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Post-rock

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"Post rock" redirects here. For other uses, see Post Rock (disambiguation).

Post-rock
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1980s and early 1990s, United Kingdom, Canada and United States
Derivative forms
Local scenes
Other topics

Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock characterized by the exploration of textures and timbres as well as non-rock styles, often with minimal or no vocals, placing less emphasis on conventional song structures or riffs than on atmosphere for musically evocative purposes.[3][4] Post-rock artists can often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics and digital production as a means of enabling the exploration of textures, timbres and different styles.[5][6][3] The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scenes of the 1980s and 1990s, but as it abandoned rock conventions, it began to show less musical resemblance to conventional indie rock at the time.[6][3] The first wave of post-rock derives inspiration from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, psychedelia, dub, and minimalist classical,[3] with these influences also being pivotal for the substyle of ambient pop.[7]

Artists such as Talk Talk and Slint were credited with producing foundational works in the style in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[3][6] The term "post-rock" was notably employed by journalist Simon Reynolds in a review of Bark Psychosis' 1994 album Hex. With the release of Tortoise's 1996 album Millions Now Living Will Never Die, post-rock became an accepted term for the associated scene of artists.[3] The term has since developed to refer to bands oriented around dramatic and suspense-driven instrumental rock, making the term controversial among listeners and artists alike.[8][9]

Etymology

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The concept of "post-rock" was initially developed by critic Simon Reynolds,[10] who used the term in his review of Bark Psychosis' album Hex, published in the March 1994 issue of Mojo magazine.[11] Reynolds expanded upon the idea later in the May 1994 issue of The Wire.[5][12] Referring to the artists Seefeel, Disco Inferno, Techno Animal, Robert Hampson, and Insides, Reynolds used the term to describe music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures rather than riffs and power chords". He further expounded on the term that

[p]erhaps the really provocative area for future development lies [...] in cyborg rock; not the wholehearted embrace of Techno's methodology, but some kind of interface between real time, hands-on playing and the use of digital effects and enhancement.

Reynolds, in a July 2005 entry in his blog, said that he had used the concept of "post-rock" before using it in Mojo, previously referring to it in a feature on Insides for music newspaper Melody Maker.[13] He also said he later found the term not to be of his own coinage, writing in his blog "I discovered many years later it had been floating around for over a decade."[13] In 2021, Reynolds reflected on the evolution of the style, saying that the term had developed in meaning during the 21st century, no longer referring to "left-field UK guitar groups engaged in a gradual process of abandoning songs [and exploring] texture, effects processing, and space," but instead coming to signify "epic and dramatic instrumental rock, not nearly as post- as it likes to think it is."[9]

Earlier uses of the term include its employment in a 1975 article by American journalist James Wolcott about musician Todd Rundgren, although with a different meaning.[14] It was also used in the Rolling Stone Album Guide to name a style roughly corresponding to "avant-rock" or "out-rock".[13] The earliest use of the term cited by Reynolds dates back as far as September 1967. In a Time cover story feature on the Beatles, writer Christopher Porterfield hails the band and producer George Martin's creative use of the recording studio, declaring that this is "leading an evolution in which the best of current post-rock sounds are becoming something that pop music has never been before an art form."[13] Another pre-1994 example of the term in use can be found in an April 1992 review of 1990s noise-pop band The Earthmen by Steven Walker in Melbourne music publication Juke, where he describes a "post-rock noisefest".[15]

Characteristics

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Post-rock group Sigur Rós performing at a 2005 concert in Reykjavík

Post-rock incorporates stylings and traits from a variety of musical genres and scenes, including krautrock, ambient,[16] psychedelia,[16] prog rock, space rock, math rock, tape music and other experimental recording techniques, minimalist classical, British IDM, jazz (both avant-garde and cool), and dub,[3] as well as post-punk, free jazz, contemporary classical, and avant-garde electronica.[17] It can also bear similarities to drone music, and usage of drones in psychedelic rock.[18][3] Early post-rock groups often exhibited strong influence from the krautrock of the 1970s, particularly borrowing elements of the "motorik", the characteristic krautrock rhythm.[3][19][20][21]

