后摇界里总有那么几支地球人都知道的鼻祖级乐队。他们即使隔了好几年没有新作品问世，人们也会比记任何一支优秀的新乐队都更要清楚的记住他们曾经的经典。人们习惯性的把他们作为真理般的评价标准，与他们作品相似度越高的作品就是好作品。一旦这样的乐队有意无意的整出一丁点的风吹草动，所有人的眼睛就会在第一时间齐刷刷的投到他们身上。当然更不要说是在沉寂三年后推出新专辑。我卖了这么大的一个关子，我想其实也没什么过分的。因为你们大概都已经猜到，我要说的是Mogwai.。
距2003年的Happy Songs For Happy People时隔三年，Mogwai终于将于2006年3月7日发行第五张录音室专辑Mr. Beast。这对现如今不景气的Post-rock市场来说，无疑是一副加强型的强心剂。三年前的Happy Songs For Happy People，是一张让大部分从一开始就喜欢Mogwai的乐迷们大跌眼镜的专辑：Mogwai这是怎么了？完全没有了当年Rock.Action的狂野，愤怒和爆裂，完全是一副安安静静慢悠悠的念经讲故事的派头，难道Mogwai开始收敛魔鬼锋芒改走温情路线了吗？这对每个他们音乐的狂热爱好者来说都是一种极富毁灭性的暗示。包括我在内。于是在那之后的几年内，我们只好带着不安期待着他们的下一次爆发。
Mr. Beast是Mogwai成立11年来的第5张录音室专辑。由Matador Records发行，在Glasgow的Castle Of Doom录音室录制完成，耗时6个月。由Tony Doogan操刀制作，也就是为他们制作过Happy Songs For Happy People和Rock Action的制作人。第9首“I Chose Horses”中，Craig Armstrong客串了键盘部分，日本Hardcore乐队Envy前主唱Tetsuya Fukagawa在此献声。
真正引人入胜感人肺腑的Post-rock是残酷地美丽着的。Mowai毋庸置疑是这方面的典范。他们最懂得如何置衡残忍与优雅(Happy Songs For Happy People是唯一例外的一次“优雅过度”事故)。在Mr. Beast中，Mowai完全回归到了最佳状态：惊心动魄的吉他噪音，精致尖锐的钢琴片段，广袤空旷的音景空间。温情，这个越来越多后摇乐队开始一味的大范围应用的主题，在Mowai此次的专辑中也不可避免的出现，然而幸好是被保持在了一个相当合理的剂量内。吉他手/主唱Stuart Braithwaite这样阐释新专辑的原动力：“我们在制作这张专辑的时候，有意识的尝试要把它做的更加吵闹，因为我们开始意识到在我们的现场演出和录音室专辑中存在着巨大的差别。这是毫无理由的。所以我们希望能做出一张可以在现场演出中同样能大放光彩的录音室专辑。因为我们喜欢在舞台上演出那些经过我们努力创作得到的作品。”事实证明，Mr. Beast确实是一张极具舞台爆发力的作品。
“那种quiet-loud/quiet-loud结构好象已经成为了我们的标签，但现在那已经变成陈词滥调。” Stuart补充到，“现在有太多人开始在他们的音乐中使用这种结构，所以我们在这张专辑中开始有意识的避免它。其实并非我们发明了它，但是好象人们觉得这就是我们所做的一切，似乎我们的音乐是和这种公式绑在一起的。并且我们其实已经开始厌倦了自己音乐中的这个部分。我们曾在“Like Herod”(97年的Young Team)中将这种结构发挥到了极至，现在我们觉得这种模式已经没什么可再深入发展的空间了。结束了这种模式之后我们进行了一些安静极简风格的尝试(比如03年的Happy Songs For Happy People)。但之后我们发现，在创新的过程中，我们的作品中缺失了很大一部分对Mogwai而言尤为宝贵的噪音！现在我们很高兴能在这张专辑中回归到了原来的状态。因为从某种意义上说，那是构成Mogwai音乐至关重要的一部分。尽管新专辑中大概只有25%的部分可以算是真正意义上的吵闹，但毕竟这次我们是从创作一开始就有意识去注意的这个问题的。”这是乐队成员“重返正道”的悔悟，同时也是每个Mogwai乐迷最欣然看到的“浪子回头”。
