Articles

• Label Focus: Gizeh
• Last Days Interview
• Style and the Music Industry

CD Reviews

• Blur - Midlife
• Boomsnake - Give & Take
• Dextro - Winded
• Elephant Stone - The Seven Seas
• Florence and the Machine - Lungs
• Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
• Julian Plenti - Skyscraper
• St Vincent - Actor
• Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship
• Wildbirds & Peacedrums - The Snake

Live Reviews

• Kraftwerk - Manchester Velodrome
• Mono - Live
• Nine Inch Nails - Jane's Addiction

Coming Events

• Sep 10: Monster Magnet
• Sep 18 & 20: Children Collide
• Sep 22: Suzi Quatro
• Sep 23: Flo Rida
• Sep 24: NOFX & Bad Religion
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• Nov 12-14: Sarah Blasko
• Nov 20: Seal
• Dec 4: Green Day

Live Review

Mono - Live (Stereo, Glasgow, 22 March 2009)

By: Dez Innocent

Okay, so it's a formula – but then so were the classic songs of Holland/Dozier/Holland. Japanese quartet Mono do adhere to a rough template. Start gently, contemplative; build gracefully (or sometimes explode unexpectedly); and climax in a crescendo of noise. They're not alone in doing so, either – it's become a guitar-based, instrumental post-rock cliché. What they do have that sets them apart is a strong gift for melody. This never deserts them, even when they are in the heart of the maelstrom. As sheets of white noise engulf everything, there is always some gorgeous tune at its centre.

The last time I saw the band was at ATP in Minehead last year. They had the unenviable task of playing the first afternoon, when everybody was settling in, reacquainting themselves with old friends and generally jabbering away excitedly. In the cavernous upper bar, they got somewhat lost in all the hubbub. Playing a club like Stereo, packed to the rafters and with an atmosphere akin to a steam room, they were in their element. Even if the quiet sections were often almost overwhelmed by the venue's noisy air con.

The new album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, is a work on a huge scale. It's fully orchestrated and has a tendency towards bombast. When I reviewed it, I thought it huge fun, but possibly not the sort of record that would continue to reward repeated plays. A month or so on, it still sounds exhilarating. I did wonder, though, how it would translate live, sans orchestra. As it turned out, exceptionally well.

Tonight's set began with the first four tracks of the record and ended with its closer, with just a couple of old tunes chucked in for good measure. It sounded absolutely brilliant. The quiet bits lost none of their grace and subtlety, and the climaxes were colossal. They played for ninety minutes, but it seemed like half that. Wearing a critical hat, it could be argued that every tune signposted its direction, but I tossed my critical hat away about five minutes in and surrendered myself gleefully to the feast of aural delights. This was a band who were absolutely at ease with what they do best and who were in stunning form. The Lionel Messi's of post-rock, perhaps.

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