Central Belters

Perfect sojourn through the world of Mogwai if you feel like taking a tour bus instead of spending a month in each town. Definitely the right length if you want to get the feeling of "experiencing Mogwai" rather than a 10 or 12 track greatest hits album.

Great 3 CD introduction to Mogwai. Fantastic, shoe-gazing, post modern rock ~ most of their songs are instrumental & guitar-crescendo driven.

Great collaboration of songs from previous albums along with some rarities. I would recommend this to any fan of Mogwai.

There could never be enough Mogwai

Sooo good....

When I arrived home to my apartment building the other day, I saw a package atop the row of mailboxes in the entryway. One of them, addressed to me, was square shaped and I immediately knew what was inside.Like a child who receives a present on Christmas Day, the one that he had asked for and waited all year to receive, I ran up three flights of stairs to my apartment and ripped open (carefully opened with white gloves, a dust mask, and delicate instruments) the cardboard that housed the beautiful gray buckram box with the minimal yet prominent modernized Young Team logo and MOGWAI CENTRAL BELTERS placed above the logo in Helvetica - all in black of course.Let’s assume, for the sake of this review, that most readers have heard a few Mogwai songs in their day, or in the very least are familiar with the band. This glorious set commemorates 20 years of Mogwai with 34 (previously released) songs into a wonderful package. It is fair to say that I have most of Mogwai’s previously released material already, so why spend money on a “best of” collection if I already have it, you might ask?A fair question. I would urge potential buyers to opt for the vinyl box. Let me further assume that 95% of people that purchase Central Belters are already fans of Mogwai. You know you’re not getting anything particularly new, but it still feels that way. My amateur ear may not be the most qualified, but this does seem to have minimal amounts of re-mastering done. It just pops a little more somehow. The 34 songs are not arranged chronologically, so if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy putting on each record without knowing exactly what is in store. The vinyl collection was definitely arranged with that format in mind, as each side seems to end conceptually in the right place. At an average of just three songs per side, you are thrown into the ritual of vinyl listening. Perhaps you will find yourself sitting cross-legged on your carpet, flipping through the book insert and listening to each song as if for the first time, smiling as you flip to a new side or pick up a new sleeve, each one a bold color with a stylized letter that will spell out the name of the band.Another reason that makes the vinyl set trump the CD or digital download is the booklet that is included. A wonderful interview and retrospective of sorts by Keith Cameron introduces the genesis for Central Belters before providing us with a treasure trove of photographs of the band in years past, some of which are so outdated Stuart still has hair! There’s nothing quite like getting a glimpse of the band in their earliest incarnation; never before seen photographs from past and present. Even more, there is a dual page spread filled with ticket stubs and gig posters from performances that date back to the mid 90’s to as recently as the summer of 2015. Yet another page has images of various set lists over the years with the corresponding date and location of the performance.A beautiful collectors set. Mogwai can do no wrong.

Do designers ever test their designs?? The music is as expected and recommended and the 3 disc set is a good introduction and excellent value. But the sleeve??I resorted to destroying it in the end as it makes the discs easier to get out without touching the playing surface. So 4 stars for style but minus 50 stars for practicality. Here is a picture of the new improved sleeve....

Mogwai are epic and awesome but the problem is that they have also been prodigious in the amount of high quality music they've turned out over the years. Which leaves a problem, how much Mogwai is enough and where should you start?This is three discs of lovely perfection may not be the definitive answer but it will definitely help

The first Mogwai album I have bought and needless to say I have since bought 3 more from their back catalogue. Probably due to lack of radio play they had passed me by (their tracks are probably too long / too instrumental for daytime radio) and I always thought they were going to be too heavy for me, but their music is beautiful, sometimes melancholic, often building to a heavy crescendo, but mainly uplifting. This is a great collection of some excellent tracks old and new, I'm looking forward to their new release in April.

As a former 'Indie DJ' and a man obsessed with music, I am happy to buy an album on the strength of one track if I like it enough. In this case I loved one of the three CD's more than the other two and was blown away by this band whom I'd never heard before (for shame).I'll be checking out more Mogwai.

Having a few albums over the years, this is an excellent triple disc set of all sorts. I find myself listening to cd2 most, can't put my finger on why though. I find their unison in the build up to intense sounds and contrast to the stillness of piano only parts (friend of the night) make me hum these tunes a lot at work.Personally , I think there's few people who could possibly not like what is offer here, as had on with friends, family (including much older and much younger members) and all seem to like it.