Post-rock fans are well aware of The Sirens Sound and Oxide Tones, who have teamed up to present this all-new 4-hour compilation. It’s a great way to hear new music from old favorites (Collapse Under the Empire, My Education), catch up with recent winners (Human Empires, This Patch of Sky) and discover new bands in the process. Post-rock has more lives than a country cat, and Ode to an Unspoken Movement is evidence. The project is currently a Kickstarter campaign, with multiple purchase options and high hopes for a 4xCD and vinyl release at the end of the year.
With 35 tracks to investigate, there’s easily something for everyone. The dominant sound is classic post-rock, with careful builds and euphoric crescendos, but other genres are present as well, including ambient and modern composition. These genres have always contributed to post-rock (especially when it comes to interludes), so the album’s flow is not affected. In fact, one of the best tracks, Crimson Mourn’s “Hands That Split the Wind, Can’t Hold the Wind”, incorporates both, climaxing in a soft symphony of strings. A similar beauty is found in Thursday Bloom’s “In This Moment”, which is made more meaningful in light of the artist’s story; for details, see our related article “The Sonic Diary of Thursday Bloom”. Francesco Berta collaborates with The Modern Dinosaurs for the modern composition/post-rock blend of “Gravity” (no relation to the film, but possessing the same weightlessness). And before shifting to post-rock, Sky Flying By does his best Ian Anderson imitation, launching his ten-minute track in a flurry of flute and bells.
My Education’s “AmF II” (a sequel to/enhancement of “A Drink for All My Friends”) is one of the post-rock highlights, a thick offering that builds from a whisper to a whorl. The wordless chants, glockenspiel and strings of Human Pyramids’ “Kalamata” make it a happy favorite, another reminder of the appeal of this new artist. A similar vibe is apparent in Monsters Build Mean Robots, one of the few vocal acts on the compilation and one of the few to contribute two tracks (Blind Taste contributes four). Every listener will have his or her own favorites; the advantage is having so much to choose from. Ten pounds gets the download; higher amounts get the physical release, t-shirts, posters, prints and even more music. This is a project well worth backing. (Richard Allen)
Release date: 20 December
a closer listen 