Geography is a liar. It tells us for instance that Town Portal are from Denmark when it would be much easier for our narratives were they from Switzerland or the UK. This is because their brand of meaty post-rock fits right in with the resurgence of such groove based antics…
Every year, it seems like Summer is more impossible. Are we growing old? Is it actually hotter? Is it both? Who knows (it’s probably the former). But the sad fact remains that patterns of routine that have helped us cope in the past, a cold glass of water here, a welcome shady corner there, are becoming more and more diminished, the returns just less effective at getting us home. It’s truly a death by a thousand cuts or, rather, death by a thousand drops (of sweat).
Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure…
For those willing to rummage through the fecund fields of modern post-rock, there’s plenty to appreciate in this new life, springing to action for a decade now. A good example is Talons, whose experimental take on the genre and unique timbre makes a resplendent return and rebirth on their latest album, We All Know. The first half of the album is a more condensed version of that sound, leaning heavily on noise rock and other, chunkier genres for its punch and impact. Thus, tracks like “On Levels” and “Movements on Seven”, channel a more urgent, industrial sound that reminds us at times of Stateless by way of early Long Distance Calling, a kind of urgent post-rock that’s more abrasive and compact for that urgency, even when it builds up and releases slowly.
Hello, I have returned! All the thanks to my brother from across the world, Eden, for taking ownership of this place for the past couple of months while I experienced multiple large life events (honeymoon, moving to a new state/metro area, getting a new job). I am back though to deliver you all the best in all things post-rock and metal. And I am doing so at an excellent time because I come bearing an awesome announcement!
For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.
For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.
One day soon, I’ll write a post analyzing Big Scary Monsters in depth. They’re a fantastic label, with bands running the gamut from post rock to emo and indie. A few weeks ago, they held a sale in which, for one weekend, all their stuff on Bandcamp was Name Your Price. I used the opportunity to follow up on some recommendations I had heard on Talons, a British band I should have checked out much, much earlier. Pegging these guys as post rock might something of a simplistic approach; New Topographics is an intricate, often abrasive but mostly beautiful album which upends the relationship between noise and silence within the post rock genre. It’s more similar to the old school approaches to post rock of the mid 2000’s, where bands like 65daysofstatic and Red Sparrowes were still shying away from delay-ridden guitars and focusing on heavy hitting, big post rock.