Post-rock compositions can often make use of repetition of musical motifs and subtle changes with an extremely wide range of dynamics. In some respects, this is similar to the music of Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Brian Eno, pioneers of minimalism who were acknowledged influences on bands in the first wave of post-rock.[19] Post-rock pieces can be lengthy and instrumental, containing repetitive build-ups of timbres, dynamics and textures.[5] Vocals are often omitted from post-rock; however, this does not necessarily mean they are absent entirely. When vocals are included, the use is typically non-traditional: some post-rock bands employ vocals as purely instrumental efforts and incidental to the sound, rather than a more traditional use where "clean", easily interpretable vocals are important for poetic and lyrical meaning.[3] When present, post-rock vocals are often soft or droning and are typically infrequent or present in irregular intervals, and have abstract or impersonal lyrics. Sigur Rós, a band known for their distinctive vocals, fabricated a language they called "Hopelandic" ("Vonlenska" in Icelandic), which they described as "a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument."[22]

Often, in lieu of typical rock structures like the verse-chorus form, post-rock groups make greater use of soundscapes. Simon Reynolds states in his essay "Post-Rock" from Audio Culture that "A band's journey through rock to post-rock usually involves a trajectory from narrative lyrics to stream-of-consciousness to voice-as-texture to purely instrumental music".[23] Reynolds' conclusion defines the sporadic progression from rock, with its field of sound and lyrics to post-rock, where samples are manipulated, stretched and looped.

Wider experimentation and blending of other genres have taken hold in the post-rock scene. Cult of Luna, Isis, Russian Circles, Palms, Deftones, and Pelican fused metal with post-rock styles, with the resulting sound being termed post-metal. More recently, sludge metal has grown and evolved to include (and in some cases fuse completely with) some elements of post-rock. This second wave of sludge metal has been pioneered by bands such as Giant Squid and Battle of Mice. This new sound is often seen on the label of Neurot Recordings.[24] Similarly, bands such as Altar of Plagues, Lantlôs and Agalloch blend between post-rock and black metal, incorporating elements of the former while primarily using the latter.[25] In some cases, this sort of experimentation and blending has gone beyond the fusion of post-rock with a single genre, as in the case of post-metal, in favor of an even wider embrace of disparate musical influences as it can be heard in bands like Deafheaven.

History

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Precedents

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A precedent to post-rock is the late 1960s U.S. group The Velvet Underground and their "dronology"—"a term that loosely describes fifty percent of today's post rock activity".[26] A 2004 article from Stylus Magazine also noted that David Bowie's 1977 album Low would have been considered post-rock if released twenty years later.[27]

British group Public Image Ltd (PiL) were also pioneers, described by the NME[28] as "arguably the first post-rock group". Their second album Metal Box (1979) almost completely abandoned traditional rock and roll structures in favor of dense, repetitive dub and krautrock inspired soundscapes and John Lydon's cryptic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. The year before Metal Box was released, PiL bassist Jah Wobble declared that "rock is obsolete".[29] Dean McFarlane of AllMusic describes Alternative TV's Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One) (1979) as "a door opening on multi-faceted post-rock music," citing its drawing on avant-garde, noise and jazz.[30]

This Heat are regarded as having predated the genre, while also being credited as an influence on bands in the first wave of post-rock.[31][32][33] Their music has been compared directly to Slint, Swans and Stereolab.[31] Stump were referred to as "a significant precursor to post-rock" due to the "strictness" of the band's avant-garde approach, and their musical characteristics of uncertainty and unevenness.[34]

1990s: first wave

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Post-rock group Mogwai performing at a 2007 concert

Originally used to describe the electronica-tinged rock-adjacent indie music of English bands such as Stereolab,[35] Laika,[36] Disco Inferno,[37] Moonshake,[38] Seefeel,[6] Bark Psychosis, and Pram, many of which began in post-punk and shoegaze roots,[5] post-rock grew to denote further elaborations on this style.[6][3] Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint or, earlier, Talk Talk, were later recognized as influential on post-rock.[6] Despite the fact that the two bands are very different from one another, with Talk Talk emerging from art rock and new wave and Slint emerging from post-hardcore, they both have had a driving influence on the way post-rock progressed throughout the 1990s.

