Mogwai: Rave Tapes

As they approach their 20th year, Mogwai's palette has recently been expanded by soundtrack composition, latterly to excellent effect on French TV series The Returned/Les Revenants. It's also an endeavour that has undoubtedly flavoured their eighth studio album. Heard About You Last Night and Remurdered are measured, cinematic slow-builders, the latter growling into life with a flourish of guitar and ferocious keyboard melody, while the scaled-back electronic throb of Deesh is brilliantly immersive in its simplicity. The Glaswegians throw in some curveballs as well: Repelish uses a bonkers spoken word passage from a Christian radio show that references Led Zeppelin and Satan, while Stuart Braithwaite's faraway vocals on the meandering Blues Hour work extraordinarily well. With the epic wig-outs of Master Card and Hexon Bogon to sate fans of their rockier moments, it's a hit. mogwai.co.uk
Download: Simon Ferocious, Deesh