should love this band

They have just never managed to have that little bit of magic that sets them apart.

I've seen them live a couple of times and they work better.

At the time , I loved them for the BLUR TShirt but with the benefit of hindsight, the better band (aside from one or two real cringing clunkers) wasn't Mogwai.

Really do want to like this band - off the top of my head, I love Helicon, Christmas Steps and 'Travel Is Dangerous' from ther last.

I will give this a whirl

I feel similar to Alex - I make occasional attempts to get into them because I like where they are conceptually, and always end up recalling that I find them quite boring to actually listen too. Still wouldn't mind checking them out live though, they strike me as a band that one needs volume and flashing lights to truly appreciate.

I totally agree grimly fiendish. I was at the Triptych gig last night too, and for me it was a transcendent return to form. An amazing show.

I've seen em live maybe 5-6 times between '01 and '07, and they have been uniformly excellent live, very consistent.

I've seen them about 8-10 times and the last couple of times I saw them I was sadly disappointed as it just felt lack-lustre and tired. But Saturday night was astounding. Once again I left the gig grinning like an idiot and convinced that they must surely be the best band in the world (in a hyperbolic post-gig-haze kind of way), which is how it was for the 5-6 times previous to that too.

The new tracks were much more inspiring too than when they were premiering Mr Beast material prior to that album. I agree that they seemed to hark back to the dynamics of the earlier Young Team-era stuff and bode well for when the new album appears (this year, surely, but any ideas as to when?).

hey krakow...tis your beardy scribe here. we meet on ilx at last. lost you after the gig on saturday. glad to hear it left you beaming.

I too had my faith in mogwai somewhat restored on saturday wouldn't quite go so far as transcendent, but it was a massive improvement from their supersonic 2007 drear. at their best, they were untouchably beautiful. the new stuff sounded highly promising too, on the whole.

they occupy an interesting and unique position in british music though. how many other instrumental rock bands can you name that have had such a long and successful career and been so consistently feted and beloved - at least as a live act, despite the arguably ongoing drop-off in album quality...

Young Team remaster sounds great!

that was already a nice sounding album so the remaster must be massive

It brings out the bouzouki playing more clearly. And the crumhorn.

??????

bit too compressed for you then

haha

I've not heard it! I quite like the levels on the original release, though. I'm just wondering whether Ned's joking about a crumhorn?!

http://www.busymolemusic.co.uk/images/crumhorn2.gif

the crumhorn doubles up nicely as a cane for midgets

Could that mean there is someone over on the Third Ear Band website forum joking about how the glitchy laptop effects are much clearer on the the Macbeth remaster?

I haven't heard the remaster and bonus disc material yet, but the vinyl box set looks amazing, it's big classy black minimalism. Me want very much.

new track, "the sun smells too loud", up on the matador site here.

not what i expected AT ALL. but fucking great. that is a grimly-tastic bassline.

melodically it's reminding me of wire or something ... this is such a surprise. i'm massively taken with it, i have to say.

love it! (and that batcat one too, but that's not online officially)

i've not heard that one, or seen any links to it. this is one of those albums i don't want to spoil by hearing in too many dribs and drabs beforehand, mind you :)

fantastic!

this somehow reminds me of M83

yes, i thought exactly the same. it's texturally quite different, but there's something in there, isn't there? i think it's maybe a lot to do with the melody and structure, but ... i don't really know what i'm talking about, so i'll shut up.

I like it a lot but I thought it was gonna breakout into Baba O'Reilly at the end ;)

Fuck Buttons rip-off merchants

I like it a lot but I thought it was gonna breakout into Baba O'Reilly at the end ;)

oh, that would be awesome!

This is fantastic but it's clearly on the Happy Songs... trajectory, it's not gonna win over the Fear Satan lovers/Happy Songs haters.

But..... but Happy Songs is their best album!

(Song is pretty good btw.)

bizarrely, i had a pint with john from mogwai after the MBV gig last night -- he's a friend of a friend. didn't actually talk about this song, mind: felt it would be odd. what a top guy, though.

That's quite nice, quite understated and groovy. I quite like.

Oh, I like this a LOT. Excited now.

i'm listening to it again now. it's quite soothing on my sore ears :)

i love it. it's one of the best individual songs they've done (by which i mean i tend to listen to mogwai as an albums band, and find that individual tracks out of context don't necessarily work so well).

despite my comments above, i've also now heard that other new one stan mentioned :)

it's pretty tremendous, if a lot more like what you'd expect.

Old, but funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdBKoiPE78Y

Barry starts playing way too soon (0:04), see Stuart's reaction

"but I thought it was gonna breakout into Baba O'Reilly at the end "

the problems with this song is that it's too monotonic, and the guitar line is annoying after the 100 times it is played.

BEST VIDEO EVER AWARD

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yUaCxx5npko

(just in case: this is just a fan made thing)

:D awesome

oh god that video

Tracklist:

01 I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
02 Batcat
03 Daphne and the Brain
04 Local Authority
05 The Sun Smells Too Loud
06 Kings Meadow
07 I Love You, I'm Going to Blow Up Your School
08 Scotland's Shame
09 Thank You Space Expert
10 The Precipice

haha Scotland's Shame, awesome.

Very much dud.

^ very much wrong.

three-word posts.

don't say much.

Sorry, it's just difficult to explain what's so dud about them since I find it so hard to see what could possibly not be dud about them. I've given them several tries, everytime thinking maybe there's more to it than lame arpeggios on poor sounding guitars but there really isn't. And the thought of how many bands who find this a cool and easy (because it is) schtick to rip off, playing with their eyes closed, makes it even more unforgivable

three-word posts.

don't say much.

loooool

While I wouldn't declare them a dud, I don't really see what the big deal is. Friends whose opinions I respect like them a good deal, but I just don't see what's so special. I guess I think of them as the Spoon of post-rock: competent, but kind of uncompelling. Tell me why I'm wrong.

I actually think Ganger is better.

