Mono "Pilgrimage Of The Soul"

Country: Japan
Genre(s): Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Temporary Residence (NA), Pelagic Records (EU), New Noise (China)
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: September 17, 2021
Tracklist

1. Riptide (5:51) 

2. Imperfect Things (6:25) 

3. Heaven In A Wild Flower (7:10) 

4. To See A World (4:00) 

5. Innocence (8:10) 

6. The Auguries (7:30) 

7. Hold Infinity In The Palm Of Your Hand (12:21) 

8. And Eternity In An Hour (5:51) 

Total Time 57:18

Line-up

Takaakira 'Taka' Goto - Guitar

Tamaki - Bass, Piano

Yoda - Guitar

Dahm - Drums

   With

Susan Voelz - Violin & Orchestrator

Andra Kulans - Violin

Vannia Phillips - Violin

Emi Tanabe - Violin

Alison Chesley - Cello

Anna Steinhoff - Cello

Nora Barton - Cello

Kelsee Vandervall - Cello

Chad McCullough - Trumpet & Brass Co-Arrangement

Liz Deitemyer - French Horn 

Matthew Davis - Trombone

Description/Reviews:

Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with Nowhere Now Here (2019), Pilgrimage of the Soul is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that’s saying a lot). But where MONO’s foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, Pilgrimage of the Soul crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and – perhaps most notably – faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno. It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date – replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done.

Media/Samples
Bandcamp (name your price)
Stream & buy

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Mono "Nowhere Now Here"

Country: Japan
Genre(s): Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Pelagic Records (EU), Temporary Residence (NA, Asia)
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: January 25, 2019
Tracklist: 
1. God Bless
2. After You Comes the Flood
3. Breathe
4. Nowhere, Now Here
5. Far and Further
6. Sorrow
7. Parting
8. Meet Us Where the Night Ends
9. Funeral Song
10. Vanishing, Vanishing Maybe

Line-up: 
Takaakira 'Taka' Goto - guitar
Tamaki - bass, vocal (3)
Yoda - guitar
Dahm Majuri Cipolla - drums

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Mogwai "KIN: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Post Rock, Soundtrack
Label: Rock Action Records  (UK & EU), Temporary Residence (NA)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: August 31, 2018
Tracklist: 
1. Eli's Theme (3:22)
2. Scrap (2:50)
3. Flee (4:56)
4. Funeral Pyre (3:18)
5. Donuts (6:23)
6. Miscreants (3:05)
7. Guns Down (6:19)
8. Kin (7:17)
9. We're Not Done (End Title) (4:14)

Total Time 41:44

Line-up: 
Stuart Braithwaite - guitar
Barry Burns - guitar, keyboards, flute
Dominic Aitchison - bass
Martin Bulloch - drums

Media/Samples 
Donuts
We’re Not Done (End Title)

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Watter "History Of The Future"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Instrumental Eclectic Progressive Rock, Electronica
Label: Temporary Residence TRR296
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: October 20, 2017
Tracklist: 
1. Telos (4:17)
2. Shadow Chase (2:27)
3. Death Knock (4:15)
4. Sacrificial Leaf (4:11)
5. Depth Charge (7:02)
6. Liquid Of Life (3:01)
7. The Cloud Sanctuary (2:17)
8. Macho Milano (6:27)
9. History Of The Future (7:26)
10. Final Sunrise (5:06)

Total Time 46:29

Line-up: 
Zak Riles - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Baglama [Saz], Oud, Sequencer, Synthesizer, Mellotron, Harmonium, Drum Machine, Bass (3), Drums  (1, 3, 5, 6)
Tyler Trotter- Keyboards, Synthesizer, Lap Steel Guitar, Bass (5)
   With
Britt Walford - Drums
Rachel Grimes- Piano
Bundy K. Brown (Tortoise) - Bass
Todd Cook - Bass
Dahm Majuri Cipolla - Drums
Nathan Salsburg - Electric Guitar
Shawn Trail - Marimba
Jacob Duncan - Tenor Saxophone

Description/Reviews: 

The new album is approximately 50 minutes in length and is a collection of ten exquisite pieces that have so many nuances that’s quite impossible to define its music style: elements of jazz, math rock, electronic and some classical notes are all blended together to create an album that represents a step ahead compared to This World. History of the Future is probably more dynamic but it does have calm, dreamlike moments.

