Thirty years is often an eternity in pop history. For Scottish band Mogwai, however, it feels more like a continuous movement: a steady swelling, ebbing, and renewed surge of sound. Since the mid-1990s, the musicians from Glasgow have been crafting monumental instrumental pieces that are more landscape than song. Vast, darkly shimmering soundscapes in which guitars suddenly swell into storms and just as abruptly fall back into silence.
It all began in 1996 with the single »Tuner,« released on the band’s own label, Rock Action Records. What was initially intended as a pragmatic DIY solution—releasing their own music themselves—developed over the years into a permanent institution of the independent British scene. More than 150 releases have now appeared on Rock Action, with bands such as Arab Strap and The Twilight Sad finding a home here. To mark its 30th anniversary, the band has now released a new video for »Tuner« – edited together from previously unreleased archive material spanning three decades of the band’s history. It shows young musicians in smoky clubs, tour buses on endless roads, and finally a band that has long since become one of the most influential voices in post-rock. Even though Mogwai themselves have always been uncomfortable with this genre label.
Eleven studio albums later, their sound remains unmistakable. Brutal walls of guitar, fragile electronics, interspersed with moments of almost painful beauty. With the album »As The Love Continues,« the band finally reached commercial heights: number one in the British charts, a nomination for the Mercury Prize. Their latest work, »The Bad Fire,« picks up where they left off, while sounding rougher and more immediate. Producer John Congleton has given the familiar Mogwai cosmos a more edgy surface—synthesizers flash like neon lights, guitars scratch and shimmer, while the pieces continue to unfold with the patient dramaturgy that has become the band’s trademark.
But if you really want to understand Mogwai, you have to experience them live. Their concerts are like physically palpable sound rituals, with layers of guitar sound building up for minutes on end until the room begins to vibrate. Then suddenly there is a moment of calm, as if someone were dimming the lights before the next wave rolls in. Hardly any other band masters this dynamic so masterfully.
Mogwai has teamed up with PLUS1 to support War Child. €1 from every ticket sold helps War Child protect, educate, and stand up for the rights of children affected by war.
PERFORMERS
Mogwai band
Support: Forest Swords
