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1Post-Rock is a very hard-to-define genre. Generally, it's a style that needs to be heard to understand. While the genre might be associated with long compositions with crescendos, many post-rock bands, especially from the "first wave" write relatively short songs. Most commonly defined as a band that uses traditional rock instruments to play non-traditional rock music, whether it be modern classical, ambient, noise, or so on, though there are occasional exceptions.
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3Post-Rock has a very confusing history. Some people credit the Music/VelvetUnderground for starting it with songs like "Heroin" which [[BoleroEffect started off extremely quiet and ended in droney, massive climax]]. Other sources give credit to the "{{Krautrock}}" movement of TheSixties and TheSeventies. Another possible UrExample is Music/KingCrimson's slowly unfolding song "[[Music/RedKingCrimsonAlbum Starless]]", which contains a lengthy, BoleroEffect-laden instrumental passage typical of the genre, while others point to the works of Music/PublicImageLtd (particularly their 1981 album ''The Flowers of Romance''), the short-lived experimental group Music/ThisHeat, and Music/DavidBowie[='s=] 1977 album ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]''. Chamber rock bands such as Music/UniversZero and Music/{{Present}} are further candidates, given their lengthy compositions, usage of the BoleroEffect, and incorporation of instrumentation from classical and chamber music as core elements of their sound (see "La Faulx" from Univers Zero's 1979 album ''Heresie'' for a particularly good demonstration of all of these characteristics).
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5However, all sources seem to agree that the movement "officially" started either in 1991, when Music/{{Slint}} released their album ''Music/{{Spiderland}}'' and Music/TalkTalk released ''Music/LaughingStock'', or in 1988, when Talk Talk released ''Music/SpiritOfEden''. All three albums are considered classics and are extremely influential, and are generally agreed to have been the first albums that coalesced the traits that are now hallmarks of post-rock into a single cohesive unit. The term "post-rock" itself is generally considered to have been introduced as a descriptor for music of this genre in a review of Bark Psychosis' 1994 album ''Hex'' by music journalist Simon Reynolds which appeared in ''Mojo'' in March of that year, although Reynolds claims to have used the term before that review[[note]]he also did not invent it, although he thought he did at the time, but his use of the term does appear to have been the first time it was used to describe this particular genre of music[[/note]]; Reynolds specifically invoked the term when comparing the album to ''Spirit of Eden''. Reynolds [[http://web.archive.org/web/20011202075606/http://www.thewire.co.uk/out/1297_4.htm clarified]] the term in an article for ''The Wire'' published later that year, describing it as music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures, rather than riffs and power chords."
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7For the first few years many music enthusiasts had trouble differentiating this and the genre of {{Slowcore}}. This is because Music/{{Slint}} were heavily influenced by Music/{{Codeine}}, often considered the first Slowcore band. For a while the droney sounds from the two got many Slowcore bands mislabeled as PostRock and vice versa. Another genre which PostRock is often confused with (and, indeed, does overlap with in some cases) is SpaceRock, which was an influence on it, but which has a somewhat different (read: [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs drug-oriented]]) focus.
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9Throughout the TheNineties bands such as Cul de Sac, Tortoise, Labradford, Bowery Electric, and Stars of the Lid helped mold the genre into what it resembles now. The movement sparked mainly from three different cities with their own separate scenes: Chicago, Glasgow, and Montreal.
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11Then, in the late 1990's and 2000's, the critical and commercial success of bands such as Music/{{Mogwai}}, Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor, Music/SigurRos, and Music/ExplosionsInTheSky - each considered to be the "big 4" of post-rock - helped elevate the genre even more. Additionally, Music/{{Radiohead}} brought post-rock to the mainstream consciousness with their heavily experimental and electronic-driven NewSoundAlbum, ''Music/KidA'', and its jazz-influenced sequel ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}''. Around the same time, a number of SludgeMetal bands started picking up on the genre, resulting in "post-metal" or "atmospheric sludge". (Post-metal has actually been around since at least 1992, with Music/{{Neurosis}}'s [[TropeMaker trope-making effort]] ''Souls at Zero'', but experienced an explosion in popularity during the 2000s with releases like Music/{{Isis}}' ''Oceanic'' and ''Panopticon'' and Music/CultOfLuna's ''Salvation'' and ''Somewhere Along the Highway''). The genre has even been combined with BlackMetal, resulting in fusions like the works of Music/{{Alcest}} and Music/{{Deafheaven}} (whose 2013 effort ''Music/{{Sunbather}}'' became the most favourably reviewed album ''of any genre'' that year). Needless to say, the underground is now littered with PostRock bands.
