Mogwai ‘Rave Tapes’ Review: Scottish post-rockers stick to their formula, but it still sounds fresh.
[rating=4]
On Rave Tapes, Mogwai’s eight full-length album, they stick to what they do best; down tempo, hypnotic swirls of melancholy, with only scant vocals throughout.
But don’t mistake Rave Tapes as by-the-numbers stuff; it’s their strongest effort since 2002’s Happy Songs For Happy People. And there are subtle changes in their sonic arsenal, with their most seamless blend of electronics and organic instrumentation to date.
Opener I Heard About You has the funereal guitar grace one expects from the Scottish outfit, while Hexon Bogon and Mastercards shows off the harsher, clipped side of their sound.
Things really get interesting when they blend elements of krautrock and cinematic unease. In particular, Remurdered, easily the strongest track, which conjures the synthetic dread of a John Carpenter soundtrack with its plodding ominous stomp and ghostly keyboards.
Repelish pokes fun at the 80’s fear of subliminal messages in metal music, playing what appears to be a religious PSA atop glitchy beats and icy electronics; just the right mix of silly and sinister.
The Lord Is Out Of Control is a gorgeous piece of work; existential dread co-existing with austere beauty, a spiraling Goth/Dream-pop hybrid.
Vocals are relegated to two tracks; Blues Hour, featuring the hushed tones of Stuart Braithwaite alongside haunting piano, and closing track The Lord Is Out Of Control, which kicks off with an ominous Moog intro straight out of The Shining, before going into a waltz beat with vocoder vox.
Mogwai’s mix of the sweet and discomfiting have made them their own cottage industry. Their somber Orwellian blues has never gone out of style, and may in fact be more timely than ever. Rave Tapes isn’t a giant leap forward in concept, but it hits all the right notes.
You can pre-order Mogwai’s Rave Tapes from Amazon or iTunes via the link below. And you can stream if for free courtesy of the Guardian before it’s January 20th release date.
And click here for their 2014 tour dates.
[amazon_image id=”B00GTO6YE2″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Rave Tapes[/amazon_image]