I should probably listen to Young Team again.

oh, aye: they're fundamentally very easy to rip off (badly) -- i did a lot of that myself a few years ago :)

but i dunno ... i'm always surprised and saddened by the opprobrium they seem to attract round here. purely out of interest, which albums have you listened to, sonderangerbot? (not that i'm trying to convince you, or anything: i appreciate your elucidation.)

i mean, i don't even think -- say -- "young team" and "happy songs" are easy to compare; they are, if you like, at opposite poles of the mogwai sound. (and i do think "young team" -- much as i love it -- is overly praised as an album. indeed, there's a case for saying that they've never made a truly great album yet: there's always a flaw somewhere. the last one, probably, is the closest they've come: i have very high hopes for the next one.)

i guess, for me, it's an emotional connection -- which might be to do with the first time i heard "new paths to helicon" and how it just sounded like everything i was looking for, with the wide-eyed yearning that seemed to be missing from so much contemporary post-rock. but i still feel that, at their best -- whether it's the "shit, this is easy!" simplicity of "mogwai fear satan" or the restraint of "the sun smells too loud" -- they're transcendent.

there's a case for saying that they've never made a truly great album yet: there's always a flaw somewhere.

I agree with this, but unlike you I think their albums are becoming more flawed since "Rock Action". But if nothing else, the new one has GREAT song titles!

Surely the second track on the forthcoming Batcat EP is the winner in terms of genius song titles:

"stupid prick gets chased by the polis and loses his slut girlfriend"

I really do like Mogwai but their musical opinions are often dangerously close to bigoted if not outright suppressive.

Also, "The Sun Smells Too Loud" is cool for a minute or two but then I found myself thinking "please change, please do something a bit different". But nay! We are the Mogwai and we must make the same point incessantly for seven gruelling minutes! Their old stuff was never this one-dimensional. Still, I'm holding out some hope for the LP.

I ought to revisit them and reassess.

the new album's pretty durn good, actually. in some ways it could be argued that it revisits the mr beast template, but does so with considerably more passion and power.

that's not to say it's a noisier record than its predecessor, but for the most part it feels more focused and potent.

I likes it, anyway.

The cover is a bit meh.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yaeNUXjfL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

No tear, for a start.

Nivvur furget

Saw them last night at the Hammersmith Apollo, and they were really good. Kind of wish they hadn't bothered with the encore though- the last track (don't know what it's called) was good enough in its own right.

Batcat. ( http://www.youngteam.co.uk/brightlight/eng/gig241008.php )

(the encore: Helicon 1 and Two Rights Make One Wrong - both are pretty great though)

Nice one. To be fair, Helicon 1 was very good.

I saw them in Edinburgh on Tuesday and really enjoyed it again, though the sound wasn't as good as sometimes.

The old epics were the highlights for me: Xmas Step, Helicon 1 and Like Herod... awesome.

DUD!

ooh, challops!

hearing that in the "oooh, Danone" voice

To be fair, Helicon 1 was very good

didn't they do 2 rights as the final encore in london? i have heard that song be less than devotionally sublime, but it's rare.

krakow: bugger, i was there too. would have been good to say hello. it certainly wasn't the best i've seen them, although batcat totally fucking slayed, and like herod was about as awesome as it gets. i was, to be honest, a bit distracted by the appalling visuals -- showing the batcat animation was a great idea, but the rest were absolutely plums.

errors were blindingly good, i thought. and fuck buttons everything i hoped for (though NOT LOUD ENOUGH).

I loved Fuck Buttons, but got the sense that a lot of the audience weren't digging it. Pity the fools. You must be a volume masochist though, there was some intense volume going on. My sister & her friend got scared and ran away to the bar.

Fuck Buttons were good in London too, really something to hear them on a big sound system with organ-shuddering base!

You must be a volume masochist though, there was some intense volume going on

with stuff like that, it can NEVER be too loud for me. i guess the volume i was going for was somewhere between vomit-inducing and bowel-loosening. but the poor ol' corn exchange is never quite going to manage that.

got the sense that a lot of the audience weren't digging it

yeh, i know ... ach. fuck 'em, basically. there's a truly woeful piece of "writing" here which saddens me enormously.

lol, Mogwai fan complaining about lack of spectacle on stage.

plz to send "Guardians of Space" if you have it. I would like to put it on a mix & it is very difficult to find! It was only recently that I found out that that was the name of said track, b/c the disc I own that has it (US edition of the 4 Satin ep, which is, unfortunately, in storage elsewhere) does not have the track listed. I had though up to now that it was "Superheroes of BMX," which is the second track, actually. Was there a misprint in the US pressing? Anyway, if you have the track, I would greatly appreciate it if you could help a brother out.

I think, after 12 years of trying, that I'm ready to say that Mogwai are fucking boring.

I am a boring person & I like Mogwai. I take it you don't have the track, then?

The disc I own that has it (US edition of the 4 Satin ep, which is, unfortunately, in storage elsewhere) does not have the track listed

Hmm! I've got a rip here of my 12" UK vinyl copy of 4 Satin, which has three tracks: Stereodee, Superheroes of BMX and Now You're Taken (think that's the correct track order ... wow, I ripped that in December 2001.) I genuinely don't know Guardians of Space!

But if you want, I'll zip that rip and point it in your general direction. Just say the word.

don't worry about it gf. It sounds like you have the UK version, which didn't have it. I thought it would have been an appropriate track for a comp I'm making and only recently discovered that what I thought for all these years was "Superheroes of BMX" was actually GOS b/c the US version had four tracks, but kept the same tracklist as the UK, if that makes any sense.

I thought it was strange that, on my copy, the fourth track wasn't listed, but I guess that track is actually "Stereodee."

Sorry, no, I don't have it.

the US version had four tracks, but kept the same tracklist as the UK, if that makes any sense

Right! I was wondering if it was just a change of name ... didn't realise it actually had an extra track.

Bugger, I really want to hear this now. If anyone *does* have it ...

hey, if I can track it down, maybe I'll post it. It is one of my favorite tracks of theirs & has a killer bassline & is as close to actual metal as I've heard them sound, regardless of the lack of vox (I tend to like Mogwai best in opposite extremes: total rocking out or droney & ambient).

