I've been reading Jeanette Leech's "Fearless" which deals with post-rock. She acknowledges from the beginning that it's a problematic term, so I won't try to define it here. You can google it. It covers a lot of bands, and it's a term that's been reverse engineered to fit.
The bands included in this mix are all lumped into this genre. A couple are proto-postrock (ha!). Many are ones that I've listened to for years, and only recently discovered fell under this heading. There's lots of interesting stuff here, so dig in.
I'm pleased with the flow of this, particularly how the last three songs work together. This was a fun mix to put together. I hope you like it.
This might be good on headphones (not earbuds). The big, bulky kind.
Below, I mention Stereolab's lyrics - Here are the lyrics for the song I've included below. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Here are the lyrics for the Cocteau Twins song. Read along and listen to what she does with the words.
Here's the Jim O'Rourke song I wanted to include. I think it's about trying to have a threesome with someone in a coma. Which is weird and disturbing, but the song is kind of beautiful.
Download all songs-
Stereolab / Ping Pong
Drifting back to the summer of 1995. Crushing heavily on Latitia Sadier's voice. Years later would i pick up on the Marxist lyrics dancing around their pop. Like Steely Dan - a darker lyric locked into a groove.
More Info from Last.FM
Stereolab are a UK-based band whose style, mixing 1950s–1960s pop and lounge music with the “motorik” beat of krautrock, was one of the first to which the term “post-rock” was applied. They are noted for the use of vintage keyboard instruments like Moog synthesizers and Vox and Farfisa organs. Stereolab is also notable for founding their own record label, Duophonic Records, with a grant from UK charity The Prince’s Trust. The band is often Read more on Last.fm more...
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Cocteau Twins / Carolyn's Fingers
This band. Holy cow. Sublime. Something small that I like: how they hold the chord in the first 2 vocal lines, then follow the lift as second couplet leads into the first chorus.
More Info from Last.FM
Cocteau Twins were an innovative and influential Scottish dream pop band. Forming in 1979 in Grangemouth, Scotland, UK (the name taken from an obscure song by fellow Scots Simple Minds), they built a sound based on woozy atmospherics and singer Elizabeth Fraser's unmatchable vocals, most of which featured lyrics of made-up words and words plucked at random from the dictionary. Their first release was "Garlands" in 1982 on 4AD Records, which was received well. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Broadcast / Corporeal
More Info from Last.FM
1.) Broadcast are an indie electronic band which formed in 1995 in Birmingham, England. The band originally consisted of Trish Keenan (vocals), Tim Felton (guitar), James Cargill (bass), Roj Stevens (keyboards) and Steve Perkins (drums). Perkins left the band in 2000, and Stevens and Felton left in 2005. Stevens released a solo album under the name Roj and Felton formed the group Seeland with Billy Bainbridge from Plone. After the January 2011 death of Trish Keenan, James Cargill is the only current member of the band. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Unwound / Data
If Pavement had rocked more, it might've sounded like this. This song seems loud, but then 2:09 hits and the staccoto drums shift, and everything locks down.That moments feels like it shifts almost from mono to stereo.
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Unwound was an American post-hardcore band based in Olympia, Washington, United States. Formed in 1991, the band consisted of Justin Trosper (guitars and vocals), Vern Rumsey (bass), and Brandt Sandeno (drums), all of whom had previously been in a band called Giant Henry. Brandt Sandeno quit Unwound in 1992 and was replaced by Sara Lund. This lineup would remain in place until the band's dissolution in 2002. The group was strongly associated with the label Kill Rock Stars throughout the 1990s. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Codeine / Gravel Bed
Old fogey time: before the internet, it was hard to find bands. It was definitely hard to know who was touring and when. A lot of music had regional followings, even if the band wasn't from that area. When I moved to WMass in the summer of 1994, my friends there made me aware of a lot of bands that were never on my radar. Codeine was one. Recording note: they spent a lot of time on the drums. And it's difficult to play slow.
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American indie rock band formed in New York in 1989 by members Stephen Immerwahr (vocal, bass), Chris Brokaw (drums) and John Engle (guitar). Codeine pioneered the slowcore and sadcore subgenres of indie rock, but with a more experimental attitude than other bands in the genre, such as Low, Idaho and Red House Painters. The band's original tone, marked by slow tempos, Immerwahr's nasal and apathetic vocals, and Engle's ringing Telecaster, did not evolve much during their career. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Jim O'Rourke / Fuzzy Sun
I wanted to include "Halfway to a Threeway," but it's not available for download. This guy can write a great pop song and then dabble in total musical abstraction. This song is the latter.
More Info from Last.FM
American indie rock and avant-garde musician, composer and producer Jim O'Rourke (born January 18, 1969, in Chicago) has been a key component in the increasing overlap of the American and European experimental music avant-garde, working in everything from jazz and rock to ambient and electro-acoustic and building many a bridge in between. He currently resides in Yamanashi, Japan. A Chicago native, O'Rourke's work has found equal luck with experimental jazz and noise fanatics Read more on Last.fm more...
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Tortoise / Swung from the Gutters
More Info from Last.FM
Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization. The group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in various indie rock and punk groups. Formed in 1990, Tortoise was among the first American indie rock bands to incorporate styles closer to Krautrock, dub, minimalism, electronica and various jazz styles, rather than the standard rock and roll and punk that had dominated indie rock for years. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Broadcast / Subject to the Ladder
More Info from Last.FM
1.) Broadcast are an indie electronic band which formed in 1995 in Birmingham, England. The band originally consisted of Trish Keenan (vocals), Tim Felton (guitar), James Cargill (bass), Roj Stevens (keyboards) and Steve Perkins (drums). Perkins left the band in 2000, and Stevens and Felton left in 2005. Stevens released a solo album under the name Roj and Felton formed the group Seeland with Billy Bainbridge from Plone. After the January 2011 death of Trish Keenan, James Cargill is the only current member of the band. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Godspeed You Black Emperor / Strung Like Lights at Thee Printemps Erable
This song, the next, and the one after that work together. I think it's pretty freaking beautiful.
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Mogwai / Kids Will Be Skeletons
No Page on Last.FM
Sorry, There is no page on Last.FM for that artist. You may have mispelled their name, or it just doesn't exist.
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Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra / Thirteen Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed
Affiliated with Godspeed
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