Jaga Jazzist - Animal Chin (Smalltown Supersound, 2002)

Breakneck, melodic Post Rock-Jazz madness.

A flurry of melody and breakneck rhythm, this track by Norwegian Post Rock big band Jaga Jazzist is a deliciously tricky beast. The melodic side is driven by a Cardigans-esque flute but the shifting layers of rhythms are a flood of energy and shifting directions.

It's like being thrown around in the world's first 4D helter skelter water slide. Nice.

Download Jaga Jazzist 'Animal Chin' (Post Rock mp3) (Divshare)

Codeine - Kitchen (Demo) (Numero Group, 2012)

Not-so-slow demo from the pioneering Codeine.

I am waiting with baited breath for my copy of the Codeine boxset so I can relive the slower-than-slow sounds of the groundbreaking Codeine.

Active for only a few years around the turn of the nineties, Codeine were the epitome of slowcore, glaciers forming in the space between the notes on tracks like 'Realize'. Some notable bands like Mogwai, Low, Slint and Red House Painters forming in those gaps too.

'Kitchen' is an acoustic guitar and vocal demo that whets the appetite for the box's bonus material.

Enjoy.

Download Codeine 'Kitchen (Demo)' (Slowcore, Post-Rock, Sub Pop, mp3) (via Stereogum)

Hood - The Lost You (Domino, 2004)

Glitch-y, Shoegaze-y, Post-Rock-y delights.

Definitely one of the most under-rated bands of recent times, Hood seemed to combine disparate influences - Post-Rock, Shoegaze, glitchy techno, ambience, leftfield sound collage and found recordings - into a thrilling soundscape.

Their best work runs along a similar line to Bark Psychosis and Disco Inferno where conventional instruments are merged with effects and entwined with samples and atmosphere. The likes of Trophy Wife are trading in a similar sound to the mighty, but now disbanded, Hood.

'The Lost You' kicks of with some glitched up beats, delivering a driving, staccato groove. A pale, translucent vocal comes in and the track builds up a clattering momentum before dubbing out into an extended break with delicious tones and piano, the treble whacked-out like on one of those Filter Disco tracks from the 90s. The vocal comes back and the tracks explodes in all directions, refracting sound like a post-rock mirrorball. 

Download Hood 'The Lost You' (post-rock, glitch, mp3) (Divshare)

David Sylvian - Home (Virgin, 1986)

Loop-y instrumental moodscaping.

The 'Gone To Earth' album - a double album, no less - saw David Sylvian really cut loose with the instrumental moodscaping. Most of the second record leaves songs and lyrics behind to play with space, ambience and what sounds like the work of a loop pedal. Not sure if they had those in 1986.

Tracks like the lugubrious, gorgeous 'Home' are drenched in reverb and atmosphere and allow you to get lost in them.

Download David Sylvian 'Home' (ambient, post-rock, mp3) (Divshare)

Bark Psychosis - Pendulum Man (Circa, 1994)

Post-Rock guitar-weaving masterclass.

The term Post-Rock was, I believe, coined to describe the sound of Bark Psychosis, though it's probably Tortoise who were the harbingers of instrumental, jazziness played on traditional rock instrumentation.

Bark Psychosis' 'Hex' album is a masterclass in mood and poise and closing track 'Pendulum Man' is an expansive, airy piece that opens with interlocking guitar and bass. It develops with layers of light, treated guitar, by turns bleak and uplifting.

Whilst a distinctly different sound to Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden' it does have a lightness and airiness reminiscent of that album. It also reminds me of David Sylvian's 'Gone To Earth' - another late night classic.

Download Bark Psychosis 'Pendulum Man' (post-rock mp3) (Divshare)

Trans Am - Outmoder (Thrill Jockey, 2004)

Angular, moody post-rock instrumental.

'Outmoder' is a taut slice of instrumental post-rock soundtracking. It sounds like an American TV theme tune. It would be perfect for something like CSI:Galapagos where a robot tortoise in Ray Bans leads a crime lab inundated with cases of death caused by stray military hardware.

It begins with the sound of a helicopter taking off before a martial drum comes in along with a clipped, distorted bass riff. The guitar is choppy and restrained, cutting loose in the wordless chorus.

Download Trans Am 'Outmoder' (post-rock, mp3) (Divshare)

Do Make Say Think - Classic Noodlanding (Live, 2002)

Beautiful, rolling postrock grooving.

Utterly beguiling instrumental, jazz trumpet-tinged post rock from Do Make Say Think from the heady, post-Godspeed You! Black Emporer days on Constellation Records.

A tidy drum pattern kicks things off, leaving lots of space for guitar patterns and trumpet to weave in and out. A low slung bass underpins the groove and the track gracefully unwinds, ensnaring you with gentle twists and turns.

