MOGWAI - Classic or Dud?

"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.