Mogwai Young Team - Track by Track

This is Part 3 of my Playlist blog series, and following on from my almost obsessive listening of Django Django's debut effort last week, this week I have become obsessed with Mogwai's debut effort; Mogwai Young Team.

Mogwai

Mogwai Young Team

Some would say I'm somewhat late to the Mogwai game, and they'd be right. While I have listened to Mogwai Young Team and Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, I had never really given them the time of a 'proper' listen. This, it would seem, makes all of the difference, because while listening to Mogwai on February 6th, it suddenly clicked; I really like this.

Some of the songs are very simply constructed, but I don't mean that in a derogatory way - I simply mean that they manage to achieve their desired sound (what I assume is the desired sound) without unnecessary complexity. And isn't that what music is all about? Reaching the conclusion in the simplest way possible? (Oh, sorry prog).

While repetition is a staple of post-rock, I might argue that Mogwai even push it a step further. To me, some of the tracks are almost an indistinguishable mesh of sounds that flow together even though many sound completely different, and use different instruments. I still couldn't tell you which songs were which (apart from two, Like Herod, and the vocal track R U Still In 2 It?). If you wanted you could say I haven't been paying enough attention, but I don't really think it matters. While writing the review I will actually look at what song is playing, so I can accurate describe each track, for anyone who reads.

While Mogwai don't seem to follow the structure of massive suites, championed by the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the songs on Mogwai Young Team definitely feel like movements to me, and many only seem finally realised when the melody of the next track kicks in. In the battle between song, suite and album, I would argue that this composition that makes up Young Team is most definitely an album. The tracks are well placed, and flow into each other so well it gives the illusion of continuity where perhaps there is none.

Throughout my listen of the album, I do hear moments of GY!BE and Explosions in the Sky, but I think the band I hear most in Mogwai's debut is Sigur ros. Similar soundscapes and eclectic instrumentation (I'm looking at you flute and glockenspiel).

The album starts with Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home, which begins with vocals describing music as "bigger than words, and wider than pictures", and also likens Mogwai to the sounds that stars would make (not pop-stars, actual stars). The song builds nicely, and has a great payoff when the distorted guitar comes in which always seems to please (me, at least). The next song Like Herod, is the first that really stood out; mostly because the first time I listened to it it scares the living shit out of me! I very naively decided to turn the volume up so I could hear the bass-line better. 'Nuff said.

Despite its five-plus minutes, Katrien is come and gone surprisingly quickly. It is underpinned by an almost indistinguishable vocal sample throughout, while the guitars meander and build on top. Afterwards we are dropped straight into the piano of Radar Maker; an interesting juxtaposition. The song, due to its short length of only one-and-a-half minutes is more an piano interlude - a movement, if you will - which builds up to, and leads into the next 'long' song, Tracy.

Tracy is where the album really sounds like Sigur ros to me; both the ambient guitars and the glockenspiel melody. Interestingly, this track remains fairly subdued (especially when compared to Like Herod), and shows a lighter side of Mogwai which is refreshing to see. This track also uses vocal samples - a common staple in Mogwai Young Time - but it still hasn't got old at this point, and by the time the song ends, Tracy has died down to allow the next track to come through.

Summer (Priority Version), is the next track on the album (I believe there are other versions of Summer on compilations and the like, but I haven't listened to them yet, so cannot compare). More upbeat, and louder than the previous helping, Tracy, this track includes quiet moments, followed by sections of distorted guitar; again showing us loud-quiet changes, albeit nowhere as abrupt as the ones in Like Herod.
Summer, and the next track With Portfolio are both quite short - though not as short as Radar Maker earlier - and are well placed next to each other. With Portfolio may seem like a primarily piano track on the surface, but by far the most interesting thing for me is the......the noise? (I really can't think of a better way to describe it. That's annoying! Anyone got any ideas?) It builds to a screeching cacophony, which at the wrong volume can sometimes become almost unbearable. And, it has one of the best pans i've ever heard. I Heart Pan.

Next we get R U Still In 2 It? the only 'vocal' track on the entire album. First a short point about the guitar riff; it really reminds me of the theme tune to twin peaks for some reason. (In fairness, after just having listened to the theme tune when I got the link for it, I realised they don't sound that similar, but it was the first thing that came into my head when I heard the track). The vocal part of this track is a brilliant guest appearance by Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap, backed by members of Mogwai. The vocals really work well with this track, whereas I don't think they would with any other tracks on this album. The track leaves us with bassy piano notes and ambient guitars, then the introduction of a piano melody before succumbing to silence.

A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters is another of the albums more upbeat tracks. It starts with a chant in of "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" before the drums and piano start the song. Another short helping by Mogwai, it feels almost like an introduction to the next and final track; the epic sixteen-plus minutes Mogwai Fear Satan.

The final track on the album has a fairly simple guitar line which runs throughout most/all of the track, building through distorted sections, but the main treasure here is the melody provided by the flute. Both haunting and hopefully at the same time, the flute provides us with an equisitive ending to this album and fills us with realistic hope. (perhaps the best kind we can hope for from a song entitled Mogwai Fear Satan). Despite the song length, It never starts to bore me (perhaps my history with even longer tracks), and it moves surprisingly quickly through its sixteen-minutes until you are left with the flute trying to survive against the other sounds, before they all eventually fade out.
Someone (uncited source) said that this was the post-rock anthem, and I tend to agree with them. It is certainly more anthemic than many other of my favourite post-rock songs (GY!BE, Eplosions, etc.).

As you can tell, I really liked this album, but I think one of the best compliments I can pay it is that it has made me want to learn how to play guitar.
This album is definitely a post-rock gem - a seminal album for our scene - and I for one am glad I listened through it. It is (in my opinion) still fresh even after these last 15 years when sounds have changed quite a lot. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't listened yet.

James