{"title":"The Glasgow School","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"mogwai-ten-rapid-collected-recordings-1996-1997","title":"Mogwai - Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996-1997)","description":"\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003eThe Glasgow School No.3:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003eGlasgow in the mid-nineties hummed with possibility. Already firmly on the map thanks to almost two decades of musical and social activism by Postcard, The Pastels and their satellite groups to explicitly left-wing organisations like the 13th Note and Glasgow Music Collective, Glasgow was having one of its many moments. The musical youth at that time consisted largely of kids from surrounding, suburban towns who gravitated to the city and formed bands. Cutting their teeth in dive venues, figuring out how to record, how to send 7”s to John Peel, like every generation must do, they discovered for themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003eEnamoured of the deconstructed rock music drifting across the Atlantic from North America’s Mid-West conurbations, a late-90s Glasgow sound emerged with the likes of Chemikal Underground’s stable of artists (you could argue it was but one strand of the late-90s Glasgow sound, of course). Chief among them, for our purposes here, were Mogwai. If you’re even a casual shopper here at Monorail you probably already know about our long friendship with Mogwai and their peers and while the group have gone on to conquer hearts, minds and the charts over a long career, nothing quite sounds like the group in their infancy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003eInitially self-released on their then-nascent label Rock Action, Ten Rapid collects the group’s early recordings and even seen against the backdrop of the open-minded, experimenting indie scene of the late 90s they still sound like a revolution. Perhaps no other band of their or any generation has taken the obscure and sometimes difficult sounds of the underground and transmogrified them into something as intense but somehow more accessible. The influences on this era are fairly easy to discern (not least with the help of guitarist Stuart Braightwaite’s memoir about the time): Slint, Labradford, Low, Spacemen 3, The Cure’s Disintegration era, the list goes on. What’s most striking is even then they sound like no-one else. The Mogwai waxed in 1996 is easily related to the Mogwai of Number 1 album As The Love Continues.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003eAccessible this music may be, on some level, but there’s no let up in intensity, mood and execution. Summer audaciously fades in while the group are in mid-flow before fading out into the bass thrum atmospherics decorated by glockenspiel, it’s a simple melody and dynamic that still sends ice down the spine. Early calling card Helicons 1\u0026amp;2 have everything, tremolo guitars decaying into reverb and delay-walls that threaten to consume, while early song Tuner burns quietly, a rare Braithwaite vocal duetting with Dominic Aitchinson’s bass playing recalling Slint’s invocation of Kentucky on Spiderland. The roughness round the edges, the playfulness of some of the ideas, the aliveness of the John Cummings and Braithwaite’s guitars criss-crossing through space, the sparkle of drummer Martin Bulloch’s spartan, emotive playing, it all feels incredibly present and vibrant. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s just the punk-as-you-like attitude on every strum and thrum on Ten Rapid’s collection of first utterances but the energy, openness and, whether they’d use this language at the time or not, love rings out through the almost 3 decades since this music was first recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ROCK ACTION RECORDS","offers":[{"title":"Black LP + Download","offer_id":53021573841238,"sku":"MRM-02207","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/8b4b394dd45f4e13abbc9056e506897e.jpg?v=1775198382"},{"product_id":"tacoma-radar-no-one-waved-goodbye","title":"Tacoma Radar - No One Waved Goodbye","description":"\u003cp\u003eTacoma Radar existed for a little bit more than a glimmer – they burned down the whole candlestick and then silently flickered into darkness. It’s 1996, and amidst a soundtrack of Low, Broadcast, Hydroplane and The Pastels, Kenny, Richie, and Ann begin writing together as a group borrowing local legend Gavin from Camera Obscura as they played their first shows at the 13th Note.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s difficult to find anything about their story. Not much exists except for a few short blurbs and a couple of grainy photographs on stage. By 2001, Jennifer was singing and Andy had joined on bass. They recorded their first and only full length, No One Waved Goodbye, in 2002. But by the time it was released in 2004, the band was pretty much done. The light trails they left are only beginning to brighten now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded at Chem19 in Blantyre and mastered at Abbey Road, No One Waved Goodbye is a collection of 9 tracks which, if you listen close enough, almost weave into one long journey. It’s similar in a lot of ways to early Delgados, Numero’s recent emo treasure Everyone Asked About You and Galaxie 500. It’s a record which focuses a lot on water – figuratively and literally – and how could it not, when rain batters the windows every day and the