Post Rock is stupid.

Instead of making music for dramatic moments in football games, we’re getting sunsets you’ll remember a decade later, stumbling first kisses, half-heard car alarms during a comforting dream, that horribly unreal and frozen moment when you first hear a friend has died, walks alone at dusk, laying on your back and watching the constellations with the person you want to grow old with, the calm of seeing a loved one sleep. These songs feel personal. They tug at important moments. It’s a quietly masterful, emotionally rich work. Of all their records, it’s ultimately the one that sounds the most like the image their band name evokes. But you’re watching from a distance, and paying more attention to the person next to you than those colors smearing against the clouds overhead.

- Pitchfork, The Wilderness Review:

pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21686-the-wilderness

It’s stupid how it can paint a vivid picture of memories past, of simple things like a friend you might not talk to anymore, or more complex things like what the future holds for you. It’s dumb how simple guitar movements and the plucking of a violin can bring back memories of a failed relationship, or how for whatever reason you could be walking down the street listening to Explosions In The Sky or Godspeed you! Black Emperor and having a song just click for you. Post Rock is stupid, and it’s easily the best thing that I think has happened to music in the last 20 years.

That’s probably a dumb thing to say, but I’m sticking by it. Post Rock is fantastic, and while I promise I listen to more than just ambient drone music, post-rock is what got me into collecting records, and roughly 30% of my collection is post-rock of some kind.

A post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and “guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures” not traditionally found in rock. It’s hard to pin down exactly WHAT post-rock sounds like, and the closest thing I can relate it to would be a really good movie soundtrack. This music demands a lot from the listener, and not something that you might like after a first, second, or ever third listen.

There’s a lot out there on what post-rock is, and I’m definitely not smart (or patient) enough to write it all out, BUT, when I started listening it was daunting. There’s a lot of music out there from a lot of different artists, and I wish I had some sort of list to help guide me through. Below is a list of a few of my favorite albums, with a little backstory on what those albums sound like and little about the artists. I didn’t want to list them in any specific order, but, I did put the albums I thought were a little bit easier to digest at the front, and those that are a little more complex in the back. I’m also going to use traditional rating scale to Gage how difficult it might be to listen to (because what Music list isn’t complete without a stupid number rating)

Explosions In The Sky — The Wilderness

Sounds like: Exploration, Discovery, SPACE

You should listen to: Wilderness, Disintegration Anxiety, Colors in Space, Landing Cliffs

Listening Difficulty: Light 4

It must really be a lonelier journey than anyone could imagine. Cutting through absolute darkness, encountering nothing but the occasional hydrogen atom. Flying blindly into the abyss, believing therein lie the answers to the mysteries of the universe. And us?..To that end, how far should we go? And how far can we go? — 5 cm. per second

Not only is this one of the newer albums on this list, but it’s ONE of THREE albums about SPACE to come out this year. This album does a great job of feeling and sounding what space exploration feels and sounds like. EITS gets out of their comfort zone a little, integrating a whole lot of new instrumentation into their music. It sounds like a trip through the cosmos, exploration through alien caves, and Landing Cliffs lands easily on my top 10 track list for 2016.

While I do think that this album might not be as good as other EITS albums (it may actually be the weakest in my opinion)the band doesn't suffer from musically standing still. This is their first full stand-alone album release since 2011 Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, and it’s really nice to know that while they’re still putting out that Iconic Soundtrack-like sound that we’ve come to love, they’re still musically moving forward.

This Will Destroy You — This Will Destroy You

Sounds like: A day in the desert, a warm fire on a cold night, introspective cowboys.

You should listen to: The Mighty Rio Grande, They Move On Track Of Never-Ending Light

Listening Difficulty: 4

This Will Destroy You (the album) does a great job of capturing what it’s like to live in the American Southwest if the american Southwest was a sad, introspective dry-ass desert. There’s a certain charm to this album that I feel like a lot of albums on this list also share. This album sounds a lot like WHERE the band comes from in a physical sense. Think long cattle drives and quiet nights when you’re listening, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

There’s also a surprising amount of electronic instrumentation on this album, adding textures that you wouldn’t expect to work a lot of the time. A good example is on They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light where about 2 minutes and 50 seconds in the electronic percussion kicks in. The percussion helps the track build just enough without going overboard, before gently carrying it back down for the last 2 minutes or so. This track is a slow burn that gets just hot enough to keep your interest, as well as provide some excellent background music to whatever menial task you’re currently doing.

Do Make Say Think — You, You’re a History in Rust

Sounds like: A weekend at the cabin, adventure, camaraderie

You should listen to:A Tender History In Rust, The Universe!, Herstory Of Glory, In Mind

Listening Difficulty: Light 5

“You’re stuck. You’ve been feeling this way since you finished up college, found your dream job, and committed your life to all things adult, just like those before you and those after. In a spur-of-the-moment attempt to bring a little excitement back into your routine, you convince your friends and yourself most importantly to mix things up a little bit. A camping trip perhaps? Something, anything to bring a little bit of uncertainty back.

You, you find yourself in a town (which you’ll never remember the name of) in a bar (which you’ll never remember the name of) listening to a band (which you’ll never remember the name of). You will, however, remember the music. It’s music that couldn’t be played anywhere but here. It’s music that embodies friendship. It’s music that embodies happier past times, and happier times to come.”

Explosions In The Sky — All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

Sounds like: All of a sudden you’re missing everyone, longing, THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

You should listen to: Catastrophe And The Cure, So Long Lonesome, the rest of the album because it’s perfect

Listening Difficulty: 5

If you wanna start a fight between dumb music nerds, ask them which EITS album is the best of all time. I personally argue for All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone because I feel it’s the most cemented version of EITS signature sound. This also might be their most theatrical album, telling a story of loss, longing, anger, and eventually, forgiveness.

Yeah, the album is fantastic, but instead of telling you why I think it’s good, I want to point out two things about the album that exist outside what the album sounds like.

Esteban Rey is the person responsible for the albums fantastic artwork, which I think perfectly encapsulates what this entire album is about. Take a look for yourself:

Here’s a person, in a boat, lantern in tow floating above what looks to be a sunken city. We see telephone wires in disarray, an abandoned sunken car, rows of buildings in the background, and what looks to be a water tower off in the distance. All of a sudden, you’re missing everyone. I don’t think album art gets enough love, even though it can provide a backdrop to the sound you’re hearing, and I think Esteban Rey did a fantastic job setting up a visual for what’s on the album. It’s dark and dismal, sure, but you can’t help be filled with wonder and confusion.

Usually, I don’t care much about where an album is recorded. I don’t think anyone will really notice or care, but I was surprised when I did a little digging on this album initially to write up my thoughts. This album was recorded at
Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota which seems incredibly strange and fitting. Call me biased towards my home state, but the fact that this album was recorded in such a small “nothingtown” makes me love it even more.

Cannon Falls is a short hourish trek down MN 52 from Minneapolis and is mostly known for being a town between the Twin Cities and Rochester. If you’ve ever been down towards that way, you’ve probably been through and missed it. With its 6-block downtown, Baseball fields straight out of Angels in the Outfield, Beautiful scenery straight out of October Sky, and Minnesota Niceness common in that area, it’s not hard to paint Cannon Falls as the Poster Child of Small Town America.

Even stranger, here’s a Google Street View of where Pachyderm Studio is located:

A cabin, in the middle of the woods, on a road between here and there. All of a sudden I miss everyone.

part 2 of this dumb list can be found here: http://bit.ly/postdumb2