'Post-rock is a genre of alternative rock characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but using rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not found in rock tradition. It is the use of ‘rock instrumentation’ for non-rock purposes. Practitioners of the genre’s style typically produce instrumental music. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate as a concise descriptor: for example, Don Caballero and Tortoise were among the more prominent bands of the 1990s described as post rock, but the two bands’ music has very little in common besides the fact that they are both instrumental and centered on guitars and drums. As such, the term has been the subject of backlash from listeners and artists alike. The term ‘post-rock’ was believed to be coined by critic Simon Reynolds in his review of Bark Psychosis’ album Hex, published in the March 1994 issue of Mojo magazine. Reynolds expanded upon the idea later in the May 1994 issue of The Wire. He used the term to describe music “using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures rather than riffs and power chords.” He further expounded on the term, ”Perhaps the really provocative area for future development lies… in cyborg rock; not the wholehearted embrace of Techno’s methodology, but some kind of interface between real time, hands-on playing and the use of digital effects and enhancement.” In a July 2005 entry in his blog, Reynolds claimed he had used the term “post-rock” before using it in Mojo, previously using it in music newspaper Melody Maker. He also said he later found the term to not be of his own creation, saying in his blog, “although I genuinely believed I was coining the term, I discovered many years later it had been floating around for over a decade.” The term was used by American journalist James Wolcott in a 1975 article about musician Todd Rundgren, although with a different meaning. ost-rock appears to take a heavy influence from late 1960s U.S. group The Velvet Underground and their “dronology” – “a term that loosely describes fifty percent of today’s post rock activity.” The “Krautrock” of the 1960s and ’70s would also exert a strong influence on post-rock, particularly via the “motorik”, or characteristic rhythm of much Krautrock. British group Public Image Ltd (PiL) were also pioneers, described by the NME as “arguably the first post-rock group.” Bands from the early 1990s, such as Slint, or earlier, such as Talk Talk, were later recognized as influential on post-rock. Slint’s Spiderland and Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock are credited as giving birth to post-rock. So why does post-rock come in for such a kicking so very often in the modern mainstream – or more particularly non-mainstream – media? Why is the term commonly preceded by the words ‘much’ and ‘maligned’? Homogenisation seems to be the catalyst for the disregarding of new groups pigeonholed pre-publicity proper as post-rock; the gradual slide from the affecting sound pastures of Mogwai in the late ‘90s to a million and one rock acts lacking a singer. Post-rock seems, more often than not, to merely indicate ‘instrumental’ nowadays, which is so very, very far from the acts credited with exerting a significant influence on the development of the genre. Now, the term means something very different to what Reynolds and Wolcott had envisaged when trying to articulate the newfangled creativity within a conventional field; when trying to convey that these guys were strangling those same-old guitars into wailing new sounds, in new shapes and at new sizes. Now, post-rock sells the BBC wildlife department, curates world-renowned festivals, and is summarised in the offices of sites like Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound as ‘Diver music’.' -- collaged from various sources
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'One of the more disappointing developments in post-rock was the proliferation of socially-awkward dudes endlessly, friendlessly noodling away on solo guitar and loop-pedal. Their hero was Dave Pajo, post-rock royalty —he was a member of Slint, and did a stint in Tortoise that coincided with 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die' — who started recording solo as M, then Aerial M, then Papa M. His first on-his-own LP, 'Aerial M' minted a sound that would be echoed by so many: constructing compositions of repetitious guitar patterns and dappled harmonics that sustained single, tonal moods.' -- altmusic
Aerial M 'Aass'
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'Rachel's is an American post-rock group formed in Louisville, USA, in 1991. The core members are guitarist Jason Noble, violist Christian Frederickson and pianist Rachel Grimes. The group’s work is strongly influenced by classical music, particularly inspired by the minimalist music of the late 20th century. While the trio forms the core part of the band, the group’s recordings and performances feature a varying ensemble of musicians, who play a range of string instruments (including viola and cello) in combination with piano, guitars, electric bass guitar, and a drum set that includes a large orchestral bass drum.' -- A Room To Breathe In
