There is no doubt that the most recent album by Mogwai, 2014's Rave Tapes, was a success on a lot of different levels. It was an interesting turn from a band who continue to make constantly great records. It also continued a great run of releases by the band, from their 2012 album Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will, the Earth Division EP, and the Les Revenants OST. Completing a year that will rank as one of the band's most important, they releasing this six track EP, Music Industry 3, Fitness Industry 1, at the tail end of 2014..
The immediate issue with this however, being a companion to Rave Tapes, is that it's split directly down the middle - six tracks, three brand new, three remixes. This causes a thematic issue - whilst the three all new tracks are certainly worth the time of any casual fan, the remixes are primarily for fans of the band that take apart each vocoder and bass line to find meaning.
Your mileage will vary depending on which group of fan you fall into. The Blanck Mass remix of Remurdered, titled Re-Remurdered, is pulsing, bassy and certainly different, but it hollows out the dramatic tension that the original track manages to conjure, and in doing undoes the denouement that occurs later in the far superior Mogwai original. It throws almost all that is recognisable out and barrels in bleeps and ravaging basslines that makes for a strong track on the face of it but it's hard for it to reach above that of the perfect original.
The Pye Corner Audio remix of No Medicine for Regret however is pretty wonderful - and the best remix on the EP. The ethereal vibes and the time stretched production turns the original into an all new composition, reborn as what starts as a droney ambient journey, with a pulsing Field-esque sawbass coming in at the 3 minute mark, giving way to the shimmery guitar of the original track. And lastly the Nils Frahm remix of The Lord is Out of Control strips the entire song back to Frahm's signature piano lament and whilst it's pretty and fragile, like the best of Frahm's work, it sadly doesn't really make any statement.
The strength in the EP comes from the three all-new tracks. Lead single Teenage Exorcists is the kind of exciting thing that Mogwai don't do very often - vocals and a 'normal' structure. It's short, sweet, pointed, and rushes around being as loud as it ends right from the start, and you can see why it was left off Rave Tapes. It is worth the price of admission alone. I'd like to hear more Mogwai like this, but perhaps an album of it might wear me out. History Day however sounds like Mogwai doing their recent Mogwai thing, appearing more like a Hardcore... composition rather than Rave Tapes.
HMP Shaun William Ryder, which continues the tradition of instant classic Mogwai track titles, is another strong cut from the band, rising into the fuzz of distortion that was actually missing from the majority of Rave Tapes. It actually calls back to early Mogwai too, with it's quiet-loud dynamic, with the final stretch of the track sounding like a condensed version of Mogwai Fear Satan, which is absolutely no bad thing.
As a standalone release Music Industry 3, Fitness Industry 1 is uneven to say the least. Front heavy with two great and one good Mogwai track, with one interesting remix and two slightly curious but ultimately unnecessary ones.
- Mark Shields
Mogwai - Music Industry 3, Fitness Industry 1 is out now via Rock Action Records and is available here.
We get into 2015 proper the same way we ended 2014; with excellent live music and all the best new music about. My session guest for this episode is artist and musician Sarah J Stanley, who played three wonderful tracks live in the Pulse 98.4 studio.
Which is why this paragraph is an honourable mention to some of the albums just missing out on our list. All are equally worth your further investigation, so please check out; Fat Goth - One Hundred Percent Suave, The Phantom Band - Strange Friend, Now Wakes The Sea - Bildungsroman, The Amazing Snakeheads - Amphetatmine Ballads, King Creosote - From Scotland With Love, The Son(s) - The Things I Love Are Not At Home, Stanley Odd - A Thing Brand New, and Deathcats - All Hail Deathcats.
As has become tradition at Scottish Fiction, our end of year radio
show/podcast, unveiled our top 20 Scottish albums in reverse order, playing a track from each. It's well worth a listen and you can do so right here. For those who want to just get the skinny on what the full list was, then look no further as below is our Top 20 Scottish Albums of 2014.
A worthy winner, and a list full of great music I'm sure you'll agree. Or maybe you don't. Such is the nature of lists. For most of the albums on the list you'll find a link to a full review courtesy of Scottish Fiction, plus a link to buy the album if you don't already own it. Go on treat yourself. And below you can hear a track from each album on our Top 20 Scottish Album podcast.
Having live music on the show is one of my favourite aspects of doing Scottish Fiction, and it was an absolutely delight to finally be able to bring in electro trio Machines In Heaven for a chat and some live tracks. In what may be our most intricate session to date, the band played tracks from their brand new EP Hindu Milk as well as elaborating on their approach to writing and recording.
As well as that, the show is packed to the gunnels with new music from the likes of Hector Bizerk, Ultras, Deathcats and Mogwai, not to mention a brilliant Frank Ocean cover from IndianRedLopez, a 'Classic Track' from the '80's, and much much more.