If noone serves it up based on this exchange, I'll rip it when I visit my parents next week. Much of my CD collection is in boxes in their attic.

That'd be magic: I really don't think I've ever heard it (I've just been through my not-very-impressive Mogwai rarities folder) and yeh, metal-Mogwai is invariably a good thing.

Someone else out there must have it, though ... surely?

Most of us yanks haven't risen yet, so give it a few hours..

Good point, well made.

Success!: Mogwai - Guardians of Space

Dude! Awesome. Downloaded; will listen later.

Aye, cheers, I don't think I've heard this one either.

I like this. It's an oddity, certainly, but my life is the better for hearing it. Thanks!

still classic live

What he said, having just seen them for the first time in...nine years? Close to that. Great show.

Psyched about the live film & album coming soon! Trailer @ http://www.mogwai.co.uk

Yeh, I think there was some talk about this on the Scottish Bands thread, too. Looks fucking ace.

I listened to The Hawk Is Howling yesterday for the first time in ages. While I still maintain they've not made a studio album yet that's really representative of their genius, this one really isn't that far off ...

...but it's so frontloaded!

SCOTLAND'S SHAME, DUDE! SCOTLAND'S SHAME!

that's the only good track in the second half! and it's kinda a one-trick pony. 'biggest bass ever'

'i'm jim morrison, i'm dead' is probably all-time mogwai top-5 tho

Special Moves - track list and MP3 giveaway
Mogwai's first live album will be released on Rock Action Records this spring. Released alongside the live film Burning. The formats will be CD and DVD and limited deluxe triple vinyl box set which will also include the dvd of Burning, set lists and a poster. The artwork was designed by Aidan Moffat.

To mark the announcement of the full tracklisting for this release Mogwai will be giving away a free MP3 of the song 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong taken from the Special Moves live CD via the minisite www.mogwaispecialmoves.com

The track list for the the cd/dvd version is:

- I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
- Friend Of The Night
- Hunted By A Freak
- Mogwai Fear Satan
- Cody
- You Don't Know Jesus
- I Know You Are But What Am I
- I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School
- 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
- Like Herod
- Glasgow Megasnake

The track list for the vinyl version is

- I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
- Friend Of The Night
- Hunted By A Freak
- Mogwai Fear Satan
- Cody
- You Don't Know Jesus
- I Know You Are But What Am I
- i Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School
- 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
- Like Herod
- Glasgow Megasnake
- Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home
- Scotlands Shame
- New Paths To Helicon Part 1
- Batcat
- Thank You Space Expert
- The Precipice

The extra songs featured on the vinyl release will be available as a free download with the CD.

those tracklists are pretty ideal. would only ask for 'kids will be skeletons' or 'ratts of the capital' in addition. but yeah, definitive. i'll probably be getting this on the strength of the song-choices

I had a little spat with Braithwaite on Twitter the other day.

loooooooool imo he should do the richey edwards 4 real thing to prove he isn't an act

Quite.

a trifle up 'emselves, aren't they

they're allowed to be.

I had a little spat with Braithwaite on Twitter the other day

Did you? I don't follow him so I missed this ... go on ...

Premiere of the film at the GFT on Feb 28, by the way. I fully intend to be there for it.

This isn't exactly the first live album, is it? I mean, "Government Commissions" was a Peel Sessions disc, which was pretty live. And yes that tracklist looks solid and could be improved only by "My Father, My King".

Which I once had the opportunity to see them play live and WOW

Stuart Braithwaite playing a short 6-song solo set at the opening party for an exhibition of Spacemen 3-related artworks by Natty Brooker at Mono, Glasgow on Sunday 17th January 2009...

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v2/p659845636-3.jpg

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p664840244-3.jpg

get a smaller guitar man, y'look like verne troyer

Preorder http://www.mogwaispecialmoves.com/order

i was on the train wi barry burns, or his doppleganger, on Monday.

Dear Call All Destroyer, here is how to make Mogwai's first two studio LPs as good as or even better than Rock Action and HSFHP:

1. Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home
2. Like Herod
3. Tracy
-
4. R U Still In 2 It
5. Mogwai Fear Satan

----

1. Punk Rock
2. CODY
3. Helps Both Ways
4. Y2K Non-Compliant Cardia
5. May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door
-
6. Oh! How The Dogs Stack Up
7. Ex-Cowboy
8. Chocky
9. the last 3 minutes of Christmas Steps w/ Luke Sutherland on violin and Iggy Pop's speech overlaid backwards

^^^awesome albumz

btw I don't think it would be hard to get a segue from the noise-out at the end of Chocky into the guitar figure that concludes CS (as soon as the drums cut out, is when I would pick it up)

New studio album in Feb. 2011 -> http://www.nme.com/news/mogwai/52392

Mogwai play Stereo next Sunday 29th August!

Tickets onsale tomorrow morning 11am in person from Monorail or online from Ticketmaster (link is currently non-working).

Mogwai say:

Glasgow - Stereo 29th August

We are playing a show next Sunday August 29th at Stereo in Glasgow. Moon Unit are playing too. Doors are at 8pm. Tickets will be available online tomorrow morning at 11am here . They will also be available in person from Monorail records at 11am tomorrow. Tickets are £10 and proceeds will be going to Lanarkshire Cancer Trust and aid to the victims of the floods in Pakistan.

I could pretty much explode with excitement at the prospect of seeing them at such a tiny venue!

BTW, Re: Special Moves live album: tomorrow.

Physical items will ship on 8/23.
Digital downloads will be available on 8/23.

who got this today?:

http://i45.tinypic.com/257i0x0.jpg

CD/LP Track listing

1. "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead"
2. "Friend of the Night"
3. "Hunted By A Freak"
4. "Mogwai Fear Satan"
5. "Cody"
6. "You Don't Know Jesus"
7. "I Know You Are But What Am I"
8. "I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School"
9. " 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong"
10. "Like Herod"
11. "Glasgow Megasnake"
additional tracks on LP version and available through download
12. "Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home"
13. "Scotland's Shame"
14. "New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 1"
15. "Batcat"
16. "Thank You Space Expert"
17. "The Precipice"

Burning live DVD track listing:

1. "The Precipice"
2. "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead"
3. "Hunted By A Freak"
4. "Like Herod"
5. "New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 1"
6. "Mogwai Fear Satan"
7. "Scotland's Shame"
8. "Batcat"

I did on Monday.

