Customer Reviews

Happy Songs for Happy People

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

--who'd buy it?--so I guess the next best thing's Happy Music for Happy People. That way, at least, you might, serendipitously, hook all the--probably not inconsequential--optimists out there.

Dreamy, gorgeous soundscapes for the unfolding apocalypse.

Does it lack res? Of course. But so what? It's MERELY ravishingly, stultifyingly dazzling. What more do you want in these days of untethered postmodernism?

A master narrative?

Look elsewhere.

This album is nothing exceptionally new...however, it does make for excellent homework and highway driving music...just don't listen to it while driving in town or you'll rear end someone or fail to remember the approaching curve in the road and die because it's a little too relaxing. The relative absense of vocals, and the complete absense of "words" (at least intelligible ones) is probably what seperates this from any other mid 90's college rock band, but, hey...it's a tolerable genre, even with it's inheritant generic nature. Buy it if you want, you probably won't think it sucks, and due to it's nature, it's an album you can listen to in its entirety without really favoring any songs much more than any others.

As I descend further and further into the bottomless hole that is music, I continue to unearth new and exciting artists the likes of which I could have never imagined existed. Mogawi is one of my finest discoveries yet, an amazing band that have the rare ability to craft beautiful songs that sound fresh and stimulate happiness.

Happy Songs for Happy People is my introduction to Mogwai, and what a first impression it has made upon me. For weeks I have stayed up late nights listening to this CD, totally entranced by its beauty. Happy Songs is a beautiful some what instrumental post-rock album with a very mellow and relaxed feel. melodies and guitar float in the air while solid percussion and string arrangments keep things grounded while exploring new heights at the same time. Listening to this album feels like cool autumn nights, my best dreams, and butterflies in my stomach all in one.

As cliche as it sounds, I can't describe the album in words, nor can I describe its beauty. See other reviews for detailed descriptions of Mogwais sound or songs on this album. I can't say any more than that this is a beautiful album, but that's really all that needs to be said.

Review in a nutshell: Happy Songs for Happy People is a lush, full musical experience that I can not get enough of.

Having previously heard Young Team, an album that I considered a mixed success, I was hoping to find that the band had learned from their successes and failures and come up with a more refined effort. I am very pleased to say that I think they did. I can hear both the explosive elements of Young Team as well as a new element...much better mixing and a much richer atmosphere that at times can remind me slightly of Sigur Rós. Perhaps it's the string arrangements that most contribute to this impression; I think they are a wonderful addition to the Mogwai sound. The painfully short tracks "Moses? I Amn't" and "Golden Porsche" best exemplify this new element.

The only disappointments I found are in "Moses? I Amn't" and "Boring Machine Disturbs Sleep". In the first song, while it was nearly perfect, I admit I was disappointed by the amount of analogue hiss I could hear in the percussion. It was such a haunting sound they used--I just wish it hadn't had such a major flaw in it. The other thing that disappointed me was the fact that "Boring Machine Disturbs Sleep" was in fact a bit boring in comparison to the other songs this album had to offer. I've never been impressed with the lead vocalist's unaltered voice, so I consider this track the only true weak point of the album.

But, not enough can possibly be said about the other tracks! "Killing All the Flies" starts out soft, but has a surprising explosion into a refined version of a Young Team-like rock that really makes listening worth it. "Ratts of the Capital" has a similar effect, but is even better...even as the longest track of the album, it just isn't long *enough*. Perhaps the album's most *haunting* track, though, is "I Know You Are But What Am I". The piano part in particular is quite haunting and minimalist--but without becoming annoying and monotonous as I sometimes heard on Young Team. The percussion loop is also mesmerising, and that strange, almost Game Boy-like synth gives it the feeling of a cold winter's night under the moon. I also noticed there's something very unusual going on with the time signature--some strange aspect to the rhythm that I can't quite catch hold of, and don't have the expertise to describe. Whatever it is, it's quite intriguing, to say the least, and a very neat sign of the subtle inventiveness Mogwai has learned.