The Usher Hall in Edinburgh has played host to many a crowd. The rows of seats and grand decor are used to the shuffle of anticipation and the pangs of excitement. Perhaps though, it has never quite experienced the sea of belief and hope swept through on Sunday evening.
A Night For Scotland featured an array of Scottish musicians, drawn from across genres and eras. There's not many occasions when one finds Amy MacDonald sharing a bill with post-rock titans Mogwai, yet there's a sense that tonight music and political celebration are intertwined.
What follows therefore is not so much social commentary and not so much live music review, but an acceptance that this evening was both of these things and none of these things all at the same time.
Having been around the political game a while, Eddi Reader is no stranger to a well placed slogan. "I love all the No voters too. I love them so much I want to give them a country" she gushes amidst a well chosen set of new song Named We Are Everything, the sentimental Wild Mountain Thyme and the optimistic Perfect.
Hip-hop arguably overtook folk music as the musical vehicle for protest some decades ago, and Edinburgh's Stanley Odd
have continued the tradition in the finest of manners. Front man Dave
Hook, a.k.a. MC Solareye, explains that their three song set represents
his, and the bands, journey to a Yes vote. Anti-heroics kicks
off, armed with the astute observation that "putting an X in the box
says you're watching back", whilst a round of "Bed tax! Fuck that!"
gathers pace during second track Chase Yirsel. It's the emotional charged ode to Hook's one year old son Son I Voted Yes
which gets the biggest reception of the night on a political basis,
striking right to the heart of why many in the crowd are here tonight.
It's also the one song I felt which drew together this Bombay mix of an
audience musically too, the hipster youth, the elder statesmen and
women, and as Fred Durst would say the rockers and hip-hoppers.
Following Stanley Odd were Mogwai, famously a band of few words, a least in a live sense. Clad in a 'peace sign' t-shirt, front man Stuart Braithwaite keeps his political observations to a minimum, claiming people are hear to listen to music not people talking. For me as a Mogwai fan that was true. For the few older people covering their ears during Mogwai Fear Satan and shitting themselves at the reprise, perhaps it was not quite the music they expected! The band are every bit as ear splitting, bombastic and powerful as expected, the noise of their set perhaps a well placed metaphor for the noise being made by grassroots Yes Scotland campaigners.
After a short interval, we're in the hands of actress, comedian, and prominent Yes campaigner Elaine C. Smith, fresh down the road from Stirling and a BBC Referendum Debate. Having played her part in a fair share of pantos over the years, she knows how to score points with the audience, and expectantly gains boos by mentioning the 'baddies' Douglas Alexander and Ruth Davidson. The next act Amy MacDonald, returns things to an acoustic level, playing through a small set including her hit This Is The Life and a freshly penned song about optimism and change.
What was the purpose of the evening you may ask? There may well have been a few undecided voters, perhaps even the odd No voter there purely for the musical delights on offer, but by and large this was a partisan crowd, their minds already focused and made up. The true purpose of the evening I believe was a celebration, of all that has been achieved so far, and of all that can still be gained. That feeling was evident as Glasgow's Franz Ferdinand took residency of the stage. The band embody the phrase 'shut up and play the hits', running through tracks like Take Me Out, Michael, Do You Want To and Dark of the Matinee in a blitzkrieg flurry of angular guitars and punchy drums. It shouldn't be lost on the crowd that three of Franz Ferdinand are native born Englishmen, who have called Glasgow home for some time. Taken with the multi-lingual and ethnic crowd drawn from all walks of life, this should show that this evening was not a misty eyed tartan draped love affair, but in fact a celebration of culture from wherever it hails.
With one last rousing interval speech from Elaine C. Smith, it's time for our evenings headliners, Frightened Rabbit, to bring things to a close. The band speak of their pride at being here, and their hope of what can be achieved before launching into another hit packed set, firing out Living In Colour, The Modern Leper and Swim Until You Can't See Land to a receptive crowd. Lead singer Scott Hutchison notes that on occasions like this, songs can take on different meanings before playing Old Old Fashioned with the line, "back to how things used to be" illustrating his point well. Scottish Winds although less well known, is an apt addition to a passionate set, and while Frabbit don't quite have the same mainstream appeal and hip-shaking riffs that Franz Ferdinand do, they manage to close the evening with a heart swelling version of The Loneliness & The Scream culminating in a mass singalong which even Elaine C Smith can't resist.
Perhaps I'm being picky, but my only quibble with the evening would be the name. 'A Night For Scotland' is all well and good, but this night was for Yes Scotland. There should be absolutely no suggestion that the music on show is not for those of a different political persuasion, or that those who do vote No are not part of the future that will involve us all. Inclusivity is what we need, especially that this juncture, and while all should respect the will of artists to make political statements should they wish, music must always transcend and be something that all can enjoy.
