Melancholy, atmospheric, reflective music (post rock maybe) - any recommendations?

Megii

I've long had a liking for melancholy an/or atmospheric kinds of music - that has led me to explore stuff on the 4AD label, also shoegaze, also some of the more ethereal goth-ish kind of stuff, (other things also) in the past. Recently I discovered the band Bark Psychosis, this track for example is very much to my taste - I love that chiming bell-like guitar that comes in after a while:

Apparently, this was an early example of Post Rock, or at least some critic dubbed it thus. So maybe there are other post rock things I might like - I don't know a lot about the genre. But really just looking for any possible recommendations anyone might have that might fit the melancholy/atmospheric/etherial/reflective kind of area, and maybe just expand my listening a bit more, cheers!

Reverend

Godspeed You Black Emperors is the obvoius place to start for postrock, along with Slint.
Check out Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower.
Warning - Watching From A Distance and the later band 40 Watt Sun mix doom metal with melancholic slowcore sort of stuff a la Low and Red House Painters.
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun is a classic of the epic and grandiose atmospheric style.
Current 93, Coil, Andrew King, Blood Axis, Death In June, Endura and Der Blutarsch are all worth a look if you find the Neo Folk side of things.

Megii

Reverend said:

Godspeed You Black Emperors is the obvoius place to start for postrock, along with Slint.
Check out Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower.
Warning - Watching From A Distance and the later band 40 Watt Sun mix doom metal with melancholic slowcore sort of stuff a la Low and Red House Painters.
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun is a classic of the epic and grandiose atmospheric style.
Current 93, Coil, Andrew King, Blood Axis, Death In June, Endura and Der Blutarsch are all worth a look if you find the Neo Folk side of things.

Cheers for that @Reverend - I check the suggestions out. I'm already a fan of Red House Painters and Dead Can Dance, and Coil is another recent discovery. Good stuff anyway, cheers again!

steamabacus

I'd second the suggestion of Godspeed You Black Emperor.

Also, Sigur Ros and, from a bit further back, Popol Vuh.

Megii

steamabacus said:

I'd second the suggestion of Godspeed You Black Emperor.

Also, Sigur Ros and, from a bit further back, Popol Vuh.

Appreciated @steamabacus - have a couple of Sigur Ros albums, but haven't listened to them enough really. Must check out Godspeed properly - have obviously heard of them, but never really explored. Popol Vuh is just a name I'm very vaguely aware of - could be a good new one for me, cheers.

camf

Maybe try Low... and the Retribution Gospel Choir... and maybe Sparklehorse too?

Megii

camf said:

Maybe try Low... and the Retribution Gospel Choir... and maybe Sparklehorse too?

Heard of Low - never really listened. Sparklehorse totally new to me. Will check em both out though, nice one, thanks @camf

camf

And anything feature the late and sadly departed Jason Molina... Songs:Ohia or The Electric Magnolia Company which is, confusingly, both an excellent album and an excellent offshoot band. 

camf

I've always loved that melancholic stuff too. ... or should that be ...  (

Megii

camf said:

And anything feature the late and sadly departed Jason Molina... Songs:Ohia or The Electric Magnolia Company which is, confusingly, both an excellent album and an excellent offshoot band. 

Completely new to me! It would be typical of me to get into an artist after they have sadly passed on. But sounds like an excellent suggestion, another wisdom for you!

Megii

camf said:

I've always loved that melancholic stuff too. ... or should that be ...  (

Know where your coming from - that kind of music takes the listener to another place, kind of an escapist sort of thing maybe. I don't know really, but I am drawn to such stuff. Doesn't really make me feel sad somehow, more a kind of enjoyable, reflective kind of mood maybe. Cheers again for the listening ideas anyhow.

camf

Jason Molina came second in a pretty disastrous battle with alcohol. He was a bit Neil Young-like at his best moments and a bit whiny at his worst but he wrote some powerful lyrics. Sometimes context can give a deeper melancholy to some albums. I always loved Neil Young's album Tonight's the Night, but for quite a wile I didn't know the tragic circumstances around the album, where two close friends - a bandmate and a roadie - both dies in relative close succession from drug use. As ypu'll see below, it profoundly affected his work for a period of years. The albums I've mentioned don't owe much to postrock, but I think they certainly tick the melancholy or melancholy-inspired box.

