Possibly the most accessible yet sophisticated album Mogwai has released, Mr. Beast strips away most of the electronic embellishment of their recent work in favor of a back-to-basics sound that returns to and expands on the approach they pioneered on Young Team. Mr. Beast is also a surprisingly spontaneous-sounding album -- in the best possible sense, its freshness makes it feel like a recorded practice session and also helps give relatively delicate pieces like "Team Handed" the same amount of impact that heavy, searing tracks like the closer, "We're No Here," have. Interestingly, more of Mr. Beast tends toward the former kind of song than the latter; "Friend of the Night," "Emergency Trap," and the glorious, slow-burning album opener, "Auto-Rock," give the album an unusually refined, even elegant feel that is underscored by the prominent use of piano and lap steel in the arrangements. On songs like "Acid Food" and the magnificent "I Chose Horses" -- which features cavernously deep bass and spoken word vocals by Tetsuya Fukagawa from the Japanese hardcore band Envy -- Mr. Beast feels downright pastoral. However, Mogwai doesn't give up their heavy side entirely, as the aforementioned "We're No Here" and "Glasgow Mega-Snake" show; any song that has either "mega" or "snake" in the title should rock, and this one does, kicking off with a claustrophobic snarl of guitars that makes this one of the most intense pieces Mogwai has ever recorded. Mr. Beast manages to be immediate without sounding dumbed-down..
Need killer music with no pesky words? I’m talking real music expertly crafted and performed with a “we know we rule” attitude. The kind of music that will pervade your soul and compel you run to a mountain top, strip off your clothes and sway joyfully with your hands in the air. Okay maybe not that last bit of euphoria, but if you are tired of the 3-chord, chop-chop guitars or retro, kitsch
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I'm just checking whether it's still possible to upload an MP3 for a song that MOG knows is on Rhapsody. It looks like I can. Nothing has been taken away from MOG, and the new Rhapsody feature is an addition rather than a subtraction.Looks good!
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a recurring motif on mogwai's "mr. beast" sounds hauntingly familiar to a recurring motif on mussorgsky's "pictures at an exhibition." i'll credit my dad to this discovery, as he heard me listening to mogwai one morning as he was leaving for work and later told me he thought i had taken one of his cds. we compared tracks and the similarities are uncanny. interestingly though, i did some googlin...
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a recurring motif on mogwai's "mr. beast" sounds hauntingly familiar to a recurring motif on classical pianist mussorgsky's "pictures at an exhibition." i'll credit my dad to this discovery, as he heard me listening to mogwai one morning as he was leaving for work and later told me he thought i had taken one of his cds. we compared tracks and the similarities are uncanny. interestingly though, ...
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If you're into laying in the floor and listening to an album with the lights off, in its entirety, like I am, Mogwai's Mr. Beast will make for a moody and delicious session. So thick with sound. So complex and beautiful and bone crushing. I can go for days on a steady diet of Radiohead, Yo La Tengo, and Sigu'r Ros, so this was the perfect addition to round out my diet. If you know of other band...
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For anyone who has heard of them, Mogwai has always been a little different. You were either a fan, or found the soft/reflective/melodic distortion-guitars not engaging enough. For those of you who havent heard of them, the band is a guitar heavy post-rock group with minimal lyrics.What makes them stand out is that every song seems deliberate and planned out. The melody has a progression that k...
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So, saw Mogwai Saturday night at the Fillmore. Second time I've seen them perform but the first complete show.I still can't name songs, not surprising given their song titles ("A cheery wave from stranded strangers" or "Mogwai Fear Satan" to name two) and preference for insturmentals, but boy was it a fun show. Pensive to expansive. Songs do actually have beginnings and they eventually end. Bu...
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I was on Ticketmaster checking out the cost of tix for various bands in San Francisco. I had heard Mogwai puts on an amazing show and saw they're going to be here in the bay area 9/08/08. Tickets were pretty reasonable at $22.50.So I'm going through the process online to find out the total end cost with all those damn fees cause I like to know what the bottom line will be. I was wavering on th...
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MOGWAI (Scotland, 1995)*Influences:* Joy Division, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pink Floyd, and the post-rock pioneers Slint."They compose lengthy instrumental guitar-based pieces in the post-rock tradition, usually focused around the elaboration of a single theme, and are known traditionally for dynamic contrast, melodic bass riffs, and their use of guitar distortion and effects.":http://en.wikip...
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Need killer music with no pesky words? I’m talking real music expertly crafted and performed with a “we know we rule” attitude. The kind of music that will pervade your soul and compel you run to a mountain top, strip off your clothes and sway joyfully with your hands in the air. Okay maybe not that last bit of euphoria, but if you are tired of the 3-chord, chop-chop guitars or retro, kitsch
More >
My favorite Mogwai song, hands down, is "Friend of the Night." I was doing homework the first time I listened to my copy of Mr. Beast, and something about the track made me stop everything. I just sat there and listened, which doesn't happen to me very often, as I'm a very accomplished multi-tasker. But the song is so beautiful, and there's something so uplifting and heartbreakingly sad about i...
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I'm just checking whether it's still possible to upload an MP3 for a song that MOG knows is on Rhapsody. It looks like I can. Nothing has been taken away from MOG, and the new Rhapsody feature is an addition rather than a subtraction.Looks good!
More >
a recurring motif on mogwai's "mr. beast" sounds hauntingly familiar to a recurring motif on classical pianist mussorgsky's "pictures at an exhibition." i'll credit my dad to this discovery, as he heard me listening to mogwai one morning as he was leaving for work and later told me he thought i had taken one of his cds. we compared tracks and the similarities are uncanny. interestingly though, ...
More >
a recurring motif on mogwai's "mr. beast" sounds hauntingly familiar to a recurring motif on mussorgsky's "pictures at an exhibition." i'll credit my dad to this discovery, as he heard me listening to mogwai one morning as he was leaving for work and later told me he thought i had taken one of his cds. we compared tracks and the similarities are uncanny. interestingly though, i did some googlin...
More >
If you're into laying in the floor and listening to an album with the lights off, in its entirety, like I am, Mogwai's Mr. Beast will make for a moody and delicious session. So thick with sound. So complex and beautiful and bone crushing. I can go for days on a steady diet of Radiohead, Yo La Tengo, and Sigu'r Ros, so this was the perfect addition to round out my diet. If you know of other band...
More >
So, saw Mogwai Saturday night at the Fillmore. Second time I've seen them perform but the first complete show.I still can't name songs, not surprising given their song titles ("A cheery wave from stranded strangers" or "Mogwai Fear Satan" to name two) and preference for insturmentals, but boy was it a fun show. Pensive to expansive. Songs do actually have beginnings and they eventually end. Bu...
More >
For anyone who has heard of them, Mogwai has always been a little different. You were either a fan, or found the soft/reflective/melodic distortion-guitars not engaging enough. For those of you who havent heard of them, the band is a guitar heavy post-rock group with minimal lyrics.What makes them stand out is that every song seems deliberate and planned out. The melody has a progression that k...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Auto Rock |
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| 2 Glasgow Mega Snake |
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| 3 Acid Food |
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| 4 Travel Is Dangerous |
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| 5 Team Handed |
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| 6 Friend of the Night |
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| 7 Emergency Trap |
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| 8 Folk Death 95 |
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| 9 I Chose Horses |
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| 10 We're No Here |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Mr. Beast")
