Etymology

The very earliest use of the term dates back as far as September 1967. In a Time cover story feature on
the Beatles, writer Christopher Porterfield hails the band and producer George Martin's creative use of
the recording studio, declaring that this is "leading an evolution in which the best of current post-rock
sounds are becoming something that pop music has never been before: an art form." [11]

Another pre-1994 example of the term in use can be found in an April 1992 review of 1990s noise-pop
band The Earthmen by Steven Walker in Melbourne music publication Juke, where he describes a "post-
rock noisefest".[13]

Characteristics

Post-rock group Sigur Rós performing at a 2005 concert in Reykjavík.

The post-rock sound incorporates characteristics from a variety of musical genres, including krautrock,
ambient,[14] psychedelia,[14] prog rock, space rock, math rock, tape music, minimalist classical, British
IDM, jazz (both avant-garde and cool), and dub reggae,[3] as well as post-punk, free jazz, contemporary

1990s

Bands from the early 1990s, such as Slint or, earlier, Talk Talk, were later recognized as influential on
post-rock.[6] Despite the fact that the two bands are very different from one another, Talk Talk
emerging from art rock and new wave and Slint emerging from post-hardcore, they both have had a
driving influence on the way post-rock progressed throughout the 1990s.

Post-rock group Mogwai performing at a 2007 concert.

Originally used to describe the music of English bands such as Stereolab,[33] Laika,[34] Disco
Inferno,[35] Moonshake,[36] Seefeel,[6] Bark Psychosis, and Pram,[5] post-rock grew to be frequently
used for a variety of jazz and krautrock influenced, largely instrumental, and electronica-tinged music
made after 1994.[6][3]

Post-rock group Do Make Say Think performing at a May 2007 concert.

Groups such as Cul de Sac, Tortoise, Labradford, Bowery Electric and Stars of the Lid are cited as
founders of a distinctly American post-rock movement.[37] The second Tortoise LP Millions Now Living
Will Never Die, made the band a post-rock icon.[6][38] Many bands (e.g., Do Make Say Think) began to
record music inspired by the "Tortoise-sound".[39]

In the late 1990s, Chicago was the home base for a variety of post-rock associated performers. Both
John McEntire of Tortoise and Jim O'Rourke of Brise-Glace and Gastr del Sol were important producers
for many of the groups.[40] One of the most eminent post-rock locales is Montreal, where Godspeed
You! Black Emperor and similar groups, including Silver Mt. Zion and Fly Pan Am record on Constellation
Records, a notable post-rock record label.[41] These groups are generally characterized by an aesthetic
rooted in, among other genres, musique concrète, chamber music, and free jazz.[17]

2000s–2010s

In the early 2000s, the term had started to fall out of favor.[42] It became increasingly controversial as
more critics outwardly condemned its use.[3] Some of the bands for whom the term was most
frequently assigned, including Cul de Sac,[43][44] Tortoise,[42] and Mogwai,[7] rejected the label. The
wide range of styles covered by the term, they and others have claimed, rob it of its usefulness.[45]

The 30 best post-rock albums - FACT Magazine

Reynolds, Simon (March 1994). "Bark Psychosis: Hex". Mojo. Retrieved 2008-07-08.

"The Wire 20". The Wire. November 2002. Archived from the original on August 17, 2004. Retrieved July
8, 2008.

Reynolds, Simon (July 14, 2005). "S. T." blissblog. Retrieved November 28, 2006.

Wolcott, James (July 1975). "Todd Rundgren – Street Punk in Self-Imposed Exile". Creem. Archived from
the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008.

Walker, Steven (April 1992). "S. T." Juke. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved
September 28, 2017.

Wiederhorn, Jon (4 August 2016). "A Brief History of Post-Metal". Bandcamp. Retrieved 14 November
2017.

Heller, Jason (June 20, 2013). "Picking a path through the nebulous terrain of post-rock". The A.V. Club.
Retrieved September 28, 2017.

Cox & Warner 2004, p. 359 (in "Post-Rock" by Simon Reynolds): "The Velvets melded folkadelic
songcraft with a wall-of-noise aesthetic that was half Phil Spector, half La Monte Young—and thereby
invented dronology, a term that loosely describes 50 per cent of today's post-rock activity." (about the
Velvet Underground and post-rock)

Henderson, Keith (June 2001). "What Exactly Comes After Post-rock?". Aural Innovations. Retrieved
September 28, 2017.

Hacker, Scot (July 1996). "The Post-Rock Phenomenon". Utne Reader. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
 Tweney, Chris (May 1997). "What You Need to Know About Electronica". The Net Net. Archived from
the original on February 11, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2007.

"Sigur Ros frequently asked questions". Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise. Retrieved September 28,
2017.

Reynolds, Simon (2004). Cox, Christoph; Warner, Daniel (eds.). Audio Culture: Readings in Modern
Music. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1615-5.

Caramanica, Jon (September 20, 2005). "The Alchemy of Art-World Heavy Metal". The New York Times.
Retrieved September 28, 2017.

Tsarfin, Zena. "Altar of Plagues". Decibel Magazine. Red Flag Media. Archived from the original on
February 6, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2014.

Reynolds, Simon (2007). Cox, Cristoph and Daniel Warner (ed.). Audio Culture: Readings in Modern
Music. Continuum International. p. 359. ISBN 0-8264-1615-2. Post-rock has its own sporadic but
extensive history, which [post-rockers] draw on as much for the suggestiveness of its unrealized
possibilities as for actual achievements. In terms of electric guitar, the key lineage runs from the Velvet
Underground, through Germany's kosmic rock (Can, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, et al.) and the guitar-loop
mosaics of Eno and Fripp, to late-1980s neopsychedelics as Jesus & Mary Chain, Spacemen 3, and A.R.
Kane. The Velvets melded folkadelic songcraft with a wall-of-noise aesthetic that was half Phil Spector,
half La Monte Young—and thereby invented dronology, a term that loosely describes 50 per cent of
today's post-rock activity.

"Top Ten Albums on Which the Sequencing Is Lost on CD - Staff Top 10". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved
September 28, 2017.

"NME Reviews: Plastic Box". NME. January 11, 1999. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008.
Retrieved July 8, 2008.

Reynolds, Simon (November 1, 2007). "Heavy Metal". Frieze Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

McFarlane, Dean. "Vibing Up the Senile Man – Alternative TV | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |
AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2015.

Philip Sherburne (January 26, 2016). "This Heat: This Heat/Health and Efficiency/Deceit Album Review".
Pitchfork. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

This Heat: the band who came in from the cold|Irish Times

"This Heat - This Heat - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

d from the original on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2006-11-29.

Richardson, Derk (May 12, 2005). "Hear & Now". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

Simon Reynolds (2 October 2015). "Classic Reviews: Radiohead, 'Kid A'". Spin. Retrieved 21 January
2017.
Reynolds, Simon (October 2000). "Radio Chaos". Spin. Archived from the original on 27 September
2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.

Allmusic review: Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Babbili, Laura (2007-03-15). "Bang On: Explosions in the Sky". Gigwise. Retrieved 2007-03-09.

Favorite Indie Pop and Indie Rock Albums|AllMusic 2014 in Review

James West (September 26, 2016). "Review: "Oh Hiroshima – In Silence We Yearn"". Contrast Control.
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Joshua Parker (July 12, 2016). "Oh Hiroshima Re-Issue 2015 Post-Rock Masterpiece Album on CD". Indie
Band Guru. Retrieved September 28, 2017.