What the hell is "post rock"?

[Jim LotFP]

The term means nothing to me. Heavy metal is friggin 'post-rock' if you take the words at their meaning.

Somebody describe it for me please. (as in, use words, don't point to sound clips or tell me to 'check out this band')...

 

[NAD]

I dunno, but I like it.

 

[JayKeeley]

I dunno, but I like it.

What are examples of post rock bands? Is that stuff like GY!BE, Silver Mount Zion, and maybe even Isis? I'm lost with sub-sub-sub genre names at this point.

 

[IOfTheStorm]

"Post rock" is a failure as a term to describe bands. GYBE are supposed to be post rock, Kayo Dot too (i think). Any musical connection between them? N-O.

 

[Dev]

Not Isis . Isis was categorized Post-Hardcore at the time of Oceanic , Metal/Industrial/wtf at Celestial's release , today it has no sense , it is just a band conveying emotions in heavy rock/metal music.

Mono , Red Sparowes , Mogwai , GY!BE , Silver MT Zion are post-rock .

 

[Dev]

"Post rock" is a failure as a term to describe bands. GYBE are supposed to be post rock, Kayo Dot too (i think). Any musical connection between them? N-O.

Kayo Dot gathers elements from post-rock , Neurosis , Maudlin of the well if you ask me; see also bits of Jeff Buckley and Sigur Ros (post-rock to a lesser extent)

 

[lurch70]

sounds like a cereal

 

[NAD]

What Dev said. But I would certainly draw comparisons between GY!BE and Kayo Dot. Mostly with the use of tension and release. I don't really know why this stuff is called "post rock" because some are either firmly planted in rock (Mono, Kayo Dot) and others have nothing to do with it (GY!BE).

Also, when I think of "post" I think post-apocalyptic, which makes me think of bands like Khanate, Gruntsplatter, and even Sunn O))). Like the dismantling of sound, or something.

 

[lizard]

to me, post rock is music which is clearly rock based, with primacy falling upon the guitars, but including elements that metal as a general rule would never include beyond token inclusion, such as strings (KD and Mono). There's also a clear attempt to use the music to create emotional feelings, i.e., mono's halcyon (beautiful days), going for the ever more hushed shimmer and then CRUSHING the listener with sheer volume. I hear Mogwai is an absolute monster live, using volume itself almost as an instrument...

 

[KILL TULLY]

Crap?

 

[lizard]

one man's trash is another man's treasure

 

[NAD]

Crap?

Just because you don't have the mental or emotional capacity to comprehend blah blah blah blah [/art fag]

I'm joking of course, I know a lot of people hate this kind of stuff and that's fine. I love it, but a little goes a long way and it's not daily listening material.

 

[lizard]

obviously its not for people whose tolerance cannot go beyond intro/verse 1/verse 2/chorus/guitar solo/verse 3/chorus/outro

 

[vampyré]

The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-rock

 

[lizard]

thanks...that makes perfect sense.
I mean, the Velvet Underground has to be the embryo of this, and then Sonic Youth.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Sonic Youth are fucking phenomenal. I just wanted to add that.

 

[NAD]

Wikipedia to the rescue! And vampyré for pointing it out.

Hey I need some god damn Sonic Youth, it's about fucking time. Where do I start?

Velvet Underground = Un. Fucking. Ruly

 

[J.]

supposedly "deep" art fag music, to answer the question

 

[lizard]

I confess there's always been that whiff of pretension about Sonic Youth which has kept me from exploring them, but now that post rock has totally broken me open like a shotgun and fucked my ass raw, I may just be queer enough to give it a go.

 

[KILL TULLY]

obviously its not for people whose tolerance cannot go beyond intro/verse 1/verse 2/chorus/guitar solo/verse 3/chorus/outro

Un-fair

Some people can tolerate this, and understand it, and play it, and all that jazz, but just don't want to listen to it.

I guess some of us where BORN! TO! ROCK!

and others where BORN! TO! BOBOURHEADSANDCONTEMPLATETHECOMPLEXTIMESIGNATURESPRESENTEDTOUSINANAVANTEGARDESTYLE!