This is a list of bands in and around the instrumental post-rock genre for everyone who wants to discover some new bands, some more, some lesser known. I am neither a musician nor a music journalist and this list merely reflects my personal taste. Go make your own if you don't like it. ;)
- Explosions in the Sky (EITS): Explosions are a great gateway drug to post rock. You can simply listen to any of their stuff and it's going to brighten your day. Their music ranges from truly explosive tracks like Yasmin the Light to the calm and beautiful Your Hand in Mine. For some reason, I like to listen to their records in reverse chronological order, but there isn't really one particular album, I'd pick out as best. Just dive in!
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GY!BE): These guys sort of invented post rock. There is a lot of weird stuff on record though, but the actual music in between that weirdness is absolutely massive. The apocalyptic opener of their first record, The Dead Flag Blues, must be one of the most memorable pieces of post rock out there.
- Sigur Rós: These guys from Iceland are probably the most popular band on this list. I personally can't really get into a lot of their stuff, because it's just too ambient, but some of their stuff is really amazing (and many people swear all of it is ;)). Glósoli a pretty great track, and I do really love their most recent record Kveikur (which is a lot darker and also less ambient than their other stuff).
- Mogwai: Again, while there is a lot of great stuff throughout their records, I never got into it enough to regularly listen to them. They should definitely be checked out though. By far my favourite track is the recent Remurdered.
- Russian Circles: If you're more into metal, these guys are for you. I honestly don't really listen to them at all, so unfortunately can't recommend any particular tracks or records.
- 65daysofstatic: Probably my personal favourite on this list. They do an amazing blend of very mathy post-rock, glitchy electronics and a lot of (live and programmed) drums. They released a lot of weirdness on a dozen EPs or so, but their full LPs are all great. Their debut The Fall of Math is a work of art. Their more recent records lean a bit towards the dance-y side of electronics, without losing any of their weird time signatures. Their single best track must be Radio Protector, but a better summary of what their music is all about is probably I Swallowed Hard Like I Understood. FYI, they are currently involved in writing a generative soundtrack for the upcoming video game No Man's Sky.
- This Will Destroy You (TWDY): Rather slow but by no means ambient. In fact, they are one of the most powerful post rock bands I think. Their records have quite different moods, so it's definitely worth listening to all of them. Their first EP Young Mountain and their self-titled debut are probably my favourites. I really love their subtle use of noisy electronics. Great individual tracks are A Three-Legged Workhorse, the massive Burial on the Presidio Banks (yes massive, wait for it!) and the soothing They Move on Track of Never-Ending Light. As for their other records: Tunnel Blanket is all about texture. It's dark and heavy, and maybe a bit of an acquired taste, but with headphones there's a lot of beauty to discover on that record. Little Smoke and Black Dunes are great examples of that. The most recent Another Language is more upbeat again, but is actually equally rich in texture, which makes it really interesting.
- If These Trees Could Talk (ITTCT): These guys lean a bit towards the post metal side, but don't let that put you off if metal is something you normally don't like - it's still very much beautiful post rock. As with TWDY, all of their releases are great, although I think ITTCT's are getting better and better. They Speak With Knives should get you hooked.
- Mono: This band from Japan have their very own trademark post rock sound, and occasionally record their albums with orchestras. It's hard to pick out a single track that shows why I'm so much in love with this band. Their Hymn to the Immortal Wind is probably my single favourite post rock record and deserves to be listened to front-to-back. It's the most cinematic piece of music I know (which wasn't written as a soundtrack), and managed to create a really rich image of a story in my mind, just from the song titles and the music. I later found out that the vinyl actually comes with a short story which the record is sort of a soundtrack for.
- Yndi Halda: So far, Yndi Halda have released a single record, some 9 years ago, with four (rather long) tracks. Every single one of them is absolutely gorgeous, so check out the album: Enjoy Eternal Bliss. The song structures remind me a lot of GY!BE, but there's none of that weirdness in Yndi Halda's music. :) Also, that violin...