North Sea roars up the coast? There’s always a slight melancholy to living in these parts and it ripples through the tracks like liquid mist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat Tacoma Radar are at the beginning of a discovery feels inevitable, listening to this utterly gorgeous music now. With tempos that encourage the songs to unfurl in their own sweet time, this incredible, lost band’s music stretches out through the years into the heart. Opener So Much Water’s sombre, elegiac guitar figure slow dances with its partner, separated across the stereo field to allow an impossibly fragile vocal to sneak through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut it’s not all gloom, and No One Waved Goodbye is a shimmering blanket of gorgeously delicate sound, strings, slide guitar, space. It’s easy to define the songs as slowcore or dream-pop hidden gems (there’s truth to both), but they’re more of a snapshot of Scotland in the early 2000s – hair fuzzy from the rain, a dingy basement, your best pal on one side and the best band you’d never heard of on the other. Take Your Time positively aches with restrained yearn, Galaxie 500 squatting in a G post code. Tremolo’d guitar inflections that sprinkle light all over No One Waved Goodbye are a proper delight, specially when they bend and curl around the choruses here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho’s Gonna Hold The Line points Tacoma Radar much closer to the Camera Obscura sun, with some loving, light shoegaze inflections, a chorus that lifts your spirit up before allowing it to free fall back to earth. Listen to Loneliness Comes Without A Sound and you’re deep in the embrace of the sweetest melancholy recalling Rose McDowall’s later work or Sparklehorse, the sound of heart-worn losers battling on through, looking for connection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is magical music, from a special band, largely lost to time until now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReissued for the first time, this deluxe pressing features No One Waved Goodbye, the group’s two singles, and the previously unreleased Live From the 13th Note. We’re beyond excited to welcome Tacoma Radar to the Glasgow School.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the things we always came back to when discussing what would eventually become The Glasgow School was just how many groups had existed here for a small glimmer of time and then almost vanished without a trace. Our hallowed city has been the birthplace of so much; a rich tapestry woven below the surface for years – in rows of flats off Byres Road and in the dim basement of The 13th Note and up up up the high rises of the suburbs. So far, our series has mostly documented legacy acts – established and recognisable groups that we love dearly, who almost immediately spring to mind when we think of our city. But, there’s more than that to be celebrated and nurtured and given the spotlight. Here’s to the ones who weaved into the fabric and left even the smallest of patterns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLT\/MK Glasgow 2025\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Numero","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":53022176608598,"sku":"MRM-03207","price":41.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53320292270422,"sku":"MRM-04988","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/68f3c0d5aefff53fef53c38cfccd5811.png?v=1777478351"},{"product_id":"the-vaselines-the-way-of-the-vaselines-2023-reissue","title":"The Vaselines - The Way Of The Vaselines (2023 Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe’re really, really excited to announce\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Glasgow School\u003c\/strong\u003e. This is a series of records that will document what we consider to be the most important and best music to come out of our hallowed city over the past sixty years. Each record will be lovingly presented with the care and love that it deserves – each will have unique content. And each will only be available from us. Welcome to The Glasgow School.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor me the most important thing about The Vaselines is that it was based on friendship. Eugene, Frances and I all enjoyed being together and as much as we loved getting drunk, taking acid and going out, there was a creative intent too. As we became friends I learnt that they had a few songs and a rough plan to start a group. I wanted to try to help them on their way as I knew there was something there, something out of the ordinary. They looked incredible together and although their playing wasn’t all that technical I loved it – their voices were magical, especially when they sang together. I hopefully suggested the name, The Vaselines, which they went along with. I booked a studio and roped in my partner, Aggi (Annabel), who was living in Brighton at the time. I remember vividly making that first record, Son Of A Gun, and my happiness in how it came out. I still love what we did – can’t quite believe it actually.