The Origins Of Post Rock

Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

Slint - Spiderland

I love these albums and so should you.
-Jim

Y'all better get on this quick-like.

Friends, today I present to you a little album by a band named Fang Island. The title....well, it's also named Fang Island, BUT ANYWAY, if you're a fan of bands like Marnie Stern or anything Zach Hill has touched in his lifetime, then download this immediately. Up until I first listened to it, it had been a lackluster year in terms of good 2010 releases, but this is what hopefully opens up the floodgates to some good tunes.

I haven't heard math rock this refreshing since I first lent an ear to Battles.

Hey man, have ya heard this?

No?

Well get to it.

Download

- Gio

Tenebre - In Everything Give Thanks

It's a Thursday night and there's a paper or work due the next day, you're struggling to focus on the task at hand, so you decide to put on some music. Do you put on the latest Taylor Swift record on repeat like the 15 year-old you really are, or do you put on some nice instrumental math/post-rock?

Yeah i thought so.

Well here's the album for this and any other occasion you see fit, Tenebre's "In Everything Give Thanks". The trio from San Francisco sound like God Is An Astronaut......if you sped them up, made them less boring and added finger-tapping guitar-work, that is......

Download

V For Vendetta - Behind This Mask, Another Mask

Hello there, 7 followers and just as many lurkers! I'm the new guy posting on the blog, and I hope you enjoy my posts. Now:

Females? In my math rock? More likely than you think. V For Vendetta was a female-only duo hailing from Rhode Island who put out one full-length album, "Behind This Mask, Another Mask", back in 2002. (Yes, both the artist name and album title are cringe-worthy, I know.)

If you're into the weird time signature form of math rock, then this is definitely worth your time. As for the lyrical/vocal aspect of the album, it's one of the only drawbacks I could find, though they do seem to have some emo-ish qualities to them, so it's up the the listener to judge for themselves.

To whom it may concern:
Download

- Gio

toe - Book About My Idle Plot On Vague Anxiety

 

Math Rock came to be in the late eighties as an offshoot of Post-Rock that concentrated on tapping and angular melodies as opposed to the concentration on atmosphere and texture that Post-Rock is known for.  The early bands in both genres shared many characteristics however.  See Slint as an example.

Like it's early brother in the Math Rock scene, Slint, toe borders on the edge of both genres.  They have no shortage of interesting time signatures and start stop rhythms, but they also take special care to create an interesting atmosphere.  This coupled with the technical drumming of Takashi makes this a Japanese export to check out.

 

toe - Book About My Idle Plot On Vague Anxiety

Antlers-Self Titled

Before we begin I would like to clear some things up.

This is not a post about Hospice.  This is not a post about the ambient folk band from Brooklyn.  This album doesn't feature a lead singer whispering and smacking his lips.  This album isn't about a girl dying of cancer.  This album doesn't feature painfully corny lines such as "SYYYYYYYYLVIA GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE OVEN"


This post is about "the other Antlers".  Antlers (focus being on the lack of the word the) are from Richmond Virginia.  They are a Math Rock band.  Their self titled does feature sparse, but effective vocals.  This album is really great.

Now that we have that cleared up let's continue.
It's pretty simple.  When I think of Antlers I think of American Football on steroids.  Many of the songs begin with the jangly tweedle dee guitar work people familiar with American Football will recognize, only to evolve into heavier, distorted, jolting riffs. These guys are young, but their sound shows their experience and potential.  So let's keep our fingers crossed for more material and a midwestern tour. Antlers is something you have to hear with your own ears, so download and if you like it buy it!


Download the tree themed album here:
Antlers - Self Titled
 Check out their myspace to buy some merch:
Myspace

Other Animals

Other Animals is an awesome math rock band out of Illinois.  This quartet, comprised of three brothers and a close friend,  released their first album last year and  they've been heavy in my rotation ever since.

Using an excavation office in the Chicago suburbs as a practice space, Other Animals spent two years writing and perfecting their album.  They played their material so much over those two years that when it came time to record the album the whole process was completed in four days.  That's tracking and mixing included people.  Most of the album is actually live and it sounds great.

So collect some hipster points(example) and check out this relatively unheard of band. The best part is they are giving a digital copy of their album away for free on their website.  So head on over there and snag the album.  While you're there check out their (unfortunately slim) tour dates.   Hopefully there will be more to come.

Myspace

Download their self titled album for free here:
Official Website