(Rock Action)
Making the transition
from writing albums to composing soundtracks isn't always a smooth
one but it'd be hard to disagree that Mogwai's distinctive
instrumental rock would make them better suited than most. Their
brand of music could be considered cinematic in scope, with tracks
sometimes long enough to play out like a story arc. Since
releasing their seventh album, 2011's Hardcore Will Never
Die, But You Will, the Scottish group have worked on the
soundtrack to the French drama series The Returned. The result
was a stripped back affair for Mogwai, avoiding the distorted peaks
that many of their songs arrive at. Instead they created an ambient
but melodic score that create a sense of unease to fit the
supernatural mystery playing out on screen and the restrictions that
come with putting together a soundtrack seem to have had a positive
influence on the group's latest full-length album Rave Tapes.
There are many signs on
this album of a band gently tweaking and tampering with their already
proven formula rather than starting anew. Album opener Heard About
You Last Night begins like a older Boards of Canada track, minimal
keyboard notes ring into each other before being joined by drums and
guitars which, as the song develops, rise up like a string section
creating the kind of grand sweeping melody, filled with a barley
contained sense of power.
Soft vocals take the
forefront on Blues Hour accompanied by sparse piano notes and creates
a mood more in key with the bands darker, austere musical beginnings.
The lyrics create a sense of tragedy out of the mundane with lines
like 'Train lines going nowhere/No destination found'. It
isn't all bleak though, Repelish weaves a sample of a man’s overly
serious analysis of subliminal messages in Stairway to Heaven. It may
be an excuse to get the words 'You gotta live for Satan. Master
Satan' into a song but it injects a little humour to a genre
often marked by its dour seriousness. On Remurdered the group relies
on analogue synthesizers to build tension around a 4/4 kick before a
restless lead line plays out over a powerful stomping drum beat
building up like an update of an old Giallo film soundtrack.
Electronics have long
been a part of the bands musical arsenal and on Rave Tapes
they often form a crucial backbone to the tracks whether it's the
thick buzzing keys of Simon Ferocious or the dystopian John
Carpenter-esque synthesizer pulse of Deesh. The album closer Our Lord
Is Out Of Control might be the most un-Mogwai track here. It revolves
around a strangely haunting auto-tuned voice in which the
indiscernible lyrics form a melody for the drum machine beats and
guitars drones to support. The effect is mesmerising as it plays out
like a serene astral hymn.
There are occasional
moments like on Hexon Bogon or Master Card where it doesn't feel like
they bring anything new to the mix but they're still neatly crafted
tracks here. Nothing is as dynamically wild as Young Team, everything
here carefully eases its way into your mind. It isn't their loudest
or boldest record, in fact much of it feels like an experiment in
restraint. Many of the songs hang around the four to five minute mark
so whilst there is nothing comparable in length to Mogwai Fear Satan
not a second feels wasted over the album's ten tracks. Rave Tapes
shows a band that have honed their craft into a finely tuned art
and as such this album sounds like it was effortless to make and easy
to appreciate.
Originally posted on figure8magazine.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment