Mono

[Samus Aran]

Mono is a post-rock band out of Japan that I discovered the other day. At times, they plod on for a bit too long...but when they shine, they're amazing, incredibly emotional and containing a marvelous blend of orchestral and post-rock artsiness. It takes a bit to grow on you, I find...but then, doesn't a lot of music?

Hymn to the Immortal Wind just came out a little over a week ago, on March 24. I suggest you try it out...from what I've heard, it might be the band's best album thus far. And don't worry if much of it bores you. It did for me at first too, and some of it still does...but much of it is fantastic.

[Placebo Headwound]

I didn't know you liked post rock.

[Samus Aran]

I didn't know you liked post rock.

I hardly have any, but I like what I have. 65daysofstatic, a little bit of Explosions in the Sky, and I can stand a little bit of Sigur Ros but they were extremely difficult for me to start enjoying in the least.

Mono (or MONO) has been easier for me.

[Veal]

I have 2 dozen post-rock bands in my library.

mono is not one of them, because they're boring.

[russell]

I previewed the whole album on iTunes, and I like it a lot. You can really hear the Japanese classical influence, in my opinion, but it's subtle enough that is flows perfectly with the rock elements, like an ebbing tide. Reminds me a lot of some of Pink Floyd's longer live cuts, which I love.

Good find, I'm definitely picking up this album.   

[Samus Aran]

I previewed the whole album on iTunes, and I like it a lot. You can really hear the Japanese classical influence, in my opinion, but it's subtle enough that is flows perfectly with the rock elements, like an ebbing tide. Reminds me a lot of some of Pink Floyd's longer live cuts, which I love.

Good find, I'm definitely picking up this album.  

Oh definitely, the subtleties of the Japanese heritage are there and blend perfectly. I love that, too, that it presents itself as Japanese. And yet still, it is classically cinematic enough that it appeals to audiences worldwide. This album is just so emotional for me and is amazingly effective at conjuring images without any words at all...some of it is incredibly nostalgic too, using bits like music-box-esque glockenspiels.

I'm completely sold on this album now. I'm listening to it a lot in its entirety and it just keeps getting better. This is now one of my favorite albums, and by far my favorite instrumental one.

[Veal]

okay i am going to make some other suggestions that you guys should really look into:

World's End Girlfriend
Another Japanese post-rock act, this guy is far more eclectic but still has the japanese influences and beautiful beautiful climaxes and flow in all of his songs. Here's the full discography, I would recommend starting with either Hurtreak Wonderland or Palmless Prayer, which is actually a collab that he did with Mono.

Caspian
Probably my favorite post-rock band ever. You Are The Conductor is short but very very sweet, then you can move on to Four Trees if it so pleases you.

Yasushi Yoshida
Mostly violins and piano, then throw in some guitars and drums in the climaxes, Little Grace is beautiful.

Dirty Three
Dirty Three is the post-rock band that's playing in a tavern down by the ocean as you drink away the deaths of your lost seamates and tell of your adventures as a sailor. Or at least Ocean Songs is, I haven't listened to the rest.


and uh yeah i have lots more if you actually listen to and like some of these.


also i downloaded the Mono album and yeah it's really good. way better than their other stuff in my opinion.

[Claquesous]

I really liked One More Step and You Die, so I'll give this one a listen.