For a mostly instrumental band, Scottish noiseniks Mogwai never seem to be at a loss for a quote. Here, they talk to Artrocker and offer their thoughts on such weighty topics as Arcade fire (“they’re good”), and religious fundamentalism (“not a big fan of it”) and those deserving of a beheading (“the Queen of England”). They’ve also gotten into the entertaining habit of reviewing their reviews, like this one from FHM and another from NME (both links point to Drowned In Sound). Funny chaps, those Mogwai fellows.

They’re receiving press in advance of their new album, Mr Beast, which is out March 7. The first official MP3 from the record was just released, and is linked below. It sounds like a move back to the quiet/loud/quiet/loud dynamic of their earlier works, but without abandoning the melodicism that they discovered on the last couple records. In other words, it sounds damn good. You can stream a couple more tracks from Mr Beast on their MySpace page, and if you want to go back in time a bit, there’s a lot of worthwhile stuff on audio page. BBC Collective also has a page dedicated to the band, including some live performance videos. The band is embarking on a US tour next month that will include a date at SxSW.

MP3: Mogwai – “Folk Death 95”

Also Scottish news, Arab Strap will be at Lee’s Palace on April 21 4. They’re supporting their new record Last Romance, which will be out later this month.

Early 90s purveyors of sounds both swirly and dancey Chapterhouse are betting that this shoegaze revival thing is for real, and will be rereleasing their debut album Whirlpool later this year complete with the mandatory bonus tracks and whatnot. Whirlpool was a terrific record that combined the more shimmery moments of Ride with some of the ass-shaking rhythms of the Madchester scene, but the follow-up Blood Music was pretty different in style and didn’t do much for me. I can’t quantify exactly HOW it was different because I don’t remember – I sold my copy long ago. But I don’t think I miss it. And I know nothing of their final album, Rownderbowt. Like I didn’t even realize it existed until, um, a few minutes ago. But yeah, Whirlpool. Good stuff. Long out of print, but coming back soon.

And speaking of Ride, Bradley’s Almanac continues his winning streak of great live mp3s with a digitized bootleg show from Australia, circa 1992. Nice stuff, and their best period.

Rob Dickinson is turning up in the oddest places, like in session for AT&T’s Blue Room playing three songs from Fresh Wine For The Horses. For those of us in Toronto without invites to the Blue Room (is that like the Champagne Room?), we can catch Rob live at Lee’s Palace on March 7. Via Torr.

JAM! talks to Supergrass, who were in town a few nights ago for a show at the Guvernment. For The Records was there.

So the final four episodes of Arrested Development air tonight at 8PM, something you may not have known because, true to form, Fox doesn’t seem to have bothered telling anyone. And as a final, fitting “fuck you” to the show, they’re airing the last two hours – probably ever – opposite the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. What’s the matter, Fox, couldn’t find a way to get them on opposite the Super Bowl? That certainly would have been far more keeping in line with the respect they gave the show over the past three years.

Quick question for, oh, anyone. Say I’ve got a power bar full of North American (120V) doodads – some grounded, some not – that I am bring to, say, a hotel in Amsterdam. What do I need to get to make sure that everything gets juice and doesn’t blow up? I’ve seen adapters without transformers (which I don’t undertand at all) or ungrounded adapter/transformer things, but nothing that seems obviously like what I need to get. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

np – Centro-Matic / All The Falsest Hearts Can Try