xkittenxsocksx
09-03-2007, 7:57 AM
I was going to write a few reviews for a dozen albums within the post rock genre, but instead I thought I shall make a long whiny thread dedicated to the genre itself.
Post rock is avant garde rock music with a lot of ambient and electronic elements. Whether or not post rock is a true genre is often the matter of debate, those who don't consider it a genre of it's own consider it experimental rock with some similarities but not enough to be put into one category, still, some disagree. Post rock is very hard to describe, the term "post rock" was invented by music journalist Simon Reynolds to describe a new form of music that was emerging during the 90s, which "used traditional rock instruments for non rock purposes" as he described it. Post rock bands use their instruments as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs or chords, favouring drones and ambient soundscapes over scales and rhythm...One of the founding bands of the movement was Tortoise, bands like Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor have since defined the modern movement. As a side note the result is usually songs that last a bare minimum of 10-15 minutes.
Or it can easily be summed down as:
using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords
I first discovered 'post rock' around January last year, starting with Sigur Rós. (An Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements.) Also the band is known for its ethereal sound which is mostly used as the basis of the genres artists sound.
Don't get me wrong I love Sigur Rós but for me they're only the tip of the iceberg when actually looking in depth at what the whole sound embodies.
A few albums to start with:
Set Fire To Flames "Telegraphs in Negative/Mouths Trapped in Static"
Set fire to flames are from Canada as many of the leading bands are situated. With members of GY!BE in the band, this is not what I was expecting at first. I wanted really relaxing music but I wanted it to be dark and this album was perfect for the mood I was in when I heard it. It had such an eerie sound and it was exactly what I was looking for. The album focuses more on sound rather than composition, leaving more airy voids and drones.
Although the album was recorded when each member was in a state of little or no sleep/ in varying levels of intoxication, and in physical confinement. Fuck yeah, to conclude the album utilizes many different instruments, including guitars, basses, strings, horns, glockenspiel, marimba, bass clarinet, saw, cymbalon, hurdy gurdy, music boxes, modified electronics, and contact microphones. Plus many more instruments I'm sure, even though I haven't the foggiest what half of them are.
LINK (http://www.myspace.com/setfiretoflames1)
Do Make Say Think "You, You're A History In Rust''
In short this album always stuck me as a weird post-rock album, not just because of the vocals which seem to be rare amongst post-rock bands. But for presenting a more wooden sound. The folk influences are quickly made apparent on the opening track Bound To Be That Way and the banjo that appears throughout the album is excellently placed.
LINK (http://www.myspace.com/doomachesatan)
Godspeed You! Black Emporer ''Yanqui U.X.O.''
Many people have coined this album as a runner up to it's father ''Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven''. Which was seen as GY!BE highlight and definitive album. Yet I prefer Yanqui to anything else they've put out.
Overall there is more actual music and less of the ambient noise passages seen in ''Skinny Fists....'' This doesn't mean the album sounds safe and comfortable, though, far from it. If anything, it feels kind of like a continuation of the last passages of "Antennas To Heaven" in a more rock form, but with the unsettling feelings of old gloom long since forgotten with a hint of wistful twilight in some sections nonetheless. The group is as martial and rousing as ever, and the album is nearly as haunting as the most autumnal moments of "Lift Your Skinny Fists...", but perhaps this will fit as the final statement from the band, as I truly can't see where they can grow from here. They have certainly left three essential albums full of uncanny passion and dread like no band before or since them has replicated, and that is more of an achievement than prolific composing. However this said those into common music might not get it, thus mane it as shitty noise for elitist faggots. But for me it's not just a post-rock masterpiece, But an overall musical landmark defining music as a true art form.
Link (http://www.myspace.com/godspeedyoublackemperorr)
Everything you need can be found here
http://afterthepostrock.com/forum/
I doubt anyone has read this.
Post rock is avant garde rock music with a lot of ambient and electronic elements. Whether or not post rock is a true genre is often the matter of debate, those who don't consider it a genre of it's own consider it experimental rock with some similarities but not enough to be put into one category, still, some disagree. Post rock is very hard to describe, the term "post rock" was invented by music journalist Simon Reynolds to describe a new form of music that was emerging during the 90s, which "used traditional rock instruments for non rock purposes" as he described it. Post rock bands use their instruments as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs or chords, favouring drones and ambient soundscapes over scales and rhythm...One of the founding bands of the movement was Tortoise, bands like Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor have since defined the modern movement. As a side note the result is usually songs that last a bare minimum of 10-15 minutes.
Or it can easily be summed down as:
using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords
I first discovered 'post rock' around January last year, starting with Sigur Rós. (An Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements.) Also the band is known for its ethereal sound which is mostly used as the basis of the genres artists sound.
Don't get me wrong I love Sigur Rós but for me they're only the tip of the iceberg when actually looking in depth at what the whole sound embodies.
A few albums to start with:
Set Fire To Flames "Telegraphs in Negative/Mouths Trapped in Static"
Set fire to flames are from Canada as many of the leading bands are situated. With members of GY!BE in the band, this is not what I was expecting at first. I wanted really relaxing music but I wanted it to be dark and this album was perfect for the mood I was in when I heard it. It had such an eerie sound and it was exactly what I was looking for. The album focuses more on sound rather than composition, leaving more airy voids and drones.
Although the album was recorded when each member was in a state of little or no sleep/ in varying levels of intoxication, and in physical confinement. Fuck yeah, to conclude the album utilizes many different instruments, including guitars, basses, strings, horns, glockenspiel, marimba, bass clarinet, saw, cymbalon, hurdy gurdy, music boxes, modified electronics, and contact microphones. Plus many more instruments I'm sure, even though I haven't the foggiest what half of them are.
LINK (http://www.myspace.com/setfiretoflames1)
Do Make Say Think "You, You're A History In Rust''
In short this album always stuck me as a weird post-rock album, not just because of the vocals which seem to be rare amongst post-rock bands. But for presenting a more wooden sound. The folk influences are quickly made apparent on the opening track Bound To Be That Way and the banjo that appears throughout the album is excellently placed.
LINK (http://www.myspace.com/doomachesatan)
Godspeed You! Black Emporer ''Yanqui U.X.O.''
Many people have coined this album as a runner up to it's father ''Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven''. Which was seen as GY!BE highlight and definitive album. Yet I prefer Yanqui to anything else they've put out.
Overall there is more actual music and less of the ambient noise passages seen in ''Skinny Fists....'' This doesn't mean the album sounds safe and comfortable, though, far from it. If anything, it feels kind of like a continuation of the last passages of "Antennas To Heaven" in a more rock form, but with the unsettling feelings of old gloom long since forgotten with a hint of wistful twilight in some sections nonetheless. The group is as martial and rousing as ever, and the album is nearly as haunting as the most autumnal moments of "Lift Your Skinny Fists...", but perhaps this will fit as the final statement from the band, as I truly can't see where they can grow from here. They have certainly left three essential albums full of uncanny passion and dread like no band before or since them has replicated, and that is more of an achievement than prolific composing. However this said those into common music might not get it, thus mane it as shitty noise for elitist faggots. But for me it's not just a post-rock masterpiece, But an overall musical landmark defining music as a true art form.
Link (http://www.myspace.com/godspeedyoublackemperorr)
Everything you need can be found here
http://afterthepostrock.com/forum/
I doubt anyone has read this.