Great instrumental tracks are a must for your music collection. Why? Because rich, epic, cinematic-sounding songs can serve multiple purposes. They can help you get to sleep. They can provide an unobtrusive background for your study (or makeout) session. They can help with creative endeavors like writing a short story or painting or performing an impromptu interpretive dance. They can also give you a textured soundtrack for reflecting on your summer. (No, we’re not saying it’s over. Honest! But, eh, you know, it’s sort of time to start counting the days.)
Here are a few of our favorite post-rock bands (along with one song for each) to mine for all of the above situations:
Explosions in the Sky
“Your Hand In Mine”
This band gained notoriety by making music for Friday Night Lights. The quartet’s lush soundscapes mesh perfectly with high school football. Try listening to them this fall as you sit in the stands and watch your own school’s football team take the field. See what we mean?!?!
Tortoise
“Blackjack”
One of the original “post-rock” groups, this Chicago group broadens the sonic palette by incorporating strands of punk, jazz, indie rock, Krautrock and electronica.
Mogwai
“Ex-Cowboy”
Hailing from Scotland, this complex band sounds best cranked to 11. Some of Mogwai’s most bombastic material resembles symphonies played through guitar amplifiers.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
“9-15-00”
This Montreal outfit resides on the slower, darker end of the instrumental spectrum—and you can tell after one listen that they revel in that fact. And yes, the exclamation point in their name is intentional.
Los Straitjackets
“Cal-Speed”
How can you not love a surf guitar band that performs live while donning gold Aztec medallions and wearing Mexican wrestling masks? Bonus: They have a Christmas album. How can you not love that?
What instrumental tunes keep you going for hours?
Topics: Music, Celebs & Stuff
Tags: music mixes
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