Tag: post-rock

  • Observation n.91

    observation n.91

    Eternal Music Society

    Eternal Music Society

    ○ Feb 2026 | Label: Knotwilg records

    ■ Genres: Post-rock / Instrumental
    ■ Rating: 8.5/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Unknown Voltage”

    ► We’re on the outskirts of Spiderland. Angular guitar riffs dart and stutter, punctuated by regular rhythms that create a palpable tension. There’s an undercurrent of unease that simmers throughout, mirroring nervous energy and subtle anxiety. Its meticulous dynamics and textured interplay invite close listening, rewarding attention to detail. A superb and irresistible work.

  • Observation n.87

    observation n.87

    thëm

    El Dolor La Norma

    ○ Aug 2025 | Label: Independent

    ■ Genres: Experimental / Ambient / Post-rock
    ■ Rating: 7.4/10
    ■ Favorite track: “S’Agabbadòra (Mazzolu)”

    ► This ambient / post-rock track builds a vast, immersive atmosphere. That’s done by layering shimmering electric guitars over slow, pulsing bass lines, all carried by a hypnotic three-note synth arpeggio. The arpeggio acts as a steady current, allowing the guitars to swell, recede, and intertwine like waves of sound. Patient and expansive, the track unfolds with cinematic grace, offering a powerful blend of repetition and evolution that invites deep, focused listening.

  • Voices #44

    voices #44
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    Droning Cats with NRV

    answering some questions. We have already observed their ambient / post-rock / electronic work here.

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: The track from “Cartography of Sleep” that we prefer is “Catastrophic”. Can you tell us how it came to light?

    ► Droning Cats with NRV: Catastrophic emerged the way much of this album did: in an unplanned moment where intuition quietly leads the way.
    During one of our sessions in Brussels, a cluster of bird-like modular tones appeared almost out of nowhere, hovering over a deep, grounding drone. It felt like stepping into a dreamscape — familiar yet shifting. Christophe’s guitar responded instinctively, tracing a melodic path through this fragile sonic terrain.
    As with the entire album, the recording was then sent across the world to NRV in Japan, who expanded the space with his subtle atmospheric signature—pads, reverbs, a softened horizon that allowed the track to breathe and unfold.
    It’s worth noting that Cartography of Sleep was created entirely at a distance. Although Droning Cats and NRV have never met in person, the collaboration formed a kind of long-distance resonance: Brussels and Japan connected through sound, intuition and shared sensibility.
    The title Catastrophic was given by Christophe’s ten-year-old son—a spontaneous suggestion that captured both innocence and emotional scale. We kept it immediately.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Observation n.78

    Observation n.78

    Droning Cats with NRV

    Cartography of Sleep

    ○ Dec 2025 | Label: See Blue Audio

    ■ Genres: Ambient / Post-rock / Electronic
    ■ Rating: 8.4/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Catastrophic”

    ► Well, you’d better take 5 minutes of your time for this track. Guitar lines slowly evolve within a sea of spacious, enveloping layers of atmosphere. Sun is quietly rising all around. The progression is patient and immersive, inviting the listener to sink fully into the sound. Each swell adds depth and scale, transforming simple phrases into something vast and cinematic. Resistance is futile.

  • Voices #33

    voices #33
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    MaTT Robert MCLennan

    answering some questions. We have already observed his quintet experimental / noise jazz / post-rock work here.

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: The track from “J’Peux” that we prefer is “tea tide pool”. Can you tell us how it came to light?

    ► Matt Robert McLennan: “tea tide pool” was the first track we laid down and it is completely improvised around a guitar refrain that I play repeatedly and, somewhat obstinately, outside of the metre of what the percussion and bass were doing. On this track, you can really hear us calibrating our sound and finding our roles – which I don’t think is at all a bad thing. It’s a fairly optimistic track despite the dark tonalities.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Observation n.59

    observation n.59

    Matt Robert McLennan Quintet

    J’Peux

    ○ Feb 2025 | Label: Independent

    ■ Genres: Experimental / Noise Jazz / Post-rock
    ■ Rating: 8.7/10
    ■ Favorite track: “tea tide pool”

    ► When you use too many ingredients, the risk is that you don’t feel anything. This doesn’t happen here. The meeting between different elements and styles (electronic, jazz, post-rock) is both fluid and jagged, spacious and constricting. We find ourselves drunk on a drifting boat, but alive and curious. A really noteworthy work.

  • Voices #11

    Voices #11
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    Thomas / Kaufmann-Buhler

    answering some questions. We have already observed their field recordings / experimental / post-rock work here.
    ◦ [Toby and Wayne speaking alternately]

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: Can you tell us how the track “I remained a stranger to the birds“ came to light?

    ► Toby: This track came about following work we did on “Kolmar Park”; Wayne and i decided to continue working together, and expand this project to EP length (at the suggestion of Past Inside the Present label head Zach Frizzell). I really loved Wayne’s approach with his guitar playing, so we decided i should return to my field recording sources and from this came a set that i felt really worked together and flowed well from the first track. Wayne then worked his magic and made it into a full piece.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Voices #9

    voices #9
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    Asha Patera

    answering some questions. We have already observed his drone / ambient / electronic / post-rock work here.

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: The track from “Mana” that we prefer is “Kella”. Can you tell us how it came to light?

    ► Asha Patera: The album is a collection of tracks inspired by my surroundings.  ‘Kella’ is the name of an area about four miles from where I live – it is so small as not to even be a village, just a few houses in the winding countryside lanes, but the name is evocative of dreamy summer afternoons, idling away time, and I tried to capture that in the music.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Observation n.34

    Observation n.34

    Thomas / Kaufmann-Buhler

    I remained a stranger to the birds

    ○ March 2025 | Label: Somnimage

    ■ Genres: Field Recordings, Experimental, Post-rock
    ■ Rating: 7.0/10
    ■ Favorite track: “I remained a stranger to the birds“

    ► We live in this hypertrophic world. Is there still room for the beauty of little things? This is an empty question, typical of this late-capitalist era where you have to thank for your crumbs. But these 20 minutes are a meaningful exception. Here really “less is more”, here peace simply exists.

  • Observation n.18

    Observation n.18

    Asha Patera

    Mana

    ○ December 2024 | Independent

    ■ Genres: Drone, Ambient, Electronic, Post-Rock
    ■ Rating: 7.3/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Kella“

    ►There is something liberating and threatening at the same time. The bass is like a snake crawling at your feet, but the cascades of high-frequency drones make you look up, searching for shooting stars to ask for hope. You’d better act.