Before watching the movie Friday Night Lights a while back, I never thought that post-rock and sports would make a good couple. It had just never crossed my mind; I’d seen too many sports movies with pump-it-up energetic music, and I just assumed that that was how it was. But Explosions in the Sky lent their mellow instrumentals to the film, and the result was rather surreal- football’s intensity and violence coupled with calm, transcendental music. The music is definitely one of the reasons that it’s my favorite football movie (yes, even better than Disney’s majestic Gus, the tale of a field-goal kicking donkey).
Now Mogwai are doing a sports soundtrack as well, for the documentary Zidane- A 21st Century Portrait. The film, by directors Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno (according to the imdb’s page here), follows the French soccer star through a match. I’ve seen acouple of clips from the film’s site, and it appears that the music once again gives the flow and motion of athletics a surreal, timeless feeling. The music is Mogwai at their most mellow, full of gentle melodies and static drones. In fact, there are none of their signature explosions of sound on the album. Instead, theres an hour of calm, gentle beauty. I must admit, no one part of the album really stands out, and after listening to it I don’t have its melodies in my head. But what it does offer it a nice, relaxing listening experience- I’ve listened to the album a few times this week while reading or doing homework. Below I’ve included a few tracks for y’all… enjoy!
Also, it appears Mogwai will be contributing to the soundtrack for the upcoming movie The Fountain. Once you get them going, they just won’t stop…
From Zidane- A 21st Century Portrait
Mogwai – “Terrific Speech 2″
Mogwai – “7.25″
Mogwai – “I Do Have Weapons”
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This is the kind of Mogwai that I enjoy. Too bad I only know of Zidane through that headbutt incident.