Rachel's 'Moscow Is In the Telephone'
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'Not everyone gets Mogwai, but that’s what makes them great. Theirs is a majestic, powerful sound where barely a word is spoken yet it is the antithesis of background music. Album and song titles bemuse, confuse and delight in equal measure and live, they are utterly unstoppable. Mogwai were birthed in the halcyon days of the mid-90s and helped Glasgow become one of the real bright spots in the musical universe again. They turned heads, hearts and stomachs with their live shows -- stark aural assaults on the senses which swung between barely there and a coruscating scree of white noise.' -- Sub Pop Records
Mogwai 'Like Herod'
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'Mono are a group from Tokyo, Japan formed in 1999. The songs, all of which are instrumental, are usually focused on layered guitar melodies. Strings and pianos are also prominently featured in some songs. MONO are known for their powerful live shows and their complex guitar work. Mono's sound is characterised by the lead and rhythm guitars of Goto and Yoda respectively, both of whom make extensive use of reverb, distortion and delay effects. The band's style of music originally featured elements of minimalism and noise, and later developed to integrate more complex, orchestral arrangements and instrumentation. Mono's music has sometimes been categorised as "post-rock", although the band has expressed discomfort with the term, identifying more with contemporary classical music.' -- myspace/monojp
Mono 'The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain' Part 1
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'Stars of the Lid released their debut CD, 'Music for Nitrous Oxide', in 1995. Recorded on four track tape deck, Lucy Cage wrote in The Lizard that; "It's alarming how the notes they employ are piercingly physical; ringing tones that rise up and out of the speakers like alien tendrils; deep deep bass burrs that shake the air and the walls and frighten the neighbors." Stars of the Lid played out, with visual artist Luke Savisky providing visuals that often took four film projectors to realize and bathed the band in color and motion. Spliced together from found film and library stock, Savisky's contribution to the band's live happenings is never the same two nights in a row and is, in a fundamental sense, an improvised light environment. Bill Meyer stated in The Chicago Reader that "I've never experienced anything more psychedelic than the vertiginous swirl of sound and sight".' -- Kranky Records
Stars of the Lid 'Dungtitled (In A Major)
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'Almost alone among bands of the last two decades, Tortoise is a group that resists easy metaphors and analogies, who can be described as sounding like only themselves and no one else. Twenty years after its founding, the band’s signature and singularly inimitable sound—a fluid intersection of dub, dance, jazz, techno, rock, and classical minimalism, with no part overwhelming or dominating the whole—remains an American and international original. While the group has spawned countless imitators, heirs, and followers—sincere, flattering, and otherwise—Tortoise remains unique in the world of contemporary music for their boundless intellectual curiosity, their unmistakable compositional voice, and their synthesis of seemingly contradictory sound worlds far from their doorstep.' -- Thrill Jockey Records
Tortoise on Chic-A-Go-Go
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'Bark Psychosis were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre. Despite a relatively small recorded output and little media recognition, Bark Psychosis was one of the most innovative artists of their era. From rather uninspired origins as a teenaged Napalm Death cover band, the British group evolved by leaps and bounds, moving from moody, lush pop to ambient soundscapes to taut, atmospheric experimental music.' -- barkpsychosis.com
Bark Psychosis 'Absent Friend'
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'American post-classical composer Jim O'Rourke has been a key component in the increasing overlap of the American and European experimental music avant-garde, working in everything from jazz and rock to ambient and electro-acoustic and building many a bridge in between. A Chicago native, his work has found equal luck with experimental jazz and noise fanatics, chill room denizens, and bedroom experimentalists, and has had the resultant effect of cross-pollinating many otherwise isolated compositional communities. Dealing most often with prepared guitar in improvisational group settings, O'Rourke has also released a fair bit of material as a soloist, although more often in the electro-acoustic/musique concrète vein.' -- dotsonics
