Mogwai
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The word mogwai can be an alternate transliteration of the Chinese word 魔怪 (pinyin：móguài) meaning "ghost", "evil spirit", or "demon".
A mogwai is a fictional, furry, cute creature that is a precursor to a gremlin (as depicted in the 1984 Joe Dante film Gremlins and its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch). If exposed to water, it immediately reproduces more of its kind asexually; if it eats food after midnight, it becomes a gremlin, a more reptilian, evil creature. Sunlight will kill a mogwai and other lights will annoy it. Most of the mogwai creatures are mean-spirited and mischievous, with Gizmo, the most famous mogwai, being the exception.
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Mogwai is a Scottish post-rock band formed in 1995. The group's music can perhaps be called ambient consisting mainly of instrumental pieces with a distinctive melancholic, crystal-clear mood, sometimes immersed in deep guitar feedback (especially in live shows). Originally signed to renowned Glasgow Indie label Chemikal Underground, notable influences on their sound have come from 80's bands The Cure, Joy Division, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Pixies, Slint and My Bloody Valentine. The Punk Rock ethic is also important to the band not in that they sound like a 'traditional' punk rock band but simply the idea that they wanted to have a distinct sound set apart from the pop that dominates the chart.
During 2004 the band were handed support slots on the tours of two of their heroes, the Pixies and The Cure. They have had some influence on the indie rock scene, mainly on the bands Explosions In The Sky and the Italian band Giardini di Miro. They are signed to Matador Records in the US but run their own label, Rock Action Records for their UK releases (the label is named after punk rock band the Stooges drummer Scott Ashton who had his name changed to Rock Action).
Mogwai is named after the creatures from the film Gremlins, although Braithwaite comments that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it." [1] (http://www.mogwai.co.uk/faq.html?class=faq&cmd=show&year=2004&month=04&start=16).
Band members:
- Stuart Braithwaite (guitar)
- Dominic Aitchison (bass)
- Martin Bulloch (drums)
- John Cummings (guitar)
- Barry Burns (keyboards, flute, guitar, etc)
(Noteworthy former member: Brendan O’Hare, original drummer of indie-darlings Teenage Fanclub and now with Macrocosmica.)
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Discography
EPs
- Tuner/Lower (1996)
- Angels vs Aliens (1996) - Split EP with Dweeb
- Summer (demo) (1996) - Split EP with Urusei Yatsura & Backwater
- Summer/Ithica 27φ9 (1996)
- New Paths to Helicon, Parts 1 & 2 (1997)
- 4 Satin (1997)
- Club Beatroot, Part 4 (1997) - Split EP with PH Family
- Do The Rock Boogaloo (1998) - Split EP with Magoo, covering Black Sabbath songs
- No Education = No Future (Fuck the Curfew) (1998) - EP title refers to a youth curfew scheme piloted in a Scottish town where the band recorded their first album [2] (http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/eng/interview006.php)
- Mogwai:EP (1999)
- "Travels in Constants" EP (2001)
- US Tour EP (2001) - Split EP with Bardo Pond
- My Father My King (2001) - Features only one track, albeit one lasting 20 minutes and 12 seconds (the Australia/New Zealand version also includes two bonus live tracks)
- UK/European Tour EP (2001)
Albums
- Ten Rapid (1997) - Collected recordings 1996-1997
- Mogwai Young Team (1997)
- Kicking A Dead Pig (1998) - Remix album, reissued in 2001 with an additional CD containing two extra tracks
- Come on Die Young (1999)
- EP+6 (2000) - 4 Satin, No Education... and Mogwai:EP on one CD
- Rock Action (2001)
- Happy Songs for Happy People (2003)
- Government Commissions (2005) - BBC Sessions 1996-2003
External links
- Mogwai's official website (http://www.mogwai.co.uk/)
- Mogwai fansite (http://brightlight.youngteam.co.uk/)
- Mogwai's US record label (http://www.matadorrecords.com/mogwai/)
- Mogwai's UK record label (http://www.rockactionrecords.co.uk/)
- Chemikal Underground Records - Mogwai's former UK record label (http://www.chemikal.co.uk/artist/mogwai.html)de:Mogwai (Band)