Mr. Beast以一曲“Auto Rock”开场。这可能是Mogwai继Young Team 中的“Yes I am a Long Way From Home”以后最棒的一首开场作品。以一段简单淡定，另人微感不安的钢琴主题展开，随后钢琴逐渐被渐强的吉他和与钢琴同步节奏连续击打的鼓点所吞没，场景十分宏大；接下来的“Glasgow Mega-Snake”则是一首标准Mogwai风格作品，这是我听过他们近几张专辑中最过瘾的一首：疯狂脱序的吉他群猛刷，瞬间在你耳边构建起一堵厚实的噪音墙，阵势相当庞大，它带着熔炉般的炽热，你的内心随之急速的颠簸，碰撞，最后塌陷。这首作品的短小精悍，凭空之间瞬间纠集的爆发力，以及最直接的噪音轰炸，都充分证明了Stuart Braithwaite所希望的一切都成真了。他们不再需要quite部分的铺垫，直接loud，照样能做出最震撼的Post-rock。这也是专辑中一个很明显的特点：所有作品几乎均直接切入主题，没有铺垫和罗嗦，最长的一曲也不过5分46秒，整张专辑全长不过40分。这着实拯救了那些被困在现在一些冗长拖沓又缺乏高潮的Post-rock作品中昏昏欲睡的耳朵。
第三曲“Acid Food”，是一首相对温情的作品，加入了Stuart的人声部分，吉他音色温暖而庸懒，有些迷幻的感觉。但这次的尝试似乎略显平庸，并没法和几年前乐队全盛时期专辑中的这类作品相媲美。第四首“Travel is Dangerous”同样也是一首加入人声的作品，是继第二首“Glasgow Mega-Snake”之后新一轮的爆裂，也是我在整张专辑中最喜欢的一首作品。黑暗，天旋地转，金属般的冰冷，你会听到Mogwai久违的残酷。Stuart的声音与器乐融为一体，爆炸的时候各自为营；在此之后的几首作品：Team Handed，Friend of the Night，Emergency Trap，都比较舒缓，把听者的心跳节奏从刚才的喷涌中减慢下来，均采用了漂亮的钢琴旋律搭配简单吉他Riff的形式。
第9首“I Chose Horses”是这张专辑中相当特别的一支作品。Craig Armstrong行云流水般舒缓的钢琴旋律，日本Hardcore乐队Envy主唱那低沉极富磁性的念白，我惊叹这竟是Mogwai的作品。这其中仍然潜在着某种内敛的诡异。第10首“We’re No Here”是最后一爆，而且也是最澎湃的一次。积蓄的最后力量在此一涌而尽，这是野兽最后的咆哮，它愤怒的朝你踉跄而来，然后准确的将你的身心撕裂。这是个高调的结局，我们每个人都欣然瞑目。
有很可观的一部分人认为Mogwai的音乐是极度绝望的。对此乐队成员Stuart Braithwaite持有非议：“我很纳闷儿为什么人们会觉得我们的音乐另人沮丧和充满绝望的，因为我发现只有坏音乐才会另人沮丧。我们都认为悲伤的音乐会出奇的使人振奋，而我们的音乐就应该属于这种悲伤。”确实，在Mr. Beast中，表象似乎是绝望的，可你会从音乐中找到出口，至少是愤怒的冲动。
也许Mogwai的这张Mr. Beast比起曾经的那几张经典作品来说，并没有太多建设性的突破；也许作为后摇界最大的一个腕儿，他们今天再发新作并不能像昔日那样对整个音乐界带来过于轰动的效果；也许，也许…………让我说，也许个屁！我们曾经痴迷的魔鬼好不容易重生了，我们爱的不就是他那份最本色的愤怒、残酷和邪恶吗？那响彻于我们心底的强悍噪音，正是Mogwai为每个没有灵魂的人设计的一次震撼教育。
(转自网易音乐)