Jim O'Rourke 'Not Sport, Martial Art' & 'Fuzzy Sun'
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'Shunning the burgeoning alternative rock movement, Cul de Sac intertwined elements of surf rock, Krautrock, Middle Eastern trance and folk music, post-rock psychedelia, and avant-garde to create a unique blend that garnered immediate critical attention. They were formed in the early '90s by guitarist Glenn Jones, multi-instrumentalist Robin Amos, formerly of the Girls, and Bullet La Volta drummer Chris Guttmacher. Early live shows were enhanced by the experimental films of Fujiwara and A.S. Hamrah, adding to the band's eclectic mystique. Their original compositions and recordings have been enhanced by instruments of their own creation, including the Contraption and the Incantor.' -- Allmusic
Cul de Sac 'This Is The Metal That Do Not Burn'
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'According to an interview with VPRO Radio in the Netherlands, A Silver Mt. Zion originally began as a project in which Efrim Menuck hoped to learn how to score music. Already a guitarist in the Montreal-based musical collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor, he explained that he hoped to communicate better with his fellow musicians by getting familiar with music theory. This idea was soon abandoned as Menuck realized that he preferred not knowing precisely what he was doing when writing, opting to "fumble" instead. An unidentified member of the band has stated in interview that as well as classical and chamber music, Jewish and Eastern European folk music along with American folk influences 'such as Sacred Harp Singing' all play a part in contributing to the band's sound.' -- Constellation Records
A Silver Mt Zion 'God Bless Our Dead Marines'
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'Masters of 'space-age bachelor pad music', Stereolab formed in London's glamorous Camberwell in 1991. Led by fanatical record collector Tim Gane and his missus the French chanteuse Laetitia Sadier, they produce consistently marvellous and intriguing electronica, combining their passion for melody, analogue sounds, political lyrics and sixties wistfulness. Stereolab stopped their work for undetermined time on 2nd April 2009: "We feel that our work is done for the moment and there won't be any new Stereolab product for a while."' -- Discogs
Stereolab 'Metronomic Underground'
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'Labradford was formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1992 and consisted of Robert Donne, Carter Brown and Mark Nelson. The band has been described as guitar, keyboards, bass & subdued vocals mix up a brew of lo-ball ambiance and occasional icy sadness. An early press release compared them to: Neu, F/i, Spacemen3, Gate, Dead C. & Jim O'Rourke. Their first full-length album was released by Kranky in 1994. By their third full-length album, the eponymous release of 1996, Labradford began to infuse their music with sampled and real time percussion traces, at times faintly delving into actual syncopation.' -- brainwashed
Labradford 'Pico'
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'Slint was a rock/math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums), Todd Brashear (bass on 'Spiderland') and Ethan Buckler (bass on 'Tweez'). They formed in Louisville, Kentucky, United States in 1986 from the remains of Squirrel Bait. Though they disbanded circa 1991, they continue to be a massive influence on today's post-rock scene. The impact of their second album 'Spiderland' was such that some have suggested it is the first true post rock album, helping to usher in a new wave of bands seeking a move away from the unfettered aggression of hardcore punk but not its underlying ethic.' -- chordie
Slint 'Washer'
Furthermore
Explosions In The Sky 'Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean'
God is an astronaut 'Remembrance Day'
Sigur Rós 'Svefn g englar'
Godspeed You Black Emperor 'East Hastings'
Don Caballero 'Delivering The Groceries At 138 Beats'
This Will Destroy You 'Threads'
Clogs 'Lantern'
Disco Inferno 'Set Sail'
Grails 'live @ The Knitting Factory, NYC'
