Mogwai :: The Bad Fire

Mogwai’s 11th album takes another sludgy trudge through ambient beauty, delineating radiant architectures of synth and kicking them into gear with a jet-engine roar. They’re still world champions at WTF song titles, offering up “Pale Vegan Hip Pain” and the Philip K. Dick-referencing “If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others” this time, among others, and still among the best at raising an anthemic, cathedral-vaulted ruckus. Producer John Congleton, an adept at infusing loud sounds with pristine clarity, captures plaintive ache and triumphant crescendo here, distilling Mogwai’s essence into its purest elements.