Pay close attention, readers. Today we are featuring a year-plus old album that qualifies as another undiscovered gem. How I found out about today's record was via a recent release from Fluttery Records, which we will feature on the next installment. Today's post is an apt lead-in to what we will be talking about next.
It can be difficult to come across great music from the East, but this definitely qualifies.
Gespenst was founded in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia by brothers Syahmi and Zuhair Rawi. This is the first Malaysian group of any genre music I have found, which makes this record unique in a different way.
As it turns out, there is plenty unique about this disc. This is not your standard-fare post-rock sound. While it does feature loads of stretching atmospherics, generous helpings of keyboards and pianos, it also offers huge, chunks of guitar riffing and plenty of tasty leads. This disc also features sparse vocals, and by sparse, I mean rarer than those found on your average Sigur Ros disc.
What I love about this album is that, in addition to stretched melodies and eerie ambiance, it features rock beats that you can nod your head to. Gespenst puts the rock back in post-rock. Some bands are doing this nowadays--think recent releases by If These Trees Could Talk and Exxasens. This is a somewhat new development in post-rock which is actually more of a nod to the old-school styles of post rock from stalwart bands such as Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Although this is a short album, clocking in with seven tracks averaging around five and half minutes in length, it is something I am really digging. I'm glad I found out about the subject of our next installment, because it led me right to Gespenst. This is a fantastic record that I can recommend again and again, even if you are not a fan of post-rock. Thanks to Gespenst's bandcamp page, we've got the full album stream ready for you to feast your ears on. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment