Should You Fear Satan?

Kingpins of a kind of rock that came after rock (What was that? Oh you mean that makes no sense? no, it doesn't. Whatever, I'm over it), Mogwai cultivate an image of being mildly unfriendly Scottishmen who have been studying the balance between power and melody in music, and the very special place where both meet.

Rest assured, this isn't the intro (yet) to a book I'm writing that would be titled "Mogwai: a decade-long study of dynamics in popular music", just to an article about their latest record, which also happens to be a live recording. Their first, I believe:

Mogwai, Special Moves

Rock Action, 2010 

You'll find many reviews for this album. Most of them will describe the intensity of the songs, how Mogwai has been constantly innovating in their own fairly specific subgenre, and managed to maintain cohesiveness. They should then move on to describe the setlist choices, how each song is live rather than in studio, etc... They might mention some lack of direction, but will reassure right away with something like "most bands who sound like that do that" so if you like Post Rock, you should like this, hipster (offended? email me, hipster!)

It would be worthless to repeat this here. I understand lazy people, so I'll even put the link to two such reviews so you can get your usual info there:

Allmusic

Pitchyforky (that's right, I just called it that)

So what's left to say? Well, here's a few thoughts for you to munch on: 

• Mogwai is one of the very few bands who knows how to use a vocoder. Well done guys.
• THIS IS A GREAT RECORD. GIVE IT A SHOT.
• How much time will the cheap trick of playing softly then bashing power chords for an entire show will go on? Long, I hope.
• Buy the record. You get a dvd (which is supposed to be awesome, but that I never got around to see) and 6 bonus tracks. It's all good. Really good.
• The packaging is gloriously minimalist. Black and white pixelated security cam with all caps text inside and one horizontal line of lightning blue as the only colored element. Should make the graphic designer inside of you (if any) shiver.
• This is a comprehensive guide to Mogwai so far.
• Recorded in Williamsburg. Keep it local, hippie.

That's all I got for now. Go enjoy it rather than read my nonsense. You better come back here though. I'll be watching you.

JNCT

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The Valvewizard

It's been way too long since I last posted something up here. No one complained, which is kind of sad in its own way, but I wasn't expecting to have more than 7 readers anyways.

So for you 7(+/-5) faithful friends, here's your latest dose of Elephant Space Snowstorm. It's a triple feature, because that's how much I love you and all that internet shit.

PART I:

The Elephant Space Snowstorm's Been Busy As Fuck Mix - Volume I: 

1. Boxcar by Jawbreaker 
2. Transcendental Evisceration by Capricorns
3. Queen For A Day by The Jesus Lizard
4. Winder by Hum
5. Forest Of Fountains by Solar Bears
6. Melee by Russian Circles
7. Fuck Addict by Torche
8. Catastrophe And The Cure by Explosions In The Sky, Remixed by Four Tet
9. You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) by The White Stripes
10. We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down on Our Mute Faces with a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye by Red Sparrows
11. St. James Infirmary by The Gutter Twins
12. Rise / Set by Tjutjuna
13. Nice One by Jackie-O-Motherfucker

PART II: 

REVIEWS (FUCK YEAH)

Ok, I admit it, I was on Altered Zones a bit too much this summer. "Pitchfork ruling over indie blogs, blabla, boohoohoo, rabble rabble rabble"? Maybe, but I'm not going to complain, because they found some awesome shit on the internet and are sharing it with me. So thanks. 

First up on this list of Awesome Shit, Tjutjuna's self titled LP:

With seven songs and 35 minutes of synthesized space-inyourface-punk, these Colorado dudes have a debut album that sounds like Lemmy took over Hawkwind and made everyone take speed while dressing up as pirate-bikers. It's not just your usual synthyhawkyspacerocky ripoff (coughLitmuscoughcough), here Robert/James/Adam/Brian not only have mostly British names but also find the sought after balance between synth lines/drones, echofuzzed guitars and rhythms that could bring you to Mars and back. Effortlessly moving from keyboard riffing to full on guitars to noise section to laidback progressions, back into noise and the pleasures of analog delays, Tjutjuna has managed to make an album that's about as insanely awesome as the cover they came up for it. 