Read the full review by Daniela Patrizi at echoesanddust.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Mogwai "Every Country’s Sun"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Post Rock
Label: Rock Action Records (UK & EU), Temporary Residence (North America), Spunk Records (Australia)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: September 1, 2017
Tracklist: 

1. Coolverine (6:16) 

2. Party In The Dark (4:02) 

3. Brain Sweeties (4:43) 

4. Crossing The Road Material (6:58) 

5. Aka 47 (4:16) 

6. 20 Size (4:44) 

7. 1000 Foot Face (4:31) 

8. Don't Believe The Fife (6:23) 

9. Battered At A Scramble (4:02) 

10. Old Poisons (4:30) 

11. Every Country's Sun (5:37) 

Total Time 56:02 

Line-up: 
Stuart Braithwaite - guitar
Barry Burns - guitar, keyboards, flute
Dominic Aitchison - bass
Martin Bulloch - drums

Media/Samples 
Coolverine
Party In The Dark

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Grails "Chalice Hymnal"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Post Rock, Psychedelic
Label: Temporary Residence Limited (TRR 279)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: February 17, 2017
Tracklist: 
1. Chalice Hymnal (4:22)
2. Pelham (2:48)
3. Empty Chamber (2:32)
4. New Prague (4:50)
5. Deeper Politics (3:48)
6. Tough Guy (3:56)
7. Rebecca (3:47)
8. Deep Snow II (5:47)
9. The Moth & The Flame (4:07)
10. Thorns II (3:59)
11. After The Funeral (10:18)

Total time: 50:14

Line-up: 
Emil Amos - drums, guitars, bass, keyboards
Alex John Hall - guitars, mellotron, sampler
Wm Zak Riles - synths, drums, guitar, oud
   With
Ross Gallagher - double bass (7,11)
Niklas Kraft - tenor saxophone (1,7,9)
Dylan Rice-Leary - harmonica (5)
Daniel Fisher-Lochhead - saxophone (11)
Timba Harris - strings (5,11)
Ash Black Bufflo - synths (2)

Description/Reviews: 

Similar to their previous LP, Deep Politics, whose listening experience could be described as entering an old mansion and finding each room to be elaborately beautiful and mysterious in completely different ways, Chalice Hymnal finds its strength less in any overarching themes and styles and more as a collection of self-contained and richly-developed worlds. From the more energetic tracks befitting a spy thriller like the pulsing piano of “Pelham” and the James Bond-on-psychedelics of “Deeper Politics” to pure mood setters like “Empty Chamber” and haltingly gorgeous “Rebecca,” each track feels like a small slice of a cinematic soundtrack begging for visuals to match. Upon first listen this can be a bit frustrating as each piece is so wonderfully rendered that you want to hear far more of each theme and world before moving on, but multiple listens allow the listener to form their own connective tissue between tracks and simply sink into deep immersion throughout the album’s duration.

Read the full review by Nick Cusworth at heavyblogisheavy.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp  

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Mono "Requiem for Hell"

Country: Japan
Genre(s): Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Temporary Residence (NA), Pelagic Records (EU), Magniph/ Hostess Entertainment (Japan)
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: October 14, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Death In Rebirth (8:05)
2. Stellar (4:58)
3. Requiem For Hell (17:48)
4. Ely's Heartbeat (8:27)
5. The Last Scene (6:43)

Total time 46:01

Line-up: 
Takaakira 'Taka' Goto - guitar
Tamaki - bass, piano
Yoda - guitar
Yasunori Takada - drums
   With
Steve Albini