Sleepmakeswaves are an instrumental rock band from Sydney, Australia, formed in late 2006. Drawing influences mainly from but not limited to post-rock, they mix driving metallic bombast with textured electronics.
来自澳大利亚的Sleepmakeswaves是为一支器乐型后摇新团，Sleepmakeswaves同样也受着Mogwai,Explosions in the sky,Mono,SigurRos等团体的影响。他们的作品中有着利落铿锵的旋律，让人热血沸腾。乐队对力度拿捏很有分寸，曲调走向变幻莫测，让人感觉大气中却又不失温柔的气质。

NEW ALBUM "KEY" RELEASE MAY 4TH / ASIAN & EUROPEAN TOURS SPRING 2012

美国的俄亥俄州阿克伦是一个盛产后摇滚乐队的地方，像The Six Parts Seven,、Silencio,和 Mortimur等乐队皆出自于此，If These Trees Could Talk也不例外。在初期的小试牛刀之后，乐队09年的全新专辑《Above The Earth, Below The Sky》由他们自己独立发行，一经推出就得到了乐迷的一致好评。深受Mogwai、Red Sparowes和Explosions In The Sky等前辈影响的If These Trees Could Talk，其音乐还是扎根于传统后摇滚之上，并彻底舍弃了人声。如唱片名《Above The Earth, Below The Sky》所言，整张专辑描绘的亦是一幅癫狂的景象，像是在天地之间掀起的巨浪，奔腾不息，欲罢不能。激昂的节奏是专辑给人的第一印象，紧凑庄重，回荡迂回，有时却戛然而止，便像天际坍塌、万物重生一般。

冰岛著名后摇乐团Sigur Ros(意为胜利的玫瑰)即将在五月份推出他们的第六张录音室大碟《Valtari》，Sigur Ros乐队上一张专辑还是2008年夏天推出的《Mee Sue í Eyrum Vie Spilum Endalaust》。
从2008年推出上张专辑之后，Sigur Ros乐队一直没有创作新作品，几位成员开始分头行动，主唱Jonsi录制了自己的第一张个人唱片《Go》，与此同时，乐队的键盘手Kjartan也录制了一张未发行的作品《Credo》。去年年底，Sigur Ros乐队在伦敦的演出现场曾被发行成为一套CD+DVD的现场专辑《Inni》。
这张《Valtari》将在5月29日正式发行，整张唱片由Sigur Ros乐队主唱Jonsi和混音师阿莱克斯-索梅尔斯(Alex Somers)一同制作，专辑中一共收录了八首歌曲，每一首歌的音乐风格都不一样。本张专辑整体的结构不像Sigur Ros以往的专辑那么统一，这主要是因为歌曲的录音时间跨越太长，其中有些歌最早是2005年录制的。
对于十分期待本张专辑的乐迷来说，现在就可以登陆Sigur Ros乐队的官方网站试听新专辑《Valtari》中的首支单曲《Ekki Mukk》。1994年，Sigur Ros乐队组建于冰岛的Reykjavík，乐队名字的含义是“胜利玫瑰”。从成立以来的近20年中，Sigur Ros已经发行了五张正式唱片，都得到了乐迷很高的评价。
专辑名翻成英文为steamroller，也就是压路机的意思，贝斯手Georg Holm解释这是种能碾压过你的音乐。不过小羽我停下来之后，更多的是感受到，又做了一场梦，很舒服。

Mogwai are a Scottish rock group from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed by Stuart Braithwaite and Dominic Aitchison in 1995, Mogwai has since become one of the most influential and best known names in post-rock.[
Mogwai's sixth studio album is, as one might expect, a brooding and atmospheric collection, full of the band's exceptional use of dynamics and creation of hypnotic soundscapes. 'The Hawk Is Howling' is, however, partly more reflective thanprevious releases, perhaps sharing more in common with 2001's 'Rock Action'. Instrumentally the band have somewhat branched out, utilising light synthesizers on tracks such as 'The Sun Smells Too Loud'. For the first time since their debut'Mogwai Young Team' LP, Andy Miller was on production duties. Recorded in notable Glasgow studio Chem 19 (run by the Chemikal Underground record label), this release sees Mogwai simultaneously stepping forward musically and returning to their roots.

