Category Archives: post-rock

Eno is enough

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I pride myself on listening to a wide variety of music. I’m also a solid asset to have on your trivia team if music or lyrics are the categories. Still, I have to admit that I’ve missed or glossed over many artists, some of them legends. This is the case with Brian Eno.

Yes, I’ve heard of Roxy Music, and I know about his many collaborations with artists I do know and love. I just never took the time out to listen to any of his work. I’m sure I’ve heard some of it. Maybe I’ve heard a lot and never knew. In the end I have to hang my head in shame and admit there’s a living music legend I not hip to. Until now.

I’m going to pause here to bring up a point. Being unfamiliar with an artist can actually be a benefit when you write for a music blog. I’m about to talk about a new album with no existing context or preconceived notions based on previous works by the artist. That may be good or bad, but it makes me feel pure and innocent in some way.

Brian Eno’s newest recording, Drums Between The Bells, hits stores Monday, July 4th. Some of you will be camping then, or are already camping instead of reading this, and I don’t blame you. We’ll all have to get back to the grind at some point, though, and this album might be a nice segue. It’s atmospheric and dreamy, but there are moments of harshness and experimentation that keep it from floating off into space. Poet Rick Holland wrote all the lyrics, though they are presented (mostly in spoken-word style over the musical background) by a number of guest vocalists. To keep this post shorter and give you more time to light things on fire, I’ll just post a couple tracks I like. It’s up to you to listen to the rest.

Click to play Brian Eno – Pour It Out

Click to play Brian Eno – A Title

Ok, just a couple points I feel I should add. Disc 1 of the album includes the vocals; disc 2 is the same songs in instrumental form. There is some cute wordplay between the two, such as the track “Dow,” which becomes “Nikkei” on the second disc. If you have a large stock portfolio you’re laughing your head off right now.

I also want to bring up that musically this reminds me A LOT of post-rock bands like Sigur Ros or Pacific UV. With the exception of a few more frenetic tracks, this would fit in perfectly with your collection if you are a fan of that genre or shoegaze. It would also be great background listening when you just need to relax a bit. It’s absolutely gorgeous at times, and always a good listen.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday, even if it’s just a long weekend at home.

equilibrium

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Some weeks are better than others when you write about music. Sometimes the perfect album appears early on and you’ve finished your post in short order. On the flip side, sometimes you have to trudge through a lot of records to find the one that sparks something. Lately the latter has been true for me.

I started out with Holy Ghost! by Holy Ghost!. First of all, the punctuation included in their name pisses off the grammar lover in me. I just had to put a period after an exclamation point. While it’s technically correct in this case I just feel creepy now. Anyway…

These guys are doing the 80s dance revival thing that’s so popular right now. That’s not really my thing, so this album wasn’t so exciting for me. The music is done well and all but in the end bands like this just make me want to break out my Welcome To The Pleasuredome album. That’s right, Frankie Goes To Hollywood for the win.

I did pass this along to some friends who secretly wish they were Molly Ringwald, and I know some of you may be interested in the group, so here’s a track. If it’s your bag go pick up a copy and tell everyone how awesome it is and how out of touch kilter is. I’ll be ok. Really.

Click to play Holy Ghost! – Wait And See

Next up was Silverstein and their album Rescue . I was thinking, “they’re Canadian, they’re post-hardcore, they like Shel Silverstein enough to name their band after him; how bad can they be?” Well, again, they may be wonderful for some of you out there but this is what happened when I queued up the first track:

Click to play Silverstein – Medication

I’m just not that into them. It’s not them, it’s me. They’re obviously very talented musicians (listen to the drummer) but I’m over anything that even resembles emo/screamo/whatever. My angst levels are low enough that this doesn’t get my blood boiling or even intrigue me. What does intrigue me is how “post-hardcore” as a genre can include this kind of music alongside, say, Fugazi. We’re painting with an extremely wide brush there, folks.

I had just about given up and gone back to Girl Talk or The Cave Singers to match my general mood, then the new Explosions In The Sky album came my way. These guys are probably my favorite post-rock band so the timing couldn’t have been better.

The new album, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is a 6-song instrumental journey on par with anything these guys have put out. They build lush, extended (most songs are over 7 minutes long) soundscapes that really draw you in. This is, in my humble opinion, what the post-rock movement is all about. You can sit back and let the music swirl around you or you can listen intently to the thickness of the production and catch all the little nuances. I’d love to post multiple tracks from this album but it would be practically giving the thing away. Here’s one, which should be enough to convince you to buy the record.

Click to play Explosions In The Sky – Be Comfortable, Creature

So, even though I can’t say it was a wonderful week overall for my musical tastes, I’m sure there’s something here for everyone. Grab one (or all) of these albums this week and enjoy.

Oh, and here’s the full Silverstein track, in case you’re interested. I’d hate to leave you hanging.

Click to play Silverstein – Medication

Is it me you’re looking for?

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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.

–Simon Reynolds

Mogwai

Post-rock is made up of guitars like a regular rock band, but processed through so many filters and effect pedals that it barely sounds like a guitar on the other side of the speaker. Bands of this genre also tend to rebel against the norms of rock bands. Macho posturing and power chords are replaced by lengthy, textural instrumentals and often computers playing a part in the sound of the music.

Todays post is about my favorite Post-Rock band Mogwai from Scotland. They formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (electric guitar, vocals), John Cummings (electric guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (electric guitar, piano, synthesiser, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drum kit). The band is named after the creatures from the film Gremlins, although guitarist Braithwaite comments that “it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it.“

Mogwai’s style could easily be called shoegazing or Math Rock and occasionally instrumental metal. These are all genres that can fall under the heading Post-Rock. Mogwai is at the forefront of the genre and moving it forward with confidence and purpose.

Let’s listen to some Post-Rock shall we? …and before the title of the track throws you completely for a loop, I’ll mention that the band often has a hard time with titles since most of the songs are just instrumentals. The band has said in the FAQ off their website that they sometimes just use strings of words they have “said or seen that sounds good or makes us laugh“.

Here is the closing track from Mogwai’s seventh album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (released 2/14/2011).

Click to listen to Mogwai – You’re Lionel Ritchie

The song starts off almost as something from the score of a movie. Cinematic and shimmering we hear some vocal samples (I’m assuming they are Scottish) that really frame a picture in your head. The song simmers for 4 minutes until the heaviness sets in. The bass comes in like an oppressive force of nature. All the members of the band painting pictures in your ear.

Barry Burns once stated in an interview with Chillville that he and the rest of the band do not like the categorization of Post-Rock because he believes “it overanalyses everything.” I get it. No one wants to be so easily put into a box, forever feeling limited by the parameters of said box. But the thing is… To explain music to others, we sometimes have to put boxes around it, even if they’re just made with pencil.