Mogwai are the meeting point between beauty and noise, in one sense, but this is more than just a repetition of the quiet-loud dynamic (only where the quiet bits are especially quiet so the loud bits seem louder). Mogwai are mostly instrumental, although when they do use vocals they always do so well, and Stuart Braithwaite has a talent for both singing (well, sort of singing) and lyric writing which exceeds the indie whiners.

And despite being primarily instrumental, Mogwai don't try and 'make up' for the lack of lyrics by being over complex, and instead have a purity and simplicity, although not necessarily minimalism (as minimalism is generally inherently boring). Mogwai are usually accused of obscurity or being deliberately inaccessible because of the lack of lyrics, or, worse, people make out that being instrumental is the greatest punk rock move in history. It's not. Just Mogwai don't have the confidence to sing all the time, but just happen to make up for it by writing bloody excellent songs. I expect when they do begin to include more lyrics, they'll be even better.

But remember; Mogwai are post-rock, but they still rock.
 

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Ten Rapid: Collected Recordings 1996-7 (Rock Action)
This collection of nine pre-'Mogwai Young Team' recordings is probably worth buying for 'Helicon 1' alone, but this isn't the only great song here.

Opener 'Summer' does the quiet-loud thing with xylophones and guitar, in a way which is simple but effective, like most Mogwai tracks. Though beautiful, 'Helicon 2' is too brief to be really anything other than an interlude, while 'Angel Versus Aliens' is further proof that Stuart Braithwaite is both a perfectly competent lyric-writer and suitably emotive semi-singer. Musically it builds up spectacularly with the xylophones chiming in again.

'I Am Not Batman' might be a slightly obvious statement to make, but then so is 'Blur: Are Shite'. The track itself has Stuart speaking softly over waves of bass and feedback and drums so quiet they're barely there. '...Batman...' melts softly away into 'Tuner', which has vocals as good as 'Cody' and drifts by gently.

'ithica 27 o¦ 9' is the first track where Mogwai really explode in the way they can, the rhythm gradually getting higher-pitched for it crashes into a gargantuan burst of bass-driven white noise. 'A Place For Parks' has vocals of a sort, what sounds like a recorded conversation overlaid with a somewhat cheerful little melody. The conversation does seem to be about a 'pokadot man' and a consultant to the UN killing millions of people, so obviously it isn't entirely what it seems.

Then 'Helicon 1' kicks in, well, maybe not exactly kicks, as impossible beautiful/quiet guitar builds to a series of somewhat obscene climaxes. Final track 'End' is basically something else re-recorded backwards, and therefore not really going to be the next 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

Overall, this album has moments which are as good as the later work, but they're only moments. Admittedly, the tracks are tight, cut down and short, but to be honest Mogwai probably aren't a band who really need to write short songs. What this collection does show, however, is that Mogwai were always bloody good.

#LINKS#
Mogwai.co.uk
not the official site, instead a really good fan site. some interesting transcribed interviews
Mogwai Official
probably the funniest site on the net, thanks to stuart braithwaite; I suggest you go to the pages about the 'blur: are shite' t-shirt incident. also there's a link to realplayer footage to the all tomorrow's parties gig. actually this is the old site, but there's a link to the new one anyway.
Bright Light!
a nice, simple site with absolutely shitloads of news. from a year ago... hmm
Chemikal Underground
it doesn't really deal with mogwai much any more, now they have their own site, but there's stuff about other great bands.
Punk Rock
aha! tabs! nice site, not been updated since last century, though. hasn't got any tab for helicon#1, damnit
The Mogwai Artzine
interesting site, similar to the sort of thing I'm trying to do- articles, writings, etc. I think this may have closed down though, sadly.
 
 

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