Oh, and as to your original point, i agree with you that dynamics have been taken out. obviously, it's due to remastering techniques. the real bad side of it is what you said about a band like mogwai (or slint, for that matter). a group like slint depended on these really creepy clean sounds into these smack you in the face waves of sound/distortion. by not having these kind of swells, it really takes away from a band's true sound....because you know their live shows have those dynamics.

anyway, those are my only two cents on the issue.

i v got all their albums.
their last is not their best but with tunes such as "friend of the night" ,"travel is dangerous" or "auto rock" is definitely one of the albums of the year

an interesting thought a friend of mine shared with me recently:

when pelican started out they borrowed so much from earlier mogwai... lo and behold, the new mogwai record seems to echo pelican quite heavily

The Hawk Is Howling is their new album...