Last night (27 April) I went to see Mogwai play at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and it was one of the more amazing experiences I have had going to gigs. First off, Mogwai are loud, the low-end frequency vibrates through out your whole body, and the actual physicality of the rest of the sound is huge. Usher Hall is the grand old place, but I have a feeling Mogwai sound that big when they play in their basement. Beyond the complexity of their actual songs, the layering and the way the bits worked together the volume was its own entity. I am not too sure if I can describe it, but the volume became tangible. It didn’t hurt my ears but it was like being surrounded in a whiteout when it snows really hard. Its omni-present.

The actual songs themselves were amazing, and it got me thinking what happens live vs. the album out-with how loud something is, and is it possible to take the dynamic, that element and transfer it to other experiences? To transfer it, one needs to be able to name it, but I am not sure that I can. You can ask anyone who goes to see a band play live, and people can tell you why a gig was good, or bad, but there is an intangibleness to some of it where people count on the experience of other to relay their experience. That unspoken quality-how do you flesh it out, how do you boil it down and ascertain what it is?

But why over intellectualize that particular aspect of the experience, the aspect that is most special? Will greater intellectual understanding change my understanding and ability to experience music in that way? Of course an enhanced knowledge will change my experience, but will I enjoy that bit of the gig less?

Another thought that came up during the gig was what happened to the joy. At times sound art feels as if it’s restraining itself. In Mogwai’s songs or sound-scapes there was an emotional accessibility and it felt as if a door was wide open to become completely involved in the sound. I do not mean to be overtly general, but sometimes, sound art can feel cold and standoffish. Part of the ineffable is the accessibility…it goes both ways I was at the gig with a friend who was not nearly as into it as I was, but the question I should have asked her was not if she liked it but if she felt something? You can dislike something but still be immersed and challenged within its parameters. But there is a lot to be learned by watching live bands, Mogwai are a tight cohesive very good band, but the structure of their compositions and their familiarity with the material allowed them push the structure. Can that only happen with live sound…..? (It would seem so if improvising were involved).