Album review: Mogwai's Rave Tapes
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: C] A bedtime record for any time of day.
Mogwai | C
Mogwai’s particular brand of space-station stadium rock doesn’t find much in the way of legroom on Rave Tapes (Sub Pop). Often condensed and compartmentalized, the Scottish band’s dips into analog electronics (“Remurdered”), Gregorian chamber rock (“Blues Hour”) and slow-burning ruminations (pretty much every other track) can really only fly for so long. An almost two-decade-long career of this kind of thing makes Rave Tapes a bedtime record for any time of day.