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p.s. Hey. Oh, I forgot to do one of those asterick things up above but know that this post and its brother tomorrow are owed to a suggestion by Tender prey. Hope your long weekends went well. Mine were real good. The Paris performances of 'TIHYWD' and the Utrecht 'Them' shows went really well. I met up with my Dutch ex-boyfriend whom I hadn't seen in about 25 years. If Itmpw shows up before I post this morning, I guess I'll fill in some details. And now ... ** Wednesday ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. I like Binoche too. While I was in Utrecht, one of the 'Them' performers bought and was reading the new issue of Cahiers du Cinema, and I looked over his shoulder, and he was intently reading an article by you! ** Schoolboyerrors, Hey. Yeah, 'that guy' works. 'What's-his-name' might do as well. I really do want to try to model a novel on Tati's work in an exacting way. I've experimented a bunch of times, but I haven't found the way to unify his thing and mine yet. But it still feels like a natural somehow, so I'm still on the hunt. How was your Eastery set of days? ** David, Really? Okay, if that D vs. G movie exists, it's got to be a download somewhere. Thanks. ** L@rstonovich, Yeah, I was wondering if it trailed off into unfinishedness like the books you mentioned or like 'A Voice Through a Cloud', or whether it was more a matter of post- stuff, editing and refining, that DFW couldn't resolve. Interesting. Thanks, man. ** Bernard Welt, Hi, B. The mostly utter sameness of those nightclubs is what really interested me. 123 redesigns of the wheel and all that. How about I cast against type and assign you the titty bar post? ** Kiddiepunk, Bud. You come back on ... Wednesday, right? It's really summery here. Niceness. Your planteroony loan is looking dandy so far. You getting all of your stuff done? ** Oscar B, Bud2. I assume that white dress and you are like cloud and rain by now, yes? All is well? Utrecht is pretty and cozy-ish, like one of the mellower, pretty chunks of Amsterdam, really nice main canal, great frites met pindasaus, etc. More color when I see you so soon! ** Hyrule Dungeon, Totally cool that they're from LA. And you can kind of feel it, or I feel like I can feel it as an Angeleno. They're as LA in a totally different way as, oh, Guns & Roses or Janes Addiction the Beach Boys or NWA. ** Polter, Hey, Polter. I was slightly physically closer to you for a few days. It was like mid-summer in Utrecht. It was spooky and nice at the same time. Was Oslo all spookily heated too? The Inferno Festival sounded totally awesome? Did it stay that way? Did your friends' band kill it? It being a happy audience not the festival itself. Did you take pix? Who ruled? Tell me, tell me. Great to see you! ** Ken Baumann, Hey, Ken! Oh, uh, yeah, but maybe I'll wait until the book is out and smushing through the world. The notes and stuff would make more sense then if they ever will. I like the tattoo. I'm not a big tattoo person, so I was feeling a bit trepidatious, but you aced the tattoo thing. Nice going. Everyone, the mystery of what was under Ken Baumann's bandage has been solved even if what was under there provokes its own special brand of mystery. Anyway, know. ** Misanthrope, Oh, I believe it, man. I believe it. No, I have never seriously thought about getting a tattoo. It seems like people who get tattoos have long attention spans, and I don't. What about you re: tattoo? Maybe I should do a tattoo-themed SPD? ** Psycho Chicken Messiah, First of all, hey, welcome, although I think I know you under a different name, yes? This is a kind of predictable but totally honest answer to your question, I fear, but I think you should follow all over those voices and employ your obvious gift for language by writing about the things of which you speak with deserved confidence. I've put my fears and miseries to work for me as art, and the expelling and refining and gifting aspects of doing that have helped organize them into my writing's part-time (at least) helpers, and that's no cure but it sure did help. Stick around and be here more and fully, man. ** Thursday ** Math, Hey, cool, I aim to please. Holland was good. How's SF? ** Kiddiepunk, Very glad it hit the spots, man. ** David Ehrenstein, Lovely. Yeah, 'The Innocent' should have been there. I was trying to not tax people's browsers too badly, basically. But, yeah, true. Based on the wack factor alone, I think I'd like to catch 'The Beaver' on a plane flight someday, and I bet it'll be there. ** Bernard Welt, Thanks a lot, B! It was John Waters' birthday? Happy belated birthday and lots of love, John, if you're reading this! ** Bill, Hey, Bill. I missed the vegetarian restaurants, although the cute students were certainly out in force. 'Ludwig' is amazing, but it will probably test your 'too long' thing to the max. Boy with the eye patch is Alain Delon, and yes. ** Alan, Hey, man. Interesting and cool to see that 'walk-through', interactive theater is getting treated seriously again. That form has gotten kind of dragged down into 'Tony and Tina's Wedding' and that kind of thing for a long time. There has been some really interesting work that employed that immersive, mobile audience participation thing, but not too much recently. I knew Edouard Leve. He was an acquaintance of mine, a fellow POL author. His suicide was a great shock and a terrible mindfuck to his wife, who's an acquaintance of mine as well. Very interesting but very troubled guy. I've only read little squibs