Manna from MONO

Comments (0) By Mike Rowell Wednesday, Sep 30 2009

Tokyo’s MONO is one of those “ya gotta see 'em live” bands. Sure, the instrumental quartet’s recordings are lovely, filled with long tracks of glistening neoclassical compositions featuring fragile, Brahms-lullaby melodies slowly crescendoing into epic, crashing rock. And other groups — such as Mogwai, M83, and Godspeed You Black Emperor — have mined similar territory. But when performing, the three guys and gal of MONO completely take it over the top. All wailing guitars and flailing manes of black hair, they bound about orgasmically onstage, doing that thing so many Japanese bands have done so well: taking a Western musical aesthetic and cranking it up to 11. When we saw the band last year at Terrastock in Louisville, it was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Formed a decade ago by current members Takaakira Goto, Yoda, Tamaki Kunishi, and Yasunori Takada, the band released its latest album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, in March. Their third full-length, recorded with the infamous Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, it’s chock-full of strings, piano, and other ornamentation, and makes a gorgeous soundtrack to even the most mundane of activities. But don’t miss the chance to see the band’s transcendent delivery in person.