Post-Rock
tagStarted 1991Peak 1997-2008Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
Rock instrumentation used for non-rock ends: clean, chiming or tremolo guitars layered into slow-building crescendos that swell from near-silence to overwhelming climaxes. Mostly instrumental, often orchestrated with strings, brass, samples and field recordings. The hook is the arc, the catharsis the chorus; structure unfolds over eight to twenty minutes.
History
Simon Reynolds coined 'post-rock' in 1994 reviewing Bark Psychosis's Hex. Talk Talk's late-80s records and Slint's 1991 Spiderland laid the template of quiet-loud dynamics. Montreal's Constellation (Godspeed) and UK/Scottish bands (Mogwai) globalized it; by the 2000s it was a worldwide instrumental scene built on the crescendo.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-rock
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Your_Skinny_Fists_like_Antennas_to_Heaven
- https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/slint-spiderland/
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/post-rock-ma0000012231