Last post-rock review for a while I promise! Arriving in the post the other day was Explosion In The Sky’s latest release which was recorded for the PBS documentary called Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas which documented the wildlife in Big Bend National Park. The recordings are somewhat of a shift in focus from their usually raucous sound. The Texas natives create a much more serene sound here with acoustic instruments, piano, and a multitude of percussive instruments along with electronics. In many ways, I would have to say they have taken a queue from the lads in Mogwai on their soundtrack work which really should almost be taken as a second entity which isn’t to say that this isn’t an enjoyable release it just needs to be consumed for what it is which is an accompaniment that isn’t supposed to distract from the main project which is, of course, the film. You won’t exactly be rocking out with this one. There are 20 tracks on this one, most of which are of the shorter two to three-minute variety which really allows them to use a fair amount of different instrumentation tactics and sound profiles. Some of these pieces are outstanding and I would love to see them stretched out into longer works. If you are a post-rock nut that likes soundtrack work this is absolutely for you. If you want epic long post-rock drama pieces that bring you to tears this might be tough sledding. This is on the pile for late-night listening right before I switch to ambient sleep mode.
Released on Temporary Residence
