…and I like them a lot.
Nice atmospheric guitaring and not many lyrics.
Makes me think of wide, open spaces.

Just don't feed them after midnight or let them get wet.

Thanks for the warning aracer 😯

Scotland's Shame – seems somewhat fitting after tonight's woeful footballing performance.

The only trouble with Mogwai is plugging through the enormous back catalogue and weeding out the good stuff. Well worth the effort though, stunning band.

Explosions In The Sky for more of the same, but Texan (I think).

My three favourites were Young Team, My Father My King (EP) and Rock Action, although I was never a fan of the welsh singing in that one…

Moved on to Godspeed You Black Emperor Though, amazing night time travelling music!

Good lord, I'd almost forgotten I own several of their albums.

Saw them just after Young Team came out in the tiny upstairs room at the Riverside Club in Newcastle late '98/early '99. Supported by The For Carnation, containing Brian McMahan (from Slint – now they were an ace band).

Good gig, that. Very loud.

Good live but they're one of those bands i can never be arsed to listen to on CD. Those "Blur are shit" t shirts they did were funny.

OK so where do I start with them? I have Fear Satan which I like for about 5 minutes then it just gets a bit dull. It gives me hope that they must have some good stuff but not sure where to start.

finbar's right – the live sound is much better than on record. It's to do with the sense of being in the music when it's roaring at you in a venue.

stilltortoise – start with Young Team. But, also, have a listen to all three Slint albums and early Tortoise (try Millions Now Living Will Never Die).

They've got some gigs coming up in the next few months. They're brutal live.

Glasgow Mega Snake is a class tune

mmm. Just listened to a few snippets of Young Team on Amazon. Me thinks they are not the kind of band I will "get" instantly. Might try and borrow a copy first.

reminded me a bit of Fields of the Nephilim

Young Team is not really typical of most of the rest of their work. Maybe have a listen to their latest The Hawk Is Howling

This (EP6) still stirs weird emotions in me… I was in hospital on morphine when I listened to it. Amazing! The buzzing at the end of one of the tracks really freaked me out!

When I listened to them the first time ( Jim Morrison is dead) I thought that they must be great to experience live.
Looks like they are playing at the Brixton Academy 25th February 2011. Getting some tickets for that definitely.

Was listening to Sonic Youth on Spotify and saw "Mogwai" under the list of similar bands.
Hey Naranja, I think I will give Explosions in the Sky a listen as well.
All hail Spotify 🙂

Mogwai live are just astonishing. It's not so much music as a physical phenomenon. Especially since they've gone back down the heavy road with Hawk Is Howling and Mr Beast.

I saw them at the Albert Hall a few years ago, and it was amazing to hear the whole audience go completely silent for the quiet bits, just to have their heads knocked off when the guitars crash in again.

And their live version of 2 Rights Make One Wrong is just devastating.

Already got my tickets for Brixton in Feb 😀

You have to check 'Explosions in the Sky' out if you like Mogwai…..'kin awesome band.

Love Mogwai's early stuff. But always find myself surprised whenever they release a new album just how good they still are. Hunted By A Freak is one of the best songs I've heard in the past few years.

Have a listen to Pelican too if you like the more rocky side of post-rock.

Have a listen to Pelican too if you like the more rocky side of post-rock.

And Russian Circles if you like the more instrumental rocky side of metal

Is it the same Adrian Utley as in Portishead?

oops. My mistake. Misread the composer

Come On Die Young is my favourite Mogwai album. Have to say I'm not so into their current heavy metal phase…

Have a listen to Pelican too if you like the more rocky side of post-rock.

Ooh yeah! Pelican!

Also lookup Crippled Black Phoenix. Includes members of Mogwai, Cathedral, Gonga…

Great live band, I last saw them in Bristol finishing off with a mutant Mogwai Fear Satan, everything turned up to 11, by now it was about 40'C in the hall, and the whole thing was set off by huge and very fast strobes. At this point the audience was either in the process of leaving as quickly as possible, or gently rocking back and forth, eyes closed, smiling kindly, and stroking their beards.

Also (maybe) try bands like:

ASMZ (of whom I'm especially fond, not that matters in any way of course).
Red Sparowes
This Will Destroy You
Aidan Baker / Nadja
Mono
…

If not live, then best sampled via decent headphones and from a lossless source, but I know what you young people are like with your bloomin' modern compressed audio 😉

Ahhh the 'Gwai 😛 Hopefully seeing them (again) in Feb

Andy

anyone who states 'blur are S***' are not worth listening too .Blur are brilliant.Just trying to promote their own sound through a known band that are good.

Blur are alright. But judging a band's music based on some tshirts they made a decade ago is pretty daft, no?

Actually, just remembered the first time I saw Mogwai… I wasn't a fan. They were playing the jaffa cake in edinburgh when I worked there, I think support was uresai yatsura. It was a long, dark venue with a low stage so if you were up the back you could see nothing. So, last song- whatever it was- possibly Like Herod- ends in utter, utter devastating noise and feedback, glasses vibrating off tables, a strobe assault strong enough to use as an xray machine… And then the band left, but with all the guitars still rammed into the speakers and the delays and loops running so the feedback just kept going and mutating. The front rows could see the gig was over but everyone up the back was still going ape because you couldn't tell the band had gone home. Good times.

Used to go to Stuart's club nights at the Gilded Balloon. When it burned down, one of the reasons there were no casualties was that he was DJing, therefore there was nobody there "This is just unlistenable noise!" "Yeah, I know, great isn't it!"

keeping with the scottish theme check out Urusei Yatsura, the album "we are Urusei Yatsura" is one of my all time faves

The bit where the flute kicks in on Mogwai Fear Satan… Blooming marvellous, it is.

Listening to Fear Satan on the train is the way to go. Coming back from fort william ideally, as you cross rannoch moor. It suits total desolation and emptiness

A few others worth checking out are:

Meniscus
sleepmakeswaves
Caspian
Exxasens
God Is An Astronaut
Katatonia
Anathema
From Oceans To Autumn
Lights Out Asia

Blur are alright. But judging a band's music based on some tshirts they made a decade ago is pretty daft, no?

Absolutely. The T-shirts were more like 15 years ago, though (which suddenly seems like a very long time…)

keeping with the scottish theme check out Urusei Yatsura, the album "we are Urusei Yatsura" is one of my all time faves

I've not listened to that for aaaages. I saw them once, at the Arches in Glasgow, with Magoo in support.

Andy

Heh, I just went off and listened to Slain By Uresai Yatsura. That's not as good as I remember But Strategic Hamlets, good tune! Makes me yearn to see a man playing guitar with 2 drumsticks.

For the Mogwai fans who somehow haven't yet listened to the latest 65 Days of Static album We Were Exploding Anyway, I'll give you 7 days to rectify that error before punishment occurs. It's not exactly like Mogwai, more dancey/electronic but I reckon most Mogwai fans will enjoy it, it has the same feel just not the same sound if you know what I mean.

http://www.65kids.com/index.php/radio-sessions for a taste of 65 Days of Static /remixes worth a dip too ;o)