There were two notable events in Edinburgh this weekend. Both involved mass crowds and both involved music. Up to 15,000 Orangemen marched past Holyrood displaying in their words, the 'passionate' case for the union. 3,000 people gathered at the Usher Hall to celebrate in a different manner, for a different cause, and a different future. I'm not equating one with the other, and most certainly would not suggest that Yes voters are progressive indie music loving liberals, whilst No voters are steeped in Protestant tradition. The only observation I wish to make is that all too often music is the forebearer of real social change. Look to any major political or social change over the last 100 years, and you'll find songs by Woody Guthrie, or Bob Dylan, or Public Enemy, or The Specials, or Billy Bragg. Notably missing from the songbooks of history are the songs supporting the status quo.
- Neil Wilson
A Night For Scotland can be streamed again via Kiltr.
For more information on why Scottish Fiction supports a Yes vote read here.
An all vinyl show? Is this the '70's? Am I mad? No, and quite possibly, but that's neither here nor there. For a change I decided to do a special show this week featuring tracks from Scottish artists played entirely on vinyl. And an inspired decision it was too, as it has resulted in this little beaut of a podcast you are now listening to. Let's call it the b-side to our usual offering. And like all good b-sides there's some rarities and surprises in store, from artists such as Meursault, Franz Ferdinand, The Twilight Sad, Belle and Sebastian and more.
So we've already heard from you, the Scottish Fiction readers, who you think will win The SAY Award (check that out over here if you haven't seen the results already), and now it's time to investigate further.
As you'll know the long list of twenty albums that was announced on 24th April was drawn from the nominations of 100 independent music industry figures including promoters, musicians, DJ's, bloggers, journalists, record shops and many more (you can find the full list of nominators on The SAY Award website). As an interesting aside, because each nominator was asked to choose their favourite five albums over 120 albums produced in Scotland received at least one vote during the nomination process.
Once the long list is decided the nominators jobs are done. The judging process is carried out by a separate group of industry experts, known ominously as the judges, who ultimately pick the winner (you can find the full list of judges on The SAY Award website). Worth pointing out, given what's coming next, is that the judges are not involved in the nomination process, and vice-versa., and the tips and comments below from the nominators bear no influence to the final judging process whatsoever.
So we wondered, now that the short list has been decided, and the award ceremony is so close, who do the 100 nominators, given their different backgrounds, opinions, tastes, etc, think will win? So we asked. Of the 100 nominators, including yours truly, we got answers from 42, and those answers look like this:
Young Fathers, Tape Two - 2.38%
The Pastels, Slow Summits - 0%
Steve Mason, Monkey's Mind In The Devil's Time - 4.76%
RM Hubbert, Breaks & Bone - 0%
Mogwai, Les Revenants - 16.67%
Hector Bizerk, Nobody Seen Nothing - 4.76%
Edwyn Collins, Understated - 9.52%
CHVRCHES, The Bones Of What You Believe - 52.38%
Boards of Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest - 4.76%
Biffy Clyro, Opposites - 4.76%
Quite a resounding backing, I'm sure you'll agree, for CHVRCHES, polling over 50% of the vote, and if you adjust the number of votes to include those nominators who didn't respond, that's still nearly 25% of the vote to CHVRCHES. Mogwai, perhaps unsurprisingly given their standing in Scottish music, are the nominators second choice, with Edywn Collins coming in third.
Another interesting aside, and you'll see this point illustrated by some of the nominators comments below, is that a lot of the nominators WANTED one album to win, but PREDICTED that another would. Using the comments that I was given, if I adjust the votes to show who the nominators wanted to win, rather than who they think will win, CHVRCHES share of the spoils drops to a still pretty impressive 40.48%. The albums that see an increase in the vote, when we are playing by heart over head rules, are Hector Bizerk, Young Fathers and Boards of Canada. Take from that what you will, but the DIY ethos of Hector Bizerk, the cutting edge Zeitgeist of Young Fathers, and the sheer influence of Boards of Canada, perhaps leave some of the nominators wishing to see those artists rewarded accordingly.
Of course, as we've said through the series of articles about The SAY Awards, the final decision will fall to the eleven judges tomorrow night (Thursday 19th June), who are all as passionate about music as anyone of us, and will no doubt come to a decision based on the merits of each album and the music contained therein. Let's wish all of the short listed albums good luck, and be sure to check them out regardless of the overall winner.