- Caspian: I don't have anything specific to say about Caspian, but to me they seem like a blend of all the things that make post rock great. If you could somehow plot all the bands in some space by various features of their music, Caspian would be dead centre in the post rock blob. The best thing is just to start by listening to first couple of tracks from their first EP, Quovis, Further Up, Further In.
- And So I Watch You From Afar: A very mathy and very fun post rock band from Ireland. Their music ranges from the really groovy A Little Solidarity Goes A Long Way, over the absolutely mental Search:Party:Animal to the epic Homes - ...Samara to Belfast (I literally couldn't continue writing this list during the last 3.5 minutes of that track) and The Voiceless.
- Ef: A Swedish band making absolutely beautiful music. On this list, they're probably the band which makes most use of vocals. While they appear to be one of the calmer bands from their records, their live shows always completely blow me away. The songs, Hello, Scotland and Longing for Colors - both of which feature a beautiful duet - are probably the best introduction to them.
- God is an Astronaut: While their later records are seriously lacking for me in terms of innovation, their early All is Violent, All is Bright is an amazing album. Don't get me wrong, there are great tracks on the newer records, but they all sound like they could be from that album. Good tracks to start with are Fragile and Fire Flies and Empty Skies.
- Frames: A German whose second (concept) album, In Via, I'm absolutely in love with. The album is framed (no pun intended) by a recording of Hermann Hesse reciting his poem "Stufen" (steps, or stages). Unfortunately, I haven't yet found an English translation that captures all of its nuances, but maybe if you look up a few different once, you'll get an idea. It's definitely one of my favourite poems, and the entire record seems to be built around it. If you just want to check out a single track for now, Don't Stay Here is the one.
- Maybeshewill: A rather big name in the genre, at least in the UK. Their early records are somewhat comparable to 65daysofstatic, although they are considerably heavier and make more use of voice samples from movies. Not For Want of Trying really gets your adrenalin up and then there's the slightly cheesy but somehow still amazing sing-along track He Films the Clouds, Pt. 2. Unfortunately, their latest albums have somehow lost some of the band's earlier appeal to me, but maybe that's personal preference.
- Flies are Spies from Hell: These guys are interesting because they are a) one of the wilder bands but b) rely heavily on a piano in their instrumentation. While I do like them, I somehow don't listen to their stuff all that much. They made the favourites list though because of the absolutely breathtaking track Next Hour. (Slightly reminiscent of the second half of Ghinzu's Dragster-Wave if you've ever seen the credits of Taken.)
- Honorable mentioned - BT - This Binary Universe: BT mostly makes House music. But then there's that one record, This Binary Universe, which is like the electronic equivalent of a very mathy post rock record. It's also the nerdiest album I know. The first track was written entirely in Csound. He wrote several Cubase plugins to get the effects he wanted, and some tracks are micro-composed down to 256th notes or even smaller values. He also produced a video (using various technology) for each of the tracks (although I don't vouch for how good those are ;)). My favourite track is The Antikythera Mechanism which features a massive orchestra towards the end.
- pg.lost: More post rock from Sweden. Check out Yes, I Am and Crystaline. If you like those, there's a lot more where that came from.
- The Calm Blue Sea: A rather young band from Texas who also use the piano quite a lot. I absolutely love their first, self-titled record. Every track on that has something special about it. The second one isn't bad, but somehow not as memorable.
- Tunturia: They were a rather random discovery, and their first record Maps is really beautiful, especially if you like voice samples in your music. My favourite track is probably Cast Shadows on Clouds.
- Scale the Summit: Very groovy instrumental prog metal. Check out Atlas Novus, and if you like it you can find the entire album on bandcamp.
- we.own.the.sky: Nice post rock from Greece. Oddly enough, I keep forgetting about their existence, although I really like their first EP, Glass/Nails.
- Human Pyramids: This is the side project of one of the guys from Axes (a really wild, mathy band I should probably have mentioned separately). But Human Pyramids is huge - there are some twenty people in the band, and it's really really happy music. Check out their bandcamp.
