Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling

This record begins with 3 big crackles and a first track which is kinda muffled. Strange. It gets better with the beautiful "Danphe". Side B is pristine. A lot of tiny crackles on side C, not too annoying but unacceptable when it comes to a brand new item. Side D is the best, by far, with the excellent "Thank you space expert". According to the space available on the discs, the quality should have been better. So, on the whole, not too disappointing, but disappointing nevertheless !

I listened to this record on digital streaming services before and I knew that I would love it on vinyl. Yesterday I got my hands on a mint copy for 18€.

One of the greatest post rock albums ever.

Excellent re-press - sounds realty good. Pitchfork gave this a very lukewarm review, unjustified IMHO. The sleeve design (apart from the yellow LP covers) is grossly bad, but Mogwai probably had that in mind. Peace & Love

this record sounds very very good, any idea who mastered/cutted it ? i found on the deadwax the signature SV...

This definitely sounds better than the original master, though the recording suffers from a lack of tone. It's very murky and you'll need to crank up the treble.

To be honest, I find this remaster terrible. Flat, and as if the sound is coming from behind a duvet.

Phenomenal pressing, crystal clear sound. Cleaned the records with a brush before first use because of minimal particles on them and had a flawless playthrough.

Received the vinyl with a signed 12x12" card printed on high quality photo paper. I am very pleased with the product.

Beautiful packaging and very quiet pressing. I wish they would have put some more music on here, though. With the extra space I think they could have fit one of the B-Sides, like Dracula Family.

My favorite record of theirs so decided to splurge on a copy. Really disappointed in my copy. Lots of pops from the outset and through at various points till the end. I really was expecting a better copy it being !80gm and d as NM. I’m going to give it a good clean and cross my fingers that does the trick. I will say that batcat, Scotland shame and precipice all sound incredible.

Edit: After a double wash to see if a cleaning made any difference, I am sad to report that it in fact did not. If anything it made the pops stand out even more lol. Be very careful when purchasing this particular release. My copy was d as NM, and visibly looks super clean, so I understand the rating. Just really disappointed given the price paid and that it is 180 gram. Docked an additional star.

Question: If you have a sealed / originally shrink-wrapped copy. How do you know whether it's the original 2008 or the 2013 pressing if it's still sealed? Is it impossible to say? So anybody who sells a sealed Mint copy of the apparently 2008 or 2013 copies might in fact be wrong to list it there?

The release page says:

"... This reissue has flat labels. The original pressing has labels with an embossed outer ring and lower center area. ( https://discogs.futbolgratis.org/release/1466896-Mogwai-The-Hawk-Is-Howling ). Apart from that, there is no difference between both versions. ..."