Mogwai, not from a film...

...but the reason you should listen to instrumental post-rock.


I love this band; I once even changed my Facebook middle name to 'Mogwai' during a period of particularly heavy rotation of their music on my speakers. That fact probably worries you doesn't it?



The thing about them is that unlike a lot of instrumental rock music, there is always, for me at least, something new to hear, another layer of sound to unpick when listening to their records. Bands often managed to pull this trick off on a track or two (the slow, repetitive fade out of Jimmy Eat World's 'Goodbye Sky Harbour' springs to mind) but it is rare for an album where vocal input is limited to a few solitary lines and samples to be able to hold a listener in any semblance of interest.



Yet this Mogwai do, and without the help of extended guitar solos of doom or Rick Wakeman pattern keyboard interludes that you find littering the world of prog like zombies intent on sucking all soul from the music. There are subtle layers, building melodies and crashing breakdowns. The music fades and swells, feedback and clean noise sit hand in hand. Christ they even used a flute occasionally and don’t sound pretentious.

Watch the videos scattered across this page and you'll probably grasp what I'm rather clumsily trying to describe. It's music to listen to on dark night, or in the rain, that will bubble away in the back of your mind for days. Once I start listening to this band, I often can't stop. I challenge you not to feel the same way.