The Obsession Session Issue #1

Yeah. I thought why don't I categorize my entries into categories. It's easier that way; I'll have one category for new music by new artists or bands, another category for music by artists or bands that neither have I heard of before, and then this - music by artists or bands that I have been listening for quite some time but only now I get/want to share it in this blog. And the artist who have the honor of being the first feature in my Obsession Session is David Gray

Last two weeks I found myself listening back to old David Gray songs, especially the one from A New Day at Midnight. Released in 2002, it came three years after the success of Gray's fourth album White Ladder which was released on his own record label (after being dropped by two record label previously for sluggish album sale reportedly). Although A New Day at Midnight does not receive the same high rating from critics as with White Ladder, I am happy enough to say that it is currently my staple Winamp diet. Here is track #10 from the album, Be Mine. Mogwai, the band from Scotland, was the standard that has been (over)used by many music journalist who seem to possess very shallow knowledge on the post rock/space rock label. The criteria are very simple: if it is instrumental, has no or very little vocal part, involves the use of many different types of guitar effects (even the inventive way of playing the guitar also count), and that the end product does not sound either rock or pop, there is a very huge chance for any band that falls into any/all of those criteria to be labeled Mogwai-ish. Take Damn Dirty Apes for example, the local band from Penang, and Telephony Delivery, which to me, is actually Progressive Math Metal. Or something like it.

Radiohead also falls into the post rock territory (Kid A and Kid B a.k.a Amnesiac perhaps) but luckily they too didn't get the Mogwai labeling treatment. Flying Saucer Attack is post rock and they do at times remind me of Mogwai. Stereolab is also considered post rock but they are a difficult subject. The same with The Flaming Lips, and Captain Befheart. (Oh but Captain Beefheart is way too out there to be post rock I say) Pink Floyd plays a very crucial role in the development of early post rock. Why didn't they use Pink Floyd instead? "Ooh, this Bark Psychosis band sounds Pink Floyd-ish!" Sonic Youth also is a very influential name in post rock. But oh yeah, they can't make any connection between Sonic Youth and Talk Talk. Or Can. But Can is more like avant-garde rather than post rock. The same goes with Frank Zappa. Mercury Rev is post rock right? Spiritualized is post rock. Spacemen3 is post rock. 65daysofstatic is post rock. Harvey Milk can be post rock but they are dangerously singular, awkward, and out of place. Sigur Ros is post rock. So does Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies, Tortoise, Pram, Seefeel, My Bloody Valentine, From Monument to Masses, The Appleseed Cast, Van Der Graaf Generator, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, and Cul de Sac. Heck, even Kreidler can be post rock.

Damn, what am I on about here?

Here's Mogwai's Black Spider, taken from the Zidane movie soundtrack. Enjoy post rock.