Where to start with Post-Rock
Post-Rock is a genre from International (Louisville, Chicago, Montreal, Glasgow), 1986–2005. Its principal artists include Slint, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai and Tortoise. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 19 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Spirit of Eden
Talk Talk · 1988Original release: Parlophone · CD PCSD 105 · CD · UK 1988It reached the genre's core idea, using rock instruments for non-rock ends, before the idea even had a name.
- 2
Spiderland
Slint · 1991Original release: Touch and Go Records · TG64CD · CD · US 1991This is the foundational text of post-rock, pioneering the quiet-loud dynamics that defined everything after it.
- 3
Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Tortoise · 1996Original release: Thrill Jockey · thrill 025 · CD · US 1996It moved 'post-rock' from underground shorthand into general critical use, proving the genre could groove.
Go deeper
- 4
F♯ A♯ ∞
Godspeed You! Black Emperor · 1997Original release: Constellation · CST003 · 12″ Vinyl · Canada 1997Godspeed's 1997 debut introduced the sound the band would spend the next decade refining: field recordings of street preachers and train conductors, dystopian spoken-word passages, and crescendos that build like…
- 5
Mogwai Young Team
Mogwai · 1997Mogwai's 1997 debut announced Glasgow's arrival in the post-rock canon, built on the dynamic control Stuart Braithwaite had wanted since hearing Slint's Spiderland — that 'psychic playing' where four musicians move as one.
- 6
Ágætis byrjun
Sigur Rós · 1999Original release: Smekkleysa · SM 79 CD · CD · Iceland 1999Sigur Rós's 1999 breakthrough carried Icelandic post-rock to an international audience, built around 'Hopelandic' — invented vocals chosen for sound rather than sense — and vast, slow-moving atmosphere.
- 7
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Godspeed You! Black Emperor · 2000Godspeed's 2000 record stands as the fullest statement of their crescendo-driven, symphonic approach, later named one of the best albums of the decade.
For the obsessed
- 8
Rock Action
Mogwai · 2001Original release: TOY’S FACTORY · TFCK-87244 · CD · Japan 2001Rock Action, released in 2001, is Mogwai's most electronic record, built with guest vocalists including David Pajo, Gruff Rhys, and Gary Lightbody, and it reached No. 23 on the UK charts.
- 9
As the Love Continues
Mogwai · 2021Original release: Temporary Residence Limited · Digital Media · Canada 2021As the Love Continues reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in February 2021, three decades into post-rock's existence, after a tongue-in-cheek social media campaign asked celebrities to help push it there.
- 10
Tweez
Slint · 1989Original release: Jennifer Hartman Records · 138 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1989Slint's 1989 debut, recorded with Steve Albini, is dissonant and bass-driven, its tracks named after band members' parents — 'Ron,' 'Charlotte,' 'Darlene' — with 'Darlene' tracing back to a leftover…
The stories behind every record are in Post-Rock, a members' issue.