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15!!Acts that are generally considered to be post-rock or have dabbled in the genre (post-metal included):
16
17[[index]]
18* [[Music/{{Sixtyfivedaysofstatic}} 65daysofstatic]]
19* [[Music/AddNToX Add N To (X)]]
20* Music/{{Agalloch}} ([[GenreBusting Mixed with Folk, Black Metal, Ambient, and Doom Metal]])
21* Music/{{Alcest}} (on some releases; also BlackMetal, {{Shoegaze}}, and GenreBusting, and the TropeCodifier for black metal/post-rock/shoegaze fusions)
22* Music/{{Anathallo}} (At least the middle of their career. Their first album was basically {{Music/Emo}}, and their final album was BaroquePop.)
23* Music/{{Anathema|Band}}
24* Music/AndSoIWatchYouFromAfar
25* Music/{{Astronoid}}
26* Music/AvecLeSoleilSortantDeSaBouche
27* Music/{{Balmorhea}}
28* Music/BarkPsychosis (a review of their album ''Hex'' is the TropeNamer)
29* Music/BecauseOfGhosts
30* Music/BigBigTrain
31* Music/BlackCountryNewRoad (A rather unclassifiable group, but their clearest musical forebear is Music/{{Slint}})
32* Music/BlackMidi (blends it with MathRock, NoiseRock, PostHardcore, ProgressiveRock, and god only knows what else)
33* Music/BoweryElectric
34* Music/DavidBowie
35** 1977 - ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum''
36* Music/{{Broadcast}}
37* Music/BrokenSocialScene
38* Music/{{Caspian}}
39* Music/{{Circle}}
40* Music/CircleTakesTheSquare (mixed with PostHardcore, {{Screamo|Music}}, ProgressiveMetal, and [[GenreBusting several other genres]])
41* Music/{{Codeine}}
42* Music/CodesInTheClouds
43* Music/{{Cormorant}} (combines post-rock into their ProgressiveMetal sound, and goes full post-rock on their ''Assorted Jams'' series)
44* Music/CulDeSac
45* Music/CultOfLuna
46* Music/{{Deafheaven}} (also BlackMetal and {{Shoegaze}}; arguable GenrePopularizer for this mixture)
47** 2013 - ''Music/{{Sunbather}}''
48* Music/DirtyThree
49* Music/DiscoInferno (initially a Music/JoyDivision-styled PostPunk band before incorporating field recordings and samples)
50* Music/DoMakeSayThink
51* Music/TheDuruttiColumn (another UrExample with their fusion of PostPunk and {{Ambient}})
52* Music/{{Earth}}
53* Music/{{EF}}
54* Music/{{Efterklang}}
55* Music/{{Electrelane}}
56* Music/ElTenEleven
57* Music/ExplosionsInTheSky
58* Music/FallOfEfrafa (also DoomMetal and crust punk)
59* Music/{{Faunts}} (also DreamPop and {{Shoegazing}})
60* Music/{{Felt}} (their first two albums comprised of lengthy guitar passages before becoming a fully-fledged IndiePop band)
61* Music/FlowChart
62* Music/FlyPanAm
63* Music/FlyingSaucerAttack
64* Music/FoodPyramid
65* Music/TheForCarnation (Side project of Brian [=McMahan=] from Music/{{Slint}}; also {{slowcore}})
66* Music/AForestOfStars (a particularly GenreBusting example that mixes this with BlackMetal, AvantGardeMetal, PsychedelicRock, and some elements of chamber music)
67* Music/{{Foxhole}}
68* Music/FromMonumentsToMasses
69* Music/GastrDelSol
70* Music/{{Godflesh}} (UrExample for post-metal, mixed with IndustrialMetal and [[DoomMetal Sludge Metal]])
71* Music/GodIsAnAstronaut
72* Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor (generally considered the TropeCodifier for the genre as a whole)
73[[/index]]
74** 2000 - ''Music/{{Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven}}''
75[[index]]
76** Music/SilverMtZion (side project sharing several members with GY!BE. Notorious for [[IHaveManyNames changing its name from release to release]], though it's almost always some variation of "Silver Mt. Zion"; the one exception has been an EP where they were credited as "Thee Silver Mountain Reveries". Currently "Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra")
77* Music/{{Hammock}}
78* Music/HaveANiceLife (A GenreBusting example, as they also mix in elements of PostPunk, DarkWave, folk, and ambient music)
79** 2008 - ''Music/{{Deathconsciousness}}''
80* Music/HerNameIsCalla
