Mogwai Young Team
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| Mogwai Young Team | |||||
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| Studio album by Mogwai | |||||
| Released | 21 October 1997 | ||||
| Recorded | MCM Studios, Hamilton, Scotland | ||||
| Genre | Post-rock, instrumental rock | ||||
| Length | 64:31 | ||||
| Label | Chemikal Underground, Jetset | ||||
| Producer | Paul Savage, Andy Miller | ||||
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| Mogwai chronology | |||||
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Mogwai Young Team (also known as Young Team) is the debut studio album by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Mogwai Young Team was recorded in Summer 1997 at MCM Studios (now known as Chem19 Studios) in Hamilton, Scotland, and was produced by Paul Savage and Andy Miller. The album features extreme dynamic contrast between quiet and loud, a technique which Mogwai are well known for. It is largely instrumental, with one notable exception ("R U Still in 2 It"). It features limited instrumentation, consisting mainly of guitar, bass and drums, although other instruments can sometimes be heard throughout the album, such as glockenspiel ("Tracy"), piano ("Radar Maker", "With Portfolio", "A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters") and flute ("Mogwai Fear Satan").
When questioned about his opinion on Mogwai Young Team, Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite has said:
| “ | The album was a total disaster. We were young and naïve and had too little time. We should have said; "No, the record isn't done until six months later." Instead, we sat and mixed whole nights and felt bad. We didn't talk to each other. When the album was released, we just wanted to forget everything. We were certain that all critics would pan it, honestly. After that, we understood that we had think stuff over that we recorded.[1] | ” |
Mogwai drummer Martin Bulloch has also given his thoughts on the album:
| “ | The recording of Young Team was fucked up. There were quite a lot of sketches going on. I think the whole of the first LP is angry. It was the mood of the whole thing - there was a lot of anger about.[2] | ” |
Despite the members of Mogwai's negative opinions about the album, Mogwai Young Team was listed as #97 on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s [3], and is considered their best by many listeners,[4] including Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who cited Mogwai Young Team as the record that changed his life.[5]
[edit] Album title
Mogwai guitarist John Cummings explains the source of the album title:
| “ | When you're young, there are always gangs; "Oh, you can't go up there because there's this gang hanging about." None of us really were part of all that, but it's what we went to school with and just remembering the things that we used to see greatly amuses us. When we went on tour before we recorded the first album, we were getting quite silly. That's when we made up all our alternate names. And we decided that we were Mogwai Young Team: a gang. We got quite excited by a kind of tour madness and started writing "MYT" and we got a bit carried away.[6] | ” |
The "MYT" logo found inside the cover was created by Adam Piggot. John Cummings and Dominic Aitchison both have tattoos of this logo on their inner left arm and neck, respectively. Mogwai sometimes perform live with a giant replica of the "MYT" logo behind them. The Japanese sign on the cover reads "Fuji Bank". The picture was taken and inverted by Brendan O'Hare.
[edit] Track listing
All tracks were written by Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Martin Bulloch, and John Cummings, except "R U Still in 2 It?", lyrics by Aidan Moffat.
- "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" – 5:57
- "Like Herod" – 11:41
- "Katrien" – 5:24
- "Radar Maker" – 1:35
- "Tracy" – 7:19
- "Summer" (Priority version) – 3:28
- "With Portfolio" – 3:10
- "R U Still in 2 It" – 7:20
- "A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters" – 2:18
- "Mogwai Fear Satan" – 16:19
[edit] Re-release
The album was re-released in May 2008, packaged as a remaster of the original album with the added bonus of a second disc with previously unreleased tracks from the Young Team sessions and live recordings.
- "Young Face Gone Wrong" – 2:58
- "I Don't Know What To Say" - 1:15
- "I Can't Remember" - 3:14
- "Honey" - 4:18
- "Katrien (live)" - 5:31
- "R U Still In 2 It? (live)" - 8:01
- "Like Herod (live)" - 7:53
- "Summer (Priority) (live)" - 2:59
- "Mogwai Fear Satan (live)" - 10:26
[edit] Personnel
- Stuart Braithwaite (listed as "pLasmatroN" in the liner notes) – guitar, glockenspiel
- Dominic Aitchison (listed as "DEMONIC" in the liner notes) – bass guitar
- Martin Bulloch (listed as "bionic" in the liner notes) – drums
- John Cummings (listed as "Cpt. Meat" in the liner notes) – guitar
- Brendan O'Hare (listed as "+the relic+" in the liner notes) – piano, guitar
- Barry Burns – backmasked monologue on "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"
- Mari Myren – monologue on "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"
- Aidan Moffat – vocals on "R U Still in 2 It"
- Shona Brown – flute on "Mogwai Fear Satan"
- Paul Savage – producer
- Andy Miller – producer
[edit] Release history
Mogwai Young Team was released in various countries in 1997.
| Country | Release date | Record label | Format | Catalogue number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 21 October 1997 | Jet Set | CD | TWA07CD |
| United States | 21 October 1997 | Jet Set | Vinyl | TWA07 |
| United Kingdom | 28 October 1997 | Chemikal Underground | CD | CHEM018CD |
| United Kingdom | 28 October 1997 | Chemikal Underground | Vinyl | CHEM018 |
| Australia/New Zealand | 28 October 1997 | Spunk | CD | URA013 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sonic magazine Interview with Stuart Braithwaite, 2001
- ^ Ink Blot magazine Interview with Martin Bulloch, 1999
- ^ Pitchfork Media:Top 100 Albums of the 1990s
- ^ Online Mogwai Shop
- ^ Mojo #162, May 2007
- ^ Amazon.co.uk Interview with John Cummings, 1999
[edit] External links
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