After Peter Jackson pitched New Zealand as one of the hottest vacation spots on the planet, I've got a tough time selling Avotor as the soundtrack to the post-apocalypse industrial nightmare, but it's true. Reaping their native land's natural resources and leaving it a plundered wasteland, Auckland's power duo is no stranger to disturbing music, sharing a history that dates back to 1998. Billion is their second album, which is just as menacing as the first, marked by punishing bass and silencing drums. The track titles do not mislead, providing a great imagery for Avotor's impending wrath  -- "The Day the Great Wind Came," "Outswarmed," "Solar Blizzard," "Badlands" -- just to name a few. There's no running from Billion, it only relishes the chase.

Key Tracks: Erailhem Phi; Crimson Wave; Solar Blizzard.

A hidden treat tucked away in Delaware, Rarae Avis look like a pretty typical post-rock band with mid range song lengths, indicating a love of both the epic and the more pedestrian walks of life. A wrench is thrown into these best laid plans with the addition of emotive vocals, which (briefly) take a front seat position in half of the tracks. The seemingly odd fitting combination somehow manages to work, nudging itself into the expansive framework. Although not rivaling the sentimentality of some of their more sophisticated peers, Rarae Avis shows there's more than one way to explore this sentimental path. Considering the recent infatuation with emo infused post-rock, Rarae Avis may have been, roughly, three years ahead of its time.

Key Tracks: 3; 5; 6.

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Don't Look Back has been leading France's crippling instrumental rock quadrant for several years and is certainly one of the more successful artists to incorporate hardcore elements into the post-rock foundation (which so many have tried and utterly failed). Drunk in Your Arms relieves the repetitive nature of the genre with a heavy reliance on audio samples and uses this extra layer to blindside the listener with quickly forming walls of sound. Just look to "Guillaume Stern" for inspiration; one second children are screaming bloody murder, and the next Don't Look Back is thrashing away like Jason Vorhees gone berserk. That’s entertainment you can’t put a price on.

Key Tracks:Guillaume Stern; Stage Diver's Blues; Old no 9.

Decidedly influenced by the Chicago post-rock movement, State River Widening is the UK's answer to that eclectic mix brewing stateside, but that's not the only thing that gets the trio out of bed in the morning. Wrangling the ever impermeable folk influence, State River Widening comes armed with acoustics, not to mention the required electronic gadgets. Although several tracks cook up the band's own concoction of instrumental rock, the most convincing are undoubtedly those where they emanate their peers ("Highest Point on the Island", "New Title"). But damn if they don't do it well.

Key Tracks: New Title; For Hessen; Highest Point on the Island.

It doesn't take much to get us excited about Tortoise related side-projects, and although Looks at the Bird is bassist Douglas McComb's third album with Brokeback, it has largely escaped the gaze of instrumental enthusiasts. Aside from the track borrowed from Tortoise ("The Suspension Bridge at Igazu Falls"), Brokeback carves its own niche, sounding like a jazzy version of Virginia's Tulsa Drone, minus the hammered bass dulcimer. It's all right, McComb's bass playing is good enough without, and plays well into the airy sonic landscape created by his co-conspirers. Stereolab provides from vocal relief, mostly in wordless "ooh ahh"s and "doo daa"s, which adds to the lofty, smoky atmosphere, however it's only icing on the otherwise delicious cake.

Key Tracks: Lupe; Everywhere Down Here; 50 Guitars.

Landing's genre of choice is slowcore, with kaleidoscopic guitars weaving intricate blankets of dreamy, predominately instrumental, pop. This type of music is the kind that is often disregarded as "background music," but I'd have a hard time to believe there's a better soundtrack for driving through Middle America on a cloudless day. Passages Through is weightless in its approach, notes slowly fall out of instruments and creep along sunbeams until they've found a suitable home, as evidenced in "Wings of Light." Fifty minutes later it's difficult to believe that the whole day hasn't passed by under our unsuspecting eye; don't worry, Landing has this effect on everyone.

Key Tracks: Wings of Light; Close Your Eyes, Slowly; It is Shining.

An often overlooked component of the Moly discography, Expressing Scorn Contempt or Disgrace contains one of the finest tracks the band managed to write, "Me and Lucifer." Venturing away from the tremendously loud sound that would later fuel Moly's spacecraft into the outermost regions of space, "Me and Lucifer" takes the cinematic route while traveling through the universe. Twinkling guitars drift into the cosmos, anchor by bass and drums, but otherwise free to roam outside the earth's atmosphere. The track reaches a transcendental moment, which despite post-rock's bold claim, is an infrequent occurrence. With two separate versions of the track calling Expressing home, this is an absolute winner.

Key Tracks: Me and Lucifer; Do Well Doubt Not.