Me too. It's very good.

Forgot how much I still loved "Christmas Steps" -- good to have the reminder.

My personal Mogwai gigography, thus far...

1998.09.16 - Northgate Arena, Chester (supporting Manic Street Preachers)
2001.11.03 - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
2003.10.19 - Barrowlands, Glasgow
2005.08.18 - ABC, Glasgow
2005.11.29 - Arches, Glasgow
2006.04.27 - Usher Hall, Edinburgh
2006.09.23 - Barrowlands, Glasgow
2007.07.14 - Custard Factory, Birmingham (Supersonic Festival)
2008.04.26 - Tramway, Glasgow (Triptych Festival)
2008.10.21 - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
2010.08.29 - Stereo, Glasgow

I have the Mogwai Season Ticket for the 5 Scottish shows at the end of this month as well.

Shamefully, having a) grown up in Scotland and b) been into Mogwai since around 1999/2000, the Perth show at the end of the month will be my first time ever seeing them live. At least it's in my hometown, right? The 16 year old me would have exploded. May have a ticket for the Feb Edinburgh show too, which would help work on the total.

I dig their name, I dig their song titles, I dig their album covers and titles. But there's nothing *very* captivating about the band where I feel I have to amass multiple albums. It's unfortuante that in the sort of post-rock realm that if something touches upon being visual, it's given the OK to be recorded. I try looking for a hook but then realize there isn't supposed to be one, and really that's sort of where the subgenre fails: I usually have a hard time differentiating album to album, song to song.

i think mogwai's albums have been kinda stale since c. 2003 or so, but i'll still see 'em live when i can

show i caught Mr. Beast-era was immense

I've repeatedly tried to like them, but never gotten anywhere. (I don't like most things, come to think of it.)

The new Remember Remember album (on Mogwai's Rock Action imprint) is very lovely.

Was listening to that this morning! Good stuff.

I remember seeing him years ago playing a bar on a Sunday night where nobody was interested. He started getting heckled so he'd record the heckles and loop them into the songs.

they're playing at a planetarium here on saturday. but i can't go because i have a co-worker's wedding reception. fml!

Following a Facebook post I made about "not getting Mogwai", I can conclude that there are two types of people in the world - people who lurve them and people who think they're really boring and artless.

3: People who think the have their moments, but are basically U2 minus Bono, plus loud/quiet.

Listened to a recent live set last night and found it pretty beautiful in places. Don't think I've listened to them in a while otherwise.

Postrock fans in general are fucking awful.

That is correct, esp. Scotch ones

3: People who think the have their moments, but are basically U2 minus Bono, plus loud/quiet.

You don't get it, do you? Mogwai are Bono. They are not Larry.

Line-up for the forthcoming remix album is great...

"Tim Hecker, The Soft Moon, RM Hubbert, Robert Hampson, Zombi, Justin Broadrick, Xander Harris, Umberto and Cylob"

Looks okay, but I don't buy scientology-related products as a rule of thumb.

3: People who think the have their moments, but are basically U2 minus Bono, plus loud/quiet.

― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 10:59 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

4: ppl who loved them back in the day and are happy for them to do their thing now but have little real use for them

had stopped paying attention to these for about a decade or so, but "music for a forgotten future", as featured in that michael mayer omegamix from earlier this year, really is incredible.

god i love 2 rights make 1 wrong

yaay another boring british band who rip off superior American acts and we're all supposed to lap it up and say how interesting...

possibly the ultimate "if this lot came from Chicago instead of Glasgow no-one would give a shit about them" band

Just IMO

That is correct, esp. Scotch ones

Shouldn't be so hard on Stuart Braithwaite...

He has mellowed or is he still a self-regarding gobshite?

Lest we forget the cringeworthy Kappa outfits.

tortoise are super boring and people care about them. they have some pretty clear influences,but they don't really rip anyone off too hard.they've gone downhill since the rock action ep imo,but they're p good all in all.not that great live imo,but precious few bands are.

Saw Braithwaite in the crowd at ATP last weekend. He's still short and bald.

Loving the new soundtrack but it probably helps that I already loved the show ("Les Revenants")

Yeah the new record is really lovely. They still keep coming with this wonderful music. I'm hoping the Tv programme will come to the BBC.

Nobody will notice because they aren't good anymore.

was wondering what this soundtrack was as i watched the tv show. i ignored these for a while after rock action as it didn't seem like something i ever wanted to listen to again, but some amazing music in the last few years.

only heard "music for a forgotten future" via michael mayer's kompakt megaset, also an amazing tune.

lol i just noticed i posted about that upthread. ah well. there it is again and i hadn't posted about the returned yet, now on channel 4, uk folks.

MFAFF is the best thing they've done by quite a long way. Second might be the Like Herod Peel session, or the remix of Earth's Teeth of Lions Rule The Divine

I keep coming back to this remix of "Tracy" from the first record:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJSN5V72w7s

I saw them last night at a nice open-air special event on the riverfront here in Glasgow performing the Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait soundtrack live along to the film as part of a small series of dates around the Manchester International Film Festival.

While the Zidane soundtrack isn't my favourite work of theirs, both musically and because of my utter lack of caring for football, I always enjoy a Mogwai show and this was something a little different. The outdoor setting at the end of a glorious sunny summer Sunday was excellent, they played well, and we got a nice three-song encore, which was the highlight of the night for me personally.

Being outdoors the light was pretty nice and I was enjoying using my lovely new (second-hand) 135mm f/2.0 lens, so I got a whole bunch of photos that I'm really pleased with...

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5520/9340040013_45338115f6_z.jpg
Mogwai performing live to Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait by Crimson Glow Photography, on Flickr

What was in the encore, Krakow, can you say? I'm off to The Barbican to see them on Friday and I'm looking forward to it.