About WakeThisDay
Formed in 2006 under the name of (...and it was a) Cold and Lonely Winter, WakeThisDay emerged as the new name for the band in 2007, more fitting to the band's sound and direction. The demo 'In The Shadow Of Paper Mountains' gave the band its sonic template, and set the grounding for the debut 2008 release 'Gaze Into The Beyond'.
The album takes inspiration from other instrumental and experimental bands, using guitar, bass and drums to create progressive songs with texture and feeling. Instead of playing riffs, instruments are used to create more expansive music, and guitar lines are the primary lyrical expression.
'Gaze Into The Beyond' is out now.

2006 import EP from this Irish duo (brothers Niels and Torsten), who are considered by many to be the most intense live act to emerge from Ireland in recent times. This release trademarks their intense build ups from serene ambience to searing intensity. Five tracks including 'Frozen Twilight'.

Having so far enjoyed a monumental year, with a sold out world tour and the release of the superb and critically acclaimed 7th studio album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, Mogwai are ready to embark upon another chapter. The band are set to release their Earth Division EP, which carries 4 brand new tracks, highlighting a creative departure from the band’s trademark cinematic mantra of pulverizing, scorched guitar riffage, into a more recontextualised domain of hazy electronic distortion, accompanied by spiky wafts of violins, violas, cellos and double bass and jagged keys.
Earth Division discretely demonstrates another side of Mogwai’s stratospheric level of brilliance with its ever-rotating, hypnotic soundtracks that drift dreamy into force, while absorbing into the paranormal.
The EP is a collaboration of barded guitar distortion and haunting piano, which might offer the listener something different, but it still carries the band’s hallmarks and will be available on September 13 in North America via Sub Pop Records and on September 12 via their own label, Rock Action, in Europe.

几个星期来陪伴我时间最长的有两张专辑，一张是前段日子已经推荐过的Moonlit Sailor，而另一张便是这张《The Severely Departed》。这两张专辑都是器乐型后摇风格，且同是旋律动听形式简单的类型，没有大量的铺垫，也没有过多的营造氛围。最近实在不愿意费脑听太深沉的东西，也许这个时候时候简单动听的旋律更容易打动浮燥的我们。这张专辑亦能使人心里产生了无数的共鸣，动听的旋律慢慢铺陈开来，思绪也随着旋律慢慢展开。听到最后一首《Closer to Home》的时候，又不由的勾起了对家的思念，反反复复的听了许多遍。“The Severely Departed来自纽约，由Aaron Weese、Ben Crowley和Chris Grimm三个人组成，尽管人数不多，但他们却并没有因此而失去后摇的气势，不论从旋律还是从氛围来看，The Severely Departed都具备了一支优秀乐队的潜力。乐队组建时间并不长，这应该是他们的首张专辑，而在没有签约任何唱片公司的情况下，乐队成员更是自己制作、自己集资发行了这张唱片，这种独立精神实在让人佩服。”

