Customer Reviews

My Father My King

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the song that Mogwai would play during the encores of shows on last year's tour. They've said in interviews that they took the melody from "Avinu Malkeinu," a prayer from the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Like most Yom Kippur prayers, it is a prayer for forgiveness. The title, translated, means "Our Father Our King" - not sure why they gave the song a different title.

This is a stunning piece of music. The majesty of Mogwai is on full display here. The song is built around three simple melodies, two of which come from the actual prayer. It starts out quietly and builds, adding layer upon layer of sound, then stripping away the layers and reconfiguring them - all the while keeping the same strong core.

I wavered on whether to give five stars or four, but ultimately went with five. First of all, I'm biased: I'm a huge Mogwai fan, I'm Jewish, Avinu Malkeinu is an extremely meaningful prayer to me, and I've seen the song live and have been blown away by it. However, I have to say that clocking in at 22 minutes, it does get a little long and repetitive toward the end. And really this EP could have used one or two more tracks. But these are minor issues. If you are a fan of Mogwai, you have to buy this record. These four Scotsmen - none of whom, to my knowledge, is Jewish - use their music to powerfully and successfully evoke the sense of remorse, humility, and ultimate faith in redemption that Avinu Malkeinu is about.

I saw Mogwai in May and they played their usual blistering, ear-shattering, heart-palpitating set. It was nothing short of fantastic. As their final encore, they played a twenty-minute piece that made their previous explorations into sonic terror sound like nursery rhymes. This is it.

"My Father My King" starts off quietly and unassumingly enough, but builds into a frenzy of guitar-based melodic chaos within the first five minutes. The next couple of minutes bring it all back down to let you catch your breath before Glasgow's kings of sonic martial arts give you another swift kick to the ears.

Despite there only being one track, this is perhaps my favorite Mogwai release to date. Harmoniously anarchic, frighteningly beautiful, this is one record you don't want to miss. Shalom.

...And they are using it to transform their instruments into dinosaurs halfway through their songs. "My Father My King" begins with a slow, eerie Jewish melody which over the course of the song mutates into a raging, firebreathing torrent of noise. As each instrument is added the tension builds and flows between quiet and loud, until the sound just overflows and peters out in a rabble of pedalled static. Epic, frightening and livid, this is the defining sound of Mogwai crammed into a single song. A nice one to listen to in the dark by yourself, or when you're in a particularly vindictive frame of mind.

A note: Get the Australian version if you can, it comes with 2 live 'hidden' tracks: "Helicon 1" and "You Don't Know Jesus".

Mogwai is terrifyingly good; I find it hard to believe that one rock band can produce a recording that has as much depth as there is in My Father My King. The song is outstanding, with dynamics not only in volume but ranging from sweet and delicate to burning trainwreck. The additional factor that makes it stand out for all time is the production values - it is mixed to perfection, like a real symphony of burning tube amps and anguished guitars. You will never hear so many influences in a single piece of rock music so beautifully put together. There is melody, sublety, and cacophony, and it is the best of all of them.

As has been the case with each new album and EP they have released thus far, Mogwai have once again pushed the limits of their sonic exploration.

"My Father My King" does indeed have the "Mogwai sound" that both fans and critics have become accustomed to, but the Steve Albini production, combined with the multiple layers of guitars make this release perhaps their most inventive, and certainly their heaviest. "Christmas Steps" and "Like Herod" don't even come close to the roaring depth of sound on this 20 minute piece. Unlike "Stereodee" (another sonic collage) from Mogwai's "4 Satin" EP, "My Father My King" retains some semblance of structure throughout, making it somewhat more accessible to non-fans of the band's other work.

Overall, I do recommend "My Father My King" to both Mogwai fans and other audiophiles, as the amount of sonic exploration eclipses many other releases with similar aim. However, for those who like Mogwai exclusively for the melodiousness found on "Rock Action" or "Ten Rapid," you may be in for a bit of a surprise...

The new Mogwai single is a treat for their fans, with the bands apocolpytic live closer 'My Father, My King' finally being available to purchase. This twenty-minute instrumental is a track that is divine, and draws the listener into a trance, lulling them into a false sense of security with the mellow sections, before bursting out their eardrums in sections of howling guitars and feedback. Being recorded by Steve Albini, the sub-woofer like bass is tuned even more to perfection, bringing an incredibly clarity to a recording that in lesser hands (both musically and recording-wise) could have easily turned into a boring, muddled mess. None of this happens throughout 'My Father', and one finds themselves continually returning to the track. As a special treat for Australian listeners, the single has bonus live tracks (it was released as an one-track single in the US and UK), that are hidden in track two (fast forward to 20:00). This single, in my humble opinion, is one of the finest records put out this year, and is a necessity for your record collection, and the only reason it hasn't been given a five star mark is that fast forwarding to the bonus tracks (Aust. edition only) is a real hassle (20 minutes)

Wow. 'My Father My King' is better than any single song Mogwai has written so far, and will be difficult to ever surpass. Really more like two distinct songs with a break in the middle, 'MFMK' adds up to Mogwai's most powerful and complete work yet. The first half takes a single melody, starts it quiet, and gets loud fast. Seems like the standard Mogwai formula, well done as usual. However, it's the second half that's truly amazing. The sticker on the front cover that mentions death metal isn't far off, the riff is earth-shatteringly heavy, but still melodic and propulsive. the feeling of forward motion present in the 'Xmas Steps' riff is brought to the forefront. Steve Albini's production is very good, although the end cuts out pretty quickly. the band could have gone a few minutes more on feedback alone. I can't wait for whatever they throw at us next.

I heard this on the radio the other night and managed to catch it on tape. I've played it many times since then.. my god it's good! It's like Essence of Mogwai. Concentrated, intense, deep, brooding... wow.

Its power comes not through immediate satisfaction, like the stuff on CODY, but in its lack of immediacy. It grows and grows and then grows some more; then, like a good prog trance tune, drops back down to nothing and does it again.

It quietly draws you in, then holds on and won't let you go until it's done. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyable.

Postrock postrock! Beautiful postrock. Landscapes of sonic architecture built by loud sonic guitars. Long, extended epics of intense sound. For fans of Godspeed you Black Emperor, Flying Saucer Attack, Sonic Youth, etc.

This is my second purchase by Mogwai. My first was "Come On Die Young" which was very mellow and laid-back. "My Father My King" is the complete opposite. It reminds me of the scene in King Lear, when he is out in the storm naked screaming at it. It is 20 minutes of creation and destruction. It starts out very slow and simple like a usual Mogwai song does but then it gathers speed and turns into a raging storm of guitar and distortion. Something you might expect from a band like Morbid Angel but I must say as much as I don't like this type of genre, Mogwai pull it off well and even during the harsh parts, it is very beautiful and thought-provoking. It's not as great as their other stuff but it's something new and explosive. (...)