We got Helicon 1, Werewolf & Glasgow Megasnake (though I'm a little unsure of what the second song was).

Previous two nights got Secret Pint & Helicon 1 and CODY & Ex-Cowboy, so I hear.

Nice. Crossing my fingers for a slice of Fear Satan. As always tbh.

god i love 2 rights make 1 wrong

― mookieproof, Saturday, December 15, 2012 12:49 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't know which thread to revive but the CODY remaster is out next week. An hour of bonus material here:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/jul/14/mogwai-come-on-die-young-bonus-material-exclusive-stream

CODY is seminal now? When did that happen?

I haven't gone near CODY since I listened to it once in 1999 and pronounced it a crushing disappointment to whoever was listening (probably my cat).

Maybe it's the other seminal they mean? xpost

Perhaps that explains the color of Dominic's face?

Cum on the young - they predicted that whole pedo scandal.

They're doing a Reddit AMA on 22 July, FYI.

that sounds dirty now

Didn't the band at some point dismiss CODY?

I didn't know they did, specifically, no? I believe they prefer their later more fine-tuned and subtle material over the rougher earlier albums in general, though.

Rock Action was their best record. It was the record most like an actual band trying to make a record people would love with songs, themes, lyrics, melodies and ideas. It's a record I can still enjoy to this day, and it's the only Mogwai record that contains none of the elements they're actually known for (guitar freakouts, the dubious masculinity of their late "metal" period, soundtracks, boring drumming). Dave Fridmann on the mix? Must be a good thing then.

Some great lyrics on Rock Action: What would you do / If you saw spaceships over Glasgow / Would you feel that / Every aircraft, every camera / Was a wish that / Wasn't granted. (Not sure if that's how it really goes.)

Actually a lot of it sounds like the music for Minecraft now. Enduring legacy!

I agree that Rock Action is the best Mogwai album - it's very controlled and methodical in a way they unfortunately never really tried out again.

EP+6, tho not technically an album, is preferable to any of their full lengths.

That one's great too.

Hang on a minute. I think I'm risking doing a disservice to Mr Beast, which I'm listening to now for the first time since the days following its release. By 2006, the year this album came out, I was becoming a fucking anti-rock weirdo but, as always, I dutifully download whatever the newest Mogwai was at the time and listen to it once or twice. I remember giving this one a "hrmph, I guess that's sort of okay, why do they have to do all that guitar metal stuff."

Something I've learned at age 35 that I didn't know at 30 or 25 or 20 is that if someone's œuvre—not just music, btw—appears monotonous and repetitive to you as a young person, well, let's say that when you get old you will probably end up viewing slow, iterative improvement as more artistically rewarding than you used to. In fact, you may come to appreciate someone's career primarily based on its stylistic continuity and those same subtle adjustments made to a single set of musical building blocks.

Almost every building block on Mr Beast has a 1:1 parallel with something on Rock Action, but in every case it's a significant upgrade. Mogwai albums are like Apple's desktop operating system upgrades. Sometimes you're disappointed there's not really any new "features," but as a grownup you end up appreciating the bug fixes more than the features anyway.

Plus as a 35 year old I'm much, much more into sludgy metal guitar than I was ten years ago ;-)

congrats on doing your absolute damnedest to spin "mogwai's albums have sucked progressively harder since 2003" into a positive.

Actually doing my damnedest to spin "my life since 2003" into a positive. But also discovering a weird kind of Mogwai album bias among people of a similar age along the way. And actually I think Mogwai's doing just fine, thank you very much.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28jny6_mogwai-full-concert-live-pitchfork-music-festival-paris_music

3CD compilation

https://www.musicglue.com/mogwai-1/products/central-belters-cd/

Huh. Hadn't heard about that at all!

haha, cracking name

(mogwai are from Glasgow and environs in Scotland's "central belt". "belter" is a thing which is of high quality)

That looks pretty good but the gulf in quality between the material on the first CD and the others is pretty big.

Surprised they left 'Like Herod' off though.

Music For A Forgotten Future, Like Herod (BBC versh), Fear Satan and Ex Cowboy = CD4

xp I've always used "belter" to describe an object or action that is good, e.g. "Brain Easton's recent goal against Aberdeen for St Johnstone was a belter!", or to describe a person who may otherwise be considered a bit of a radge, bam, walloper or haver.

your first definition is the one I was going for as well.

It's a great album title whichever definition you go with.

Brilliantly...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HT: <a href="https://twitter.com/DulwichHamletFC";>@DulwichHamletFC</a> 1-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/bromleyfc";>@bromleyfc</a> Reece Johnson's belter after 4 mins the difference. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DHFC?src=hash";>#DHFC</a> <a href="https://t.co/00LvYmLQfQ";>pic.twitter.com/00LvYmLQfQ</a></p>— Forward The Hamlet (@ForwardHamlet) <a href="https://twitter.com/ForwardHamlet/status/656916486947213312";>October 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Well, that didn't work. Not that it was an essential contribution.

Forward The Hamlet @ForwardHamlet
HT: @DulwichHamletFC 1-0 @bromleyfc

Reece Johnson's belter after 4 mins the difference.

#DHFC
8:34 PM - 21 Oct 2015

who is this compilation designed for though?

Who are any compilations designed for?

Music For A Forgotten Future, Like Herod (BBC versh), Fear Satan and Ex Cowboy = CD4

Fear Satan is on CD1.

Mogwai are one of those bands that I honestly *REALLY WANNA LIKE*, but it just never seems to happen.

I feel a bit like this.

Fear Satan is on CD1.

― Matt DC, Thursday, October 22, 2015 9:02 AM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good, i only threw it on to pad the length out

I'm really loving the new LP, the re-recorded soundtrack to the Atomic film. It sounds like some of the EP+ 6 tunes with quieter guitars and horns. I like it a lot. I'm surprised there isn't more talk about it.