of his writing because hardly any has been translated into English, although I think his last novel 'Suicide' is coming out in the States. I know his photographs better than I do his written work. ** David, I sort of remember 'Panic in the Year Zero'. It's weird or interesting or something that back in the 50s, early 60s, girls were particularly all hot and bothered for Italian-American teen idols like Avalon, a.o. ** Steevee, I've been curious about that tUnE-yArDs album after the Pitchfork review. You make it sound more interesting than they did. Is the Wakamatsu article in the bag now? Smart move by Lil B. His album title is the Charlie Sheen of album titles this week. ** Syreearmwellion, Hey. You think? I've been sort of assuming it's more of a Bowie type strategic thing. ** Jax, Hi, Jack. Utrecht was really nice. Shows went great, pretty place, great weather, rode a bike everywhere. Mm, Utrecht is in the middle of the country, so I think you must be thinking of another city. Maybe Maastricht, which is on the border with Belgium? How's everything with you? ** Alfonso, Hey, welcome, thanks! It's really good to have you here. Yeah, I love Visconti, obviously. Your characterization -- 'like looking at a bowl with something very pretty inside and not being able to touch it, to experience it. something far away' -- is beautiful. So, if you don't mind, tell me more about you and what you do and so on. That would be great. Take care. ** Anxiety, Hi. Welcome to this place. Happy to share the Visconti love with you and make your acquaintance and discover your blog, which makes me wish I knew some Italian but holds plenty of interest even without it. Everyone, Anxiety, who commented here this weekend for the first time, has a really interesting blog called 'soltanto l'edera' that speaks in Italian but is well worth your visit and investigation whether that tongue is one of yours or not. It's here. It's strange with Pasolini because I know he's great, but I've just never really been able to get into his work, which makes no sense. I keep waiting for a breakthrough. I've been hoping that someone who hangs out here will volunteer to do a Pasolini Day for the blog because I know it wouldn't take much for me to get and fall in love with Pasolini's films, but no one has volunteered so far. If you feel like hanging out here, please do. I'd like to know more about you and yours. Thanks! ** Misanthrope, Having just spent a bunch of time in Italian museums, I think I can safely say that the twink stretches back at least as far as the paintings of Botticelli. For example, here's four of them. ** Warner Boer, Hi, very nice to meet you. You were at the 'Them' show? Oh, I don't remember what I was thinking. I think I was just surprised and sort of happily confused that there were people standing and applauding. Thank you a lot for the kind words. I really appreciate it! Please feel free to come back here anytime, and take good care. ** Thomas Moronic, Hey, T. Cool, man, happy to give your gears a twirl. More Transductions stuff, awesome. You're waking up that great but recently sleepy place. Everyone, the great Thomas Moronic has added more absolute reasons to go scour the Transductions site, including a happy birthday in post form for Mr. John Waters, Harmony Korine and Die Antwoord's short collaborative film 'Umshini Wam', and a superb piece on the latest issue of 'anything anymore anywhere', the terrific lit. mag edited by poet, d.l., and recent blog star Colin Herd and Reuben Sutton. Your visit is a big must, and everything you need is right here. Can't wait to get over there in a bit with time on my hands. ** Frank Jaffe, Hi, Frank! Thanks, dude. Weekend was excellent on my end. As was yours, you fully clothed pot smoking rebel, you. Blake's book is prettiness, right? Hm, I didn't get an audio track with my copy of the O.B. zine. I got ripped off, it seems. Well, you should do the zine with your boyfriend, clearly. Advice? You don't need advice. You're the most industrious, creative guy in the world or at least in Florida. Be yourself. Be yourself on the pages. Just do it. Love, me. ** Bollo, Yeah, I just saw that Odd Future is playing here next week, and I just sort of prayed that it isn't sold out yet. Wall work/painting, cheeky ... go for it. Clearly. Utrecht was fun. Some chocolate but mostly frites met pindasaus. Holy shit! ** Joe M, Hey, Joe. That's a very pretty 'Death in Venice' entrance story. I saw it for the first time in a movie theater partly full of heckling jocks. I don't get to ask about your writing? Okay, then, uh, how's it hanging otherwise? ** Tender prey, Hi, Marc. Trip was real good, yeah. Hopefully it was a kickstarter for a Euro 'Them' tour, but we'll see. You gooder than good, I hope? I hope the Post-Rock posts do the deed. ** Okay, we're caught up. Enjoy the first part of the blog's Post-Rock interlude. See you tomorrow.
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