Yes I am a Mogwai fan

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

Aye, about fucking time eh? Always been a fan of the Mr. Beast album (well, since I've had it downloaded), just recently got the rest of their back catalogue. Amazing stuff, really. Not on par with Sigur, obviously, but fucking great all the same. Particularly digging Ten Rapid - The 96 Records, in particular Ithica. Anyone else like 'em?

I understand they're cunts, with their dis of Blur and Keith Richards (unacceptable) but I dig what they do when they play their instruments with their hands.

[alan nagsworth]

Everyone already knows, but if it's going down on record, then:

Performing live: Yes I am a Mogwai fan.
Happy Songs For Happy People: Oh fuck you better believe I'm a Mogwai fan!
Anything else: Actually, probably not that much of a Mogwai fan.

[Cack Hen]

Mogwai Young Team and Come On Die Young are both masterpieces. The latter especially, but it takes a little patience.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I have a don't mind/hate relationship with them.  Their records are never quite as good as I want them to be, always sounding a bit too opaque and muddy.  A few OK tracks, but I always seem to think the end effort's never quite as good as it's cracked up to be (especially when words like 'masterpiece' a bandied around about an album as unfocused and patchy as 'CODY').

That said, when they're at their best Sigur Ros are my idea of what Mogwai should be sounding like (and thus more-or-less render them irrelevant), so maybe I'm just looking for something in their music that they have no intention of ever providing.

From their various proclamations and (albeit limited) personal experience, I've been left with the impression that they're just not nice people.  Braithwaite especially is a tosser.  I've also got mixed feelings about fairly posh chaps appropriating 'Ned' culture, but I suppose it's nothing to get too het up about.

[Little Hoover]

^ Funnily enough when I went to a gig of there's, and my sister-in law came to a similar conclusion, quite similar to Sigur Ros but just not as good, I can see a reason for them to exsist as a kind of darker, more rocky version (ambient metal?) but the thing is, my favourites always tend to be the one's on the album, that are more beautiful, soulful and sad, and not when they do the kind of more downtuned stuff (although there are exceptions) Mr Beast went in a more direct heavy rock direction, so I was a bit dissapointed in that,  but I guess it is just a case of my opinion of what their best stuff is, is different to their's.

[sookmafarter]

I formed a bit of a love/hate relationship with Mogwai before anyone else in the entire world probably, because they are from the same place as me and used to hang about the youth centre I used to hang about . . . first time i saw them play was in said youth centre, there was about 15 people there, all under 18 and it was free to get in. I remember thinking . .yeah I could do that too if I could afford fancy delay pedals. . .

We were all in different bands at the time and the Youth Centre used to let you play gigs there for free and use the rehearsal rooms and stuff . . .we basically used it to hang around and drink cider and write really terrible punk songs, but they were actually quite good and it slightly annoyed us. They seemed to want to actually practise and would go and tell the youth workers on us when we wandered into their practices and had a shot on the drums when no one else was on them, so now they were tell tales as well as better musicians and this slightly annoyed us too. We would throw cider at them. They stopped practicing there.

10 years later and I meet people from Texas who tell me that Mogwai are their favourite band and they sell out massive venues all over the world and I don't. At all. Cunts. At least I was popular down the Youth Centre circa 1996. (sobs)

I always liked their bastarding music though . . .

[chocky909]

I kept meaning to start a thread on my favourite band. Maybe some of you might have picked up on my shoehorning of them at any possible opportunity?

I've reused a PM below that I sent to someone asking me for a good starting point to get into them...



I got into them after seeing them on TV in early '98 shortly after they released their debut album "Young Team" in October '97. This was the first album I bought and is probably the best to listen to first. It's got some of their big tracks on like "Like Herod" which is immense and will possibly scare the shit out of you the first time you hear it, and "Mogwai Fear Satan" which is the epic album closer. I was blown away by it and would recommend you play it on headphones. It is very dynamic and unless you live in a soundproof room you'll be changing the volume constantly.

