MOGWAI
Ten Rapid (Jet Set Records)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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Formed in Scotland eight years ago, Mogwai was supposed to bring "serious guitar music" to an independent rock scene that lacked a heroic shoe gazer group. After the triumph of 1997's Young Team, an album that used its long brooding structure as precedent for a prominent place on the college music forefront, the band fell into a pattern of singles and EP's that stalled their crusade. The halcyon days seemed to come quickly, followed by a strange inertia.

Ten Rapid, a re-issue of those singles that pre-dated Young Team, steers those characteristic elements that have marked Mogwai's career back to the forefront. The songs sprawl and cascade in abbreviated spacey, experimental boundaries. When there are vocals, they take back seat to more dramatic production values, perhaps Mogwai's primary modus operandi: give them processed guitars, guitar effects and more symphonic guitar; essentially, guitar comes before all else. Opening with "Summer," an alternately mesmerizing and violent song, the album cuts quickly through nine tracks with none topping six minutes. The star is "Helicon 1," the album's longest, and thereby the only one with enough room to explore its structure. It swims, at first slowly, before growing into a near panic stricken crescendo, then cuts short. It is bookend to the gorgeous "New Paths to Helicon (Part 2)" a track that features percussion, only aptly described as sensuous.

For fans of the Mogwai zeitgeist, Ten Rapid will fill vital holes in the catalog, while for those seeking a launching point, Ten Rapid is not the most advantageous album. It is a compliment to the earlier Young Team, perhaps signaling a return of those days before the malaise.

© 2004 - Erick Mertz