EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Daigomi/Banner__Daigomis_Guide_to_v1.jpg)
So, I've decided to start with post-rock. As the name of the genre states, it is a style of music that has developed "beyond" rock music, and just like with modernism and postmodernism, post-rock has to a large extent developed as a contrast to rock music, while still keeping something in common with rock music.
Post-rock music is characterized by rock instruments (drums, guitars, and bass guitars), without conforming to typical rock standards. Songs are often instrumental, almost orchestral, with long build-ups, subtle and intricate melodies, and raging choruses. Listening to post-rock always reminds me of listening to classical music made by rock instruments.
When there are vocals in post-rock, the vocals are rarely the focus of the music, but serve more as an added instrument. The music can be both soothing and challenging at the same time, and is often quite progressive.
1. Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun
![[image loading]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/b1/ad/150b81b0c8a0ef4c47ad8110.L.jpg)
Track Listing
- The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses.
We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down On Our Mute Faces With a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye.
Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe.
A Message of Avarice Rained Down Upon Us and Carried Us Away Into False Dreams of Endless Riches.
'Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In.'
And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, the Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole.
Millions Starved and We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter.
Finally, as That Blazing Sun Shone Down Upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry; and Only Then Did We Begin to Think for Ourselves.
To me, this is the greatest post-rock album ever. From the very first song on the track the music lifts you up and takes you on an incredible journey. After years of listening to rock music you'll be amazed at the diversity of sounds that can still be made using the same instruments.
"Every Red Heart" is a concept album about the great leap forward and specifically the great sparrow campaign aimed at stopping the sparrow plague of the time. Unfortunately, with the eradication of all the sparrows, there was nothing to curb the locust population, so the sparrow plague was followed by a great locust plague that led to the starvation of 38 million people.
The first track ("The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses") perfectly conveys both the promise of the great leap forward, as well as the metaphorical storm of the title. However, the music grows more silent and desolate throughout the album until the second last song ("Millions Starved ... ") which is almost dirge-like. Only in the last song is there redemption, as the population realises the "the true enemy was the voice of blind idolatry", and they learn to think for themselves.
"Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun" is not an easy album to listen to. It is very dark, and very dense. However, the music is always interesting, and the album tells its story with such power that, to me, it's the pinnacle of its genre.
2. Mogwai - Rock Action
![[image loading]](http://www.youmakemusic.com/images/shop/3/PIASV010CD_.jpg)
Track Listing
- "Sine Wave"
Take Me Somewhere Nice
O I Sleep
Dial: Revenge
You Don't Know Jesus
Robot Chant
2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
This album is very different from the Red Sparowes album. The music, while not upbeat, always seems to be on the verge of being happy. The album reminds me somewhat of a very mellow trip, or that feeling you get when you're somewhere sociable, slightly drunk, and you just enter your own world. There's an album called "Soundtrack to Your Life", and whenever I listen to Rock Action, I feel like that should have been the title of this album.
The most prominent instrument on the album is an acoustic guitar, which moves the album along comfortably, without ever making itself too present. However, the whole album doesn't just pass by in a blur of niceness. Other than the almost clinical coldness hidden beneath each song, the inability for the music to get truly passionate, there are a few songs that change their tone from a happy daze to something close to anger, such as track five "You Don't Know Jesus".
All in all then, the album is a beautiful piece of composition which allows you to live alongside it most of the time, but every now and again reminds you that you are still listening to music. It's a stunningly beautiful album.
3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Liftyrskinnyfists.jpg)
Track Listing
- Storm
Static
Sleep
Antennas to Heaven
Godspeed's Lift Your Skinny Fists is the first ever post-rock album I listened to. It's a double disc, with each disc containing two tracks. Each track is then subdivided into between three and seven movements. Thus, from the outset it is clear that the album intends to be an orchestral masterpiece. The tracks are all roughly 20 minutes long.
The songs are slow, but very dynamic. Listening to this album is something like reading a Tom Clancy novel. There is a very long build-up, which, although interesting, is clearly leading up to something. However, once the song reaches its climax it will keep you there for at least as long as the build-up was. This might sound strange, but it works out beautifully. With each bar the album draws you in more, and by the end the album will leave you exhausted but pleased.
The slight sexual analogy above wasn't really intended, but it's surprisingly fitting. In the end, this album is hard work but well worth the ride.
4. 65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e1/65dos_the_fall_of_math.jpg)
Track Listing
- Another Code Against the Gone
Install a Beak in the Heart That Clucks Time in Arabic
Retreat! Retreat!
Default This
I Swallowed Hard, Like I Understood
The Fall of Math
This Cat is a Landmine
The Last Home Recording
Hole
Fix the Sky a Little
Aren't We All Running?
The Fall of Math is a strange album. The tracks are shorter than your typical post-rock tracks, and there are few build-ups, and very few songs that pulls the listener along with them. In fact, the tracks almost seem like snippets from other post-rock tracks. Some of the snippets are from the climax, others are from the build-up, but they are all interesting.
65daysofstatic also use breakbeats and glitches in their music, something that is not completely unknown in post-rock, but is also not common. However, rather than detracting from the music, this simply adds to it. The music of 65daysofstatic is a more dynamic than almost any post-rock band out there, and the tracks somehow seem to trick the listener into believing that they are just as "epic" as other post-rock tracks.
Basically, 65daysofstatic delivers the goods without taking you on the journey, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And when you pull it off as well as they do, you create an album that becomes an instant classic. "The Fall of Math" is one of the most entertaining and accessible post-rock albums out there, and if I want to listen to a great post-rock track quickly, I always choose one from this album.
5. Pelican - Australasia
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/Australasiacover.jpg)
Track Listing
- NightEndDay
Drought
Angel Tears
gw
Untitled
Australasia
The last spot on my list had to go to Pelican. Pelican is something between a post-rock and metal band. Or rather, they produce post-rock music with a metal sound. The bass is heavier, the songs are noisier, and everything is just a touch more passionate.
Their album "Australasia" was their debut album, and according to them not as polished as they would have wanted it to be. And it's true, if try some of their later albums, like "City of Echoes" for instance, you'll find the music much more accessible. However, music shouldn't always be accessible, or perfectly polished. Listening to Pelican is like looking at a Francis Bacon portrait - it's raw and brutal, but that's what makes it so powerful.
Everyone should have an album like this to listen to on days when a bit of raw power is needed. It's beautifully composed and beautifully performed, just not in the way we usually perceive beauty. I love it.
Other Albums
Mono - One Step More and You Die - Just a very good, powerful, post-rock album. Nothing unique, but great quality.
Tenhi - Kauan - Actually considered neofolk, Tenhi creates some of the most surreal and beautiful melodies with contemporary rock instruments.
Explosions in the Sky - Friday Night Lights OST - It's not often you find someone willing to use something experimental in a mainstream product, but it worked out perfectly for the director of Friday Night Lights.
I hope you have all enjoyed the first installment of this series. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to post links to these albums as that would be against the rules of TL. However, I implore you to find these albums on your own and give them a try. Also, feel free to give me your opinions on post-rock, and tell me which albums you think should be on the list!
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