Instrumental bands

Bad^Hat

The Freeman
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Carried over from the (latest) Explosions in the Sky thread, use this thread to talk about great music - only without the vocals.

Firstly, a band I haven't seen mentioned yet - and possibly one a few of you mightn't have heard of! (although I doubt it, you music-wise bastards ye...)


Ozric Tentacles -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26hh-dsESA[/youtube]

I won't go into describing their style or anything, suffice it to say the more I listen to these guys, the more I want to start experimenting with illicit substances...

If you like, there's some more cool live stuff if you give em a search on the 'tube. Besides that, I'm not having too much luck turning up anything substantial so far. I first heard them awhile back on a tape dad had lying around and have been keeping an eye out since, so if anyone has any more luck than I...

Your turn! Try to keep it to atleast semi-original recommendations, ie - avoid bands that are already touted every other thread (most of you know the culprits by now ;)).
 
A few of my favourite instrumental bands and albums:

Mogwai - Mr. Beast (calming yet chaotic)
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place (beautiful)
Do Make Say Think - Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead (this CD is immense; really jazzy kind of post-rock)
Autechre - Amber (can't explain it, really, just give it a shot and a few listens)

... and on the heavier side:

Red Sparowes - At the Soundless Dawn (epic atmospheric, chilling and somewhat 'apocalyptic' metal orientated instrumental stuff)
Pelican - Australasia (wonderfully fantastic climatic instrumental metal)
 
Mogwai - Happy Songs for happy people ...a sublime album.
 
That's actually a Mogwai album I've not heard, although the track from it I Know You Are But What Am I? is one of my favourite songs. :|
 
Ahahaha! I've heard and album that the Antipop hasn't!
 
Ahahaha! I've heard and album that the Antipop hasn't!

Incorrect; I aquired it via internets an hour ago. ;)

I can't believe I've forgotten to mention Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion. Okay, so there are vocals here and there, but very rarely with the former and only frequently on the latest album of the latter. Both are stunning bands - totally unique in style. Spanning from orchestras to mournfull piano melodys and guitar tinkerings, the both of them (which, to be fair, are actually pretty much the same people) are stunning bands.

Check out Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upwards and He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms by A Silver Mt. Zion for some truely amazing work.

(the latest A Silver Mt. Zion album, Horses in the Sky is probably one of my favourite albums ever, so I really do recommend it to anyone out there even though it's not instrumental.)
 
What's with instrumental bands and long-winded album titles? :P

Checking out some Mogwai now. Mostly early stuff... so far it's sort of sounding like a watered down Explosions with some different stuff here and there. But then it took me a little while to get into EitS, so I'm giving it time.

Does anyone remember a video that was posted awhile back, pretty sure it featured a song from one of the bands already mentioned. The video itself was just a view of falling through the sky, and down through the clouds (presumably from a sky-diver or something - wasn't CG). Just thought of it for no particularly reason and seem to remember it being pretty awesome...
 
I know - the song titles are really awkward sometimes. :(

Personally I would of started with Mr. Beast by Mogwai then gone backwards. That's what I did anyway.

I'm pretty sure that video might Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada. Great song, wicked video.
 
I remember back when very few people had heard of Explosions in the Sky or any of the artists on Constellation Records.. Funny how things change.
 
Ha ha ha ha!

Wait... I don't get it.
 
Ones that I really like that haven't been mentioned yet:
Ascent of Everest <--like Godspeed
Sparrows Swarm and Sing <--like Godspeed
Cue <--vioin-driven post rock
Lis Er Stille
Mono

The rest:
Ef
God Is An Astronaut
Grails
Of Sinking Ships
This Will Destroy You
Unwed Sailor
Yndi Halda

I'm actually not a big fan of Mogwai... I'll think half their songs are awesome and the other half are just ok.
 
Pelican, but they can be quite boring sometimes.

Karma to Burn and Secret Chiefs 3 are probably my favourite though. (SC3 sometimes have vocals though but it's rare).
 
Thanks dfc05, I`ve been listening to This Will Destroy You a bit lately and I was wracking my brain trying to remember their name. Great band!
 
*bump*

Mr. Beast rocks my face. That is all.


(<3 Antipop)
 
Godspeed forever.

I have to say I wasn't too impressed with Do Make Say Think, who appeared on my pandora station, but I am checking out Autechre now. I'm also planning to buy Valley of the Giants soon.

I like Explosions (and the band too!).
 
Do Make Say Think can be a little hit and miss. I've got 3 of their albums, and 'Goodbye Enemy Airship...' is the only one I have properly listened through. The others, 'Besides' and '& Yet 7 Yet' didn't do much for me, but time will tell.

I'll have me a listen to Valley of the Giants tonight. Broken Social Scene, Do Make Say Think and Godspeed members... it's gotta be good.

*bump*

Mr. Beast rocks my face. That is all.


(<3 Antipop)

It is fantastic, isn't it? We're No Here is just mindblowing. Going to see them live this year. :D :D :D
 
Been checking out another post-rock group from japan, Mono. They're most similar to Explosions, but they have a fairly distinctive style. Their music is still prominently guitar/bass/drums, but they chuck in some orchestra stuff too. Giving it some time to grow on me, but it sounds pretty cool so far.
 
REM do a few good instrumentals.

End game and New oreleans instrumental spring to mind.
 
Been checking out another post-rock group from japan, Mono. They're most similar to Explosions, but they have a fairly distinctive style. Their music is still prominently guitar/bass/drums, but they chuck in some orchestra stuff too. Giving it some time to grow on me, but it sounds pretty cool so far.

Try and find some Pelican stuff, they've done a split with Mono.
 
I saw Pelican live a few weeks back on their UK tour with These Arms Are Snakes and, whilst I wish I had had a chair to sit on, Pelican really were quite phenomenal. TAAS were better, mind. Bring on ISIS in a few weeks!

Mono are someone I've been told to check out from the Damnation Festival boards. I'll look for some tonight.
 
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