Mogwai:
Rave Tapes:
Rock Action:
Out Now:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
It says a lot about a band that's willing to take a punt with their latest album by releasing an extravagant box-set version for sixty-plus quid. But times have changed for Scots instrumentalists Mogwai - since their first album Mogwai Young Team appeared to little fanfare in 1997, their fanbase has evolved into a devotional army that has stuck by the band's post-rock workouts, regardless. At the time of writing, Rave Tapes has just earned them their first Top 10 album.
The quality rarely wanes on a Mogwai album and Rave Tapes is no exception. There's a slight psychedelic edge to tracks like the unlikely-titled Simon Ferocious and more of an atmospheric bent on the opening stunner Heard About You Last Night and Remurdered, a stand-out distant cousin of some of the work composed for the hit French horror-thriller Les Revenants, the band's last official (and triumphant) project issued last year.
Less intense are the short and (nearly) sweet Hexon Bogon, which soars rather like the similar Explosions in the Sky or iLikeTrains (and early Mogwai), and Blues Hour which features rare vocals (it's vaguely reminiscent of Low). Strangely, the entire album is lacking in something explosive, something to get the juices flooding out. Instead, much of Rave Tapes is restrained where once Mogwai would have frightened your hi-fi and disturbed your pets. This is not such a bad thing, mark you - Repelish, Master Card, Deesh and the bonus Tell Everybody That I Love Them are rather pretty in their own way - but when power is replaced by polite, you'd question the motive and the direction too.
The fact I've played this album back-to-back three times on the trot suggests I should skip the motives and enjoy what's here. And I have. You should too.
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Rave Tapes:
Rock Action:
Out Now:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
The quality rarely wanes on a Mogwai album and Rave Tapes is no exception. There's a slight psychedelic edge to tracks like the unlikely-titled Simon Ferocious and more of an atmospheric bent on the opening stunner Heard About You Last Night and Remurdered, a stand-out distant cousin of some of the work composed for the hit French horror-thriller Les Revenants, the band's last official (and triumphant) project issued last year.
Less intense are the short and (nearly) sweet Hexon Bogon, which soars rather like the similar Explosions in the Sky or iLikeTrains (and early Mogwai), and Blues Hour which features rare vocals (it's vaguely reminiscent of Low). Strangely, the entire album is lacking in something explosive, something to get the juices flooding out. Instead, much of Rave Tapes is restrained where once Mogwai would have frightened your hi-fi and disturbed your pets. This is not such a bad thing, mark you - Repelish, Master Card, Deesh and the bonus Tell Everybody That I Love Them are rather pretty in their own way - but when power is replaced by polite, you'd question the motive and the direction too.
The fact I've played this album back-to-back three times on the trot suggests I should skip the motives and enjoy what's here. And I have. You should too.