MOGWAI - Classic or Dud?

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Now see, I was in fact listening to Magnog last week...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I think fuck the curfew is their strongest release, but after that, I'd take Happy Songs and Rock Action over the other two albums easily. The songs on each are more distinct.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:23 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm frequently in the mood of listening to mogwai-type music, but there are several acts who do it a lot better than mogwai, which is why i don't listen to them much. i used to play the first four tracks on CODY quite a bit: i enjoyed cooking and eating pasta to them, if i recall correctly. that "stanley kubrick" song was good too, as was "summer" off the first record. i think "happy songs..." was their most complete and best record, but it still only provoked a "this is nice, but i think i will listen to low instead" from me.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:28 (nineteen years ago) link

No, old-Alex in NYC was like that too, I think he was just trying to be respectful to Mogwai because they weren't in the pabulum category.

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

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 10 May 2004 14:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd take Happy Songs and Rock Action over the other two albums easily. The songs on each are more distinct.

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.

― Leeefuse 73 (Leee), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:12 (nineteen years ago) link

This thread has inspired me to put selected tracks onto the iPod.

CODY blurs into one big homogenous blob for me.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:13 (nineteen years ago) link

Rock Action
Happy Songs
[Stanley Kubrick] EP
Ten Rapid
Young Team
Come On Die Young

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:08 (nineteen years ago) link

i listened to young team there a few weeks ago,i'd been up all night and was sitting down by the sea having a joint before bed,and it was a beautiful morning,which may have contributed to my reaction,but i really enjoyed it at the time...
i used to love mogwai,listened to them all the time,but i hadn't really thought that much about them in a while...

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....

― robin (robin), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

the kid loco remix of "tracy" is really really great too.

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

agreed
also,the surgeon remix of mogwai fear satan is incredible

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...

― robin (robin), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:20 (nineteen years ago) link

also,what do people think of helicon one?
the various live versions are absolutely stunning...

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

― robin (robin), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Young Team sounds, largely, to me like kids playing at postrock, like avant-garde for Nirvana fans (i.e. not very avant-garde at all); they can't quite pull it off. There are maybe four tracks I really like ("Long Way From Home", "Without Portfolio", "Tracy", "Fear Satan"). Likewise CODY, only poorer. I remember my mates at the time loved it, but I just thought it was boring, "Xmas Steps" excluded. The [Stanley Kubrick] EP had a much greater level of control, it was like they were trying to show Godspeed how it's done properly, but it's since Rock Action that I think they've been really good, so many more ideas and a much nicer sound altogther. But, you know, they added keys and trumpets - I'm bound to love it. Happy Songs is like the second part of Rock Action rather than a record in its own right.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Monday, 10 May 2004 20:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Best thing they ever did: "Punk Rock"!

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 10 May 2004 22:47 (nineteen years ago) link

also,what do people think of helicon one?
the various live versions are absolutely stunning...
The version on "Ten Rapid" doesn't come close to the greatness of any live version, or the "New Paths To Helicon" re-recording a couple of years later. A continuous loop of live versions of "Mogwai Fear Satan" and "Helicon 1" would keep me happy and entertained 24/7.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 02:51 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm still inclined to think that they've done nothing worth hearing since early 1998. that said, in 1997 they were one of the best live bands in the world, and pretty good on record too. i find their subsequent career very sad.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

fantastic live band. their recorded output has never done much for me.

― umop apisdn (umop apisdn), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 05:35 (nineteen years ago) link

I was scratching my head to explain why I like Rock Action so much but I think I'd essentially be repeating what I wrote here (scroll down to halfway).

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 05:52 (nineteen years ago) link

"Young Team sounds, largely, to me like kids playing at postrock, like avant-garde for Nirvana fans (i.e. not very avant-garde at all); "

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

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 06:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Actually, yeah, you're OTM there latebloomer.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 06:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, I always said that about 'Long Way From Home' and no-one else I knew saw it

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 08:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Hmm. Had a couple of long drives with work and Happy Songs was one of the CDs I took with me (primarily because of reading this thread the other day, and also because given it all sounded pretty good at ATP I thought I might have been uncharitable to it when it came out).

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.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link

"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" sounds EXACTFUCKINGLY like the Pumpkins.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:19 (nineteen years ago) link

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

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

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:22 (nineteen years ago) link

*scratches head* I am befuddled by this comparison, though I think it's because everyone forgot to mention there's no Billy Corgan singing over the music.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Scott, fwiw I fucking HATE Smashing Pumpkins, and I think "Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home" is great.

Sorry Ned!

