As first hinted at in the trailer s/t premiered last month, Mono has a new album on the way through their longtime label Temporary Residence Ltd. Check out “Dream Odyssey” in the player above, and the rest of For My Parents on September 4th.
Tag: Mono
Well this is exciting: Mono have unveiled a trailer for their sixth studio album. Due out this fall through their longtime label Temporary Residence Ltd., the as-yet-untitled effort is their first since 2009′s Hymn to the Immortal Wind and judging by the heart-sinking sound of the samples in the clip below, it’s yet another step towards the Japanese band becoming a tortured form of neo-classical music…
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Hey, remember when we taped Mono wailing away at a Wordless Music show at the NY Society For Ethical Culture? Well that very show was recently pressed to a CD/DVD package and a limited triple LP. (Or if you hate physical products, there’s always the MP3 version.) Needless to say, Holy Ground looks and sounds better than our crap point-and-shoot camera clip.
So with that in mind, we asked guitarist Takaakira Goto to list his favorite live albums of all time. Check ‘em out after the jump, along with a speaker-scorching version of “Ashes In the Snow.”
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Instead of going on and on about our top picks of 2009 and the past 10 years—we’ll do that later—self-titled asked some standout artists to share their favorite records. Up next: MONO uncovers Ennio Morricone‘s heart-sinking Baaria soundtrack.
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Prepare to have your face melted off, and be glad you weren’t sitting 20 feet away from last night’s speaker monitors like we were…
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If you’ve heard one Mono album, you’ve heard ‘em all, right? Well, not exactly. To be honest, Tokyo’s take on the almighty Mogwai is one of the only soft/loud, peak/valley projects capable of not only keeping our attention, but making self-titled‘s toughest staffers bawl their eyes out. Figuratively speaking, of course. You see, it’s all about the money shots with Mono, like the point six minutes into “The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain” where a seemingly normal situation gets all fucked up thanks to the thoroughly-seared riffs of guitarist/de facto band leader Takaakira “Taka” Goto. Something about the blunt force of a moment like that just destroys us every time.
Lucky for us, Mono’s fifth official full-length, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, takes the neo-classical/decidedly-cinematic approach of the quartet’s last few records to its next logical extreme, incorporating strings, flutes, keys, a glockenspiel and tympani into the group’s usual blend of cock-tease chords and sheer bombast. Curious as to what’s kept Mono interested in emotionally-draining instrumental music for the past 10 years, we asked Taka to help us tell all of the band’s records apart…
By Aaron Richter
As we all know by now, new releases hit record-store shelves and digital-download services each Tuesday. That’s why self-titled presents the following every week: a new release you’d be stupid not to own (Buy It), one worth checking out if you’re the curious type (Burn It) and something you might have heard about but probably should avoid (Skip It). Simple, ain’t it?
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