Post-VC: Official Post-Rock/Post-Metal Discussion

[Gumbo72203]

54 minutes ago, drds89 said:

I didn't even know 20 of the 50 groups on that list - seems like the goal was nailing the proto/ seminal / early influence bands and their albums. Lots of homework for a rainy day!

The fact that Greyfolded is on there was a massive, massive surprise.  I'm a huge Grateful Dead fan, and that album is.... interesting.  I'm glad they threw up Labradford, because that was a band I'd never bothered to check out but the song they linked was fucking wonderful.  Just so patient and dreamy and spacious.  Gotta pick that one up at some point. 

 

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Randy Savage said:

My post-rock tastes differ slightly from some of you guys and for reasons I can't necessarily put into words, but Russian Circles just don't do it for me. The new album was pretty good, but nothing I'd go out and buy on vinyl.

This is kind of how I am with Russian Circles.  A few tracks and moments I LOVE, but on the whole I find myself not getting excited about them the way I do about other bands.  It's weird, because they're SO POPULAR.  The new record is fucking great though, so I would highly suggest giving that re-visit at some point. 

[Derek™]

8 minutes ago, Gumbo72203 said:

This is kind of how I am with Russian Circles.  A few tracks and moments I LOVE, but on the whole I find myself not getting excited about them the way I do about other bands.  It's weird, because they're SO POPULAR.  The new record is fucking great though, so I would highly suggest giving that re-visit at some point. 

I wonder why that niche of post-rock (post-metal?) doesn't click for you.  I would call RC a lot more dense and riff-centric, but I know that you're big on Isis and Rosetta who share a good bit of overlap.  Obviously, to each their own, but it's pretty seldom that I stumble across someone who listens to as much instrumental music as you (or any of us) who aren't notable fans of Russian Circles.  Would you say they don't have enough layers going on?  I notice you really tend to gravitate towards bands multiple guitarists and crescendos... whereas RC are more "rooted" with grooves and dirge.*  Just a curiosity of mine.

 

*One of the reasons I'm such a fanboy for Russian Circles is because they're not a one-trick pony.  Even if they established themselves as riff-monsters and groove-kings early on, I love that they've incorporated strings and additional dynamics into their music instead of just relying on the tried-and-true.  Enter was a great debut but there's no way I'd still be listening to them if they just released that 5 6** more times over the years.

 

**Holy shit, do they actually have seven albums in their discography so far?  And not a weak one among them?

[batman]

4 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

Enter was a great debut but there's no way I'd still be listening to them if they just released that 5 6** more times over the years.

Enter is still my favorite. nothing else has stuck with me as much as that album. i should probably check out Guidance.

[Gumbo72203]

3 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

I wonder why that niche of post-rock (post-metal?) doesn't click for you.  I would call RC a lot more dense and riff-centric, but I know that you're big on Isis and Rosetta who share a good bit of overlap.  Obviously, to each their own, but it's pretty seldom that I stumble across someone who listens to as much instrumental music as you (or any of us) who aren't notable fans of Russian Circles.  Would you say they don't have enough layers going on?  I notice you really tend to gravitate towards bands multiple guitarists and crescendos... whereas RC are more "rooted" with grooves and dirge.*  Just a curiosity of mine.

 

*One of the reasons I'm such a fanboy for Russian Circles is because they're not a one-trick pony.  Even if they established themselves as riff-monsters and groove-kings early on, I love that they've incorporated strings and additional dynamics into their music instead of just relying on the tried-and-true.  Enter was a great debut but there's no way I'd still be listening to them if they just released that 5 6** more times over the years.

 

**Holy shit, do they actually have seven albums in their discography so far?  And not a weak one among them?

So, I'm definitely a fan.  But yeah I think the difference is that they aren't as atmospheric and pretty/melodic and yeah, I suppose "layered" could be a good descriptor.  Too riffy and knotty at points. 