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Ah well.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:43 (nineteen years ago) link

fwiw I think ILM has been absolutely magnificent today on just about all fronts (or the threads I've used anyway), if that makes it any better, Ned.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Rock Action is the best purely for the six odd minutes of 2 Rights = 1 Wrong, especially for the comedown bit with the three-note banjo line and glitchy noises in the last couple of minutes.

right OTM.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link

"Fear Satan" is definitely classic, the way the noise interacts with the propulsive minimal riff, sometimes sounding evil and threatening, sometimes more soft or open-feeling. The drumming is great too. And the MBV remix is just as good or better. I may check out that album (esp now, since I like the Pumpkins a lot). I remember hating CODY but I don't know what I'd think now. I liked what I heard from Rock Action so I may look that one up too.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 19:56 (nineteen years ago) link

"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" sounds EXACTFUCKINGLY like the Pumpkins.
I can see where this is coming from -- during the loud parts, the guitars DO sound like those on "Siamese Dream".
Otherwise, I don't hear this Pumpkins similarity. Almost every quiet portion of the album sounds exactly like Slint (even the original title of "Like Herod" was "Slint").

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 00:22 (nineteen years ago) link

see there is a perfect example of where the Slint comparisons fail, time and time again. I mean, go back to your slint records... they were never anywhere close to as melodic as mogwai is. all of slint's 13 songs are very discordant, only a few of mogwai's 40 or so are.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 00:26 (nineteen years ago) link

maybe 50-60 is more like it, i'm lowballing obviously.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 00:26 (nineteen years ago) link

True, only a few of Mogwai's 50-60 songs sound like Slint ... and they were all recorded before 1998.
It's mainly the picking -- compare "Like Herod" and "Ithica" to "Don Aman" and "Good Morning Captain". (not respectively, just compare the pairs of songs to each other)

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 00:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Barry, I read your post as, "True, only 50-60 of Mogwai's songs sound like Slint."

― Leeefuse 73 (Leee), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 02:54 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, anyway, currently relistening to Rock Action...and I ask myself why the hell I've not been listening to this more often lately. I shall correct that.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 04:02 (nineteen years ago) link

four months pass...

Saw them last night at a really small venue. Anyone who's not sure about this band need only see them live, that'll fix you right up. I like the albums but it's unfortunate that so much of what makes them great just doesn't come across all that well on record.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 7 October 2004 04:53 (nineteen years ago) link

True.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 7 October 2004 10:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Dud. I've really tried listening to a lot of their material, from different records, but to me it's worth nothing. And I've seen them live.

I like Slint though.

― strom (strom), Thursday, 7 October 2004 17:14 (nineteen years ago) link

three months pass...

Come anticipate Government Commissions (ie collected BBC Sessions) with me! Especially stoked that "CODY" and "BMX" are included.

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Sunday, 16 January 2005 06:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Looks pretty good. All of their (six?) Peel Sessions are amazing. And that version of "BMX" is amazing -- much noisier than the recorded version.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 16 January 2005 06:40 (nineteen years ago) link

hoooo, MAGIC. i managed to miss most of the peel sessions. this will RULE.

and they're playing ATP, huzzah huzzah.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 16 January 2005 11:27 (nineteen years ago) link

I have that version of "BMX" on a weird early mispressing of one of the EPs...

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

― gygax! (gygax!), Sunday, 16 January 2005 11:58 (nineteen years ago) link

ie. good but hardly distinguished from any other decent record?

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Sunday, 16 January 2005 14:31 (nineteen years ago) link

Certainly dud.
Never liked 'em

― zeus, Sunday, 16 January 2005 20:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Ranked:

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)

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Sunday, 16 January 2005 22:58 (nineteen years ago) link

That's almost the exact reverse of how I'd rank them but with Rock Action ahead of CODY.

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Monday, 17 January 2005 01:41 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

mogwai: are fuckin amazing and young team is one of the best albums of the 90's. anyone who listens to their shit (pre-CODY especially, though i quite like rock action and happy songs is a fine album) and can honestly say they are bored or undewhelmed is the goddamn antichrist in my opinion. don't talk to me. don't even LOOK at me. i'll clap you bitch, right in the middle of the dancefloor. truth.

― rockaction (rockaction), Friday, 18 February 2005 05:01 (nineteen years ago) link

How is Happy Songs not boring?

― wondering aloud, Friday, 18 February 2005 05:04 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm ready to be clapped. i don't have all day, you know.

― jack cole (jackcole), Friday, 18 February 2005 05:07 (nineteen years ago) link

does that mean you're going to give me the clap?

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 February 2005 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 341 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

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

― brain (krakow), Saturday, 27 February 2021 13:27 (three years ago) link

three years pass...

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.

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 21:11 (two weeks ago) link

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