1. Young Team by Mogwai (1997) - thoughts on albums I haven't heard

I'd always heard that Mogwai were an outstanding band to listen to if you liked guitar music. Many music critics and people I know have rated them highly so I decided to check them out. After surfing through several internet pages, I discovered that their debut album was one of their most critically acclaimed ones amongst many. Naturally, my curiosity was heightened and I decided to listen to "Young Team".

Interestingly, this album is mostly instrumentals except for one song ("R U Still In 2 It?"). Not only that, but the album also clocks in at a lengthy 64 minutes and 31 seconds. Therefore, to say that this album is bold and ambitious would probably be an understatement. Plus, may it be reminded that this is a debut album! Mogwai's career could've ended before it even began, but luckily this ballsy move paid off and they've made several other albums since 1997.

In terms of the album's sound, "Young Team" definitely tries to create a beautiful melancholic atmosphere that reminded me of the excellent Scarlett Johansson/Bill Murray film "Lost in Translation" (check it out if you haven't seen it). The guitars on this record are gentle repetitive ones that occasionally burst into loud moments and this honestly kind of bugged me. Sure, the loud bursts add some dynamic variation to the songs but I personally preferred the soft bleakness to the surprising distortion. "Like Herod" and "Summer (Priority Version)" are examples of this issue I had.

Apart from that, I found the album to be a fairly enjoyable listen. This enjoyability was most apparent on tracks such as "Radar Maker", "Tracy" and "With Portfolio", where the guitars took a back seat and let instruments such pianos and glockenspiels take the wheel of the lead melody vehicle. All in all, this subtle change breathed a lot of life into this album.

Another cool thing about this album is that some tracks have underlying telephone calls that can't be heard very clearly (such as "Yes! I am A Long Way From Home" and "Katrien"). This was an interesting motif as I felt that it helped to suggest negative emotions such as confusion, which helped add to the atmosphere of "Young Team".

Personally, I thought this album was decent but it wasn't really my kind of thing. I can understand why someone might like it though. However, I found some of the longer songs like "Mogwai Fear Satan" and "Like Herod" to be a bit tedious because of the repetitive instrumentation. Overall, "Young Team" creates a nice atmosphere and has some interesting moments but it's a bit of a difficult listen. I'll certainly be checking out some of Mogwai's later work though as they seem like a band that has a lot of fascinating and creative ideas.          

OVERALL RATING: 6/10

BEST SONGS: TRACY, YES! I AM A LONG WAY FROM HOME, RADAR MAKER.