Mogwai: The Hawk is Howling, etc
Finishing up with Mogwai’s new one The Hawk is Howling. Moody instrumentals that rarely rise about the cacophany of past masterpieces (think Young Team–how obvious, huh?). Perhaps in a live setting these pieces will blast through. Yet I keep seeing filmic images as the music plays and will file this away for later…regretfully much later. Oh well, can’t wait to see Fuck Buttons live though…
Of Montreal’s Skeletal Lamping: torrent came in Saturday. Boy was I excited. Then I listened to it. Boy was I confused. Then I listened to it again. Boy was I annoyed and frustrated. Then I listened to it again with no distractions. Boy oh boy.
I had to dig up some interviews with Kevin Barnes to see if I was hearing this correctly or just hearing a rough (really rough) demo that wasn’t mixed yet. Alas…the songs hit the listener with such driving force then then the corner and become something entirely different in tone/texture/speed/context/vocal intonations. Yikes. One listen had me yanking off the earplugs and proclaiming this music to be an aural equivalent of schizophrenia. Songs end abruptly, mix fluctuates radically, there appears to be no thematic flow…and then I read the interview (go to Wikipedia for the link if you’re curious). Yep, this is exactly what Mr. Barnes wants to achieve with this new sound. Will be interesting to see if the audience is there for this. I will be seeing them when they play live in LA (no venue yet but HEALTH is opening act) to see how this will be pulled off.
