Mogwai

The fire-breathing Scottish space-rockers in Mogwai build spectral mood music out of noise guitar, doing structurally basic quiet/loud/quiet instrumentals that are nonetheless charged with feeling and beauty even at earsplitting volume. They level their audiences in concert, but they make it work on record, too, scattering their work across EPs and singles and, in the case of Kicking a Dead Pig, even a remix album. The tracks collected on EP+2 are positively beautiful, taking off from Sister-era Sonic Youth to build long wordless passages of probing guitar fuzz, ebbing and flowing with flourishes of piano, voice-over static, occasional buried voices, room tone, and even a brass band in "Burn Girl Prom Queen." "Rage: Man," "Rollerball," and "Small Children in the Background" build to amazingly dense and lyrical climaxes. Rock Action is even better, stretching out with keyboards and even occasional vocal melodies for their most diverse and expansive record, even if the sound was a bit too bright to please some fans. "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong" is Mogwai's finest moment, building a hypnotic groove as banjos, horns, and synthesizers flow together in and out of the guitars for nine unbelievably gorgeous minutes. Mogwai released a single later in 2001, featuring the studio version of a longtime live staple -- a killer noise-drenched 20-minute version of the old Jewish devotional song "My Father My King." (ROB SHEFFIELD)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide