Great thread. I've found it quite helpful.

Just really getting into the lighter side of this genre, I've been a fan of Isis, Cult of Luna, and Neurosis for quite some time (whether they're all, strictly speaking, post-rock I'm not sure, although Cult of Luna I haven't seen mentioned and they should be).

Recently acquired:

Godspeed: Lift Your skinny fists... (although it only had one disc in it when I bought it, had to take it back...)
Sigur Ros: () (who can resist an icelandic falsetto stroking his guitar with a cello bow)
Mogwai: Come on die young

I'd recommend those to anyone. Particluarly enjoyed (), although I only recently got CODY, so haven't really absorbed it. Fantastic study/relax music.

I'd also definitely recommend Cult of Luna's Somewhere along the Highway, although it's a lot heavier than the above music, its simultaneously very soothing. If you're into Isis, then definitely.

Let's see, what's out this year...

Check out:
Jaga Jazzist: One-Armed Bandit
A Silver Mt. Zion: Kollaps Tradixionales
Year Of No Light: Ausserwelt
And So I Watch You From Afar: The Letters
Her Name Is Calla: The Quiet Lamb
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson - Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson
65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway
The Ascent of Everest - From This Vantage
Yann Tiersen - Dust Lane

They're not all very good. They're just the post-rock (and closely related stuff) I've heard this year. There are some other acclaimed releases, but I haven't been very interested in post-rock for a while so I haven't kept a close eye on the genre.

Written by IronAngel on 10.11.2010 at 14:19

Year Of No Light: Ausserwelt

I second this, it's one of my favorites this year. In addition to the post-rock a lot of it is atmospheric sludge as well, and it has one of the best guitar+bass sounds I've heard in all sludge to be honest.

Yep. It's very good. I also liked Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson quite a bit, but it drifts more into the indie/dream pop territory and thus Metalstormers might not be the target audience. And So I Watch You From Afar has their own blend of post-rock, rather energetic and rocking, but I'd recommend their previous full-length.

There is this norwegian band called The samuel jackson five. Their album easily missunderstood is a very good post rock album. Irepress - Samus octology is also to be recommended

Thanks! I'd heard the name before but never paid attention to it. This is pretty decent stuff. It doesn't rely too much on that boring quiet-LOUD crescendo repetition so many bands overdo. You know, Mono, Explosions In The Sky, even many Mogwai songs. It's what initially drew me to post-rock but I'm pretty sick of it by now.

The Samuel Jackson Five are indeed quite good. For all of you that are interested, I suggest you check out Long Distance Calling, Puffin on my Side, Tunturia and The Echelon Effect.

Not sure if these are post rock,,,they are definetly "post" - sumthin and are all are sooooo atmospheric:

Rosetta
God Is An Astronaut
Jakob
Fading Waves
Three Steps To The Ocean

There. Five to start with. Let me know if you want more!!

So... Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Hit or miss?

It's more straightforward than what we're used to hear from Mogwai. Less soft parts and crescendos. I might almost say it's not traditional post-rock anymore but just instrumental rock, but I guess that's going a bit far. So far, I like it. Mexican Grand Prix is ace.

Turns out I didn't listen to the Mogwai record for very long. It's OK but like their previous records, it just didn't really keep my attention. Same with new Explosions In The Sky (who've always been painfully cheesy, though). There have been some nice post-rock albums this year, though. MØN's debut full-length Sikfor Harenstrüp in 326 Øllegårt is pretty cool, reminds me of Magyar Posse. But Grails' Deep Politics is where it's at. Very good album full of catchy hooks and rich sounds.

Mooncake (RU) http://www.myspace.com/mooncakeband

Mono (JP) http://www.myspace.com/monojp

Ugh, post rock. replacing verses and choruses with drawn out crescendos for the past 20 years. Seriously, I love some post-rock, but man is the genre stale. Probably because the genre stopped meaning trying to escape the quintessential "rock framework" in terms of song structure, and now just means "quiet-loud" bands. Hey post-rock, how many times can you replicate "The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place" by Explosions in the Sky? Blah.

Some bands that are still worth listening to: Godspeed, Ascent of Everest, Sleepy Eyes of Death (more shoegazey than anything), Jesu.

That "post-rock is dead" mantra has been obsessively repeated for years. But it isn't really true any moreso than with any genre. You have a bunch of old bands repeating themselves (because let's face it; the biggest offenders of what you describe are EITS themselves), and plenty of innovation as well. Crescendos are only one substyle of post-rock, and neither of the two bands I shared in the previous post are part of that movement, for example.

I agree Ascent of Everest are one of the better bands out there. Plenty of other good releases from Her Name Is Calla, And So I Watch You From Afar, Grails etc. in the past few years. I don't see why bands as diverse as Tortoise, Cul De Sac, 65daysofstatic, Magyar Posse or The Samuel Jackson Five should be compared to something as bland as The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place.

It's not that it is dead, its that the ethos has changed. Similarly people have been decrying punk as being dead since the late 70s, but we all know that The Ataris still draw a big crowd at Warped Tour. It isn't dead, it just shifted character. The original post-rock ethos was to break from formula, but it has now been corned into a formulaic niche genre of quiet-loud artists. People that are interested in the original post-rock ethos have to look to other genres like slowcore, shoegaze, drone, noise, etc. for that original spirit.

Worth a listen: Mona De Bo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPfgbVckK5A

Written by chimx on 15.04.2011 at 22:40

It isn't dead, it just shifted character. The original post-rock ethos was to break from formula, but it has now been corned into a formulaic niche genre of quiet-loud artists.

But that's what I'm saying; it hasn't, really. Well, to some extent it has, and EITS have plenty of quiet-loud crescendo followers. But that's essentially what it means to be an established genre: you have enough bands with enough common denominators to justify a label like "post-rock", "death metal" or "noise pop". The same is true in drone and shoegaze just as well: you can't seriously claim that the masses of bedroom-recording Pitchfork pets in the drone scene or the hordes of retro shoegaze and dream pop bands aren't formulaic and predictable for the most part. Just to look at some albums to have come out this year: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Papercuts, Esben And The Witch, Minks, Maria Minerva, Asobi Seksu, Spokes. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, none of them are anything short of formulaic. Or drone: Natural Snow Buildings made the same album again, ditto for Earth, Stephan Mathieu was completely forgettable, Grouper lost some of her distinct edge and so on.

My point is, there's plenty of experimental and fresh post-rock as well, just as there's loads of generic stuff. Same applies to drone and (to a much greater extent, considering the genre is based on nostalgy) shoegaze. And probably every established genre out there. You can only be completely non-formulaic if you're too young to have established a formula.

And there is nothing wrong with appreciating formula. I primarily listen to funeral doom which is incredibly formulaic. However I think post-rock as a genre has a higher propensity for stagnation because of the intrinsic nature of this formula. It is really confining and most of these "experimental and fresh post-rock" bands are such because of their willingness to move outside of post-rock. Those that don't make stuff like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rENnKECnfs

And don't get me wrong, it's a pretty song, but it's a pretty song we've all heard ten thousand times played by ten thousand different bands.

Strongly recommend Tides From Nebula from Poland.

Oh snap.

Saw Jakob live the other night. Amazing. Very easy to forget that they're just a three piece. Easily one of the best gigs I've been to.

This genre is excellent to listen to while using marijuana

Collapse Under The Empire (Germany)
God Is An Astronaut (Ireland)
Meniscus (Australia)
Sleepmakeswaves (Australia)


I understand that Iceland has a very solid Post-Rock scene too. But I've never checked that out.

Lately I've been going to the roots of post-rock and listening more to the stuff that shaped post-rock rather than the fully-formed style. Namely, Talk Talk (Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock) for that experimental chamber pop and jazz spice, Slint (Spiderland) for the math-rock influence, and Stereolab for the Krautrock angle. I'm really in love with early Stereolab right now. Same with Talk Talk last two albums, though I prefer the slightly more conventional Spirit Of Eden to the critically-acclaimed Laughing Stock. Slint are great, but I must admit I think they're a little overrated. It's not an amazing album, just good.

For great, unusual post-rock albums this year, check out:
Einar Stray - Chiaroscuro (post-rock/chamber pop)
Snowman - Absence (post-rock/experimental rock)
*shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo (post-rock/atmospherc sludge/indie rock)
And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs (post-rock/math-rock)

Really good stuff. Einar Stray and Snowman will definetely be in my top 25 by the end of the year. For more conventional albums, I kinda enjoyed Vessels, Epic45, This Will Destroy You, Jeniferever, Long Distance Calling, and the aforementioned Grails (really really good, top 25 as well), Mogwai and MØN.

As for the Icelandic scene, I don't know how solid it is. There's Sigur Rós, who're successful but cheesy. Then there's Múm, who are amazing but maybe closer to experimental electronic pop. Sólstafir are one of the most original metal acts combining post-rock elements into their atmospheric sludge. But other than that, I can't name any Icelandic post-rock acts off the top of my head. I know there's a good handful of contemporary classical composters, though: namely Ólafur Arnalds, Jóhannn Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir. But yeah, there may be more post-rock out there, I just don't know them.

To me, GY!BE and A Silver Mt Zion will always be the best, with Godspeed's first album being the best post-rock album, and probably the best album ever recorded as well. I've never, since having a great infatuation with that record, found something that was able to have such an effect on me. The other GY!BE and ASMZ releases do though, but F#A#[infinity] was where it started.

GY!BE is great, ASMZ is OK, but I don't honestly fully understand the hype. They don't stand out from other neoclassical p-r bands that much. The Dirty Three and Rachel's were doing gorgeous chamber-music-inspired post-rock in the 90s already, and GY!BE just made their tracks longer. But yeah, not saying I don't really like GY!BE; I just think there's some just as good stuff out there.

Loving the new Junius record right now. And working on my introductory list to post-rock albums (will post it soon), I got around to listening to a lot of Labradford again. So good, so underrated.

There's also a new Laura album out. Apparently, it's quite heavy on vocals. That's cool, I hope vocals make a big return into post-rock in the near future. Seen that from Jeniferever, Junius and Les Discrets lately, for example.

Gonna spam some more. I just created a list of what I think are essential post-rock albums and good introduction to the genre. Not sure if some grumpy mod with delete it for not having the word "metal" in the title, but check it out while you still can and give me feedback:
http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=1698

There's a lot of other post-rock I enjoy, it's just that no others have had such a profound impact on me like GY!BE or ASMZ records. The feeling is just there, something that is absent in a lot of other post-rock bands. No one has made a song quite as devastating as The Dead Flag Blues. I guess I don't look for happiness in post-rock, most of the time (sometimes it's just for the brilliant musicianship).

I enjoyed the list, and I'll have to check a few of those titles out. I don't really agree with Earth's "The Bees..." being post-rock though. I guess it has post-rock instrumentation, but to me, it just sounds like psychedelic southern tumbleweed drones and completely unlike the rest of what I've heard in the list. Lol'd at the bit about EITS because of how true it is.

Well that Earth album is problematic. It's not really ambient, because it's way too structured for that. And there's not a single drone prominent on the album - you know, a note/chord that would run continiously for most of a piece with only slight variations. It's just rock riffs repeated over and over. So I think post-rock is the most fitting label, though it's certainly not of the most typical sort. Kind of close to that Labradford album I mentioned, in fact. (This applies to all of Earth's recent, post-drone-metal albums too.)

The goal was to show many different types of post-rock that's out there, anyhow, so I'm quite happy if some of it seems borderline. Thanks for the comment.

Written by IronAngel on 25.10.2011 at 00:33

The goal was to show many different types of post-rock that's out there, anyhow, so I'm quite happy if some of it seems borderline. Thanks for the comment.

Your list is kind of cool man, thanks for making it. Although tbh with you I think you were too harsh with Explosions In The Sky. I'll bet that the main reason for that is because how much talk is around them which annoys you(?). I'm not a fan or anything, I own two cds which I enjoy and I would recommend them as an easy way into the genre but nothing more than that. I don't know that much about Post-rock because sometimes I'm all over it and sometimes I'm totally "meh" about the music. Sigur Rós and Mono are the only bands I enjoy fully.

About Earth... it is problematic indeed and that's why I only label them as "chilling the fuck out"-music. Which is a perfect tag imo.

To me The Bees has always been post-rock, little more. If if didn't have its drone history behind it I doubt anyone would be able to apply the drone tag to it.

I may be a little harsh of EITS, yeah. I did like them at one point, but then I got sick of them. Their style is so very sentimental, deliberately trying to milk an emtional response to their overblown crescendos and tinkling guitars. They aren't awful, but there are many bands who do the same thing with more taste and restraint, IMO. I probably exaggerate my dislike because they're so widely praised for doing something that isn't all that remarkable.

Written by IronAngel on 25.10.2011 at 18:56

I probably exaggerate my dislike because they're so widely praised for doing something that isn't all that remarkable.

I understand and agree quite a bit. Just to make things clear: I was never pissed at your comment Just wondering.

Written by Guest on 25.10.2011 at 18:03

To me The Bees has always been post-rock, little more. If if didn't have its drone history behind it I doubt anyone would be able to apply the drone tag to it.

I stand by my tags "Chilling the fuck out-music", "chill bro-music" or "chillcore" for that album.

Written by IronAngel on 25.10.2011 at 18:56

I probably exaggerate my dislike because they're so widely praised for doing something that isn't all that remarkable.

Quite agree. I was introduced to them by a very helpful employee at my local music store, who introduced them as essentially an American Mogwai, so naturally I went the way of the scots. Recently got their new album - it's good, but from their reputation I expected more. I'll give one of their more acclaimed ones a go, mainly cause they're coming in december.

Anyways, the post-rock band that I've been loving at the mo is Jakob -http://www.myspace.com/jakobmusic. Give Malachite and Ageena a go - you'll never look back. Their albums Solace and Cale:Drew are breathtaking.