Mogwai – “My Father My King ” – [Matador Records]

One 20-minute instrumental track. It starts quietly with a gentle pattern, builds up to a huge slab of ringing guitars, then subsides and builds up all over again, finally collapsing into a couple of minutes of abstract noise, ending with a sudden cut-off. Steve Albini recorded and mixed this project, which undoubtedly accounts for the crisp instrumental sound. From what I’ve heard, this epic piece absolutely kills when they play it live in concert. It’s pretty effective here as well.