Well, 2011. You were quite the year! So much so that I’ve only been able to recover enough to think about you a full week into 2012. Crazy, huh? New jobs, lots of change, oodles of shenanigans, and yes, lots of good music. So much so, that I undoubtedly missed vast quantities of things that I really should have got to. Ho hum.
So what things did Skye like? Blimey. I just looked at the Excel spreadsheet of this year’s releases (see how cool Skye is!), and there’s a lot of stuff on there. However it’s fair to say that I do actually have a favourite record of 2011, despite my general resistance to ranking things. I know, crazy times, huh, maybe the Mayans are right after all.
Well, if there’s something that’s bound to improve the quality of everyone’s lives, it’s a new record by Mogwai. And hitting stores today is their 7th LP, entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.
In their munificence, the group are letting out a whole heap of goodies: the video for “Mexican Grand Prix” (filmed in the second city of empire, their hometown, Glesgae), the mp3 for track “San Pedro”, and the whole LP is streaming over at Rolling Stone. You lucky people, you.
“Mexican Grand Prix” came out back on the 7th, backed by “Slight Domestic”. Which you already know, having bought a copy, right?
These are in no particular order, and the only criteria that these albums satisfy are that I like them. I’m afraid that I’m not going to make any hyperbolic statements of greatness, but what I will do is run down some records that for me were memorable, got played a lot, and that I basically loved. You might disagree. Well, I forgive you.
Hot on the heels of Special Moves comes news that Mogwai will be releasing a new record in February 2011.
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will will be released on Feb 15th; the group’s 7th album, it’s been recorded with Paul Savage (producer of debut Young Team) at Chem19 and mixed at Mogwai’s own Castle of Doom.
According to the group the new record “showcases Mogwai’s relentless devotion to duty and refusal to compromise sonically with it’s sheer brutally and distinctive subtle beauty”.
Aug 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Aug 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Cinematheque
Aug 25 – Seattle, WA @ JBL Theater
Aug 26 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
Aug 28 – Long Beach, CA @ Art Theatre
Aug 28 – Cambridge, MA @ Brattle Theatre
Sept 2 – Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot
Sept 4 – San Francisco @ Roxie Theater
Sept 10 – Portland, OR @ Bagdad Theater
Sept 12 – Los Angeles @ Echoplex
Sept 14 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake Underground
Sept 23 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
