Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock characterized by the exploration of textures and timbres as well as non-rock styles, often with minimal or no vocals, placing less emphasis on conventional song structures or riffs than on atmosphere for musically evocative purposes.^[3][4] Post-rock artists can often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics and digital production as a means of enabling the exploration of textures, timbres and different styles.^[5][6][3] The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scenes of the 1980s and 1990s, but as it abandoned rock conventions, it began to show less musical resemblance to conventional indie rock at the time.^[6][3] The first wave of post-rock derives inspiration from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, psychedelia, dub, and minimalist classical,^[3] with these influences also being pivotal for the substyle of ambient pop.^[7]

Artists such as Talk Talk and Slint were credited with producing foundational works in the style in the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[3][6] The term "post-rock" was notably employed by journalist Simon Reynolds in a review of Bark Psychosis' 1994 album Hex. With the release of Tortoise's 1996 album Millions Now Living Will Never Die, post-rock became an accepted term for the associated scene of artists.^[3] The term has since developed to refer to bands oriented around dramatic and suspense-driven instrumental rock, making the term controversial among listeners and artists alike.^[8][9]