Download Do Make Say Think 'Classic Noodlanding (Live 2002)' (Post Rock mp3, Constellation) (Divshare)

Neil Cowley Trio - Let's Go Away For A While (Beach Boys cover) (Mojo, 2012)

Yet another gem from the 'Pet Sounds Revisited' freebie.

It's obviously hard to ruin source material as amazing as 'Pet Sounds' but the Neil Cowley Trio turn this delicious instrumental into a gently post-rocking jazz masterpiece.

Waves of bright piano roll along over a twisty post-rock rhythm section, using the song's structure from some added tension-and-release dynamics.

Tasty.

Download Neil Cowley Trio - Let's Go Away For A While (Beach Boys cover, mp3 download, Mojo) (Divshare)

New Music - Thula Borah - Live Secretly (Bandcamp, 2012)

Tasty, elongated Shoegazey Post Rock.

Glasgow's Thula Borah have an expansive, widescreen sound somewhere in the same realm as Slint, Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky or the classic post-Godspeed sounds of the Constellation label. However, across the tracks of this EP, they demonstrate a real mastery of dynamics and restraint.

'Murder' is a vast, surging slice of gently distorted post rock with occasional vocals in a Mark-Gardener-being-gently-tortured sort of way. Some really nice melodic guitar work and uses its eight minutes to good effect without outstaying its welcome.

The EP ranges from US alt-rock flavours (Drop Nineteens in the house) to the wonderfully edgy minimalism-blasting of '(Null Interface)' where the guitar interplay reminds me of Suede's 'The Asphalt World' played refracted through Mogwai's FX rack.

Well worth a listen.

More about Thula Borah at their Bandcamp.

Rothko - Roads Become Rivers (Rivers Become Oceans - Four Tet Mix) (Lo Recordings, 1999)

Delicious, ebbing post rock with gently skittering washes.

Rothko's gently meandering warm bass patterns are given a re-rub with Four Tet's trademark melodic skittering.

Undulating bass weaves together the track with piano and tones pulsing across the sound before a lazily euphoric percussive breakdown takes the track off in a different direction - Tortoise playing a samba band in an underground bar in Rio.

Eight minutes of insidious wonder.

Download Rothko - Roads Become Rivers (Rivers Become Oceans - Four Tet Mix) (Post Rock, Electronica, mp3) (Divshare)

New Music - Sigur Ros - Ekki Mukk (XL, 2012)

Radical change of departure for Icelandic moongazers.

Not really.

If anything, new album 'Valtari' promises to be even more minimal and beautiful than previous Sigur Ros outings.

'Valtari' apparently means "steamroller" which is perhaps the most inappropriate title ever, given that the first track to emerge -'Ekki Mukk' - is the sound of 10,000 angels blowing you a kiss goodnight under the Northern Lights.

The track opens with just an ooze of backwards ambience, evolving into a cradle of atmospherics and minimal strings, Jonsi cooing quietly so as not to distract. Beautifully restrained all the way through its eight minutes leaving you with just a sparse piano line.

Red Sparrowes - Alone And Unaware, The Landscape Was Transformed In Front Of Our Eyes (Neurot, 2004)

Epic, postrock dynamism.

The title kind of gives the game away in that this is an Explosions In The Sky type slice of epic, unfolding postrock mastery. But, oh my, does it work, ebbing and flowing in waves of sweet then tangy guitar abuse and widescreen, expansive drumming.

Download Red Sparrowes - Alone And Unaware, The Landscape Was Transformed In Front Of Our Eyes (Post Rock mp3) (Divshare)

Tortoise 'Glass Museum (Live)' (1996)

Peerless poise and amazing elegance, Post-Rock style.

This is just a track of such elegance, it's silly. Perfectly formed, beautifully resolved, an edge of improvisation and freedom within a framework of perfect balance.

This recording is from Toronto in 1996.

Download Tortoise 'Glass Museum (Live 1996)' (Post Rock mp3) (Divshare)

Photography by Valerio Berdini

Tarentel - The Waltz (Temporary Residence, 1999)

Fifteen minutes of staggering beauty from post-rock magicians Tarentel.

Originally released on their Travels In Constants disc in 1999, this was rounded up on a great compilation of singles and stuff on 2002's 'Ephemera' compilation. I recommend it highly (direct from Temporary Residence).

'The Waltz' is almost Necks-like in it slowly evolving sound. A gentle, uncoiling tracks that builds from rotating guitar patterns, evolving into a sweeping, keening, droning simmer.

After ten minutes it develops an intricate post-rocking coda, drums pattering out a cuboid rhythm, guitars picking honeyed melodies, adding a little more strident guitar as it builds back up. Hypnotic.

Epic and awestruck, it's somewhat like Explosions In The Sky without the loud bits.

Very beautiful.

