personally i need to be in a certain mood to listen to them now. when i first discovered them i was really into them for about 6 months or so. now i rarely listen to them.

That made me a little sad for some reason.
I think it's because I can see myself having the exact same reaction if that was my experience. For me it was like: a friend recommends Young Team and I was lukewarm to it for a while but came to love it - and all their previous stuff. Then Come On Die Young came out and I remember that day well because I had a friend drop me off at a record store after work so that I could buy the CD. I had brought my discman and I walked the 2 or so miles home listening to it. At first I was terribly disappointed. I wanted those big sounds that I heard in Young Team and 10 Rapid. They didn't come. Instead it was all mellowed-out post rock bliss that I eventually also came to love (I still count it as one of my favorite albums).
Anyway, they proceeded to make a lot more music that was hit or miss and I can see writing them off as boring. But for me a lot of their music is as engaging as it gets.

I'm able to write them off because I know what appeals to me. I have never grown to love any band, as I do not torture myself with music I don't like after a certain period of time. I give myself only enough time to come to a 100 percent conclusion that I do or do not like a band.
After I've made that decision, there really isn't much to think about. I'm not missing out on anything if I don't like their music.

That probably makes me seem closed minded, but I really do give everything a chance. I just don't see the point behind trying to change who I am just so a band can acquire one more fan. :)
Edit:
Also, it's not like I'm writing off the entire post-rock genre. I just don't see what's so special about Mogwai. I like the concept of post-rock, but I'm just waiting for something to happen in the genre that breaks a little more ground than Mogwai.

It doesn't make you seem closed minded. Of course you shouldn't bother spending time listening to music you don't like.
Still, Mogwai *was* groundbreaking at one point (much so, in my opinion) but I can see how it would seem that they weren't if I had also listened to their whole catalog at once well after post-rock had become standard fare.
Not saying your experience would have been the same as mine if you hadn't done it that way. For me - a lot of my favorites took some time to grow on me.

It's just weird, because when I found out about post-rock, it didn't seem any different than the simple stuff I used to play years ago before I began learning more complicated things.
Melody itself isn't a recent development either.
I've always been drawn to melodic arrangements and thick atmospheric musical environments... but that didn't spawn when post-rock became a recognizable name.

I dunno... it just never seemed like anything new... just something people eventually started accepting as a legit style of music.

The thing is: When I heard Young Team, and then 10 Rapid soon after, I felt like I had heard something new, refreshing and just plain good. That combo doesn't come along often. Sure, there had been years of Slint, June of '44, Tortoise and such - but Mogwai felt special. Not sure what it was exactly - they just pushed all the right buttons at all the right moments.

We can settle on that. Makes sense. :)

where should i start with these guys?

ok thanks :)

Mogwai is one of my favorites.
 

Damn,
didn't know anybody listened to Mogwai. I don't know if I'd classify them in the rock category. As far as instrumentation goes, they're definitely pretty rockin', but they lack the decadence and the general rebelliousness. Plus, they're instrumental by and large.

I think we need to create a new subgenre for them called "soundtrack rock", because I can't even drive around with them on the stereo without feeling like I'm about to find myself in the grips of some apocalyptic maelstrom. Same with Explosions in the Sky, Valley of Giants, Godspeed, and all those groups.

Good tunes. "Happy Songs" and "Mr. Beast" are my favorites.