Post-rock group Do Make Say Think performing at a May 2007 concert

Groups such as Tortoise, Cul de Sac, and Gastr del Sol, as well as more ambient-oriented bands from the Kranky label like Labradford, Bowery Electric, and Stars of the Lid, are often cited as foundational to the American first wave of post-rock, especially in the Chicago scene.[39] The second Tortoise album, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, made the band a post-rock icon,[6][40] with bands such as Do Make Say Think beginning to record music inspired by the "Tortoise-sound".[41]

In the late 1990s, Chicago was the home of a variety of post-rock associated performers. John McEntire of Tortoise and Jim O'Rourke of Brise-Glace, both of Gastr Del Sol, were important for many of these groups, with them both also producing multiple albums by Stereolab in the 1990s and 2000s.[42] One of the most eminent post-rock locales is Montreal, where Godspeed You! Black Emperor and related groups, including Silver Mt. Zion and Fly Pan Am, recorded on Constellation Records;[43] these groups are generally characterized by a melancholy and crescendo-driven style rooted in, among other genres, chamber music, musique concrète techniques and free jazz influences.[19] In 2000, Radiohead released the studio album Kid A, marking a significant turning point in their musical style, with Reynolds describing it and the 2001 follow-up album Amnesiac as major examples of post-rock in the style that had been established by the first wave.[44][45]

2000s–2010s: second and third waves

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In the early 2000s, the term became divisive with both music critics and musicians, with it being seen as falling out of favor.[46] It became increasingly controversial as more critics outwardly condemned its use.[3] Some of the bands for whom the term was most frequently assigned, including Cul de Sac,[47][48] Tortoise,[46] and Mogwai,[8] rejected the label. The wide range of styles covered by the term, they and others have claimed, robbed it of its individuality.[49]

