Mogwai (band)
| Mogwai | |
|---|---|
 Mogwai live |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Post rock |
| founding | 1995 |
| Website | www.mogwai.co.uk |
| Current occupation | |
| Stuart Braithwaite | |
Electric bass , guitar |
Dominic Aitchison |
| Martin Bulloch | |
| Barry Burns | |
| former members | |
guitar |
John Cummings (until 2015) |
Mogwai is a British post-rock band from Glasgow that was formed in 1995. The name is derived from Chinese and means something like "dark spirit" or "evil soul" (Chinese 魔鬼, mòguǐ, 魔 (dark), 鬼 (spirit)). The band got the inspiration for the name from the creature from the 1984 film Gremlins by Joe Dante. Stuart Braithwaite, the guitarist of Mogwai, however, said that this name had no deeper meaning for the band, they had wanted to do it for a long time find a better one.
history
Stuart Braithwaite (guitar) and Dominic Aitchison (bass) met in the 1990s at a concert by Ned's Atomic Dustbin . The resulting acquaintance of the two fifteen-year-olds resulted in the formation of the band four years later, which was soon joined by drummer Martin Bulloch.
After the first concerts, John Cummings soon joined on guitar, followed by Brendan O'Hare (formerly Teenage Fanclub and Macrocosmica). But this was only part of the time, namely for the recordings of Mogwai Young Team . It was not until 1998 that Barry Burns became the last member with whom Come on Die Young was soon recorded.
In 2004 the band had the opportunity to appear as an opening act, namely with The Pixies and The Cure . You yourself also exert influence on other groups, e.g. B. to the band Explosions in the Sky or the Italian Giardini di Mirò as well as some other post rock groups. In 2008 Bulloch had to cancel some concerts due to heart problems.
Mogwai released the album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will in Germany on February 11, 2011 . Released on Rock Action Records, the follow-up Rave Tapes was released in early 2014. In 2015 John Cummings left the band. The album Every Country's Sun was released in September 2017 . After the departure of John Cummings and due to health problems of Martin Bulloch, Mogwai is supported by other musicians on her tours. Since 2016 Alex Mackay has been playing as guitarist and Cat Myers as drummer in live performances.
The very active Glasgow independent label Rock Action Records is operated by current and former band members and the associated music production activities .
style
The group's music is sometimes referred to as ambient , but this description doesn't really match the sound of most pieces. Rather, the music can be clearly assigned to the rock sector, although many of the traditional characteristics of the category often do not apply. That concerns u. a. the track length of 3–5 minutes - which is often exceeded -, the development of sound patterns that often extend over the entire track, and the frequent absence of the average stanza-chorus-stanza scheme. The singing plays a subordinate role. Many pieces are instrumental, while others have heavily skewed vocals (e.g., with a vocoder on Hunted by a Freak ) or in a language that most listeners cannot understand (e.g., Dial: Revenge is Welsh sung). Stuart Braithwaite commented on this as follows:
“I think most people are not used to having no lyrics to focus on. Lyrics are a real comfort to some people. I guess they like to sing along and when they can't do that with us they can get a bit upset. "
“I think most people are used to having a text to focus on. Texts are a real comfort to some people. They probably like to sing along, and if that doesn't work with us, then they can get a little angry. "
The pieces are mostly of a melancholy, spherical mood. The contrasts loud / quiet and energetic / restrained are very often played. The overall sound within a song is often crescendo , and the intensity and richness of the instrumentation often increases with the number of minutes. In addition to the usual rock instruments (drums, guitars, bass), some electronic instruments are also used . Mainly The Cure , Joy Division , The Jesus and Mary Chain , Pixies , Slint and My Bloody Valentine have influenced the band.