Anyway, I was slightly disappointed that the song I'd seen on TV wasn't on the album, well not the original version anyway. This was 'Summer' which was one of their early 7" releases and remains one of my favourites. This and many other early Mogwai tracks are available on "Ten Rapid", a compilation album they released in April '97 but I don't think of it as a proper album. Anyway, there are loads of great tracks on there like "Summer", "Ithica 27o9", "Helicon 2" and "Helicon 1".

After that, I'd recommend checking the rest of the albums in chronological order. The next album was "Come On Die Young" which I rate as at least as good as "Young Team". Then comes "Rock Action", "Happy Songs For Happy People", "Mr Beast" and "Zidane- A 21st Century Portrait OST".

Of course, some of their best stuff isn't on the albums. They used to release a lot of EPs with all non album tracks. The first, "4 Satin" came out shortly before "Young Team" and contains three of their best tracks. There's "No Education = No Future (Fuck The Curfew)" which came out inbetween "Young Team" and "Come On Die Young" and is a must have. The there was "EP" which was released inbetween "Come On Die Young" and "Rock Action" and has "Stanley Kubrick" on it which is one of my favourites. A compliation CD was released later called "EP+6" which contains all the tracks from those three EPs and which many fans rate up with the first two albums. Oh and don't forget "My Father My King", an epic 20 minute track released on it's own which is awesome live.

Other than that, there are a few odds and sods like the remix album "Kicking A Dead Pig", the BBC sessions album "Government Commissions". Of course you MUST check them out live as they are fantastic. Some people say their records pale into comparison with their live performances. They're not touring any more this year (2007, old PM) so check out some bootlegs. The site archive.org is great with all lossless downloads and also mp3 and streaming on some of them. Mogwai are a "taper-friendly" band so it's all cool. Also check out brightlight!, the unofficial fansite for more information.



New album is being released this year provisionally called 'The Hawk Is Howling'. Can't wait.

[fremsley]

Where has this Sigur Ros comparison come about? Mogwai are the sound of regret and hope. Sigur Ros are the sound of the background noise of some home shopping channel. Apart from that one with the flying kids, I liked that.

I bought Young Team on day of release, and somehow fell over on the bus home. For me, they've produced more moments of musical beauty than any other band I can think of.

[chocky909]

Sigur Ros are pretty good (I also like Blur ;)) but not in the same league as Mogwai. I like a bit of anger occasionally in my space rock. I've rarely experienced music as powerful as the first times I listened to Like Herod.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

sookmafarter, this youth-club deal sounds a lot like those Universal Connections clubs we have in Scotland. Wasn't one of those was it? If so, which?

[lactating man nips]

I would love Mogwai if all their music was as good as Mogwai Fear Satan, that said i do enjoy a lot of their stuff. I don't get the Sigur Ros comparison either, though I am only familiar with Agaetis Byrjun, it just sounds nothing like Mogwai to me.

[fremsley]

(I also like Blur ;))

Yeah, the 'Blur: are shite' was a tricky period, especially since 13 was a bit better then CODY. 

[chand]

Where has this Sigur Ros comparison come about? Mogwai are the sound of regret and hope. Sigur Ros are the sound of the background noise of some home shopping channel. Apart from that one with the flying kids, I liked that. 

Seems mental to me too; I know there's some crossover in terms of fans (I like both, but vastly prefer Mogwai), but they sound nothing alike to these ears. I Like Sigur Ros but never got into 'Takk', it was slightly...cheesy? Utterly bored of 'Hoppipolla' too since it became TV library music in a way not seen since Coldplay.

Mogwai are amazing though, I've only ever seen them live once, at Leeds festival years ago where they headlined the second stage up against the Manics. They were fucking great.

[thugler]

Don't understand comparisons with Sigur Ros, Mogwai to me were always a much darker sounding band.

Sigur ros are much better live than on record, though are still generally great on record. I really like 2 of Mogwai's albums (come on die young/rock action), and the rest are mostly good. Not yet seen them live though.

[Waking Life]

Young Team is a great album, but aside from that I've only heard Rock Action, which I wasn't overly keen on at the time.  I'm willing to give it another chance though.  I seem to remember that it stripped away the type of parts on it that made Young Team so great.

