Any Post-Rockers in the house?

[Scott Dolan]

I hear that, Guy. I'm definitely late to the Post-Rock party. And there are several sub genres I've experienced in the past that I feel the same way about as you do with this one. Been there, done that, won't complain if I happen to do it again, but ultimately would rather not. 

And the Bark Psychosis album is another that ends up towards the top of many "best of" lists that I've seen. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by Scott Dolan

[clifford_thornton]

Isotope 217 were cool though with all that Rob Mazurek has done since, it's hard to put in the same category as these bands. 

[mjazzg]

Isotope 217 get a from me too. There's a Him album "Sworn Eyes" that also tangentially touches this scene, in my head anyway. In reality and when I listen to it again it'll probably have no connection whatsoever

Scotland's Mogwai, are worth a listen. Their album "Les Revenants" comes highly recommended. Also,Flying Saucer Attack

I hear what Guy's saying. Many of these albums (not the GYBE or the Mogwai above) are buried under piles of other unlistened to CDs in a cupboard. This thread may just get me digging them out

 

[Scott Dolan]

Mogwai's album, Young Team, sounds really outstanding from the tunes I've heard off of it. 

[clifford_thornton]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

Isotope 217 get a from me too. There's a Him album "Sworn Eyes" that also tangentially touches this scene, in my head anyway. In reality and when I listen to it again it'll probably have no connection whatsoever

 

Him was Doug Scharin (Codeine, Rex, June of '44, Directions) and whomever he could get on board -- lunkheaded dub experiments and, with horns, an Afrobeat-inspired ensemble. One of the bands I was in opened for a touring version of the band many, many years ago. They played a good show.

[mjazzg]

Yep, that's the Him I hear in my head

edit to add: now listening to the album and it's standing up well, Thankfully not too much Dub (which I feel never convinces outside it's natural home, where it convinces completely). Sounds a bit like an expanded precursor to Chicago Underground Duo when RM's playing. Not post-rock in the slightest but fun nonetheless.

Maybe for Big Beat's benefit I could create the sub-genre of post-Dub non-post rock 

Edited January 18, 2017 by mjazzg

[xybert]

Millions Now Living and TNT from Tortoise were big for me at the time. I have a particularly fond memory of spacing out to DJed one friday night. Was interesting years later to learn of the Chicago jazz connection, Jon Herndon and Jeff Parker etc.

Also had that GY!BE album with Dead Flag Blues on it... liked it but by the time i would've been getting more i was already moving on.

Spiderland! One of those legendary albums that i couldn't get in to... need to have another listen at some point. 

Do bands like Isis and Cult of Luna fit in to the post-rock realm? I think they are more post-metal/post-hardcore or whatever, but i always kind of thought of them as being related to post-rock in a way.

 

[Scott Dolan]

Isis is listed as Post-Metal. Cue Big Beat Steve!

I do like that tune, though. Even if I'm not a fan of the Cookie Monster vocals...

Edited January 18, 2017 by Scott Dolan

[clifford_thornton]

A precursor to Don Caballero that also fits into the art-metal/doom aesthetic is the Dutch band Gore, who released three LPs in the mid-/late-80s that are well worth seeking out. Pretty minimal/arch and odd stuff.

[Olie Brice]

19 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Mogwai's album, Young Team, sounds really outstanding from the tunes I've heard off of it. 

That was the first album I discovered that turned me on to this stuff.  I saw them quite a few times as well - some of the loudest gigs I've ever been at.  For some reason they haven't aged as well to my ears as some of the other stuff, but they were an important part of that scene.

[Big Beat Steve]

16 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Isis is listed as Post-Metal. Cue Big Beat Steve!

 

  You see, that makes some sense - just like Post-Bop does to me: You have gone beyond (I guess) the usual stylistic boundaries of a subgenre but where end up at still shows where you came from and you still are within "rock" (or jazz in the case of Post-Bop). But if you go beyond THE all-encompassing major genre (such as in "Post-Rock") where DO you go from there? And "what is it", actually? (This to get back to your yesterday's question - which is not for me to answer, BTW, but for those who are INTO that genre - but it hasn't been answered in this thread yet, except if by those who refer to it as progressive independent instrumental or experimental - which would certainly make more sense to me than "post-rock".

Will ask my kid tonight if he has heard of Post-Metal and where he locates it.

 

[Scott Dolan]

I figure life is too short to bother hand-wringing over the name of a musical sub genre. 

Post-Rock is what these bands are referred to, and I'll continue to use the term as a means of simple identification, not as some form of a sociopolitical statement.

[Big Beat Steve]

By all means do so. I certainly won't try to prevent you, and no hand wringing either, just some snickering at what some characters out there come up with.

Ha, where did all those concert flyers with those "speed-trash-cum-garage indie" et al. band and genre descriptions go? They sure were/are fun in their explicitness. And to top things, you can string together almost anything and still trigger the reader's/audience's imagination.

[Scott Dolan]

See? Right there you lay out one of th bigger issues. Being explicit to the point of absurdity. 

Post-Rock. Two words. Short and sweet. 

What is it? Listen to it and make your own determination. But, if you want to talk to someone about Post-Rock, it's probably best practice to state it up front. Kind of like I did here and everyone but you instantly knew what I was referring to.  

[clifford_thornton]

Can we get back to the music, whatever it is, rather than beat a dead semantic horse?

 

Rhoda is unfuckwithable.

[JSngry]

I've enjoyed maybe more than my fair share of disco, is that post-rock?

[clifford_thornton]

Definitely a Rock band but Bitch Magnet is easily my favorite of the late '80s/early '90s heavy indie rock scene, such as it was. Their final statement on LP included this:

 

I saw these guys open for Silkworm in 1995 or early '96, before Flemish Altruism came out, and they were really good live. That first album is the best but the second one has its moments too, such as this:

 

[clifford_thornton]

Great one from AMF's first album:

 

[Big Beat Steve]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

I've enjoyed maybe more than my fair share of disco, is that post-rock?

How about post-Soul?

 

[clifford_thornton]

I'd say post-punk bands like X-Ray Spex, Swell Maps, This Heat, God's Gift, Glaxo Babies, The Lines (all verrry different from one another, mind you) were precursors to a lot of this music and much weirder than anything in the 'post-rock' realm other than maybe Gastr del Sol.

 

[Scott Dolan]

I can hear that. Lots of Beefheart in there as well. 

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, but eradicating the blues, R&B and soul that the Captain had. Not that that's a bad thing -- just different perspectives and experiences (the bands I listed above are English).

[Scott Dolan]

3 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

Great one from AMF's first album:

 

Damn...

They really had something going there until the lead screamer started going off. 

[clifford_thornton]

yeah, the shouting is perhaps an acquired taste if you aren't keyed into the punk/hardcore element that a number of these bands grew out of. I don't mind it at all

[Guy Berger]

Another one that was released around the same era which might fit in the genre - Add N to X, AVANT HARD.