As if the music weren't enough, I mus truly commend the initiative of Mogwai and the generosity of Steinberg--as an amateur sound production enthusiast, imagine my surprise and delight when a white slip of paper fell out of the liner notes saying the album had come with a free demo of Cubase SX, no less, and tracks provided by Mogwai of "Hunted Like a Freak". Imagine my further delight when I discovered the demo has no expieration date and is *nearly* fully functional. I am not an expert, and I don't pretend to understand even half of Cubase's full power--but what I *have* managed to figure out, I'm impressed with. I've truly enjoyed playing with the possibilities. Again, I extend my thanks to Mogwai and Steinberg for this remarkable opportunity as well as for an overall great album.

this is a great cd. there's something very natural about the music (an impression more than anything that can be explained). songs four and six are especially good.

Another great one. It's all about the way they mix the sounds together, they repeat harmonics on and on, then add more sounds again and again until it becomes grandiose, suddently they shift to something else. The best exemple would be song "Ratts of the capital" starts with one looping guitar, second guitar comes in with some langourous melodies then a nice bass entering in a similar way as the looping guitar and finally a soft drum. After that point, some other percussions are added like xylophone and everything becomes not defined and kind of confused but so gigantic. They shut down most of instruments and start over their stratagem shifting to something else.

My favorites: "Hunted by a freak", "Ratts of the capital", "Killing all the flies", "Stop coming to my house".

They just turn classical music to rock and propelled it to space.

guitar harmonies, dynamic drums, and pounding bass. it builds and builds and then explodes. i love this along with Young Team (another great Mogwai album). I love the guitars throughout the album, they are wonderful.

Note well: Weird thing about these amazon reviews: you only get a slight notion of any given reviewer's taste: so here is a little background concerning mine: my favorite bands are The Beatles, The Cure, The Black Watch, XTC and My Bloody Valentine: I dislike stuff like Coldplay, Radiohead, Travis...all that wispy nonsense...I like brilliantly witty, well constructed songs...and I admire great lyricists...and that's why it's so odd and amazing that I am completely in love with (and a serious completist about) the Scottish band Mogwai. Every record they have done is consistently interesting and the "Happy" new one is no exception. These mostly instrumental tracks are definitely for those of you who have never dreamed of getting into intrumental bands. There's almost--without sounding too trippy--a vocalist, as it were, present in a ghostly way here. If you have good taste, you will never even consider selling Mogwai's stuff back--cause their records never get old. They are one of the most consistent bands ever--the pink floyd of the 00's...buy anything by them!!!

I don't know if I would call this rock, but I would call it rock before I would call it anything else. This is only of three CD's which I have bought straight from the factory which I can put on and just start listening from the beggining and not touch it till it's done. It is, in other words, perfect. I can't say I'm familiar with their work, and it was only by serendipity that I came across this in the first place. But I have listened to the audio clips and I think they are good reflexions of the music on the CD. If you like the clips, I can only suggest that pick up this amazing CD right away. For a suggestion, Track 6 is my favourite of those available, track 8 is also splendid, but unfortunately not available.

The music is progressive which I am opposed to a priori. But the mix of instruments and the lack of vocals make this CD a great success.

I believe so. In my eyes (and ears, more importantly), this is the most triumphant Mogwai release to date. Its the most mature, layered, and most well produced collection of material put out so far, really sounding more like a progression through sound as you listen, rather than just songs that seem to be randomly placed. The music served up this time around still possesses the dark yet warm mood through their songwriting, yet at times they shed a little light on a more pop sound, at least more than ever before. Its a lighter-sounding overall album, but still pull off what seems to be the most haunting music they've ever made. The sparse positioning of distorted vocals here and there really make for a great finishing touch on an already well-layered musical masterpiece. With this release, it only seems that Mogwai's best days are still ahead of them. This also seems like a good CD to start off with if you're a beginner, and want to expand your horizons with some more experimental musicianship. This is guaranteed not to disappoint.
For fans of: Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, Do Make Say Think, Radiohead, Explosions in the Sky, etc.