Hmm...
I started off trying to make a list of THE 'post-rock' bits you need to hear, but the more I thought and fiddled about, the more I came to realise that I really didn't want to and couldn't come up with a list like that. It's too tricky and at the end of a day, the 'post-rock' genre is frankly stupid. It covers too much and too little at the same time. In a way it's the same with the whole 'punk rock' thing. I mean, I see Gods'pee as 'punk rock', but then so are The Stooges. It's not about the sound. But you know that.
So, this list is more a list of recommendations, and there are a few reasons why I really think they are important and wonderful pieces of music that can be stacked under the 'post-everything' title in a messy and wobbly pile.
- Rich
01. Swans - The Sound (live)
02. Slint - Washer
03. Hala Strana - Black Dust
04. Labradford - Mas
05. Mogwai - Like Herod
06. Talk Talk - Desire
07. Jesu - Tired of Me
08. Flying Saucer Attack - For Silence
09. Carlton Melton - Found Children
10. Thisquietarmy - Battlefield Arkestrah
11. Windy & Carl - The Same Moon and Stars
12. Tortoise - Gamera
You can get this mix here or you can listen to a partial mix on spotify and you can read Rich's extended explanation regarding track choice/general listening footnotes in the comments below.
Posts
one thing to note is that I have deliberatly not included some of the more well known artists (AND more importantly, Constellatio Records) that fit under this header as.. well.. what's the point?
ReplyDelete* Swans, I love Swans. I REALUY FUCKING LOVE SWANS actually. Swans changes so much from their somewhat nasty beginnings through their just as nasty mellowing out and their pretty unsatisfactory mid period. Then they gave birth to the genre to some degree with Soundtracks For The Blind. Gods'pee owe that album a lot. The studio albums are great, however check out the live albums too... the way the songs are given a while new breath of life and extreme intensity is very very impressive. Excellent live band too.
* Slint, first album is a bit meh really, Spiderland however is one of my all time favourite albums. Play it at an obscene volume... It's mix of brooding social anxiety and fear of so much is utterly devastating.
* Hala Strana is a project of Steven R Smith. I feel it should fit in to this list... I can see why people think it shouldn't. But listen to those drones and melodies rattle about. Smith has a load of other projects that bend more to the feedback and folky areas that is well worth checking out. However the Hala Strana stuff is brilliant.
* Labradford were/are another of the pioneers that really helped shape the sound of it all... a lot more synth and keyboard based than many many other artists under the umbrella
* I'm somewhat reluctant to put Mogwai in here. They are hardly worth bothering with these days, and my favourite of theirs (Come On Die Young) is a bit of a hard one compared to their more straightforward albums. BUT, when Mogwai do good, they can do brilliant. Sure they are fairly dull and quiet these days. But Those first 3 or 4 albums have some brilliant pieces on.
* Talk Talk are on here as I really believe that they helped pioneer this whole mess with Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock. It's a real shame to only pick one track... It should be the entire album...
* Jesu is JK.Broderick, ie the guy who helped found Napalm Death played in a billion other bands and is the man behind Godflesh. This stuff can hit and miss... but the first album is solid but somehow beautiful metal. Think Swans and Sunn o))) at a Slowdive gig. It's great stuff...
* Flying Saucer Attack are Flying Saucer Attack... I'm not sure how they fit in... but if you want guitar textures...
* Carlton Melton was a random 12" purchase, I don't know them that well or anything at all about them... But, it works
* Thisquietarmy is a one man show... think Aidan Baker but a lot more ROCK.
* Windy & Carl are a husband and wife that run a record shop somewhere in America... I can't really describe them other than they do wonderful beautiful long drawn out reverb and delay heavy guitar work...
* And c'mon... Tortoise HAVE to be in here right? Sure they can be annoying and a bit to up themselves at times, but when they do it right like on this which is a fairly early piece (that was for some stupid reason not on an album and only released on their box set) they really excel.
(cont'd)
I think though, the one all encompassing thing I find with this whole murky area of music is that it is the sort of music I do not want to end. There are almost always certain sounds, riffs, pauses and whatever that could, and sometimes should just keep on going and going. Not necessarily building... but just not stopping. The guitar battering at the end of Slint's Washer, and the entire live version of Blood Promise by Swans are examples that, for me anyway, are almost perfect. Of course the problem then comes with the repetition and how maybe that (and drone) is the all encompassing thing that somehow ties down all this music to some degree.
DeleteI hope you enjoy the tracks, I'm sorry for those ridiculous words up there and if I spend any time thinking about this... I will probably change everything I picked.
Really this is maybe just a list of music that I think I love... it could probably be better I'm sure.
Let me know what you think, also, don't listen to Explosions In The Sky, they suck and are truley dull...
- rich
Ah, apologies for the spelling mistakes there... (if you bothered reading... I bet you didn't you arse)
ReplyDelete