 

I'm the same with Pelican.  Some Pelican stuff I LOVE, but some of it just bores me... it's too riffy, and not enough climaxing or using the riffs to go somewhere distinct, what I call the "arrival" sections.  So like, if you listen to Isis.... in "The Beginning and The End", the groove at 1:25 would constitute an "arrival" section for me, it is a destination that you can sink into.  Or at least, this is how I perceive the music and think about it.  Those heavy opening riffs and vocals set you up perfectly for that bliss-drop.  I think "Ah, WE'VE ARRIVED" or "Now we're here!"  I suppose you could also call it a hook?  I'm not sure. 

 

 

 

[thebilljim]

There's not anything in the Russian Circles discography that I don't love, but Pelican pretty much bores the hell out of me, and I don't have any idea why that is.

[Gumbo72203]

Just now, thebilljim said:

There's not anything in the Russian Circles discography that I don't love, but Pelican pretty much bores the hell out of me, and I don't have any idea why that is.

It's funny too because my friends who HATE Phish (i fucking love Phish) and pretty much by-and-large hate post-rock both all love Pelican.  People are weird. 

[Derek™]

14 minutes ago, batman said:

Enter is still my favorite. nothing else has stuck with me as much as that album. i should probably check out Guidance.

What have you listened to post-Enter, out of curiosity?  Everything but Guidance?

 

12 minutes ago, Gumbo72203 said:

I'm the same with Pelican.  Some Pelican stuff I LOVE, but some of it just bores me... it's too riffy, and not enough climaxing or using the riffs to go somewhere distinct

 

1 minute ago, thebilljim said:

Pelican pretty much bores the hell out of me, and I don't have any idea why that is.

 

The answer to both of these points is that Pelican just aren't as proficient at songwriting.  I admit I'm a fan – enough to own their discography, anyway – but it receives nowhere near the amount of playtime as Russian Circles'.  Off the top of my head, I think I can recall the chorus-riff of Ephemeral off WWACTN, and the first three tracks or so off of City of Echoes.  To me, I can hear those songs (or at least portions) in my head, clear as day, because I think they're among the more interesting components of the records.  Not say the rest of those albums, or records like Fire In Our Throats or Forever Becoming are bad or forgettable, but they're just... fluffy.  Where Russian Circles give you the good, lean cuts, Pelican albums feel pretty bloated and less interesting as a whole.  There's not a track on Guidance where my interest wanes, and there's not a Pelican album where it doesn't.  You can only get so far on whoa, the riffs, man THE RIFFS, and that's doubly true when the riffs aren't even as memorable or well-written as other bands' in the genre.

 

Also, Pelican's drumming is somewhere between mildly interesting and outright boring.  Don't one of the band members allow their [arguably drum-savvy] brother to play in the band, or something?  I recall hearing that a while back.  Compared to Turncrantz?  Yeah okay.

[TheGhostOfRandySavage]

50 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

What have you listened to post-Enter, out of curiosity?  Everything but Guidance?

 

 

 

The answer to both of these points is that Pelican just aren't as proficient at songwriting.  I admit I'm a fan – enough to own their discography, anyway – but it receives nowhere near the amount of playtime as Russian Circles'.  Off the top of my head, I think I can recall the chorus-riff of Ephemeral off WWACTN, and the first three tracks or so off of City of Echoes.  To me, I can hear those songs (or at least portions) in my head, clear as day, because I think they're among the more interesting components of the records.  Not say the rest of those albums, or records like Fire In Our Throats or Forever Becoming are bad or forgettable, but they're just... fluffy.  Where Russian Circles give you the good, lean cuts, Pelican albums feel pretty bloated and less interesting as a whole.  There's not a track on Guidance where my interest wanes, and there's not a Pelican album where it doesn't.  You can only get so far on whoa, the riffs, man THE RIFFS, and that's doubly true when the riffs aren't even as memorable or well-written as other bands' in the genre.

 

Also, Pelican's drumming is somewhere between mildly interesting and outright boring.  Don't one of the band members allow their [arguably drum-savvy] brother to play in the band, or something?  I recall hearing that a while back.  Compared to Turncrantz?  Yeah okay.

Yeah, Pelican doesn't do it for me either. I got City of Echoes in a trade a while back just trying to fill out some value and remembering I liked them sometime around high school and I ended up selling it off because I never listened to it. I rarely sell full length albums...

