Search - Mogwai :: Mogwai

A brilliant EP, the best instrumental rock has to offer.

Steven Rokosz | Michigan | 11/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This EP really is near a masterpiece. Rollerball is a slow, ambient piece that doesn't seem to do much, but the rest of the songs here are really gorgeous. Stanley Kubrick, the records finest moment, slithers through your speakers with its blissful melancholy. Small Children in the Background is a track brilliantly done as well -- a painful rage and longing that lurks underneath the surface until it finally reaches its boiling point. There is a hint of optimism in Christmas Song, a charming little piece that shimmers and chimes. These songs conjure up so many memories of life, its desires, its sadness most of all. I had the pleasure of seeing Mogwai recently, not hearing much of their music beforehand, and they promptly blew me away. These guys are truly gifted musicians, and the praise they get couldn't be enough."

More uneasy Scottish gloom

Daniel Edwards | Canberra, Australia | 12/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Being younger than most of their Chicago cousins, Mogwai's strength has been the aggression of their own particular brand of post-rock, matching an O'Rourke ingenuity with an Atari Teenage Riot approach to sound dynamics. Now, the crash and thunder that made Ten Rapid and Young Team such extraordinary records is missing, but what remains is just as interesting. On this EP, largely a pointer to what will arise in future recordings, the tone is far more melodic, exemplified best by the inclusion of a local brass band on 'Burn Girl Prom Queen'. But there is still a sense of unease pervading all the tracks, erupting only on 'Rage: Man' into a rush of feedback. The dragging down of the volume level on this album is far from a neutering of their original anger, for this is neither comfortable, relaxing, or instrumental music played for the sake of its own cleverness. Nor should it be. The good news is that Mogwai remain one of the most exciting and relevant band's on the music seen today, a beautiful, quiet, aggression way ahead of what passes as 'alternative rock'."

Outstanding EP

IRate | 03/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Everything recorded around this Come on die young period is stellar..In many ways i wish the band never outgrew the stark formats that in my opinion pushed them farther as musicians then anything has since..Some truly beautiful gems here, almost too good to believe they just didn't put it on CODY and make it the ultimate album of that year..The material is a little more cheery (cheery-ha!), then that of CODY but would have worked well in contrast to so many of that album's empty feelings.."