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PO Now: pg.lost - Oscillate


Mr Mojo
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1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

Hot take: Key is the last album of Pg.lost that I really jive with.  I’ll give this a stream for sure but I currently have no burning desire to pre-order.

Not a hot take, I also agree. Versus was a major disappointment, but this first track is solid. Color me cautiously optimistic.

 

Also: https://www.indiemerchstore.com/item/93661

US Link, looks like all variants are still available.

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4 hours ago, omik11303 said:

Not a hot take, I also agree. Versus was a major disappointment, but this first track is solid. Color me cautiously optimistic.

 

Also: https://www.indiemerchstore.com/item/93661

US Link, looks like all variants are still available.

Damn. Still $42 for the US distro. This is why I slowed down on awesome [EU] post rock. I’d have half the music to listen to if I grabbed every Paelgic release I wanted. Oh well. It’s kinda good cause I got worn out spending $40+ on an LP before even hearing it only for it to be dwarfed by Waking Season, Key, the Té collection, Lift Your Skinny Fists, Young Team, All Is Violent, etc. etc. I used to want to consume all the post rock I can, but it being so expensive I’ve learned to be patient and grab it down the road if I like it, for hopefully cheaper, rather than jumping the pre order gun. 
 

Appreciate the link. Hopefully they have it for cheap down the line, and hopefully it hits hard like Key. 

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20 hours ago, Sad Heart said:

Waking Season, Key, the Té collection, Lift Your Skinny Fists, Young Team, All Is Violent, etc. etc.

Yeah... I may personally opt for Tertia over WS, but otherwise that is a damn fine list.  I hate that I’m becoming the heh, they don’t make ‘em like they used to dad cliche of post-rock.  I’d always roll my eyes when my old man would scoff at newer bands and insist that nothing really competes with the classics.  I know we’re shrinking that notion down to 1 genre but I feel it so much.  Even if bands like Mogwai and Godspeed (and definitely GIAA) are not releasing albums on par with the quality they set a decade+ ago, some of those earlier albums are still timeless to me and what I consider to be the pinnacle of the genre, regardless of what those same bands are outputting today.  There’s a reason the albums have become a landmark or standard in discussions.  Every once in a while there’s a newer post-rock band or scene that does something memorable or enticing, but so, so, so much of it is Gumbocore or prime for A Thousand Arms’ distro, and it does little for me.

 

I feel like that wave of post-rock you’re referring to... there’s not a ton out there that compares.  Slint, etc. are considered grandfathers of the genre, but as far as crescendos, quiet-loud dynamics, and other post-rock tropes that have been done to death, I think it’s a blessing to thrive in a lifetime where that all existed, was relevant for a time, and is still easily accessible.  Born too early and it’s all experimental, new-age noise.  Born too late and you’re stuck with the Dunk! Fest roster.  I’m not claiming that I was listening to Mogwai when I was 9 years old, but the genre was really exploding and pioneering new musical ground when I was a teen, at my hungriest stage of music exploration.  And for that I’ll always consider myself lucky.

Edited by Derek™
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2 hours ago, Derek™ said:

Yeah... I may personally opt for Tertia over WS, but otherwise that is a damn fine list.  I hate that I’m becoming the heh, they don’t make ‘em like they used to dad cliche of post-rock.  I’d always roll my eyes when my old man would scoff at newer bands and insist that nothing really competes with the classics.  I know we’re shrinking that notion down to 1 genre but I feel it so much.  Even if bands like Mogwai and Godspeed (and definitely GIAA) are not releasing albums on par with the quality they set a decade+ ago, some of those earlier albums are still timeless to me and what I consider to be the pinnacle of the genre, regardless of what those same bands are outputting today.  There’s a reason the albums have become a landmark or standard in discussions.  Every once in a while there’s a newer post-rock band or scene that does something memorable or enticing, but so, so, so much of it is Gumbocore or prime for A Thousand Arms’ distro, and it does little for me.

 

I feel like that wave of post-rock you’re referring to... there’s not a ton out there that compares.  Slint, etc. are considered grandfathers of the genre, but as far as crescendos, quiet-loud dynamics, and other post-rock tropes that have been done to death, I think it’s a blessing to thrive in a lifetime where that all existed, was relevant for a time, and is still easily accessible.  Born too early and it’s all experimental, new-age noise.  Born too late and you’re stuck with the Dunk! Fest roster.  I’m not claiming that I was listening to Mogwai when I was 9 years old, but the genre was really exploding and pioneering new musical ground when I was a teen, at my hungriest stage of music exploration.  And for that I’ll always consider myself lucky.

