The Post-Rock Thread

[phanan]

For some reason I continued thinking I'd luck out and find them in a store, I have not. You all still recommend 'All Is Violent, All Is Bright' as the first to check out? From the 30 second clip, I think I'm going to love 'Remembrance Day'.

Would it be a safe bet to get more than just one of their albums while I'm buying? Tell me your opinions, post-rock posters.

Their albums (or at least some of them) are available to stream on Last FM, aren't they?

I recommend All Is Violent, All Is Bright and Far From Refuge. The latest, self-titled release is very good also.

I had downloaded the albums previously and had wanted to purchase the CDs for a long time. I decided to wait until the new album arrived and bought all of them together, as the shipping remainded $5 regardless of how many I bought.

 

[u2popmofo]

Did you buy them directly from the band's site?

I would explain the Mogwai Fear Satan joke, but that would make my failures at joking even more obvious.

 

[phanan]

Did you buy them directly from the band's site?

Yes.

 

[u2popmofo]

I found a great unofficial video for 'Radio Protector' by 65daysofstatic, which is one of my all time favorite post-rock songs.

YouTube - 65daysofstatic 'Radio Protector'

 

[u2popmofo]

Pelican is coming here in April (to a club I've never heard of). For those of you who've seen them live, how are they? Worth going to?

This reminds me, I still haven't purchased the God is an Astronaut stuff.....

 

[martha]

Pelican is coming here in April (to a club I've never heard of). For those of you who've seen them live, how are they? Worth going to?

yes

 

[u2popmofo]

I know by the pink lettering that you feel strongly about this.

 

[martha]

Thanks for the heads up btw. I've never been to the Troubador, but it's the only date I can make. I prefer the club down in San Diego, but it's a Thursday night and I've got shit going on the next day.

I've seen them twice and I really liked them live both times.

 

[onebloodonelife]

It'd been awhile since giving a full post-rock album a listen...I think the last one was The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place while walking around the icicle of a campus I go to. Anyway, that album's got a very "winter" feel to me, but it still didn't pull me back into the genre like I was hoping.

Listened to Young Mountain by This Will Destroy You this morning, and that did it, which brings me to my question:

Any new post-rock releases I should be checking out?

 

[If you shout...]

Can anybody tell me anything about From Monument to Masses? At this point, all I know is that this is one of the better album covers I've recently seen:

Fantastic!

 

[onebloodonelife]

I feel like I've heard of the band before, but I'm not positive. The album cover is great though!

Edit: First reaction to the beginning of the first song: Super proggy, but in a good way.

 

[phanan]

Haven't heard that one yet. Will need to listen ASAP.

I'm still really into This Is Your Captain Speaking, which came out at the tail end of 2008. I probably rate it higher than I originally did. A solid album.

Still loving A Memory Stream from The American Dollar. Fantastic.

If you like some harder stuff, I recommend Ocoai's Breatherman from last year. Kinda similar to Pelican. The song Babble is worth it alone.

I'm sure Jack In The Box could rattle off some new recommendations.

 

[u2popmofo]

Mono's new album is beautiful:

It's more on the "pretty" side of post-rock (IE, Martha will likely think it's "boring"), but it's quite good. Their label, Temporary Residence, has the opening track, 'Ashes In the Snow' (also one of my favorites from the album) available to download free. Check it out:

http://www.temporaryresidence.com/mp3s/mono-ashes-in-the-snow

Here's their blurb on the album:

Just in time for their 10-year anniversary, MONO return with their fifth studio album, the absolutely massive Hymn To The Immortal Wind. The music is naturally majestic, with MONO's trademark wall of noise crashing beautifully against the largest chamber orchestra the band has ever enlisted. The instrumentation is vast, incorporating strings, flutes, organ, piano, glockenspiel and tympani into their standard face-melting set-up. While Hymn continues to mine the cinematic drama inherent in all of MONO's music, the dynamic shifts now come more from dark-to-light instead of quiet-to-loud. The maturity to balance these elements so masterfully has become MONO's strongest virtue - save for perhaps their uncanny ability to sound every bit like a plane crashing into a Beethoven concert.

 

[impy13]

Amusing story, I had some fanboys who drove down from Austin (aka *~The Impy13s~* "WE'RE FROM AUSTIN!!! YEEEEEAH!") standing to my right who tried to get the crowd to stay after the house lights came on. I'd say about 80% of the crowd didn't leave and chanted "ONE MORE SONG!" at the direction of The Impy13s in protest of the set being an hour long with no encore.

Following that, The Impy13s complained about a specific song not being performed because they felt robbed and the like. Whatevs.

I still can't tell if I'm offended by this or not. Guess we'll never know.

 

[phanan]

I had no idea that Mono had a new album out.

And I still need to check out that From Monument To Masses album.

 

[u2popmofo]

And I still need the God is an Astronaut stuff.