Second is Solar Bears' She Was Coloured In double LP: 

If Tjutjuna is the crazy aspect of Hawkwind, Solar Bears is its laid back, cool as hell equivalent. Warm sounds building immense soundscapes, always changing and evolving yet cohesive and driving from start to end, Solar Bears inscribes itself in a tradition of Irish electronic musicians who decided that U2 shouldn't be their country's main musical export (saying just export doesn't work because Guiness trumps all).

Building songs like some people make cakes (as in layer by layer, not from a pre-made mix), Solar Bears not only sport 2010's coolest band name but manage to evocate decades of electronic music history without sounding blatantly ambient or nostalgic - just epic. Sinoia Caves' The Enchanter Persuaded, although wonderful, had a "tribute" aspect that made it not quite as good as it could've been, especially if you're into a Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze/Cluster phase at the same time. That's not the case here - Solar Bears do a wonderful job of being evocative, but their references are numerous enough that you'll be thinking of a Guy Ritchie movie one second and of Boards of Canada the next. Of course, Berlin school electronic music inspirations come back more often than Age Of Empires soundtrack references, but ultimately all of it is relaxed/interesting enough that She Was Coloured In is an incredibly smooth, driving record (think of the gliding feeling you have when you listen to Kraftwerk's Autobahn. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're in for a treat). 

Not afraid to mix different techniques (tape editing techniques/loops, samples, acoustic instruments, synthesizers, or a combination of those), this Dublin duo makes songs that will make rest you, make you want to headbang and be more efficient at working, simultaneously.

I know, that sounds confusing. Just listen to the goddamn record, it's awesome and you'll get what I mean. 

Until next time (and god knows when that'll be), enjoy. And again, call your mom. She deserves it (probably).

JNCT

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Real Estate @ Hampshire College, Monday Sept 6th 2010

    Let's be honest, this wasn't a My Bloody Valentine or Sleep reformation epic - you just can't pull that kind of event at a place like the Hampshire library lawn, for better or worse. It wasn't going to be about embracing an extreme of any kind, either.  Was just about one guy in uncomfortably tight jeans and a shortsleeve shirt with his buddies, returning to his college's lawn for the sake of good times.

And good times were had.

After the less than memorable DJ set preceding Real Estate's show, a flock of people ran from every direction towards the tent to the sound of Beach Comber, a song that doesn't seem to get old. Population under said tent went from 30, half sitting, to at least 200, all standing and wiggling to the band's joyful harmonics. Sound was surprisingly pristine, the reverberating guitars echoing at will throughout the bands show. The performance was only occasionally bothered by some feedback: considering how many people here think feedback is music, it probably didn't bother that much.

Running through their first album as well as a bunch of new numbers, some untitled, some almost leaning towards heavy surf riffing, the 4 lads impressed not by their professionalism or skills (which they did have in respectable amounts anyways) but by their Beach Boys-like good vibrations. From the guitar player talking about his own days at Hampshire to everyone else being generally friendly to each other, this felt like a nice way to start the semester. It wasn't really about individual songs or lyrics, but more about the "enjoy yourselves" atmosphere. Newcomer or returning student, everyone present at the show seemed to appreciate and bond over how well this music fit the lush Massachusetts landscape on that pleasant summer night.

The audience loved Real Estate so much in fact, that about 30 of them decided it would be fun to jump on the unoccupied part of the stage for the last 2 songs, letting loose a frenzy of fifti-er than thou dance moves between the amps that almost transformed into a hug orgy. It also meant that Martin Courtney's guitar would get unplugged, letting him barely enough time to plug back for the last verse of the show. But when the band went back to full power on those last 15 seconds, they hit the audience with all the power of the frenzied psych surf band they are - approximately equal to that of a giant stuffed Kirby being parachuted on your head from a low-orbit satellite.

"Where are the parties? If anyone wants to hang out after the show… well… we'll be around."

- Real Estate drummer

He would be seen the next day at nearby all-girl Smith College, wearing the clothes he had at the show, checking his Facebook. Congrats to him.

photos by Kevin Schwenkler

JNCT

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