Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling

Beautiful packaging and very quiet pressing. Records could have been a little heftier, but all in all I recommend.

My favorite record of theirs so decided to splurge on a copy. Really disappointed in my copy. Lots of pops from the outset and through at various points till the end. I really was expecting a better copy it being !80gm and advertised as NM. I’m going to give it a good clean and cross my fingers that does the trick. I will say that batcat, Scotland shame and precipice all sound incredible.

Edit: After a double wash to see if a cleaning made any difference, I am sad to report that it in fact did not. If anything it made the pops stand out even more lol. Be very careful when purchasing this particular release. My copy was advertised as NM, and visibly looks super clean, so I understand the rating. Just really disappointed given the price paid and that it is 180 gram. Docked an additional star.

Question: If you have a sealed / originally shrink-wrapped copy. How do you know whether it's the original 2008 or the 2013 pressing if it's still sealed? Is it impossible to say? So anybody who sells a sealed Mint copy of the apparently 2008 or 2013 copies might in fact be wrong to list it there?

The release page says:

"... This reissue has flat labels. The original pressing has labels with an embossed outer ring and lower center area. ( https://www.discogs.com/release/1466896-Mogwai-The-Hawk-Is-Howling ). Apart from that, there is no difference between both versions. ..."

Question: If you have a sealed / originally shrink-wrapped copy. How do you know whether it's the original 2008 or the 2013 pressing if it's still sealed? Is it impossible to say? So anybody who sells a sealed Mint copy of the apparently 2008 or 2013 copies might in fact be wrong to list it there?

The release page says:

"... This original pressing has labels with an embossed outer ring and lower center area. There is also a reissue ( https://www.discogs.com/release/5945572-Mogwai-The-Hawk-Is-Howling ) which has flat labels. Apart from that, there is no difference between both versions. ..."

Nicely presented and packaged, but I'm finding this 2013 repress a bit flat sounding. Anyone else had this listening experience? After listening to the album in hi-res streaming for the last 12 months, I was a bit disappointed with how the dynamics and frequency bandwidth sound; seem constrained. Will listen to an early pressing or early CD to compare.

I just recently got turned onto Mogwai, now I"m adding vinyl to my collection. After the first listen I had to listen to the entire record again. Amazing. As far as the pressing, it's quiet and sounds pretty dynamic.

Beautiful package and great album musically. As much as I want to give this record 5/5, it just ain't possible. It is beautiful looking, nice gatefold design with nice fitting printed sleeves, The sleeves are made out of paper and gave ton of static to the record, possibly scratching it a little bit. After a wet cleaning it still has pops and clicks. Will look for another way to remove static, and if something will help it, I will gladly give it 5 stars.

Edit: First LP is better, not much pops there, but the second is much worse, really making it a bad experience, sadly.

I love a bit of Mogwai. To some people it’s just noise, but I hear melodies that build and overlap, repeating themes and underlying rhythms that are often rather delicate. It feels to me that this is modern classical music, and that is a good thing. Classed as Post-Rock, wiki has this to say:

“Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and “guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures” not traditionally found in rock. Post-rock bands are often without vocals.”

I like that bit in quotes. I also like that the titles seem like an afterthought, or perhaps a joke, maybe the joke is that they have a list of awkward or dumb titles and pick them at random, for instance, ‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’, ‘Danphe and the Brain’, or maybe they do mean something. As I write this I’m listening to ‘The Sun Smells Too loud’, great title and an unexpectedly upbeat track.

Is there anyone else that is terrified to remove the sticker on the cover?