I absolutely love the new Atomic album too. It's has some really beautiful moments and I'm surprised at quite how well it works as a stand-alone listen. I think you're right in saying it sounds quite like that older period at points. I'd have to go back and check the specific songs, but Are You A Dancer? and Tzar remind me of the No Education = No Future EP, I think.

I got tickets yesterday to see them perform this alongside the film at Edinburgh International Festival in August.

It's easily the best album they've released in over a decade.

http://pitchfork.com/news/68150-trent-reznor-and-mogwai-score-leonardo-dicaprio-climate-change-film-before-the-flood/

For what it's worth, I listened to Atomic a couple of times right after the Orlando massacre, and heard some of it on the radio since, and it's always seemed somber but alert, all that good shit.

Who's up in this? I'm shitfaced and want to put in a Migwau record. I have them all up until 2007 you choose

Rock Action still my favorite.

me too

Toss up between Happy Songs for Happy People and Young Team for me.

that one from like, 2010 is pretty decent

a metalhead friend acquaintance went to go see them live and whined after that they were 'way too loud' which i kind of loved tbh

I'd probably have plumped for the Govt Commissions album.

Anyone heard Burns work with Kangding Ray's Daniel Letelier as SUMS yet? An EP is due soon.
Interview: http://www.factmag.com/2017/03/28/sums-kangding-ray-barry-burns-interview/

Rock Action for me too. But yet to hear a recording of Two Rights that comes anywhere close to how it sounds live.

I guess I need to see them live again. I've probably seen them do that one at least once but those moments are lost in time like tears in the fucking rain.

I have a boot somewhere in which the lads mix in a Martin Luther King speech over 2 Rights.

not an album but EP+6 for me

rock action as an album is quite good

then come on die young

there was a time when young team was my fave tho but i grew out of it (tracy still great track)

Details of the new album 'Every Country's Son' were announced this morning, out 1st September 2017. First track "Coolverine" sounds solid, if not immediately earth shattering.

Tracklisting: Coolverine, Party In The Dark, Brain Sweeties, Crossing The Road Material, aka 47, 20 Size, 1000 Foot Face, Don't Believe The Fife, Battered At A Scramble, Old Poisons, Every Country's Sun

I'm still very excited. Produced by Dave Fridmann, talk of at least one "pop" song, plus it's apparently a long album, so there should be an epic or two.

Because I was bored and because a mate (in Rutland) want a comp...

Mogwai Fear Rutland

Yes, I Am A Long Way From Home (Young Team)
Stanley Kubrick (EP + 6)
Glasgow Megasnake (Burning)
Kids Will Be Skeletons (Happy Songs)
Cody (CODY)
You Don't Know Jesus (Rock Action)
We're No Here (Mr Beast)
New Paths to Helicon Pt.1 (Govt. Commissions)
Ratts of the Capital (Happy Songs)
Punk Rock (CODY)
Mogwai Fear Satan (Young Team)
2 Rights Make 1 Wrong (Burning)
Superheroes of BMX (4 Satin)
Small Children in the Background (EP + 6)
My Father, My King (My Father My King EP)

35 minutes of official video from the 6 music live thing they did yesterday lunchtime. might be available in audio-only mode for foreigners. and i think it might be red-buttonable for those of you reading this on their televisions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b097slq0/6-music-live-2017-7-mogwai

(red button appears to be finished: http://www.tvguide.co.uk/mobile/channellisting.asp?ch=636#268011962 )

God they're so boring. This cross the road tune they keep playing on 6music, you know exactly what it's going to do from the second it starts.

yeah the new album was a whole load of nothing

maybe, maybe 'party in the dark' was ok, they should just give up the whole post-rock thing

it's all been downhill since rock action tbh

i only have 'mr. beast', an album that rarely gets mentioned, so i guess that's indicative as to its place in the catalogue.

never listen to their records but generally catch them live

xp. their first bad album for me.

my friend worked in a record shop and gave me a mr beast t-shirt. it just said mogwai on the front, or so i thought. i put it on and went outside - in glasgow - and a wee ned shouted at me "hawl you, mr beast, ya mad paedo*" or words to that effect. as it said "Mr Beast" on the back.

*beast means paedophile or sexual offender in the west of scotland

Yeah, Mr Beast is where the rot set in for me: a combination of vastly diminishing returns and horrible overly-compressed production.

I still enjoy the first 3 LPs and the early EPs

*beast means paedophile or sexual offender in the west of scotland

blimey.
weird album title choice then.
to be honest, i don't think i have ever listened to it all way through before boredom sets in and i change it for something different.

Stuart Braithwaite did the album ranking thing a little while ago and very unusually for this sort of thing he seems to be pretty much right afaic

https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/rkqn4y/rank-your-records-mogwai-stuart-braithwaite

For this LP I liked the first single, not that keen on the second at all, still hoping it will live up to the former but sounds like maybe I'm in for a disappointment.

with jim here, can't say i've cared about anything after rock action (which is their best)

I'm surprised to see fans of Rock Action (which is my favorite album of theirs), it's historically been dismissed on ILM. Anyway, this is most interesting thing I've heard about Mogwai in a long time:

And I think we’re gonna do a reissue of (Rock Action) with another CD of music, a lot of which people haven’t heard.

Agree with Stuart that Happy Songs is the best one, Rock Action probably second. I'll say it again, though: Music For A Forgotten Future is their finest hour (give or take their Earth remix)

Young Team only at #4 is insane. Yes, the band member is wrong about his own albums.

Young Team and CODY best ones by a mile imo.

Young Team only at #4 is insane. Yes, the band member is wrong about his own albums.

Young Team and CODY best ones by a mile imo.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, October 13, 2017 11:09 AM (twelve seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

aye.

and if you could include EPs ten rapid might be my favourite

Yeah def!

Young Team is great, but patchy. It has the much inferior version of Xmas Steps. HSFHP works better as an album, even if it doesn't have the hits. I would also say 10 Rapid is probably the best overall.

I mean CODY obviously

Young Team has the inferior version of Summer

‘Rock Action’ remains my favourite.

I agree they've been dull since Rock Action. Still a great live band, like.

