Post Rock Post – Overhead, The Albatross

Eden Kupermintz
Post Rock Post
As time goes by, post rock is apparently being forced more and more into exploration under the sheer weight of its aesthetic. As a genre which deals with re-configuring and re-hashing rock, this is perhaps a much delayed return to the roots of the genre. We had long cried out for this form of experimantation, warning that stagnation lies in avoiding it. Thankfully, 2015 and 2016 seem to be heading on the right trend, with a host of new(ish) groups tackling the validity and relevance of post rock (Tumbleweed Dealer, Farfetch'd, VASA, Father Figure, Town Portal to name a few). Here's another name for that list: Overhead, The Albatross.

Love Of Cartography: A Taxonomy Of Post Rock

Eden Kupermintz
Deep Dive
The goal of these taxonomy posts is not to provide an exhaustive and accurate list or definition of a certain genre or genres. Quite the opposite in fact: attempting to make such a complete list would only replace one stagnated image-object with another, creating an equally irrelevant definition, whether it can be considered currently accurate or not. Therefore, we want to keep some of that fuzz, to leave ends untied and room for further articles and discussion among our readers. We're not saying that this is going to be a series; these posts take far too much time and energy to commit to something like that. We are saying however that there's plenty more to discuss, within and without the progressive metal genre and we'll try and do that when we can. So, post rock. Post rock is a perfect candidate for such an examination. On the one hand, there's a very strong and often negative image of what post rock is. Seminal bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, God Is An Astronaut and Explosions In The Sky have enjoyed widespread, cultural popularity, solidifying the image of post rock in the eyes of the public. Pretentious, long-winded, dreamy, beautiful, cinematic, instrumental and rarified are all adjectives which were born from this image. Post rock was, and still is, perceived as a genre for the few, starry eyed and sentimental. Perhaps owing to just how good the afore-mentioned bands really are, their music also overpowered the conceptual space for the genre, leading people to expect certain things from the music that fell under the moniker.