by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Mogwai - "The Sun Smells Too Loud" (MP3)

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, the film that Scotland's finest, Mogwai, soundtracked in 2006 will finally be released from October 24-30 in an "exclusive engagement" at both BAMcinématek in Brooklyn and Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is a visionary meditation on French soccer star Zinédine Zidane by internationally acclaimed visual artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno. Spectacular match footage of the midfielder--captured by 17 cameras supervised by cinematographer Darius Khondji during a Spanish Premier League game between Real Madrid and Villarreal on April 23, 2005--is transformed into an innovative film closer to visual art than sports documentary. The filmmakers set the athlete's reflections in text over 35mm, HD, and TV images, taken from various distances and perspectives, and blend stadium sound with a melancholy score by Scottish band Mogwai. The resulting 90-minute film (the length of a soccer game) is a rigorous experiment with cinematic space and time, and an arresting study of a sports icon.

In case you don't know/don't remember, "sports icon" Zidane is the man who gave "footballer" Marco Materazzi a chest full of skull during the 2006 World Cup.

Mogwai released the soundtrack in 2006 with a couple tracks appearing on the (ugh) Miami Vice soundtrack. Don't let that deter you though... check out a few of those Mogwai tracks streaming at the Zidane website.

In other Mogwai news, the band is now on tour with Fuck Buttons, and will hit both both Terminal 5 (tickets still available) and ATP next week (tickets also available).

"The Sun Smells Too Loud", available for download above, is from Mogwai's upcoming record The Hawk is Howling (out Sept 22 on Matador). Check out the videos for "Batcat" & a trailer for a DVD which comes with the Limited Edition set of The Hawk Is Howling, as well as Hawk's cover art and track list (and all tour dates), below....

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