I loved their soundtrack work for “Les Revenants”, so there’s that.

Hardcore Will Never Die is great, and seconded for Les Revenants (although it's very soundtracky). Quite like Rave Tapes, but Beast / Hawk etc are lifeless, and the new one is a non-event.

Hawk gets off to a wonderful start but then loses itself in noodling later on. Mr Beast is kind of all rubbish

*beast means paedophile or sexual offender in the west of scotland

blimey.
weird album title choice then.
to be honest, i don't think i have ever listened to it all way through before boredom sets in and i change it for something different.

― mark e, Friday, October 13, 2017 10:10 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

to clarify this: although beast is used to mean that and the members of mogwai will know that, i don't think that use of the word is the intent of the name of the album

Their most popular song on Spotify, by a factor of 2, is Kids Will Be Skeletons - absolutely one of their best songs, but I wonder why it's so disproportionately popular? Was it in Twilight or something

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Strange

right gotcha. what about take me somewhere nice', that's second by miles...

Spotify isn't showing the popular songs in order of plays! Something called "Hungry Face" is in 8th place with 11 million plays.

Anyway, RA > CODY > 10 Rapid, then God Mr. Beast can have the rest.

right gotcha. what about take me somewhere nice', that's second by miles...

― imago, Friday, October 13, 2017 2:26 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

people love stuart's dulcet tones?

maybe the first Mogwai you hear is your favorite? that would be CODY for me.

Last June by chance I went out with Barry Burns until 4am, across the road from the lab where I first heard “Ex-Cowboy” about 20 years earlier. This was in Hobart, mind, which made it all pretty surreal.

They've always had a strong line in boring, e.g. you don't know jesus in rock action is pretty zzzz. But there's usually a non boring highlight on their albums, e.g. the sun smells too loud on the hawk is howling. The new one though is indeed snores from start to end.

those are pretty unusual choices for boring track and highlight imo! takes all sorts i guess

i learned that a long time ago yet it remains surprising.

The Sun Smells Too Loud was my takeaway from that album, as it happens. The rest dull as fuck.

Boring /= repetitive. Especially with this band. Boring = predictable, which is generally what they are on their more dynamic stuff.

The Nonkeen records from last year scratched the itch for me that Mogwai never have been able to.

you don't know jesus in rock action is pretty zzzz

waht this is like their best song! (After 2 Rights and Helicon 1.)

idk it was the one from rock action playing when i glanced at the screen thinking 'hurry up, when's 2 rights coming on?'

dude, that whole album is like 38 minutes long lol

there was a wee season or two after it came out that the sun smells too loud was always played at half time at celtic home games

was good pie-line muzak

I seem to have said pretty much the same thing twice above, but almost everything pre-CODY = classic, everything after that = dud. In particular 10 Rapid is their best album by a mile.

All the score in 'KIN' is created by one of our favorite bands in the world, Mogwai. Dream collaboration. You wait to you hear this album world. https://t.co/oaZlRCFkhE

— Jonathan & Josh Baker (@RedBikeBlueBike) April 27, 2018

the gwai have done another soundtrack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luM6oeCM7Yw
how does this have 70,000,000 views??

the comment section is basically an entire forum on depression and suicide ideation. not sure how this happened but there is your explanation. (reading further it seems 9gag has something to do with it, and that there's as much trolling as sincere outpouring)

i mean i'm watching 13 Reasons Why S2 at the moment - trying to recall whether this song featured in S1. I think it might have?

Yeah it does have a unique comments section (and kinda cool I'm), but i didn't consider that the comments section of any one indie some might take on a life of its own like it apparently has

I'm=imo

some=song omg fuck posting on a phone

CODY released 20 years ago the day

"Helps Both Ways" came on shuffle the other day and it brought me back to my fair youth!

Reckon they’re all probably into eurorack now.

Rather like the new one.

Back in September 1999, I had the chance to see GYBE and Mogwai at two separate shows the same week. Mogwai had this little thing called 'dynamics,' which among other things meant, say, not playing the same damn song over and over again and again, including the encores. Now guess how quickly I feel asleep at the GYBE show -- standing ten feet from the stage, I should note. Labradford blew them off the stage while playing at one/one-hundreth of the volume level.

ROFL

All true!

Fwiw I saw both of those shows in I think the same week of Sept. 99 as well (presumably on the opposite coast, at Maxwell's in Hoboken) and that is a hilariously immoderate reaction. The wording, the indignation... It's all very funny

I think "Mogwai had this little thing called 'dynamics'" and "now guess how quickly i fell asleep" were my favorite parts

'blown off the stage by labradford' is the saddest of all epithets

Out of the two shows I would say Ganger played the weakest set, but it's true that Labradford were better than GY!BE

I think that was the same week as the Matador 10th anniversary show at Irving Plaza where some guy yelled "DON'T DO IT!!" over the silence just as Stuart Braithwaite was about to kick the distortion on for the loud part of 'Like Herod' and *the entire place* including Stu erupted in laughter.

single sounds like Snow Patrol

lol xp

Dying at “DON’T DO IT!”

awesome

Re: one/one-hundredth of the volume level tho. Idk, I distinctly remember being surprised and disappointed that GYBE were soooo quiet. Only time i've seen them live.

At the Matador 10th show Mogwai's set was followed by the Cornelius Group who I wouldn't say blew them off the stage exactly but it certainly would have been a little sad if Mogwai had followed them instead.

it probably doesn't, but dear god i wish a bootleg of that "don't do it!" show exists.

relistened to ROCK ACTION recently and damn if "you don't know jesus" isn't an easy top 3 mogwai cut for me.

Genuinely the loudest act I ever saw live.

gigography link to that Irving Plaza show with a comment about the Don't Do It as well - doesn't say if it was recorded/is being traded or not - http://youngteam.co.uk/brightlight/eng/gig230999.php

("the show was webcast on cdnow" though)

it must be out there somewhere - this is from that show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVua-kot5A

new one is great. Ceiling Granny is basically a Siamese Dream-era pumpkins track minus vocals. not sure if they would enjoy that comparison but it's undeniable?

