Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

I think it was Maurice Ravel who once said: "The most powerful force on earth is the pianissimo". Ok, not everything on this album is pianissimo, not even piano, but those young fellows create the most powerful moments when it's silent, or almost silent. But before I get into that, I'd like to give you a brief introduction into a very special genre of music, which I fell in love with a few years ago: Post-Rock. I'm going to steal the description from wikipedia:

"The post-rock sound incorporates a wide variety of musical genres, such as ambient, jazz, electronica, experimental, and sometimes even rock. The post-rock approach to music, such as the emphasis on instrumental work and sonic texture, is similar to the earlier New Age movement, which came out of the modern folk tradition. Post-rock is characterized by repetition of musical motifs and subtle changes, with an extremely wide range of dynamics. Most often, post-rock songs are lengthy and instrumental, containing repetitive build-ups of timbre, dynamics and texture. Guitar timbres are usually smooth, often using delay and reverb. Harmonically, there is an emphasis on consonance, though by no means is there a definitive rule of thumb"

This description is pretty accurate. But Post-Rock has something in common with AIESEC: You need to experience it before you can fully understand it. And I couldn't think of a better album than this one to start this amazing journey into a universe full of the most beautiful melodies ever. Bands like "Godspeed You! Black Emperor" or "Sigur Rós" made the genre known among a broader audience, but this album, or this band, marks the ultimate Post-Rock-Experience in my opinion. These are 50mins of pure eternal bliss. Those guys create dynamics and melodies with such a density, it's really scary. This music could destroy entire planets.
To get back to the ravel quote. As I said, this is not a silent album. My interpretation of the quote goes that you don't need much to create something powerful. Many bands try to create huge walls of sound by using 5 guitar layers upon each other and support them by extensive use of keyboard soundscapes, doublebass, and electronic effects. But none of those bands could ever reach the point this band achives by playing one single note.

Go to: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=8161
Scroll down to the streamplayer and listen to the first song. And I really hope for you that you will experience the same things as I did. But be careful, this music is not hit or miss, it needs to grow. So, listen to it several times, in different moods and with headphones. Sooner or later, it will hit you, it will hit you hard!