Check out that Mono song though, Phanan. I think you'll dig.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

its a shame that there wasn't some sort of way for the two of you to SHARE this music with each other

 

[phanan]

I believe all of God Is An Astronaut's albums are streaming for free on their website via last.fm.

At least, they used to be. Can't tell now because I can't access last.fm at work.

 

[martha]

It's more on the "pretty" side of post-rock (IE, Martha will likely think it's "boring"),

 

[u2popmofo]

You know it's true, Martha. Try the song out regardless though, I'd happily eat crow on this.

I've listened to a number of God is an Astronaut tracks on Last FM already, enough to know I want the albums. I don't know if they're still there or not either. Elfa, why share when I can buy? I'm singlehandedly trying to save the US economy and the music industry.

 

[martha]

Not found on this server.

 

[u2popmofo]

Interesting, the "mp3" magically disappeared from the link I posted and know worked because I'd tested it.

You can quickly find the link here:

Temporary Residence Limited

It's the second news story. Click on that and the mp3 link is there in the track list.

 

[If you shout...]

I listened to the From Monument to Masses record and hated it. C'est la vie. Still, if I can ever somehow find it in a used bin, on vinyl, it'd be worth picking up. Jesus, that sleeve is beautiful!!!

Also, caught Asobi Seksu (dream-shoegaze) and Resplandor, a few weeks ago. The latter band really knocked me out, and definitely brought the post-rock sound (mixed with dream-pop/shoegaze). I didn't enjoy the record (Pleamar) quite as much as their set (the loudest I've heard since seeing My Bloody Valentine, last year), but I still enjoyed it. Really good stuff. One of the turkeys from Cocteau Twins produced it. It shows. I figure they're worth mentioning, even though it seems likely that people already know who they are...

YouTube - Resplandor - "Sol Océano"

Great song.

 

[powerhour24]

God is an Astronaut is definitely an artist to support with actual buying, they're not huge by any means, who knows if we'll even see them in the US again any time soon, their one and only US tour had lots of equipment stolen from them which was pretty bad for them. Their CDs aren't easy to find without a good local record store (like Newbury Comics ), but that's what Amazon is for.

 

[martha]

Interesting, the "mp3" magically disappeared from the link I posted and know worked because I'd tested it.

You can quickly find the link here:

Temporary Residence Limited

It's the second news story. Click on that and the mp3 link is there in the track list.

so I can listen tomorrow night.

 

[phanan]

I listened to the From Monument to Masses record and hated it. C'est la vie. Still, if I can ever somehow find it in a used bin, on vinyl, it'd be worth picking up. Jesus, that sleeve is beautiful!!!

I rather enjoyed it. I listened to the stream that's available online, and liked what I heard. My local music store had the CD for only $9, so I'm tempted to pick it up.

 

[martha]

You know it's true, Martha. Try the song out regardless though, I'd happily eat crow on this.

I liked it. Quite a bit akcherly.

Does the rest of the album sound like that?



I have a Tower.com order waiting for payday.

 

[u2popmofo]

I liked it. Quite a bit akcherly.

Does the rest of the album sound like that?

Yeah, more or less. There are even songs I like more than that first track on the album as well.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Mono's new album is beautiful:


It's more on the "pretty" side of post-rock (IE, Martha will likely think it's "boring"), but it's quite good. Their label, Temporary Residence, has the opening track, 'Ashes In the Snow' (also one of my favorites from the album) available to download free. Check it out:

http://www.temporaryresidence.com/mp3s/mono-ashes-in-the-snow

Here's their blurb on the album:

Just in time for their 10-year anniversary, MONO return with their fifth studio album, the absolutely massive Hymn To The Immortal Wind. The music is naturally majestic, with MONO's trademark wall of noise crashing beautifully against the largest chamber orchestra the band has ever enlisted. The instrumentation is vast, incorporating strings, flutes, organ, piano, glockenspiel and tympani into their standard face-melting set-up. While Hymn continues to mine the cinematic drama inherent in all of MONO's music, the dynamic shifts now come more from dark-to-light instead of quiet-to-loud. The maturity to balance these elements so masterfully has become MONO's strongest virtue - save for perhaps their uncanny ability to sound every bit like a plane crashing into a Beethoven concert.

Glad you're enjoying it!




Just to keep everybody updated on upcoming post-rock releases:

We vs. Death has a new album coming out on April 11th called A Black House, A Coloured Home. A couple tracks are up for preview on their website: We vs. Death � News & Shows

Isis' Wavering Radiant drops on April 21st. It's already leaked...I'm not an Isis fan, so I haven't heard it, but the comments I've seen on it have been overwhelmingly positive.

Tortoise is releasing Beacons of Ancestorship on June 23rd, their first full-length in 5 years.

Caspian are also set to put out a new record this year, so I'll be looking out for that one, since the You are the Conductor EP is one of my favorite post-rock recordings.

 

[phanan]

I found the entire Mono album streaming online. Currently listening to it, and it is indeed beautiful.