Burning Building, 2010

It’s taken me a while to get around to writing this one, as I’ve been struggling to think of a good way to convey how Post Harbor’s sophomore full-length is different (and better) than the majority of the post rock crowd. It’s still post rock, just very good. And diverse. And adventurous. With some electronic stuff. And plenty of atmospherics and patient climactic progressions… like post rock. Oh just give it a listen already.

Kscope, 2010

If their previous EP served to exhibit their lofty ambitions, Grappling Hooks shows the Scottish trio’s feet aren’t anywhere near the ground yet. Their debut full-length is a similarly enigmatic record, bathing in synths and fuzzy guitars, driven by an excited clamour of percussion, narrated by oddly detached vocals. The eleven tracks touch upon indie, electro, pop, and rock, but in general categories are unwanted ballast on such an airy and free record.

Big Scary Monsters, 2010

Talons from Hereford have paired up with US band Noumenon for a ‘double A-Side’ if you will. Both playing instrumental rock, Talons provide the more epic-classical violin stuff, whilst Noumenon whack out complex time signatures and fiddly guitar parts, making for two quite different but great tracks.

ATP, 2009

The British duo’s sophomore record is a swirling expanse of electronic noise, as droney as it is dancey, as chaotic as it is focused (something their debut perhaps lacked). There’s similarities with post-rock, except here the grand structures hold a steady shape rather than climactic, making the music restlessly hypnotic.