What happened to Post-Rock?
Walls of sound, all the guitars, audio visuals, and a thriving culture of background noise
There was a time in the early 2000s when instrumental Post-Rock ruled Melbourne, and the recipe was: loud guitars, layers on layers of sound, looping trickery, big build-ups, and crescendos which ,were often accompanied by visual projections.
It was a force to be reckoned with and bands such as Because Of Ghosts, This is Your Captain Speaking, The Spheres, Amplifier Machine, Laura and Fourteen Nights at Sea being the main ones to pay attention to. Bands like The Dirty Three had already paved the way and have kept up their unique blend with violin at the forefront. Owen Mckern’s Delivery on Triple R was also a must-listen every Sunday afternoon as he celebrated all things instrumental and experimental music, which coincided perfectly with the Post-Rock buzz in Melbourne at the time. He was also the first person to play my project, Great Earthquake on radio, which blew my socks off! At that time I was making DIY albums and burning my own CDs with lo-fi garageband created works.
Godspeed You! Back Emperor are responsible for the sound that many bands have tried to capture releasing their music on the mighty Canadien label Constellation Records. For me, it was Do Make Say Think of the same label that had the impact with their double drumming, massive bass lines, and sad dreamy guitars with all sorts of brass and feelings.
Scotland’s Mogwai have been making their ear smashing sounds since 1995 staying true to their craft all these years later and have had a great impact on many who have delved into the Post-Rock abyss.
Let’s not forget about the Soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch’s film, Deadman, which was scored by the legendary Neil Young and became iconic with it’s heavily reverb drenched guitar sounds. Another notable soundtrack was from the Australian film Somersault scored by Sydney band Decoder Ring.
Most of the bands embedded in this article feature Seth Rees on guitar with his powerful sonic textures characteristic of his signature sound. When you see Rees perform it’s like the guitar is an extension of his body, which is why I feel so many bands wanted him to be a part of their creation.
Another legend in the mix is Guy Harris from The Spheres who apart from his awesome body of work musically, he also makes gorgeous short films to accompany them. You can now find him on the post-punk project Winternationale. There is also hope that Seth Rees will release a solo record one day! for now we can makes do with some sporadic works on his Bandcamp page.
Post Rock is Dead - Long live Post Rock!