PostRock

Quora Answer : What is post-rock music? Why is post-rock music considered a a separate genre, when non rock genres like world, folk, classical, blues, jazz, techno and others exist?

May 8, 2018

Because post-rock starts from, and grows out of, rock music.

It often starts with the same instrumental line-up : electric guitar / bass / drum-kit.

Even if it then adds strings, synths etc.

It's not jazz because it doesn't start with a typical jazz combo or jazz musical elements like jazz harmony or rhythms.

Post-rock is often rather plodding and simplistic in terms of rhythm and harmony. Like a lot of rock music itself.

In some ways it draws on earlier experimental "beyond rock" traditions like prog and post-punk. But it lacks the musical ambition of prog, and the attitude and ground-breaking experimentalism of post-punk. But tries to make up for it in "atmosphere"".

I kind of like post-rock, but honestly, a lot of it is pretty meagre fare. Just go on YouTube and listen to a couple of Mogwai or Tortoise tracks and then go back and compare them with, say a couple of instrumental workouts by Public Image Ltd or the Durutti Column or The Stranglers and it suddenly throws into perspective just how tired and flat the 90s post-rock scene was.

There's no sparkle.