I saw them live at the Arches a couple of years ago and they were good, but I believe a lot of the material was Mr Beast orientated (understandably, as it was about to be released) and didn't take to it too much.  It's hard though to properly judge material only having it heard it once, particularly when it's live.

I only see the the Sigur Ros comparison in them both being lumped in the "post-rock" instrumental minimalist/noodling genre, but the stuff I've heard is a lot more akin to Slint than Sigur Ros.

Incidentally, I think Sigur Ros put on a far better live show.

[unky herb]

The massive Q&A section on their website whiles away a good few hours. Nice to see lots of interaction from a band.

I remember watching 28 Weeks Later when Robert Carlyle is

Spoiler alert

legging it from the "z" words over that field after deserting his missus in that little house

[close]

and thinking how good the film would be if Mogwai did the soundtrack.

I mean the theme is a blatant Mogwai copycat anyway (although I do like it in its own right) but imagine if something like "We're no here" was cranked up during that scene. Nice.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

Aye, the Sigur comparison is pish. Just happens that I'm getting into these bands right now and I've seen them lumped in together in conversations on here. So shut it.

[sookmafarter]

sookmafarter, this youth-club deal sounds a lot like those Universal Connections clubs we have in Scotland. Wasn't one of those was it? If so, which?

Yeah man, they're called universal connections now and are all slick and covered in CCTV cameras and you can't smoke fags in them. Back then it was just the good old Key Youth Centre in East Kilbride - where kids of all ages could smoke, play basketball start bands and buy drugs. Happy days. Did you go during this time? If so I probably smoked can pipes with you round the back of the Dolan baths and maybe tried to throw your shoes on the roof.

[boki]

I quite like Mogwai.  'Hunted By A Freak' is a brilliant tune, but I haven't really sat and listened to any of their albums yet properly, despite having  one or two kicking about chez boqui.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

Yeah man, they're called universal connections now and are all slick and covered in CCTV cameras and you can't smoke fags in them. Back then it was just the good old Key Youth Centre in East Kilbride - where kids of all ages could smoke, play basketball start bands and buy drugs. Happy days. Did you go during this time? If so I probably smoked can pipes with you round the back of the Dolan baths and maybe tried to throw your shoes on the roof.

Haha, nah, I didn't go to the EK one. I went to the Universal Connections for a few years in early 2000s I guess, for band practice & cider bullshitfun!

[CaledonianGonzo]

'Hunted By A Freak' is a brilliant tune

Also, by some distance, my favourite Mogwai track.  In a way, its fairly atypical of their sound and could be by Air or someone like that.  It seems to be rivalling 'Hoppipolla' for use as background music on cookery programmes, though.  I think I maybe even heard it on The X Factor one night.

[chocky909]

Might as well put up a couple of tracks then for anyone who's interested.

This is a really nice version of Ex-Cowboy recorded live in 1998 from an NME cover CD of bands on that year's NME tour.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2wajm9


This is Hunted By A Freak which has one of the few videos they've had done. They're not massively into the visual side of having a band but this is a good vid.

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


Lastly, an mp3 showing off their studio skills. This is a rare version of Helps Both Ways from the Come On Die Young album featuring the voice of John Madden which had to be withdrawn because of copyright issues. Might be of interest to those who know the album version as well as being a great track.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/pjy6u4

Both mp3s are V0 for you bitrate fans.

[boki]

Also, by some distance, my favourite Mogwai track.  In a way, its fairly atypical of their sound and could be by Air or someone like that.  It seems to be rivalling 'Hoppipolla' for use as background music on cookery programmes, though.  I think I maybe even heard it on The X Factor one night.

Well, you could argue that being on the X-Factor is like being hunted by freaks....

I should probably mention, before my hypocrisy is pointed out to me by some eagle-eyed verbwhore, that it's also an exception to my 'no-vocoders' rule - I actually like how the vocals sound!  Probably helps that they're buried in the mix somewhat and that it really is just like an effect used on a guitar or something, but it works so well for me.  I am worryingly starting to soften on the vocoder issue.