[batman]

1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

What have you listened to post-Enter, out of curiosity?  Everything but Guidance?

I owned Station and Geneva on vinyl. Sold em. Listened to Empros as well.

[The Vool]

By the way, what's this Malacoda you're talking about?

[The Vool]

4 hours ago, batman said:

Enter is still my favorite. nothing else has stuck with me as much as that album. i should probably check out Guidance.

Same with Enter! My favorite RC! And Guidance shares 2nd spot with Station!

[mrewest]

4 hours ago, Sasan said:

By the way, what's this Malacoda you're talking about?

Can't tell if sarcastic or not lol.  Aren't you the only one with a Tertia test press?? haha

 

[mrewest]

I agree with those that couldn't get into Pelican.  I've probably never given them a fair shot but what I have heard never did anything for me.

 

I love the riff-centric stylings of Russian Circles.  Songs like "Geneva", "Station", "309", "Burial", etc are just so perfect.  As already said, they don't eff around with "building" up their songs (most of the time).  They jump right in to straight up badassery & don't let up.

 

Plus as someone that has seen them live since the Geneva-era, it's been pretty amazing seeing/hearing their sound evolve live.  For the longest time I always thought they were pretty good live, but never really blew me away.  However, the last time I saw them in 2014, it was incredible how much punch their sound had.  Brian Cook's bass is unparalleled live.

Edited December 22, 2016 by mrewest

[Thomas³]

I'll echo the Pelican sentiments, but I admit I've only heard the Mono and TAAS splits. As for Russian Circle, Guidance is in my top-10 for the year, and I've been spinning it like crazy. I have not listened to a lot of the discography though, with Enter really being the only other album I'm familiar with. I should probably check everything else out soon.

[Sad Heart]

City of Echoes is really all I need by Pelican. 

[Gumbo72203]

3 hours ago, mrewest said:

I agree with those that couldn't get into Pelican.  I've probably never given them a fair shot but what I have heard never did anything for me.

What's super interesting to me is that their set at A Colossal Weekend might have been the top performance for me of that entire weekend.  They just slayed, and I was totally blown away.  So much better live than on record, for me.  Especially when they played "Immutable Dusk" which is probably my favorite song.  That section in the middle with the repeating bass riff and the kick drum marking time was incredible...  I feel like they extended it a bit too, but I'm not totally sure.  What was also super interesting is that for the last song, Mammoth, they all went and turned their amps up another 2 notches or so.  It was absolutely DEAFENINGLY loud. 

 

11 hours ago, Derek™ said:

Also, Pelican's drumming is somewhere between mildly interesting and outright boring.  Don't one of the band members allow their [arguably drum-savvy] brother to play in the band, or something?  I recall hearing that a while back.  Compared to Turncrantz?  Yeah okay.

Yeah some of the drumming on City of Echoes, I believe, is fairly awful.  Just sloppy and off-time.  But since we're on the topic of drummers, I have to say...  I received my package from Compass & Knife the other day, and I've been spinning The Setting of the Old Sun a lot in my car, and the drummer for this group has absolutely blown me away.  What I find very cool is that they don't often up the speed and tempo game the way Pray For Sound and Sleepmakeswaves do, but the drummer does a lot of faster, 16th note fills which is very impressive, and really gives the music a jolt of energy. 

It's strange, because in so many post-rock (not post-metal) bands, the drummer is someone that really never completely impresses me or stands out.  I mean, i never think that a drummer is ever BAD, per se, but I can't think of another regular post-rock band who's drummer stands out to me. 

[The Vool]

3 hours ago, mrewest said:

Can't tell if sarcastic or not lol.  Aren't you the only one with a Tertia test press?? haha

[chkadea]

Hey guys - I know I don't chip in much in here because I'm a garbage lurker, but would any of you be willing to throw up some Russian Circles on Google Drive? Really would like to check them out, and would appreciate it immensely. If not, thank you anyway

[Sad Heart]

17 minutes ago, chkadea said:

Hey guys - I know I don't chip in much in here because I'm a garbage lurker, but would any of you be willing to throw up some Russian Circles on Google Drive? Really would like to check them out, and would appreciate it immensely. If not, thank you anyway

I got you. 

