Post-rock abandons the traditional song form (verse-chorus) and vocals in favour of long instrumental canvases. Here guitars create not riffs but texture and atmosphere; the music is built on slow crescendos — from barely audible silence to a mighty climax.
The term took hold in the 1990s; landmark bands are Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, and Sigur Rós. Post-rock is close to academic minimalism and film music, and its emotional sonic “journeys” have made the genre a favourite for soundtracks. The genre's forerunners are considered to be Talk Talk and Slint (Spiderland, 1991), and the band Tortoise added jazz and electronica to it.