81* Music/{{Isis}} (TropeCodifier for post-metal)
82* Music/JagaJazzist (started off as [[{{Jazz}} NuJazz]], but shifted to a post-rock sound with their 2005 album ''What We Must'')
83* Music/{{Jambinai}} (mixed with post-metal, PostPunk, and Korean folk music)
84* Music/{{Jeniferever}}
85* Music/{{Jessamine}}
86* Music/{{Jesu}} (mixed with DoomMetal, {{shoegaze}}, {{ambient}}, and [[GenreBusting a wide variety of other genres]])
87* Music/JoyWantsEternity
88* Music/JuneOf44
89* Music/KayoDot (mixed with AvantGardeMetal and [[GenreBusting too many other genres to list]], with a sound that notoriously [[GenreRoulette varies widely from release to release]])
90* Music/{{Kreidler}}
91* Music/{{Labradford}}
92* Music/{{Laika}}
93* Music/{{LITE}}
94* Music/{{M83}}
95* Music/{{Maserati}}
96* Music/{{Maybeshewill}}
97* Music/{{Mew}}
98* Music/{{Mogwai}}
99* Music/{{Mono|Band}}
100* Music/{{Moonshake}}
101* Music/NeguraBunget (TropeCodifier for BlackMetal[=/=]PostRock fusions, alongside Weakling)
102* Music/{{Neurosis}} (TropeMaker for post-metal)
103* Music/OdeAndElegy (post-metal mixed with chamber music, choral music, modern classical, PostHardcore, and [[GenreBusting whatever else the band feels like mixing in]])
104* Music/{{Paik}} (also SpaceRock)
105* Music/{{Panopticon}} (mixed with BlackMetal, FolkMetal, {{Bluegrass}}, and [[GenreBusting a large variety of other genres]])
106* Music/{{Pelican}}
107* Music/{{Plone}}
108* Music/{{Pluramon}}
109* Music/ThePaxCecilia (mixed with {{screamo}} and PostHardcore; later mutated into Ode and Elegy)
110* Music/{{Pram}}
111* Music/PublicImageLtd (Sometimes cited as the UrExample; primarily PostPunk)
112* [[Music/{{Rachels}} Rachel's]]
113* Music/{{Radiohead}}
114** 2000 - ''Music/KidA''
115** 2001 - ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}''
116* Music/RedSparowes
117* Music/{{Rodan}} (Also an early PostHardcore band)
118* Music/{{Rome}} (albeit with an obvious Dub influence, also overlaps very heavily with neofolk)
119* Music/RussianCircles
120* Music/SaxonShore
121* Music/TheSeaAndCake
122* Music/SeaPower
123* Music/{{Seeland}}
124* Music/ShippingNews
125* Music/SigurRos
126** 1999 - ''Music/AgaetisByrjun''
127* Music/{{Slint}} (TropeMaker alongside Talk Talk; mixed with MathRock, for which they are ''also'' {{Trope Maker}}s)
128** 1991 - ''Music/{{Spiderland}}''
129* Music/StarsOfTheLid
130* Music/{{Stereolab}}
131* Music/{{Swans}} (particularly their mid-to-late '90s and post-reformation material)
132** 1996 - ''Music/SoundtracksForTheBlind''
133** 2012 - ''Music/{{The Seer|Album}}''
134** 2014 - ''Music/ToBeKind''
135* Music/TalkTalk (TropeMaker alongside Slint)
136** 1988 - ''Music/SpiritOfEden''
137** 1991 - ''Music/LaughingStock''
138** 1998 - ''Music/{{Mark Hollis|Album}}''
139* Music/{{Tarwater}}
140* Music/TheseNewPuritans
141* Music/ThisHeat (considered alongside Public Image Ltd to be an UrExample)
142** 1979 - ''[[Music/ThisHeatAlbum This Heat]]''
143** 1981 - ''Music/{{Deceit}}''
144* Music/ThisWillDestroyYou
145* Music/{{Tool}} (post-metal among [[GenreBusting many other genres]])
146* Music/ToRococoRot
147* Music/{{Tortoise}}
148* Music/TransAm
149* Music/{{Treebeard}}
150* Music/{{Tussle}}
151* Music/{{Ui}}
152* Music/{{Ulver}}, on some releases
153* Music/UnderByen
154* Music/{{Unwound}} (dipped into it on ''Leaves Turn Inside You''; before that they played PostHardcore and NoiseRock)
155* Music/{{Vessels}}
156* Music/VivaBelgrado
157* Music/WangWen
158* Music/WarmDigits
159* Music/{{Weakling}} (mixed with BlackMetal; arguable TropeMaker or at least co-TropeCodifier for BlackMetal and post-rock fusions, although Fleurety arguably performed them even earlier)
160* Music/WolvesInTheThroneRoom (also mixed with BlackMetal)
161* [[Music/WorldsEndGirlfriend World's End Girlfriend]]
162* Music/TheWorldIsABeautifulPlaceAndIAmNoLongerAfraidToDie mixes this with {{Emo|Music}} and MathRock.