Yeah really good new album. Really enjoyed the recorded gig the other night as well. A truly immersive experience although i'd had a few ales, the light show got me.

Saw them in Cologne in 97 or 98 and was the loudest show ever. Later gigs didn't quite achieve that ear splitting volume.

oh I LOVE that clip of Xmas Steps, Stuart jumps like he's been shot when the bass comes in

single sounds like Snow Patrol

I'd like to hear some Snow Patrol sounding that good. Not being snide, I'd genuinely appreciate a recommendation.

gigography link to that Irving Plaza show with a comment about the Don't Do It as well

Heh, it's the first thing anyone would mention who was at that show.
I was talking to a friend I didn't know until years later and it transpired that we were both in attendance... And immediately like, we just looked at each other grinning and shouted out "DON'T DO IT!!" in unison.

i was disappointed too that they only played 4 songs

Well tbf, all 4 of them were 10 minutes long.

I probably saw more shows in September 1999 than any other month which is kinda crazy b/c I was 15 years old at the time. I think the Mogwai/Ganger and Godspeed/Labradford shows were a few days before school started, but the Matador 10th show was on like a Monday or Tuesday night and I had a history test the next day. Relatedly, this was right around the time I started failing out of school.

Anyway some quick thoughts.

That song sounds like M83

Very nice message just sent out via their Bandcamp:

It is 25 years this week since the release of our first single Tuner/Lower, the first release on Rock Action Records. We started the label (named after Stooges drummer Scott Asheton) with a loan of £400 from my sister Victoria’s boyfriend (now husband) Jared. Martin’s folks generously helped us out by paying for the studio to record the songs. We folded the record sleeves up one by one in my bedroom at my parents house. I had every expectation that most of them were going to be hard to get rid of and would remain in a pile in my bedroom for some time. Thankfully that wasn’t to be the case.

We didn’t start the band or the label to get in to charts. That would have seemed insane. We were just kids that wanted to make an amazing noise and get our record played on John Peel. Amazingly John did play the record, and one thing led to another to get us to the point we’re at now. Its been an incredible journey making music together over the last quarter century, taking us to places we never dreamed of and getting to play our music to more people than we ever imagined. None of us ever envisaged either the band or the label being in a position where having a number one record would be a possibility.

As it stands our new album As The Love Continues is number one in the UK charts. It's something we’re amazed by. We’re taken aback by everyone’s support, kindness and generosity. It means so much to us and would be incredible if we could hold on to remain number one when the chart comes out on Friday. For that to happen we need everyone’s help by buying the record and streaming it as much as possible. We are so grateful for all the support we’ve received so far and with just a few more days of it we can do something pretty amazing.

If you've bought the album via Bandcamp but haven't yet downloaded, the UK charts will only register the sale once it's downloaded so if you can...it'd be appreciated.

Cheers!
Stuart
Mogwai

They just tweeted Ricky Gervais asking to plug their album then deleted it

I still don't know why more people weren't talking about ZeroZeroZero, an international drug trafficking drama on Amazon Prime that was so great, but anyway Mogwai did the soundtrack and it works really well in the show

Limmy has given them a plug! And he doesn't plug just anyone

As it stands our new album As The Love Continues is number one in the UK charts.

holy shit.
hope they pull it off!

been loving the full on twitter party re this.
if it happens then the poor buggers cant even go to the pub and celebrate.

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1 but fair fuck’s to them if they pull it off

I would not have expected it either, but then I also never would have imagined they'd even have a shot! So good on them, really.

Next step, Christmas #1

Why are post-rock bands so...inconsistent with their volume levels? Mogwai plays Atomic was polite where it should have howled, while GYBE's last tour was simply deafening

Great success

“It’s been an incredible journey...” Mogwai (@mogwaiband) score their first Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart with As The Love Continues ❤️ https://t.co/xwNrF1Agwv

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) February 26, 2021

ah that's nice for them

BOOM. Stuart was just on Scottish TV news talking about it. I had a wee lump in my throat.

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1 but fair fuck’s to them if they pull it off

it must be pretty exciting to be in with a chance of having a no. 1. More power to them i say.

i don't keep up with them that much these days but thinking back to 20 odd years ago when it was so cool to me that barry burns' girlfriend's gran lived in my street, stuart had went to my high school, and that my pop punk band "the dirty lovers" (that never played a gig) practiced at the same place where they had recorded young team it does really warm the heart to see them achieve this milestone

Mogwai (@mogwaiband) score their first Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart

awesome

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1

they can totally pull it off because it's such an unlikely #1, it's a shared victory

Mogwai plays Atomic was polite where it should have howled, while GYBE's last tour was simply deafening

Precisely the inverse of the Sept 99 gigs lol. "Polite where it should have howled" describes that GYBE set perfectly.

i don't keep up with them that much these days

I've heard all of 2 tracks they've done since Rock Action tbh

They were one of my favorite bands in 97-98, CODY was a bit disappointing. YT sounds amazing, hiring Dave Fridmann to make a Steve Albini record was a misstep imo.

rock action is my favorite mogwai album lol, all killer no filler

i liked ex-cowboy but it feels unfinished structurally or something. my favorite pieces of theirs were things like Summer and Katrien where Dominic leads

I liked the track with Gruff Rhys the most on Rock Action, SFA were my other fave then

"barry burns' girlfriend's gran lived in my street"

can I get your autograph pls

onya fellas

listened to a few songs off the album, file under enjoyable

I'm a big fan still and love the new album. Really pleased for them.

About 2/3rds of the way through Stuart's book right now, it's.. fine, as far as these type of fucks go. Nothing really revelatory, but I actually found his early show going career list more endearing and relatable than Thurston's (for a recent comparison).

Seems like he mostly regrets coming off like such an abrasive knob in early interviews, basically it sounds like the more he mouthed off the more print they got and he was happy to feed it if it meant more coverage for the band, even if he felt conflicted about it. He also seems to regret the Blur shirt thing, not that he doesn't think Blue are shite, but rather that he thinks the timing of the shirts shot themselves in the foot a little in the long run.