Mogwai - definition of Glasgow Post-Rock. (photo: Steve Gulick)
Mogwai In Session – 1998 – Past Daily Soundbooth
Mogwai In session – August 23, 1998 – John Peel – broadcast September 1, 1998 – BBC Radio 1 –
Mogwai in session tonight – from 1998 and for BBC Radio 1, recorded on August 23, 1998. Mogwai are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). The band typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.
The band were for several years signed to Glasgow label Chemikal Underground, and have been distributed by different labels such as Matador in the US and Play It Again Sam in the UK, but now use their own label Rock Action Records in the UK, and Sub Pop in North America. The band were frequently championed by John Peel from their early days, and recorded seven Peel Sessions between 1996 and 2004. Peel also recorded a brief introduction for the compilation Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996–2003.
The band’s influences include Fugazi, MC5, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Pixies, The Cure and post-rock pioneers Slint. Mogwai’s style has easily identifiable connections to genres such as shoegaze, math rock, and art rock. Début album Mogwai Young Team was described as “stunningly dynamic…[shifting] seamlessly from tranquil, bleakly beautiful soundscapes to brain scrambling white noise and sledgehammer riffing”. Douglas Wolk, writing for SPIN in 1999 said of the band: “Their compositions have gotten increasingly drawn-out and austere over time, sometimes barely more than a single arpeggiated chord or two evolving for ten minutes or more, whisperingly brutal in a way that recalls Slint more than any other band”. Barry Burns once stated in an interview that he and the rest of the band do not like the categorization of post-rock because he believes it over-analyses everything.
Over analyzing or not, here is a 1998 session to sink your teeth into and put your ears on a holiday.
Crank it up and enjoy.
