mogwai - "auto rock" (from the mr. beast lp, street date : march 7, 2006.)

in brief : the mark of the beast.

mogwai and sigur ros were two bands i used to confuse b/c i really didn't listen to either them in the past. both released debuts in 1997 and both tended toward the sprawling. sigur ros, i now know, are more orchestral whereas mogwai achieve total heaviosity. they also hated blur which really should have counted for something back then.

but things change--liam and damon are apparently mates and i'm listening to mogwai. i would classify "auto rock" alongside the liars track i posted not too long ago, under the heading "seriously spooky shit." it's not that the music is going from quiet to loud; no, the impression i get is of something getting closer, something grand and fearsome. at first glance, there's nothing to fear; as it appears on the horizon, it is a thing of beauty, a lovely piano melody signalling the approach of something benevolent. but then the guitars enter. but it is not the guitars that frighten so much as the beating of those incessant drums; it is like some grand and horrible procession, moving along ineluctably at a slow, steady pace. and that is what is most horrifying about it : the pace. one wonders why don't they just get on w/ it. simply, b/c they don't have to : they know they've got you.