Media/Samples 
Stream
Bandcamp

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Mogwai "Atomic"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Post Rock, Soundtrack
Label: Rock Action Records, Temporary Residence (North America)
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: April 1, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Ether (5:10)
2. SCRAM (5:41)
3. Bitterness Centrifuge (4:51)
4. U-235 (4:34)
5. Pripyat (4:19)
6. Weak Force (5:08)
7. Little Boy (3:52)
8. Are You A Dancer? (3:53)
9. Tzar (5:13)
10. Fat Man (5:58)

Total Time 48:37

Line-up: 
Stuart Braithwaite - guitar
Barry Burns - keyboards, synthesizer
Dominic Aitchison - bass, guitar
Martin Bulloch - drums

Description/Reviews: 

The album is composed of reworked versions of the music recorded for the soundtrack to director Mark Cousin’s acclaimed documentary Atomic: Living In Dread and Promise, which first aired on BBC Four last summer.
Constructed entirely of archive film, Atomic is an impressionistic kaleidoscope of the horrors of our nuclear times - protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima - but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. Mogwai’s soundtrack encapsulates the nightmare of the nuclear age, but its dreamlike qualities too. It is the latest in the band’s series of impressive soundtracks and scores, following acclaimed albums Les Revenants (The Returned) and Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.

Media/Samples 
Bitterness Centrifuge

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Explosions In The Sky "The Wilderness"

Country:  USA
Genre(s): Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Format: digital, CD, vinyl
Release date: April 1, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Wilderness (4:36)
2. The Ecstatics (3:12)
3. Tangle Formations (5:34)
4. Logic of a Dream (6:37)
5. Disintegration Anxiety (4:11)
6. Losing the Light (6:02)
7. Infinite Orbit (2:37)
8. Colors in Space (7:14)
9. Landing Cliffs (6:17)

Total Time 46:20

Line-up: 
Munaf Rayani - guitar
Mark Smith - guitar
Michael James - guitar, bass guitar
Chris Hrasky - drums

Media/Samples 
Disintegration Anxiety

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Envy "Atheist's Cornea"

Country: Japan
Genre(s): Post Rock, Post-Hardcore
Label: Temporary Residence (US), Rock Action Records (UK), Sonzai Records (Japan)
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: May 15, 2015
Tracklist: 
1. Blue Moonlight (4:09)
2. Ignorant Rain and the End of the World (3:29)
3. Shining Finger (7:04)
4. Ticking Time and String (6:28)
5. Footsteps in the Distance (5:31)
6. An Insignificant Poem (4:42)
7. Two Isolated Souls (5:43)
8. Your Heart and My Hand (6:27)

Total time 43:33

Line-up: 
Tetsuya Fukagawa - vocals
Masahiro Tobita - guitar
Nobukata Kawai - guitar
Manabu Nakagawa - bass
Dairoku Seki - drums

Description/Reviews: 

Stripped down to sheet music, “Ignorant Rain at the End of the World” and “Your Heart and My Hand” would parallel Bach chorales. But, placed in Envy’s blender, they sound more concretely hardcore, pushing the genre’s limits by flipping it on its head with complex progressions rather than tweaking a single aspect into a gimmick. Even at quieter parts, the album glows. “Shining Finger” has a breakdown worth crying to, the tension high and the delivery impeccable, and “Two Isolated Souls” borders on a pop chord progression while still painting the sky with the twinkle of post-rock. It evokes Pianos Become the Teeth and La Dispute as much as it does This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky.

 Read the full review by Dan Bogosian at consequenceofsound.net

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Mono "Rays of Darkness"

Country: Japan
Sub Genre: Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Temporary Residence (NA), Pelagic Records (EU), Magniph (Japan)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: October 24 (EU), October 27 (UK), October 28 (NA), November 5 (Japan), 2014
Tracklist: 
1. Recoil, Ignite
2. Surrender
3. The Hand That Holds The Truth
4. The Last Rays

Line-up: 
Takaakira "Taka" Goto - guitar
Tamaki - bass, piano
Yoda - guitar
Yasunori Takada - drums

   With
Tetsu Fukagawa

Description/Reviews: 

The Last Dawn and Rays of Darkness are a pair of new albums by MONO. Recorded simultaneously yet conceptually and creatively disparate, the two act as both opposing and complementary sides to a story. No strangers to narratives, the twin albums explore familiar themes for the band: Hope and hopelessness, love and loss, immense joy and unspeakable pain. Those elemental parts of life and the complicated relationships they create have never been more resonant through MONO's music than they are here. 