Leicester's Maybeshewill have never previously done things by halves, they have always put the maximum effort into everything they have ever written, and their third album, 'I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone,' is no exception.
Opening track (Which is cleverly called 'Opening') is a brilliant orchestral piece, starting off the album in the style of 65daysofstatic. An epic drum line and choral singing help to create a dark atmosphere, which leads nicely into the second track.
'Take This To Heart' kicks in straight after 'Opening,' with no chance to sit back and take in what you just heard. Heavy guitar lines and violins give this song a very epic feel, which is what this record is about. This song is nicely unpredictable, every now and then the guitar stops and an orchestral piano or violin section will come in, which is really what helps to seal Maybeshewill's reputation as a great post/math/whatever rock band, I have never been able to make up my mind as to what genre to classify this band as.
Next track 'Red Paper Lanterns' starts with a calm guitar line, which then is layered with drums and xylophones to build up to a climax where everything goes very Explosions in the Sky-esque. Then everything goes calm again, with a synth interlude mimicking what the guitar was doing previously, all building up to a math rock guitar riff that seems very common in the current UK underground scene, reminiscent of bands such as Tubelord, Tangled Hair etc.
Next track and lead single 'Critical Distance' is a good example of how well this band can do post rock, I would have to, once again, refer to 65daysofstatic in order to describe how this sounds, but it's not in a way that they are ripping them off, more as in they are acknowledging what 65days are doing and trying to do similar. For me this is the best song on the record, a very good choice for lead single, and probably a very good way for people who haven't listened to Maybeshewill in the past to get into them.
'Accolades' follows with distorted guitars and a fast synth line in an odd time signature, this track is almost in the style of early Biffy Clyro, in the way that it is fast, heavy and unpredictable. Once again this song like most on this record cut out to a calm, almost orchestral section, then goes into a great calm build up which leads to what is probably the album's heaviest moment. The track leads into a quiet outro, while xylophones and sampled violins play what the guitar was playing prior to it. By this point I am totally won over by this album, listening to the next 5 songs is just a mere technicality that I have to do in order to give a fair review.
'An End To Camaraderie' is another brilliant example of how much talent this band has, there is so much energy in this song it becomes hard to sit still after a while. There is a brilliant background synth part in this song that you have to really listen out for, in my opinion it should have been turned up in the mix as it would have made this song so much better, but regardless this song is the best example of what this band does, heaviness mixed with ambience.
The album then leads into 'Words For Arabella,' a calm song, all the way through this time. This was a good tactical move by Maybeshewill, as everybody listening would be expecting this song to get really heavy like every other one on this album, but this keeps the album unpredictable. As well as working as a good way to maintain unpredictability it is a refreshing break from distorted guitars and loud drums, even if just for a few minutes.
Next up is 'Farewell Sarajevo,' which starts with ambient synths, this intro could quite easily go into a drum and bass song, but I am quite glad that it doesn't, instead going into a brilliantly formulated post rock crescendo.
Penultimate track 'Relative Minors' is the longest on the album, and is also the most epic of every song on it. With brilliantly thought out guitar melodies over distorted chord sequences, energetic drums over amazingly well sampled piano parts, this song just reinforces the great impression that the rest of the album has made, and cements them as one of the great post rock bands in the world, I expect one day to see the name Maybeshewill alongside Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Final track, 'To The Skies From A Hillside' is a good way to end the album, with both guitarists contributing to what is essentially a 5 minute long riff with the occasional slowing down point, presumably because the guitarists need a second to catch their breath.
All in all this is a brilliant post rock album. It will not be everybody's cup of tea due to how hard some people find it to get into post rock, but for fans of the genre, it will win them over with no effort.

乐队官方小站：

乐队官方小站：

相信很多人都听过那首《垂死的岁末》吧，让人迷惘而绝望。现在中国最好的后摇乐队惘闻又回来了，继续着他们独特的音乐风格。
2003年乐队发行了首张专辑《二十八天失眠日记》，当时人声在他们的作品中还占据了比较大的比重，而在06年时，乐队发行了第二张专辑《RE:RE:RE:》，此时乐队已经逐渐淡化甚至舍弃了人声，而开始尝试纯正的器乐摇滚及后摇滚，正是凭着《RE:RE:RE:》的出色表演，使惘闻成为了国内后摇界最具代表性的乐队之一。
2007年4月，乐队正式发行了第三张专辑《7 Objects In Another Infinite Space》，这是张更为大气更为成熟的作品，你从中能很深刻的感受到Mogwai、Explosion In The Sky、Mono等乐队给他们带来的影响，这张专辑中的break the cars随后还收录在了新茶推出的后摇合辑《Post-Rock》中。而从技术、氛围等方面来说，惘闻已经算是国内最为成熟的后摇乐队之一了。

This brings us to the here and now with their 5th album Hy-brasil. For Hy-Brasil the band is back to the core duo of Mike Ystad and Chris Schafer. The absence of Mike Rush's guitars have left enough open space for the duo to explore more visceral sometimes 'Vangelian' synthwork, warm emotive cello passages and more dexterous electronic beat workouts. From the opening track onward each composition on Hy-Brasil twists and turns through organic and synthetic seamlessly while yielding what could very well be their most dynamic, expansive and universally accessible album to date.