[Pogue Mahone]

"I Know You Are But What Am I?" is a splendid piece of work. I could listen to it over and over again. It's delightfully calm and peaceful, yet the initial climax is so bloody powerful. Lovely stuff; mesmerising. It has reduced me to tears on occasion.

[youtube=425,350]http://youtube.com/watch?v=VX_-IBcsRtk&feature=related[/youtube]
^{Mogwai - "I Know You Are But What Am I?" (not actual song video).}

I haven't really given the rest of Mogwai's stuff enough time at all, unfortunately, despite catching some of their set live at a festival a few years back.

[fremsley]

Also, by some distance, my favourite Mogwai track.  In a way, its fairly atypical of their sound and could be by Air or someone like that.

I really don't think so, it's quite a glossy number for them, as such it's not a personal favourite. Pointless to list a bunch of tracks, but it has very little in common with say 'fear satan', 'ratts of the capital', '2 right make 1 wrong', 'travel is dangerous' or 'helicon 1', which of I personally think of as more 'typical' of the Mogwai sound.

[Mary Hinge]

If you are a fan of Mogwai you might like Glenn Branca. He doesn't seem to get much of a mention these days but much of his music is similar to/ an influence on bands like Mogwai. Its is usually instrumental, long (10 to 20 minutes) uses alternate tunings,
There is a fair summary of his career here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Branca

He wrote and recorded a number of "symphonies" that instead of using standard orchestras used rock music instruments, guitars, sometimes lots and lots of guitars, bass and drums. Can be very overwhelming/intense but that's a good thing sometimes, no?

[Marvin]

Yeah, the 'Blur: are shite' was a tricky period, especially since 13 was a bit better then CODY. 

A LOT better, 13 is a hugely underrated album. Which gives me a thread idea.

Mogwai... hmm, I like Mogwai, they've made a couple of good albums, and they're normally good live, if sometimes a bit soulless on stage at times. Cunts though.

And I hope they're not supporting Radiohead, terrible idea for a warm-up act.

[Famous Mortimer]

The watered-down Neurosis tag is interesting, as it's kinda accurate but I'd guess both bands have come to that sort of sound from different places. I loved their early stuff and thought they were decent fellas from my limited interaction with them (my mate George is, I think, on the cover of an old 12" of theirs too), but their recent stuff is a bit bland. The last time I saw them in London every song had a three-minute wind-down period, which had people booing towards the end.

Their Peel session was great though, there's a bit where Peel introduces "Don't Cry" and has no idea of the original Guns n Roses version of it at all, which I quite liked.

[InfiniteFury]

Big Mogwai fan here too, don't think I've missed a London gig in 10 years now but I have to admit Mr Beast left me cold - really thought they'd lost the plot with that. No space for the songs to do their thing and I just felt it was very Mogwai-by-numbers. Lazy IMO.

A title like "The Hawk is Howling" makes me die inside but we'll see how it goes.

Would recommend the following download - probably the best live recording I've heard of theirs and Stanley Kubrick is spine-tingling. Ignoring the irritating radio jingle cunt at the end, the version of 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong on here might make you sick the first time you hear it - total musical deconstruction, it's fabulous:

http://www.archive.org/details/mogwai2001-03-14.shn

[chocky909]

That is a good show.

And I hope they're not supporting Radiohead, terrible idea for a warm-up act.

I actually think that playing in front of people that are indifferent might make them up their game a little because the last two times I've seen them (RA Hall and Somerset House) they've seen a little bored despite having a very excited and whooping audience come to see them. I don't think adulation brings out the best in them really. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing them in a few years time when they're completely unfashionable and only hardcore fans go to see them in small venues. That's if they stay together that long.

I have been disappointed frequently by a lot of what they've done recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the Zidane LP though. I'd actually recommend that over Mr Beast if you like their more serene side.

The Hawk Is Howling is an awful title. I didn't mind Glasgow Mega Snake but these comedy metal titles must stop.

Spoiler alert

Some more Gwai - http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ngsto

[close]