163* Music/YndiHalda
164* Music/{{Youthmovies}}
165[[/index]]
166
167!!Tropes common in the genre
168* BoleroEffect: While this wasn't universally common among post-rock bands when the [[UnbuiltTrope genre was in its infancy]], it's nowadays considered one of the most noteworthy characteristics of the genre.
169* DarkerAndEdgier: Post-metal is essentially DarkerAndEdgier post-rock. Similarly, BlackMetal/post-rock fusions tend to be DarkerAndEdgier post-metal (though they also tend to be LighterAndSofter when compared to most other black metal acts).
170* DroneOfDread: Although it doesn't show up in every song, it's a fairly commonplace trope.
171* EpicRocking: It's difficult to find a post-rock band that hasn't used this at least once. Twenty-minute-plus songs are a staple of the genre, and some bands go well beyond that.
172* GenreBusting[=/=]GenreMashup: Owing to its introspective and contemplative nature, its diverse instrumentation, and especially its heavy use of crescendi (the obvious compositional choice for building a song to an epic climax), post-rock mixes well with other genres, and it's an intrinsically experimental and avant-garde genre in the first place - in fact, it was itself an case of GenreMashup before it was codified. Thus, it's extremely common to see post-rock fused with numerous other genres - the number of times the GenreBusting trope is potholed above probably provides a clue on this count.
173* {{Instrumentals}}: Many bands do not use vocals. In fact, instrumental groups are probably more common in the genre than vocal groups.
174* LimitedLyricsSong: Even if there are lyrics, they probably won't take up much of the song, or be particularly wordy. The ultimate example of this is Music/SigurRos' album ''( )'', whose eight songs all contain the exact same nonsense line as the only lyrics on the entire album.
175* MainstreamObscurity: Some of the bands are fairly well-known, but due to the length of their songs, they rarely get played on the radio.
176* MetalScream: Extremely common in post-metal, and not entirely unheard of in post-rock either (Music/{{Slint}} probably started it out with the ''epic'' screams at the end of "Good Morning, Captain").
177* NoHitWonder: Again, while many bands have received a fair amount of commercial success, hit singles aren't really the province of the genre. In the case of ''Music/KidA'', it was outright {{invoked|Trope}}; Radiohead deliberately chose not to release any singles or music videos for the album, instead opting for a series of "blips," short videos set to brief excerpts from the album.[[note]]However, singer Thom Yorke later clarified that this was primarily to avoid the stress of publicity, which had caused him a CreatorBreakdown after ''Music/OKComputer'', rather than for artistic reasons.[[/note]] Despite this, several of the songs on the album became big enough fan-favorites to appear on their GreatestHitsAlbum (which, granted, was put together without their involvement and long after they left their original labels).
178* ProgressiveInstrumentation: Goes hand in hand with BoleroEffect.
179* {{Sampling}} and SpokenWordInMusic: Perhaps due to the influence of Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor and Music/{{Swans}}, these are frequent characteristics of post-rock music, as well as music influenced by the genre. Music/{{Slint}} also did a lot of the latter trope.
180** Music/DiscoInferno took this up a notch by transforming their instruments into samplers that could be triggered live.
181* SpiritualSuccessor: The genre is sometimes considered this to ProgressiveRock and {{Krautrock}}.
182* UncommonTime: Again, a characteristic of the genre that can probably be traced back to Music/{{Slint}}, who are also called MathRock for a reason.

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