Name: Anonymous 2006-09-25 1:42
Post-Rock is such a broad musical genre. It's a sort of catch-all for music that doesn't succinctly fit into predefined genres. Post-Rock was originally a term coined by music critic Simon Reynolds in the mid 90's. He said, post-rock is "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and power chords", whatever that means. I have thought about what defines post-rock and I've come up with a couple of broad, personal definitions.
There are generally two ways that I define Post-Rock. One being the Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky and others approach. Their post-rock characteristics are: lots of orchestration and experimentation, a focus on the soft-loud song structure, and using traditional rock instruments in a non-traditional sense. This approach also uses non-traditional, classical instruments in a rock setting. Examples of this definition are GY!BE and their highly orchestrated pieces that feature violins and cellos and those crazy guys from Sigur Rós who play their guitars with bows.
The second definition is the Stereolab, Tortoise approach. The way I think of this approach is a lot like the theory of Post-Modern art. The basis of Post-Modernism is appropriation. Appropriation is the borrowing of styles and elements from the past and reinterpreting them in contemprary ways. Bands with this definition of post-rock use their predecessors' elements and styles and incorporate that into their own music. Some examples of this definition are Stereolab with Lounge and Krautrock, and Tortoise with jazz, dub, electronica and others.
Although these are brief definitions, and bear in mind there will be overlapping elements in each, they are generally the two ways that I define post-rock.
So what does Post-Rock mean to you, and how do you define it?
There are generally two ways that I define Post-Rock. One being the Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky and others approach. Their post-rock characteristics are: lots of orchestration and experimentation, a focus on the soft-loud song structure, and using traditional rock instruments in a non-traditional sense. This approach also uses non-traditional, classical instruments in a rock setting. Examples of this definition are GY!BE and their highly orchestrated pieces that feature violins and cellos and those crazy guys from Sigur Rós who play their guitars with bows.
The second definition is the Stereolab, Tortoise approach. The way I think of this approach is a lot like the theory of Post-Modern art. The basis of Post-Modernism is appropriation. Appropriation is the borrowing of styles and elements from the past and reinterpreting them in contemprary ways. Bands with this definition of post-rock use their predecessors' elements and styles and incorporate that into their own music. Some examples of this definition are Stereolab with Lounge and Krautrock, and Tortoise with jazz, dub, electronica and others.
Although these are brief definitions, and bear in mind there will be overlapping elements in each, they are generally the two ways that I define post-rock.
So what does Post-Rock mean to you, and how do you define it?