The Ongoing History of New Music, Episode 770: A Brief History of Post-Rock

I hate jargon, especially when it comes to music. I’ve always believed that music should be for everyone and that no one should be barred from discovering something wonderful just because they can’t speak the language of critics and musos.Sure you could ask, but sometimes admitting that you don’t know something is intimidating. Who doesn’t hate the feeling of encountering unfamiliar terms and phrases that make you feel stupid, uninformed or shut out?

This topic came up a while ago when I got an email from a listener about the concept of “post-rock.” What the hell is that? “After rock?” “Beyond rock?” Is this a scene or sound? Or is it something else?

The best definition I can come up with is “rock music using rock instruments in non-rock ways to create atmosphere and soundscapes.” That’s still an imperfect description, so the best thing we can do is spend an hour on the subject tracing the rise of post-rock in alt-rock culture.

Songs from this week’s program:

Velvet Underground, “Venus in Furs”

Neu!, “Hallogallo”

David Bowie, “Warszawa”

Public Image Ltd, “Swan Lake”

Talk Talk, “I Believe in You”

Slint, “Breadcrumb Trail”

Stereolab, “Wow and Flutter”

Radiohead, “Everything In Its Right Place”

Sigur Ros, “Svefn-g-englar”

Explosions in the Sky, “Your Hand in Mind”

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7
• Live 88-5/Ottawa
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener
• FM96/London – Sunday night at 7, Monday night at 11
• The Drive/Kingston
• Power 97/Winnipeg (Sunday nights at 11)
• 98.1 The Bridge/Lethbridge – Saturday night at 6, Sunday morning at 10am
• Rock 97.7/Grand Prairie – Sunday nights at 6.
• 92X/Calgary
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton
• The Zone/Victoria
• The Fox/Vancouver (Coming soon!)
• Live 105/Halifax

We’re still looking for more affiliates in Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor,  Montreal, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.