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the time The Vaselines always played with my group, The Pastels – some people were into them but quite a few others were a bit snobby and thought it too basic or transient. I love that so many serious travellers have fallen by the wayside and that in 2023 The Vaselines have this incredible legacy and we can meet up to talk about reissue plans and what’s happening next. With The Vaselines nothing has ever seemed over-complicated, at least from my perspective. It was always spontaneous and fun – either worth doing or not. It was never strategically laid out – the triumph of the magically unplanned career plan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSP \/ 2023\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUB POP","offers":[{"title":"Remastered Black 2LP (First Time On Vinyl!)","offer_id":53022322622806,"sku":"MRM-03559","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/dd08f13e1a859aba286ebe66f858145c.jpg?v=1775206228"},{"product_id":"under-the-plow","title":"Under The Plow","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemastered and lovingly packaged with a host of extras our edition comes on ruby red vinyl with 12 x 12 lyric insert, A4 Repro Gig Poster, BBC Sessions CD (Marc Riley, 2018 \u0026amp; Vic Galloway \/ Nicola Meighan, 2019). And a Temporary Tattoo – to show off your permanent love. Edition of 250.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Have you ever lost control? \/ Have you ever left your home? \/ And if so, how far?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe greatest groups are unrepeatable, magic – more than the sum of their parts. They own their space, they make you glad to be there with them, you feel rare in their company – part of an epic collision in time. With our Glasgow School series we’re trying to capture these moments – make you feel like you’re there in the room, a first-hand participant.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat would it be like being in a room with Hairband somewhere in the world, but maybe in close proximity to Queens Park, sometime between 2016-2020 when they were getting things together, working on stuff? I think there would have been a lot of smiling, a lot of warmth, community, kinship, a determination to make something worthwhile and great. A sense of invention – everyone in Hairband had been in other bands but somehow this one always felt really special.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere would have been five people in the room – Sephi Lock, Emma Smith, Rachel Taylor, Simone Wilson and Rowan Wright. With five people in a group you need to know how to make space for each other – there needs to be a lack of ego for it to work properly. Looking back, Simone says there was always an understanding that everyone should feel “equal and heard”. Quickly the music tumbled out – funny, serious, joyful. Mad stuff, beautiful singing, liquid guitar parts, energy. They were the best new group in Glasgow no bother – for most of the Monorail team their shows were always the shows to go to.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn what they were doing I heard a kind of oddball funkiness and fun with melody which I felt could maybe be traced back in Glasgow to Orange Juice. There was girl group stuff going on, The Raincoats, contemporary pop and then maybe other things I didn’t know if it was them or me – maybe Y Pants, The Tesco Bombers, something from that Rough Trade \/ Ladbroke Grove scene that ran so rich and deep. They were so addictive, there was so little to go on.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe decided we’d ask them if we could document them on Monorail Music which was unusual for us – there’s always so many other things going on in the shop. Anyway, we released a five-song 12” in October 2018 and it really did well. BBC6 picked up on it – they were on Gideon Coe, Marc Riley, other shows all the time. It felt very vibey but also there was a creeping sense that maybe it wasn’t a group that would last forever. Rachel was moving to Berlin, it was becoming complicated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’m so glad that they managed to make an album together and that it’s so good. Made in Green Door Studio with Ronan Fay, Under The Plow captures their wild magic in all its glory. Everything is in, everything is there to make you know that you’re in love with them. Guitars chime in like church bells, the rhythm lock is so solid you could build a wonky house on it, which is what Hairband have done. It’s music in the moment, but meant to last – many voices, one united sound. Emma: “The ten songs “reflect a period the band will forever appreciate and be proud of. You can hear the fun and joy in equal measure, alongside more complex, darker aspects that we hope speak to some of the wider experiences of women.”\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere’s a lot to Hairband, there always was. Any album that starts with a song called ‘Unconscious Rivals’ and finishes with one called ‘Extremities’ is in with a big chance. Under The Plow is a record overflowing with ideas and love and unrepeatable moments – languages, music, people, people in a room. That’s what a record is, isn’t it. So Glasgow, so Glasgow School. Thanks for the reminder Hairband.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStephen Pastel, Glasgow 2025\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Errol's Hot Wax \/ Lost Map","offers":[{"title":"Limited edition ruby red LP","offer_id":53353408299350,"sku":"MRM-05009","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/b5a153c26b82a02f7df5e5a26fa6559d.png?v=1777547577"}],"url":"https:\/\/monorailmusic.com\/collections\/the-glasgow-school.oembed","provider":"Monorail Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}