Rays of Darkness is the first MONO album in 15 years to feature no orchestral instruments whatsoever. That fact alone is remarkable given the band's reputation for sweeping, dramatic instrumentals that recall Oscar-worthy film scores. Instead, Rays of Darkness more closely resembles a jet engine taking off inside a small, crowded auditorium. It is MONO's blackest album ever, a collection of scorched riffs, doom rhythms, and an unexpected contribution from post-hardcore pioneer Tetsu Fukagawa of Envy. The album ends with the smoldering wreckage of distorted guitars and ominous drones playing out a eulogy to the days when MONO shot blinding rays of light through seemingly endless darkness.

Media/Samples 
Recoil, Ignite (Excerpt)

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Mono "The Last Dawn"

Country: Japan
Sub Genre: Instrumental Post Rock
Label: Temporary Residence (NA), Pelagic Records (EU), Magniph (Japan)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: October 24 (EU), October 27 (UK), October 28 (NA), November 5 (Japan), 2014
Tracklist: 
1. The Land Between Tides / Glory
2. Kanata
3. Cyclone
4. Elysian Castles
5. Where We Begin
6. The Last Dawn

Line-up: 
Takaakira "Taka" Goto - guitar
Tamaki - bass, piano
Yoda - guitar
Yasunori Takada - drums

Description/Reviews: 

The Last Dawn and Rays of Darkness are a pair of new albums by MONO. Recorded simultaneously yet conceptually and creatively disparate, the two act as both opposing and complementary sides to a story. No strangers to narratives, the twin albums explore familiar themes for the band: Hope and hopelessness, love and loss, immense joy and unspeakable pain. Those elemental parts of life and the complicated relationships they create have never been more resonant through MONO's music than they are here. The Last Dawn is the first of these two companion albums, and is the "lighter" of the two, thematically and melodically. It contains undoubtedly some of MONO's strongest songs ever, drawing on an array of influences from minimalist film score to vintage shoegaze. It is MONO at their absolute purest, executing an uncanny, unspoken dialogue with each other without the dozens of stringed instruments that have been so prominent throughout their catalog in recent years. The songs are also noticeably more efficient – there hasn't been a MONO full-length record that fit on a single slab of vinyl since 2003's One Step More And You Die – and the album benefits immeasurably from this streamlined approach. MONO have always been masters of telling compelling stories without words. But now they've proven they can do it without frills, too.

Media/Samples 
Where We Begin

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Watter "This World"

Sub Genre: Instrumental Post Rock, Psychedelic
Label: Temporary Residence
Release date: May 27, 2014
Tracklist: 

1. Rustic Fog - 7:02
2. Lord I Want More - 2:14
3. Small Business - 13:32
4. Bloody Monday - 4:22
5. Seawater - 12:50
6. This World - 6:44
7. Digital Camo (Bonus Track) - 6:21

Line-up: 
Zak Riles (Grails) - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Tyler Trotter (California Guitar Trio) - Keyboards, Effects, Drum Machine, Lap Steel Guitar
Britt Walford (Slint, Evergreen) - Drums
   With

Rachel Grimes (Rachel's)
Todd Cook(For Carnation, Dead Child, Four Fifty Six ) - Bass (5)
Tony Levin (King Crimson) - Bass (3)

Description/Reviews: 

Fans of post rock, prog rock and, more importantly, of amazing instrumental music will be delighted with This World, the album that signs the début of Watter, a super trio composed by Britt Walford of Slint, Zak Riles of Grails and the multi-instrumentalist Tyler Trotter... This World is an album which, from the opening 'Rustic Fog', draws you into a world made of burnt guitar, swelling atmosphere and strange vibes.

 Read the full review by Daniela Patrizi at echoesanddust.com

Media/Samples 
Rustic Fog

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