Sunday CD Project

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

My policy with new albums is that the first listen has to be uninterrupted end-to-end on decent speakers and as little background noise as possible (I'm a bit pretentious like that). This week's CD arrived on Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to listen to it in this fashion until Wednesday afternoon. Since then its play count on iTunes is in the region of 7 for the main album, and 11 for the 23-minute ambient faux-symphonic piece on disc 2.

From those numbers, don't expect an unbiased review. Honestly, this is my favourite album of the year so far. Another review I read dubbed it a complete change of direction for Mogwai, but I have to disagree with that a little. For sure, there are more up-tempo tracks than the Scottish post-rockers are prone to (San Pedro and Mexican Grand Prix are prime examples), and the aforementioned 23-minute Music For A Forgotten Future (The Singing Mountain) is uncharacteristically drum-free - not that I'm complaining.

However, it's definitely still Mogwai. The long riffs are still there, the ambient delay noises are still there, and the occasional vocal samples, albeit now with a touch of auto-tune – used properly I might add – give a clear sense of familiarity for those who were expecting a safe bit of Mogwai.

I'm not sure if it's their best album yet, but it's certainly up there, and I'd say one of the most accessible, so if you've never given them a listen, I'd put HWNDBYW up as a good starter.

J.R.