Gruff Rhys from the Welsh band Super Furry Animals and Tetsuya Fukagawa from the Japanese screamo band Envy have already made guest appearances as singers, each using their own language (Rhys: Old Welsh ; Fukagawa Japanese )
Trivia
The band is known beyond their music for being very open about their opinions about other artists. When Mogwai played parallel to Blur at a festival in 1999 , T-shirts with the label “blur: are shite” were printed and sold. Mogwai head Braithwaite stated that this statement was a fact and that Blur were "one of the weakest bands on the planet". Her official website also frequently features derogatory comments on fellow musicians. For the album title Songs of Mass Destruction by Annie Lennox , Braithwaite said that it was “really topical” (“very contemporary”). Lennox has chosen a title that is so half-hearted that the Mogwai album title Mr. Beast sounds almost intellectual.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1997 | Mogwai Young Team | - | - | - |
UK75 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: October 21, 1997
|
| 1999 | Come On Die Young | - | - | - |
UK29 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: March 29, 1999
|
| 2001 | Rock action | - | - | - |
UK23 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: April 30, 2001
|
| 2003 | Happy Songs for Happy People | - | - | - |
UK47 (2 weeks) UK |
US182 (1 week) US |
First published: May 21, 2003
|
| 2006 | Mr. Beast |
DE65 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH87 (2 weeks) CH |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
US128 (1 week) US |
First published: March 6, 2006
|
| 2008 | The Hawk Is Howling |
DE72 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH73 (1 week) CH |
UK35 (2 weeks) UK |
US97 (1 week) US |
First published: September 22, 2008
|
| 2011 | Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. |
DE27 (3 weeks) DE |
AT49 (1 week) AT |
CH45 (2 weeks) CH |
UK25 (2 weeks) UK |
US97 (1 week) US |
First published: February 14, 2011
|
| 2014 | Rave tapes |
DE16 (1 week) DE |
AT56 (1 week) AT |
CH24 (2 weeks) CH |
UK10 (3 weeks) UK |
US55 (1 week) US |
First published: January 20, 2014
|
| 2017 | Every Country's Sun |
DE29 (2 weeks) DE |
AT52 (1 week) AT |
CH28 (2 weeks) CH |
UK6 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 1, 2017
|
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2015 | Central Belters |
DE54 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK40 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: October 2015
|
More compilations
- 1997: Ten Rapid: Collected Recordings 1996-1997
- 2000: EP + 6 (2000) - 4 Satin / No Education… / Mogwai: EP (on one CD)
Live albums
- 2005: Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996–2003
- 2010: Special Moves / Burning (double album; Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn , NY )
Remix albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1998 | Kicking a Dead Pig | - | - | - |
UK99 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: May 1998
|
More remix albums
- 2012: A Wrenched Virile Lore
Soundtracks
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2013 | Les Revenants |
DE86 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK42 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First release: February 2013
Soundtrack for the series The Returned |
| 2016 | Atomic |
DE55 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH38 (1 week) CH |
UK20 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First release: April 1, 2016
Soundtrack for the episode Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise of the BBC's Storyville documentary series |
| 2018 | Kin | - | - | - |
UK44 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: August 31, 2018
|
More soundtracks
- 2006: The Fountain ( Clint Mansell feat. Kronos Quartet and Mogwai)
- 2006: Zidane - A 21st Century Portrait
- 2006: Miami Vice Tracks EP
- 2007: Ex-Drummer - Soundtrack
- 2020: ZeroZeroZero
DJ mixes
- 2010: Mogwai Mixtape (release: August 13th)
- 2010: FACT Mix 179 (release: August 27th)
Singles and EPs
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1997 | 4 satin EP |
UK94 (1 week) UK |
First published: May 1997
|
| 1998 | Sweet leaf |
UK60 (2 weeks) UK |
First release: March 1998
split single with Magoo - Black Sabbath |
| Fear Satan Remixes EP |
UK57 (1 week) UK |
First published: March 1998
|
|
| No Education = No Future (Fuck the Curfew) EP |
UK68 (2 weeks) UK |
First published: June 1998
|
|
| 2006 | Friend of the Night |
UK38 (2 weeks) UK |
First published: January 2006
|
|
More singles
|
More EPs
|
Video albums
- 2003: Happy Songs for Happy People EPK
- 2006: Mr Beast EPK
- 2011: Special Moves Live in Brooklyn, NY 2009 - Burning Live DVD (out March)
swell
- ^ Mogwai - Frequently Asked Questions . ( Memento of the original from April 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Source: motor.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Rev Magnetic, recorded by John Cummings and Luke Sutherland, mixed by Luke Sutherland , Bandcamp, accessed August 15, 2019
- ↑ Interview with Mogwai in The Express
- ↑ Erin Franzman: Stuart Braithwaite From Mogwai The Stranger, September 2, 1999.
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: Albums UK US1 US2