As part of the second wave of post-rock, Explosions in the Sky, 65daysofstatic, This Will Destroy You, Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Mono became some of the more popular post-rock bands of the new millennium.[50] Sigur Rós, with the release of Ágætis byrjun in 1999, became among the most well known post-rock bands of the 2000s due to the use of many of their tracks, particularly their 2005 single "Hoppípolla", in TV soundtracks and film trailers. These bands' popularity was attributed to a move towards a more conventional rock oriented sound with simpler song structures and increasing utilization of pop hooks, also being regarded as a new atmospheric style of indie rock.[51] Following a 13-year hiatus, experimental rock band Swans began releasing a number of albums that were regarded as post-rock, most notably To Be Kind, which was acclaimed by AllMusic at the end of 2014.[52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Howells, Tom (5 October 2015). "Blackgaze: meet the bands taking black metal out of the shadows". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2017. Enter 'blackgaze', the buzz term for a new school of bands taking black metal out of the shadows and melding its blast beats, dungeon wailing and razorwire guitars with the more reflective melodies of post-rock, shoegaze and post-hardcore.
  2. ^ Bloggins, Kenny (3 April 2012). "Dreamlab: The Semantics of Post-Rock". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 28 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Post-Rock". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  4. ^ Everett True (6 October 2017). "Bark Pychosis". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018 – via PressReader.
  5. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Simon (May 1994). "S. T." The Wire. Archived from the original on 2 December 2001. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Abebe, Nitsuh (11 July 2005). "The Lost Generation" (PDF). Pitchfork Media. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Ambient Pop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  8. ^ a b Redfern, Mark (2001). "A Conversation with Mogwai's Dominic Aitchison". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on 12 February 2003. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  9. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon. "From Rapture to Rupt: The Journey of Seefeel". Warp. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  10. ^ "The 30 best post-rock albums - FACT Magazine". 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  11. ^ Reynolds, Simon (March 1994). "Bark Psychosis: Hex". Mojo. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  12. ^ "The Wire 20". The Wire. November 2002. Archived from the original on 17 August 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  13. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Simon (14 July 2005). "S. T." blissblog. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  14. ^ Wolcott, James (July 1975). "Todd Rundgren – Street Punk in Self-Imposed Exile". Creem. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  15. ^ Walker, Steven (April 1992). "S. T." Juke. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  16. ^ a b Wiederhorn, Jon (4 August 2016). "A Brief History of Post-Metal". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  17. ^ Heller, Jason (20 June 2013). "Picking a path through the nebulous terrain of post-rock". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  18. ^ Cox & Warner 2004, p. 359 (in "Post-Rock" by Simon Reynolds): "The Velvets melded folkadelic songcraft with a wall-of-noise aesthetic that was half Phil Spector, half La Monte Young—and thereby invented dronology, a term that loosely describes 50 per cent of today's post-rock activity." (about the Velvet Underground and post-rock)
  19. ^ a b c Henderson, Keith (June 2001). "What Exactly Comes After Post-rock?". Aural Innovations. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  20. ^ Hacker, Scot (July 1996). "The Post-Rock Phenomenon". Utne Reader. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  21. ^ Tweney, Chris (May 1997). "What You Need to Know About Electronica". The Net Net. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  22. ^ "Sigur Ros frequently asked questions". Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  23. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2004). Cox, Christoph; Warner, Daniel (eds.). Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1615-5.
  24. ^ Caramanica, Jon (20 September 2005). "The Alchemy of Art-World Heavy Metal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  25. ^ Tsarfin, Zena. "Altar of Plagues". Decibel Magazine. Red Flag Media. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  26. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2007). Cox, Cristoph and Daniel Warner (ed.). Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. Continuum International. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-8264-1615-5. Post-rock has its own sporadic but extensive history, which [post-rockers] draw on as much for the suggestiveness of its unrealized possibilities as for actual achievements. In terms of electric guitar, the key lineage runs from the Velvet Underground, through Germany's kosmic rock (Can, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, et al.) and the guitar-loop mosaics of Eno and Fripp, to late-1980s neopsychedelics as Jesus & Mary Chain, Spacemen 3, and A.R. Kane. The Velvets melded folkadelic songcraft with a wall-of-noise aesthetic that was half Phil Spector, half La Monte Young—and thereby invented dronology, a term that loosely describes 50 per cent of today's post-rock activity.
  27. ^ "Top Ten Albums on Which the Sequencing Is Lost on CD - Staff Top 10". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
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  29. ^ Reynolds, Simon (1 November 2007). "Heavy Metal". Frieze (111). Frieze Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  30. ^ McFarlane, Dean. "Vibing Up the Senile Man – Alternative TV | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  31. ^ a b Philip Sherburne (26 January 2016). "This Heat: This Heat/Health and Efficiency/Deceit Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
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  33. ^ "This Heat - This Heat - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  34. ^ Joseph Neff (22 March 2012). "Graded on a Curve: Stump, A Fierce Pancake". The Vinyl District. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  35. ^ Ashlock, Jesse (27 August 2001). "Stereolab biography". Epitonic. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  36. ^ Levy, Doug (24 September 2000). "Laika Kick Off U.S. Tour In Seattle". VH1.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  37. ^ Acceturo, Jeanne (10 August 2001). "Disco Inferno biography". Epitonic. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  38. ^ Wilmoth, Charlie (26 January 2004). "Dusted Reviews review of Minamo — Beautiful". Dusted Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  39. ^ Reynolds, Simon (November 1995). "Back to the Future". The Wire. 141: 26–30.
  40. ^ Buchan, Phillip (13 April 2004). "Tortoise — It's All Around You". Splendid Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  41. ^ "Do Make Say Think — And Yet review". Textura. February 2003. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  42. ^ P. Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock, (Rough Guides, 1999), ISBN 1858284570, P. 913
  43. ^ Weinberger, Ian (19 November 2002). "Post-rock: a movement of the 90s still kickin'". McGill Tribune. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  44. ^ Simon Reynolds (2 October 2015). "Classic Reviews: Radiohead, 'Kid A'". Spin. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  45. ^ Reynolds, Simon (October 2000). "Radio Chaos". Spin. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  46. ^ a b Hutlock, Todd (1 September 2006). "Review of Tortoise's A Lazarus Taxon". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 September 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  47. ^ "Cul de Sac Interview". Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  48. ^ Lang, Dave (March 1998). "Interview with Cul de Sac's Glenn Jones". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
  49. ^ Richardson, Derk (12 May 2005). "Hear & Now". San Francisco Gate. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  50. ^ Babbili, Laura (15 March 2007). "Bang On: Explosions in the Sky". Gigwise. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2007.
  51. ^ Allmusic review: Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
  52. ^ "Favorite Indie Pop and Indie Rock Albums|AllMusic 2014 in Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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