Neil Young's three consecutive early 1970's albums "Time Fades Away", "On The Beach" and Tonight's The Night are considered by many fans the Rosetta Stone to understanding his entire body of work. Because of their dark, haunting brilliance, the albums are known as "The Ditch Trilogy".In the often quoted hand written liner notes of Decade, Neil writes: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." Hence, the origin of the "Ditch" term -- which is sometimes also referred to as the "Doom" period or "The Wilderness Years".

Megii

camf said:

Jason Molina came second in a pretty disastrous battle with alcohol. He was a bit Neil Young-like at his best moments and a bit whiny at his worst but he wrote some powerful lyrics. Sometimes context can give a deeper melancholy to some albums. I always loved Neil Young's album Tonight's the Night, but for quite a wile I didn't know the tragic circumstances around the album, where two close friends - a bandmate and a roadie - both dies in relative close succession from drug use. As ypu'll see below, it profoundly affected his work for a period of years. The albums I've mentioned don't owe much to postrock, but I think they certainly tick the melancholy or melancholy-inspired box.

Neil Young's three consecutive early 1970's albums "Time Fades Away", "On The Beach" and Tonight's The Night are considered by many fans the Rosetta Stone to understanding his entire body of work. Because of their dark, haunting brilliance, the albums are known as "The Ditch Trilogy".In the often quoted hand written liner notes of Decade, Neil writes: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." Hence, the origin of the "Ditch" term -- which is sometimes also referred to as the "Doom" period or "The Wilderness Years".

All interesting to me @camf, no worries re not being post rock - that's just one interesting avenue for me. As it happens I'm already a bit of a Neil Young fan - another musical area I like a lot is all that hippy stuff - California rock, and singer-songwriter stuff from the late 60s/early 70s. Didn't know the story re Tonight's the Night though, or the quote re The Ditch Trilogy - so cheers for posting that.

bingefeller

Here's a list for you.

Megii

bingefeller said:

Here's a list for you.

Cheers @bingefeller

bingefeller

@Megii what's interesting about that Bark Psychosis album Hex is that on rateyourmusic they classify it as ambient, jazz-rock and slowcore and don't mention post-rock and that is one website which is very, very particular about genres. 

Anyway, here's another two lists you should check out for post-rock.

Here and here.

Megii

bingefeller said:

@Megii what's interesting about that Bark Psychosis album Hex is that on rateyourmusic they classify it as ambient, jazz-rock and slowcore and don't mention post-rock and that is one website which is very, very particular about genres. 

Anyway, here's another two lists you should check out for post-rock.

Here and here.

I'll have to check out "ambient jazz-rock" and "slowcore" as well I guess! The whole genres game only works so far with music anyway - I'm really just interested to discover new music I like. I was going by the Wikipedia entry for Bark Psychosis re the post rock reference  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bark_Psychosis . All interesting music anyway, and cheers for the two more lists.

richardhomer

The studio version is even more melancholy....

A truly beautiful piece of music.

racefaceec90

apologies if already been said,but check out robin guthrie (cocteau twins/this mortal coil).

he does exactly what you want ;-)

also try some brian eno too :-)

julee cruise is fantastic too :-)

badlydrawnbanjo

Exit calm might be of interest to you...

Megii

richardhomer said:

The studio version is even more melancholy....

A truly beautiful piece of music.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pYLVM560Fok

Good one, cheers for posting - already have the album on CD actually, but haven't listened to it in ages! Clearly need to dig that one out. You're totally correct that it does fit my description - an extraordinary artist.