[The Vool]

On 22.12.2016 at 5:26 AM, Derek™ said:

**Holy shit, do they actually have seven albums in their discography so far?  And not a weak one among them?

Wait...what? Did I miss something? Seven???

[Derek™]

1 hour ago, Sasan said:

Wait...what? Did I miss something? Seven???

Nope, I'm just being an idiot and sleepily counted the thumb-nails in my iTunes.  Disregard that initial EP: six official releases.

[Gumbo72203]

Hey guys, I made a thread about this but I figured I'd mention it here as well because I don't know if everybody checks the for sale forum or whatnot, but I have an extra copy of Fourteen Nights At Sea - Great North I need to part with.  I bought 2 from the drummer, so that the unit price could come down, and the dude who was going to take my 2nd copy has now bailed after a few weeks of stringing me along.  Grrr. 

 

It's the white vinyl, it looks great; no mashed corners, my copy sounds wonderful...  printed inner sleeve, comes with plastic outer sleeve.  Just want to recoup my cost is all, so it comes to $30 ppd.  The 2 records cost me $55 USD total, so you split that in half and round down for media mail shipping.  I wanted to be able to offer someone else the reduced shipping on it, but this time it seems to have bit me in the ass as I can't find anybody who wants it now.

 

 

On another note, I'm playing Guidance right now and this stuff is pretty good.  This might be my favorite album of theirs now.  I think actually Station might be my favorite!  I'm listening to this now, and I'm really really liking this stuff!  It's a bit more Isis-y in the delays and the way they do some rhythms, so maybe that has something to do with it, but the end of the title track is wonderful, and so is the final song on the album.  I need to listen to this more, because I really dig it. 

 

Guidance is REALLY REALLY good though.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Gumbo72203

[Gumbo72203]

In case others missed it, Maybeshewill just released a live video of their final show at Koko in London.  You can buy HD/lossless audio for only 2 pounds right here:  http://www.robotneedshome.com/product/maybeshewill-live-at-koko/

 

Product Description

When we announced the last tour we knew we wanted to document the final show at Koko. Partly that was for us – to have something to look back at in ten or twenty years and remember that moment – but we were also humbled by how many people wanted to see us one last time, and we know there are many who couldn’t. We’re incredibly lucky to be in that position.

We’ve worked on this with our long time collaborators WeTheConspirators, who have put so many hours in to getting it just right, and we can’t thank them enough for that. Our very own Jamie Ward has slaved over the audio to make sure the mix is as good as it can possibly be, and we think it sounds amazing. We never imagined we could produce something this ambitious on a shoestring budget, keeping everything within the small team we built up over the last decade. We hope it’s an adequate substitute for the real thing if you weren’t there, and an accurate document of that evening if you were.

We’re streaming the whole thing for free, but should you wish to download and keep a copy in HD, with uncompressed audio – that looks and sounds amazing – you can do just that. In return all we ask is a small voluntary charity donation, 100% of which will be sent to Friends of the Earth.

At this particular point in time more than ever we think it’s important to acknowledge the impact that we as humans are having on our planet and it’s climate. As a band our carbon footprint is embarrassingly large – predominantly through more air travel than we care to remember and thousands of miles in vans between shows – and If we can go some small way to offsetting that, we believe we should.

 

 

Or you can also stream it from here:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/maybeshewill-stream-their-last-ever-show-a7492016.html

[mrewest]

Awesome will have to check that out, Gumbo.

[pemulis]

A little late to the conversation but love the RC discussion. Been one of my favourites since Enter and Guidance crushes it (easily #1 record of the year for me).  I also think Empros is criminally underrated. 

 

RE: Pelican. Their new(ish) record fucking rips. I love that band and most of their releases too, so I'm a bit biased. Think I might be one of the few on this board. But if you ahve some down time, I'd recommend giving Forever Becoming a spin. 

Edited December 24, 2016 by pemulis