- Nordic Giants: I don't listen to them much on record, but there is no other band (in any genre) which I've seen live more often. This duo puts on the sickest live show, with high-quality short films playing to every single song. They use a lot of speeches and movie samples in their music. My favourite track is definitely Together (and yes, they wear those costumes on stage, which is kinda crazy because there aren't even any spotlights on them). Also, they just released a stream of their first full-length record A Séance of Dark Delusions.
- The Physics House Band: Absolutely mad math rock. Their music as trippy as the video to Abraxical Solapse.
- Set and Setting: On the slower, heavier side. I really enjoy their debug Equanimity. Spiraling Uncertainties gives a good indication why.
- Collapse under the Empire: A duo from Germany who produce records at a crazy rate. There isn't really any particular track or record I could pick out, but it's just a really large bunch of nice music in my library. Here's one track though to get you started.
- Vessels: Vessels are a post-rock-turned-electronica band, and despite being really dance-y these days, they are still a band playing this stuff live. And it's really good actually. Check out Attica and if you like that they've got the full playlist of their recent release Dilate on YouTube.
- Toundra: A recent discovery from Spain. I don't really know how to describe them, except that their latest release (IV) is very solid.
- The Pirate Ship Quintet: Very impressive, slightly heavier band with a beautiful cello. Check out their bandcamp.
- Leech: An interesting band from Switzerland. They make rather slow and ... plodding? ... post rock backed with some synths, but without being as heavy as Black Metal, say. I only really know their latest record If we get there on day, would you please open the games?, but that one is really nice. Echolon is a nice introduction to them, which has several really great moments throughout the track.
There's also a bunch of one-man projects in the genre, which you can check out on bandcamp.
- Release the Long Ships: Not only is his music quite beautiful, he's also a great painter and does all of his cover artwork himself.
- Widek: This one is a bit more metal than rock.
- April Rain: He has some sick guitar work, e.g. in Walking with Zeus' Wife, and a beautiful tribute to Robin Williams called One is Glad to Be of Service. Bandcamp.
- Adam Leavy: He seems to do a lot of stuff in all sorts of genres, whether post rock, noise or grindcore. I really enjoy this album of his, and have yet to check out some of his other stuff.
- Francesco Berta: I discovered him through the very uplifting Gravity. His solo record Journey is no less beautiful.
Finally, there a few amazing artists which lean more towards ambient and classical, who still belong on this list of instrumental greatness:
- Inventions: This is a side project between one of the guitarists from EITS and Eluvium. It's rather calm music, but there's a lot of attention to detail, so headphones are recommended. Echo Tropism is a nice opener, and they've released to records so far, a self-titled one, and Maze of Woods.
- Balmorhea: Started out as a duo and now consists of seven or so multi-instrumentalists. Their music is somewhere between classical, folk and post-rock and very beautiful. Some amazing tracks are Attesa, In the Rowans (which uses a typewrite for percussion) and Fake Fealty.
- Ólafur Arnalds: He is an amazing composer and multi-instrumentalist from Iceland. Most of his music is based on piano and violin, but it occasionally features some drums or electronics, as well as some vocals on the latest record. Check out Near Light and Ljósið. If you like some dance-y electronics, you should also have a listen at his side project Kiasmos, e.g. Burnt (oh wait, there's a remix by 65daysofstatic :)).
- Nils Frahm: A very great German pianist - and apparently Ólafur's best buddy. I can barely explain just how amazing he is. Just check out this live performance of More, or Says. He also created Piano Day for which he released a new record, Solo, for free download (you can find it on that site - or just check out Wall in the SoundCloud stream there).
There are so many more great bands, but I don't really have anything specific to say about these others as I don't listen to them that actively. Anyway, if you actually manage to exhaust the above list, here are a few more names to look into:
Brontide, sleepmakeswaves, Legendary Skies, Kovlo, Tides from Nebula, Year of no Light, Bossk, Jesu, Red Sparowes, The Evpatoria Report, matryoshka, Nyctalgia, Codes in the Clouds, Solkyri...
Finally, there's a great sampler collected by Oxide Tones, called Ode to an Unspoken Movement which is definitely worth checking out. Ironically, my favourite tracks on there are not from a post rock band but the two by Monsters Build Mean Robots.