Recording engineer, DJ, and general music nerd Chris Cline joined Harmonic co-founders George Howard and Dan Servantes for a conversation about post-rock and the act of discovering music that is far afield from mainstream tastes. Watch the whole conversation below and keep scrolling to check out some post-rock picks from Chris!

Chris Cline's Post-Rock Recommendations

Why does every genre of music require a label? Math-rock, post-punk, nü-metal, etcetera. How about death-pölka? That hasn’t been done, right? Since I’m blathering on about genres, I’ve been asked to pick out a few of my post-rock favorites. If you’re not even slightly familiar with the genre, let me throw confusion into your already genre muddled mind. Post-rock is probably best described as “atmospheric, instrumental music with a focus on non-traditional instrumentation”, unless of course it incorporates vocals and traditional instrumentation. That last sentence is dichotomous at best, which is why labeling genres of music is so tedious. I tend to think of music as “good” and “bad”, but that’s polarizing much like everything on the Internet, and since the Net has seemingly destroyed all grey area, let’s explore the grey areas of post rock, and then feel free to let me have it.

Slowdive - Crazy For You (from the LP Pygmalion)

Slowdive’s first two LP’s are shoegaze classics, arguably.  Pygmalion on the other hand, saw the band get the boot from their label Creation just a week after its release.  Considered career suicide after the combined success of their previous LPs, Pygmalion was co-founder Neil Halstead’s foray into more disparate musical territories. While this LP ‘gazes, there’s a good chance that head bobbing will be absent. And yes, this album is widely considered a masterpiece today.

Michael Rother - Katzenmusik 7 (from the LP Katzenmusik)

Why single this out when there’s a honeypot of other tracks from Rother to choose from?  Singles by Kraftwerk, Neu, and Harmonia certainly deserve a mention, but that’s low hanging fruit, and for those in the know, why explore the already lauded?  Katzenmusik is a respite from a taxing, mundane week of the status quo.  

Brian Eno - The Big Ship (from the LP Another Green World)

There’s nothing I can say about Eno that hasn’t already been said.  You hear his work everyday, it’s a part of our collective consciousness; to say otherwise is a lie.  “The Big Ship”  is short, sweet, resonant, and I want it to continue indefinitely upon every listen.  From the freneticism in the percussion to the fast arpeggiated keys as the song builds, there’s still a sense of sublimity and calm.

Talk Talk - The Rainbow (from the LP Spirit Of Eden)

Let the grumbling commence.  Laughing Stock is the record that most point to amongst the heads when Talk Talk enters the equation, but let’s examine the opener to Spirit of Eden.  All the “proper” elements exist: sparse intro, muted trumpet, slow build, organ, harmonium, and Mark Hollis’ enigmatic vocal take.  This is Hollis’s departure from “radio-friendly” to “this is what I’ve meant to tell you all along”.  Genius will forever reside in the grooves of this platter.

(Further reading - Phil Brown’s book, Are We Still Rolling? Studios, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll - One Man's Journey Recording Classic Albums, goes into detail about the recording of this LP and Laughing Stock.  Without question, the most honest book I’ve ever absorbed about the recording industry.)

Broadcast - Tower Of Our Tuning (from the LP The Noise Made By People)

A voiceless single from a group that was gifted with one of the greatest voices of all time in Trish Keenan.  Many would not consider Broadcast to be cut from the post-rock cloth, but this track, and many others from their catalog sing a different kind of song.  Sometimes abstract, sometimes haunting, and always glorious in the purest sense of the word, “Tower Of Our Tuning” is a swinging exploration of found sounds drenched in the springiest of reverbs. Keenan, taken far too early from this pale blue dot, is perpetually inspiring.

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Learn more about Chris at his website: https://www.civilianaudio.com/