Giving some context to the above figures, here's what some of the nominators had to say:
"In the absence of There Will Be Fireworks from the
long list and Frightened Rabbit from the short list my choice would be for
Mogwai to win, which from a man who likes his lyrics is praise indeed." - Kevin Buckle, Avalanche Records "I am going with CHVRCHES as my prediction. It maybe an obvious choice
but they have managed to move quite brilliantly from an underground act
to one receiving global praise and success and they have possibly opened
the door for more emerging synth driven acts. They have been hailed as
one of the UK's success stories of the past 12/18 months and that
definitely makes them one of Scotland's" - Jamie MacDonald, Netsounds Unsigned
"I predict that CHVRCHES will win. Having been through the mill in other
bands, they have made an album of great electro tinged pop that is cool,
yet sounds great on daytime radio. Edwyn Coliins might be an outsider bet, after what he has been through to make an album." - DJ Mash, DJ/Producer/Broadcaster "Hopefully Mogwai can win this year. Their music remains a real
inspiration for the Clash team. But I fear Chvrches may pip them with
their pop sheen and emergent hype. I'd equally love to see Young Fathers
steal the show after they stole my heart at SXSW
a couple of years ago. It's a strong final shortlist though, I'm really
proud to be even consulted on such a vivid field of Scottish music." - Matt Bennett, Deputy Editor Clash Music Group "The decision will, of course, come down to the collective make-up of
the individual minds within the judging panel. But, after back-to-back
years where The SAY Award winner was introspective, bearded and male, I
think there might be a bit of subconscious
pressure on them to come up with a choice that stretches out into
different genres. The Bones Of What You Believe by CHVRCHES, with its
Top 10 UK/Top 20 US chart placings, was very much the Scottish success
story of 2013, but that might be seen as an album
that has already had its commercial rewards. In that case, I could see
an on-the-night underdog victory for the likes of Young Fathers or
Hector Bizerk." -Alan Morrison, Group Arts Editor, Herald and Evening Times
"Great list to choose from. Love all of them. Steve
Mason brings back happy memories of collaborating on my album, Filmtales. Boards of Canada are just damn amazing, but Mogwai, Les Revenants just edges it
for me. Beautiful melodies and haunting backing. Awesome." - Paul Leonard-Morgan, Composer "I'm going to say Young Fathers, mostly because it's the only record left
in the competition from my original nominations, but also because it's
far and away the most exciting record on the short-list. I should add
that this is me stating who I want to win, rather than who I think will
win. The answer to the latter would probably be Chvrches because I think
it strikes the best balance between quality and impact. In short;
anyone but Biffy please" - Tom Johnson, Gold Flake Paint
"It might seem like last year's big record but that tends to be the
nature of the pop lens - a sugar high followed by a crash. Then, years
later, reappraisal is possible due to a total lack of ongoing
reassessment. Like all "proper" pop artists, the speed with which
CHVRCHES rose - not ignoring the significance of such a feat in an
industry on its knees - rendered sustaining fierce interest impossible. On top of that, CHVRCHES winning might help silence those voices
which have accused the awards of being excessively indiecentric. I
somehow doubt the various members' past achievements in The Twilight
Sad, Aereogramme etc, mean much to the many thousands of people in the UK
and beyond who felt the pop mojo that lies within CHVRCHES' songs stir
something in their libido. That's what pop was, is and will always be
about." -Sean Guthrie, Music Writer, Herald and Sunday Herald "Well, from the announcement of the short list I have constantly said
that I think Hector Bizerk
SHOULD win and I think CHVRCHES WILL win. Both
albums are worthy winners, each of which has pushed the boundaries of
what many people understand as what independent Scottish music looks and
sounds like, and I firmly believe that it is these innovative albums
that The SAY Award should be recognising. Hector Bizerk have my vote for
their fantastic album which they have brought to life through their
fantastic DIY shows while never losing their passion for what they do
and their DIY ethic, but CHVRCHES have deservedly captured the hearts
and minds of listeners and critics worldwide and the award would cap a
fantastic year for them." - Lisa-Marie Ferla, Last Year's Girl
"It's a great selection to pick from - comforting in its eclectic
landscape and heralds Scotland as the creative hub that we all know it
to be. It's all subjective, of course, but from my vantage point the
music that stands out and demands my aural attention is Boards of
Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest. This is the result of the emotional and visual intensity that the seventeen tracks deliver. Quite beautiful." - Iona MacDonald, Singer/Songwriter, Doghouse Roses
"My personal choice from the final ten would be CHVRCHES' sparkling LP
The Bones of What You Believe. It's rarely been off my record player at
home, and Lauren Mayberry's vocals have been in my ears on bus journeys
and walks to work since late last year more than anyone else, wrapping
Glasgow in synths. It'll be seen as a classic of its era in time." - Paul English, Daily Record