Download Tarentel 'The Waltz' (post-rock mp3) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Low 'Just Like Christmas' (Tugboat, 1999)

Irresistable, sleigh-bell powered version of Low. Works well.

Low's 'Christmas' EP is a modern classic, marrying ponderous, wintry ballads more aligned to Low's usual hushed fare to perky sleighrides like this and their slowcore version of 'Little Drummer Boy'.

Lovely.

Download Low 'Just Like Christmas' (christmas, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Shellac 'The End Of Radio' (Live Peel Session, 2005)

Almost pure tension and threat from the masterful Shellac.

This live version recorded for John Peel is nine 'The End Of Radio' is almost nine minutes of teasing, edgy implied power, the band never quite unleashing the deluge of noise that Shellac's power threatens.

It displays a masterful control of dynamics, building, building and building. The bass is a foghorn blasting through the track, guiding it into the dark, the drums pile on the tension and suspense, Albini alternates between what seems to be a stream of consciousness monologue and derranged, serrated guitar.

What a band.


Download Shellac 'The Sound Of Radio (Peel Session)' (alternative post-rock mp3)

The Shipping News 'Quiet Victories' (ATP, 2002)

Elegiac, quiet-loud postrock chunkiness from Rachels offshoot.

The Shellac-curated Camber Sands event in 2002 was my introduction to All Tomorrow's Parties. Shellac were magnificent hosts, lining up a staggering bill and giving everyone three tasty CDs stuffed with tracks by the bands playing.

Alongside discovering a load of new stuff, I got to see Rachel's who were an amazing hybrid of modern classic austerity and postrock angularity.

Rachel's bassist Jason Noble also played with The Shipping News, his other band and sent me scurrying for their back catalogue of expansive, dynamic beauty.

I also sought out the official ATP compilation album which features 'Quiet Victories'. Opens with a swirl of abused guitar, sombre bass and gently manic drums before the music dies away to cascades of sparkling guitar in the verses. Part Codeine mope, part Explosions In The Sky-scraping, a bit of Red House Painters' spartan elegance, some of Tortoise's rolling groove and just the slightest hint of Slint's unhinged 'Good Morning, Captain'.

Beautiful.

Download The Shipping News 'Quiet Victories' (post rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Low 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' (Chairkickers, 2001)

Almost impossibly fragile and desolate Smiths cover. 

It comes in gentle and broken - sounding like Roy Orbison just lost £200 on a horse and had to sell his dog - before building into a fit of cello-enhanced rage and dissipating again.

Low do a nice line in covers - check out their version of Joy Division's 'Transmission' and Toto's 'Africa' - and could make 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' sound like a wake. Consequently, their take on this Smiths classic takes bleak to a whole new level, the one where Codeine hang out.

It's a beautiful bleakness though.

Download Low 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' (slowcore, postrock mp3s) (Mediafire)

Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (Constellation, 2005)

Rhythmic genius that mimics the tyranny of the machine on viola and drums. Industrial but not in a Throbbing Gristle kind of way.

I remember stumbling across Hanged Up on a bill that also featured Constellation's Polmo Polpo. Their furious storm of drums and effects-heavy viola was utterly compelling leading me to their intense and brooding albums.


'Klang Klang' is exactly that. An alternative soundtrack to the bit in 'Modern Times' where Charlie Chaplin falls into the guts of the tyrannical machine. Try it for yourself.

Download Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (post rock mp3 download) (via cstrecords.com)

Constellation Records 2011 Sampler (13 Tracks inc Tindersticks)

Generous sampler of 2011 releases from the mighty Constellation label.

Constellation has evolved from just being Godspeed You! Black Emporer's label with a few (admittedly awesome) postrock luminaries alongside - Fly Pan Am, Do Make Say Think, Sofa...

This showcase of 13 tracks from their 2011 releases includes tracks from Tindersticks Claire Denis soundtrack box, former Godspeed/Silver Mt Zion man Efrim Manuel Menuck, delight chamber music of Esmerine, Colin Stetson's twisted jazz and more besides.

Happy christmas.

Tracklisting:
01 SANDRO PERRI - Love & Light
02 PAT JORDACHE - Phantom Limb
03 SISKIYOU - Twigs and Stones
04 COLIN STETSON - The Stars in His Head (Dark Lights Remix)
05 EVANGELISTA - Artificial Lamb
06 EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK - Our Lady Of Parc Extension...
07 MATANA ROBERTS - Pov Piti
08 ESMERINE - Walking Through Mist
09 TINDERSTICKS - Children's Theme (White Material)
10 SISKIYOU - Always Awake *
11 SANDRO PERRI - Love & Light (Max Gross Remix) *
12 EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK - Carpenter's Orphan *
13 TINDERSTICKS - Le Rallye (Vendredi Soir)

Download Constellation 2011 sampler (alternative, post rock, soundtrack mp3 downloads) (via cstrecords.com)