- Audio CD (15 May 2007)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Play It Again Sam
- ASIN: B000P7V5WK
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,025,558 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Black Spider |
| 2. Terrific Speech 2 |
| 3. Wake Up And Go Berserk |
| 4. Terrific Speech |
| 5. 7:25 |
| 6. Half Time |
| 7. I Do Have Weapons |
| 8. Time And a Half |
| 9. It Would Have Happened Anyway |
| 10. Black Spider 2 |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Reviews
Mogwai's slow-shifting, meteoric post-rock might have never earnt them a place on the back-of-the-nets montage on Match Of The Day, but their soundtrack to Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait suggests that for this band, football boasts a deeper emotional palette than the Lightning Seeds could ever hope to evoke. Truthfully, it beggars belief it's taken Mogwai so long to reach the rarefied sphere of movie soundtracker; their gleaming, glittering instrumentals are big and beautiful, like a glacier or a blue whale. But supplying the score to Turner Prize artist Douglas Gordon's match-long portrait of French footballer Zinédine Zidane, is probably a subject somewhat closer to their hearts. Lilting and ponderous, it boasts little of the fireworks that this band have been known for: far from the anger its name suggests, "Wake Up and Go Berserk" is a neat excursion into serene ambience, all finger-picked semi-acoustic guitars and padded sticks, while "It Would Have Happened Anyway" adds that crucial tension, perhaps a product of the pre-penalty kick. Mogwai's spirit has soften in recent years, but with Zidane, the boys done good: call it a "Nessun Dorma" for the experimental rock set. --Louis Pattison
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Recently purchased this after seeing the film 'Zidane' by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, that this album is soundtracked to. I was blown away by this music watching the film in the cinema and can happily say that this album stands up to repeated listening on its own. Having never heard any Mogwai before, tracks like 'Black Spider', 'Terrific Speech', 'Half Time' & 'I Do Have Weapons' really stick in the mind and are strong enough to take you off to other places away from the context of the film. Have this on continued play since I got it and now plan to check out other Mogwai releases. Great album if you were a fan of the film, great album if you like modern instrumental indie/rock music.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am amazed and confounded by some of the poor reviews that this album is receiving from fans. I consider 'Zidane:...' to be a return to form for Mogwai after a few albums that fell slightly short of the high standard set on 'Young Team' and 'Come On Die Young', as well as probably my favourite album of last year. At last Mogwai have produced something of the epic proportions of their early albums.
The possibilities, limitations and conventions of soundtrack writing are very good for Mogwai. The fact that the music was written as a soundtrack means that the album posesses an intense unity and strength in structure which only 'CODY' comes close to matching. There are themes, effects and ideas that appear and reappear throughout the album, giving the sense of one huge work unfurling over the ten tracks.
The album has the feel of a Mogwai track magnified - the first two thirds or so is slow and contemplative, but quietly seething and subtly majestic. Feedback and delay combine with drones to provide backdrops for simple guitar or piano melodies with drums that rumble gently, but threateningly at the same time. These melodic themes are interspersed with improvised sounding passages of quiet noise that assist in the build of tension through the album.
The music becomes more and more aggrevated over the first 40 or so minutes of the album - the dynamic variation, the build and release familiar to Mogwai's music is present but in a more subtle guise than on past releases. There are moments of sublime beauty and of understated (but no less effective for it) tension, and it is all released in the last 20 minutes of 'Black Spider 2', following four or five minutes silence. These final 20 minutes have the feel of an enormous, slow explosion. A drone is built upon with feedback, organ, drums and synth in a painfully gradual manner to a long passage of controlled chaos that burns out just as gradually to be replaced by slow metal guitars that spiral into oblivion.
There are no 'rock-out' moments on this album, but if that's what you're after then you can quite easily listen to anything else that Mogwai have produced. Don't bother buying it if that's all you want. This album is for if you ever want to quietly disappear into your own world and think your thoughts for an hour and a bit. It is beautiful and it is excellent and I consider it one of Mogwai's two greatest albums, alongside 'Come On Die Young'.
The possibilities, limitations and conventions of soundtrack writing are very good for Mogwai. The fact that the music was written as a soundtrack means that the album posesses an intense unity and strength in structure which only 'CODY' comes close to matching. There are themes, effects and ideas that appear and reappear throughout the album, giving the sense of one huge work unfurling over the ten tracks.
The album has the feel of a Mogwai track magnified - the first two thirds or so is slow and contemplative, but quietly seething and subtly majestic. Feedback and delay combine with drones to provide backdrops for simple guitar or piano melodies with drums that rumble gently, but threateningly at the same time. These melodic themes are interspersed with improvised sounding passages of quiet noise that assist in the build of tension through the album.
The music becomes more and more aggrevated over the first 40 or so minutes of the album - the dynamic variation, the build and release familiar to Mogwai's music is present but in a more subtle guise than on past releases. There are moments of sublime beauty and of understated (but no less effective for it) tension, and it is all released in the last 20 minutes of 'Black Spider 2', following four or five minutes silence. These final 20 minutes have the feel of an enormous, slow explosion. A drone is built upon with feedback, organ, drums and synth in a painfully gradual manner to a long passage of controlled chaos that burns out just as gradually to be replaced by slow metal guitars that spiral into oblivion.
There are no 'rock-out' moments on this album, but if that's what you're after then you can quite easily listen to anything else that Mogwai have produced. Don't bother buying it if that's all you want. This album is for if you ever want to quietly disappear into your own world and think your thoughts for an hour and a bit. It is beautiful and it is excellent and I consider it one of Mogwai's two greatest albums, alongside 'Come On Die Young'.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Like the film this is so close to the subject, so intimate in it's instrumentaion and design.
It is very controlled like Zidane's playing with the odd unexpected violent breakout and change in pace and dynamic. At times it is almost claustrophobic.
This is the mighty Mogs at their most controlled and complex, only occasionally going for sonic goal or polyphonic penalty.
Delivered by the lords on the post rock non dance.
The playing is tight and ensemble and works like a well drilled team with solo sparks.
Enough of the football analogies, a great work of post rock soundtracking
It is very controlled like Zidane's playing with the odd unexpected violent breakout and change in pace and dynamic. At times it is almost claustrophobic.
This is the mighty Mogs at their most controlled and complex, only occasionally going for sonic goal or polyphonic penalty.
Delivered by the lords on the post rock non dance.
The playing is tight and ensemble and works like a well drilled team with solo sparks.
Enough of the football analogies, a great work of post rock soundtracking
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Yes! Cool!
Yes! This is a really cool soft music to chill out with. Get it asap and you will not regret it one second.
Published on 12 Feb 2009 by Elisabeth Ahrén
like the player himself....
...this album is excellent. The more you listen to it, the more you appreciate it. I can understand why some don't really rate this album but just turn it on and get lost in the... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2008 by godzilla78
Enthraling listen, just under the right circumstances...
To say this is a bad album would be fallacious, as in truth it is far from it. Sure, when compared to other Mogwai albums it doesn't really compare, but alternate associations... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2007 by J. Hey
Sombre soundtrack from Mogwai
I haven't seen the film of which this is a soundtrack yet, but you can almost see Zidane moving in slow motion while listening to it. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2006 by A. Provan
Appreciate it for what it is, not what you want it to be.
If you buy this expecting an archetypal Mogwai album, you might be disappointed. If you buy this expecting an archetypal Mogwai album, you are sorely missing the point. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2006 by Mike
zzzzzzzzzzz
I am a big Mogwai fan and I have been reduced to tears by 2 Rights when seeing the band live, but this album is terrible. It is disappointingly dull and boring. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2006 by el nombre
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