Haha if you ask me tomorrow it'll be Tertia. It honestly changes from day to day (we can have this discussion time and time again -- they are both just so good). I completely understand your statement of the dad rock cliché. If I had a dollar for every time I said something to the kids at School [of Rock] that was something my dad said to me, but with a band / artist / album that I like, I would have enough for a few LPs. I honestly find myself saying those clichés more so when it comes to talking about the post rock / cinematic rock persuasion. So, the way I see it, this genre is very, very over-saturated, especially over the last 10 years. I got into the genre with All Is Violent in my late teens, and the obsession started from there. Along the way we got those gems (not necessarily in chronological release, but maybe more so in order of me discovering them) like Skinny Fists, Tertia, and Key. What's great is that those albums span a decent chunk of time, so it's not like we have this incredibly small window where we are all "only albums from the years of '97-'09 are worth listening to'". Even if most of our favorite albums came out in that golden window, they were so monumental, so ground breaking (since the genre was just starting to take off), so many bands built off that and just absolutely dominated the playing field. There are many other albums in the genre that I love, but can honestly live off a top 20 if I really had to, or more like top 10 if there were no repeat artists. When I said "can it hold a candle to Key?" I was honestly asking that cause that album is so fucking good, would I want to listen to something just ok by them when I could listen to their best work? Would you do that with any other band? I just feel like they are the yard sticks at which I measure everything in that genre, and maybe even other releases that have branched off from it. And where would we be, and would we even have the albums mentioned before if it wasn't for Slint, Sigur Ros, Swans, Tortoise,  Godspeed, etc. And in the grand scheme of things this genre is still pretty young, even if some of it can technically be considered "classic rock". So when Kokomo puts out another album I'm going to ask "is it as good as their self-titled?", and if it isn't I won't bother. And you can take any artist and either ask that of one of their own releases, or one of my / your top 20, and that'll determine whether I bother or not. I just feel there is a plateau in the genre right now, and things like "gumbocore" have never done it for me, not once. Cause all of that stuff I can say I don't need that, I have Station, or I have Tertia, or I have Mare Vitalis. I really think that the genre with evolve again, as did "classic rock" did, birthing so many new sub-genres, as post rock already has and will continue to do. And the window in hindsight honestly is so small, that maybe if it another 15 years I look back and my go-to albums hasn't grown, then I'll start to worry. But for now, I'm fine with it, especially when there is more and more music in the world by the week, if not day, and there are so only so many minutes in the day to listen to it all. I'll get worried if I start getting sick of my favorites, or music in general. Til then I'm just gonna save my $40 on a senior album, and stick to the sophomore before things got complicated, and we started coasting cause we were about to graduate. Anyway, didn't mean to rant. You just really opened up that conversation, and I found it interesting. You helped walk me down a path, and reflect on something I felt, but didn't really pinpoint; so thanks for that. 

 

That last sentence really hits home, and I think about it often. I truly strive to keep that hunger every day, and hope it never fades. Really, really well said, Derek. 

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@Sad Heart: no apology needed.  Your "rant" is likely more interesting than this album will be.

I find that it's very easy to compare and contrast an artist's newer outputs with their magnum opus, and it's even easier to walk away disappointed as a result.  It's the natural thing to do – hey, this artist is capable of this.  I know it because I heard it on that album.  So what's this?  Why did it take such a weird path?  Over the years I've found that it's actually more beneficial to frame that kind of stuff in the scope of a discography, if your mind will allow it.  An artist like Godspeed... I don't think they'll ever release anything with as much impact as LYSF or F# [almost both equally important in my books], and I've accepted that's okay.  I no longer hold their new material to that standard – it's been two decades or more – and I'm instead more interested in them bolstering up their discography.  A lot of people weren't thrilled with their last album but it's got these wild, acid jazz sections, and some moments that see them at arguably their brightest and most upbeat.  It's a great addition to everything they've given us, if you ask me, because I'm not always going to be in a mood to hear something life-affirming [LYSF] or post-apocalyptic [F#] when I'm itching to get my Godspeed on.

 

So that's kind of been the shift for me.  Not expecting more 10/10 albums, necessarily, but hoping for some kind of growth or expansion that can stand on its own 2 legs.  My beef is when artists just phone it in and the releases fall flat, or become complete unmemorable.  Having that problem with GIAA, for example, and have completely given up on them... which is a bummer to hear.  Meanwhile Appleseed and Caspian stay just as consistent – if not more? – with age.  Really becomes apparent over time which artists can carry their weight and which ones fizzle out.

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