Providing somewhat of a 'vintage' listen, The End of the Pier could have easily been part of the mid 90s instrumental rock boom with its calvary of reverb washed guitars and boundary testing, space rock mindset. The Workhouse knows what it wants to do -- meander -- and does it well. "Steelworks Sea and Sky" and "Trading Estates" hopelessly lose themselves in the night's skyline or the depths of the ocean floor -- interpretation is up to the audience. The Workhouse simply provides the vast, open-ended space and lets the mind run wild with flourishing creativity. More structure comes during the long tracks, "Peacon" and "The End of the Pier," here calling upon Scottish contemporaries for influence. This is a potentially dangerous debut, The Workhouse show tremendous ambition.

Key Tracks: Steelworks Sea and Sky; Peacon; Trading Estates.

Theta Naught's contribution to the instrumental world has always been in the oddly fitting mesh of improv, classical, jazz, and rock music. The band's debut is, unsurprisingly, the least satisfying of their recordings, and instead of relying on their impeccably cohesion, we often see them dive into the more traditional route of "louder is better." This is likely the result of leftover residue from previous bands, but its effect is undeniable: Something Scientific is the most distinctive among the Theta Naught records, and also most likely to fit in with their peers. While subsequent works saw the Naughtians move away from the tired and true post-rock sound and into their own unique, scientific sound, Something Scientific shows the first signs that these Utah hooligans were actually up to something worthwhile. Sure, it took most of us several years to catch on, and many of us still haven't caught on, but I can't name many other bands who structure songs around Fibonacci's sequences. Even nonconformists have to start somewhere recognizable.

Key Tracks: Engineering to the Bridge; Dear Meadow; Kepler's Third.

Simon Green's Ninja Tune debut allows us a new vocabulary of terms such as "chillout," "breakbeat," and "downtempo." This translates to laid back electronic tracks, with hints of ambient and IDM thrown included in the mix. Dial 'M' for Monkey is a collection of tracks where Bonobo trip-hops across different generations. Some tracks are blessed with a nostalgic 70s funk groove, modernized and brought to 21st century glory. Others stay more modern, drawing on electronic masters of the 90s for inspiration. Each track shows a different side to Green's rather diverse musical style, who perhaps suffers from ADD just as badly as one of those monkeys. His misfortune is our treasure; Dial 'M' is a quality performance.

Key Tracks: Flutter; Change Down; Wayward Bob.

While still a bit too invested in their peers, Springer succeeds due to Efterklang's painstaking song-writing process. Tracks are combed out until all loose parts are removed, and what we're left with is pure Danish beauty. Orchestral flourishes are complemented by subtle electronics, mesmerizing melodies, and irresistible vocals. "Kloy Gyn" and "Bright" briefly indicate the majestic music this quintet is capable of composing, though it's clear Efterklang is destined for greater things. Even the largest of trees start out as humble seeds; Efterklang keeps reaching for the sky, and each release finds them closer to their inevitable stardom.

Key Tracks: Kloy Gyn; Anti-tech; Bright.

It's rather difficult to look backing on Saxon Shore's work and really remember what the band was like pre-Exquisite Death. Gone are the catastrophic, world devouring builds and vibrant sonic colors (perhaps the only way to really describe the album) that so readily identifies the band nowadays. Four Months of Darkness is a Saxon Shore who's not concerned with the glitter and glamor, the melodrama, and outpouring of emotions. Here the band is restrained, subdued, and generally well-composed. Pianos and acoustics can be found instead of synth and ambient ambient ambient ambient ambient guitars, instilling a surprising humanistic quality to the EP. Still, there's no denying that "Amber, Ember, Glow" doesn't foreshadow the band's new direction.

Key Tracks: Amber, Ember, Glow; Our Mountain Pass, a Winding Touch.

For Death of the Sun, Cul De Sac brought in Jake Trussel for an electronic consult. His contributions are subtle, such as in the "Death of the Sun" and "Dust of Butterflies," but something about the choppy feeling he imposes upon the work mixes so well with Glenn Jones' guitar playing and Robin Amos' keyboard textures. "Dust of Butterflies" is a wonderful introduction, sampling an eerie chant which fades in and out of audible range and trading with other low sounds in the mix. It's hypnotic, unlike the anxious title track, which feels as if its on the verge of a volcanic cleansing. Death of the Sun succeeds in being bizarrely haunting, yet irresistible and entirely pleasurable.

Key Tracks: Dust of Butterflies; Death of the Sun; I Remember Nothing More.

Stop. Stumble. Repeat. Although just a brief EP worth of material, this was just a taste of things to come. Dangerously mixing together IDM, post-rock, and pop sensibilities, Stop.Stumble.Repeat is one of the most refreshing and promising CDs to come around in years. Even though it's predominantly 'rough around the edges,' 65dos’ skill and creativity far exceeds the sound on the EP. "AOD" in particular begins to turn our heads to this new sound coming out of Sheffield, overwhelmingly erratic, but still maintaining a sense of purpose and sophistication. Not too bad for a bunch of punks.

Key Tracks: Thrash Waltz; AOD.

Led by Michael Krassner, Boxhead Ensemble has had a rotating cast of characters over its decade of existence. In Quartets, Krassner is joined by musicians from Smog, Pinetop Seven, Wilco, and Pillow, and from the onset it's clear that we're in for some jazz and folk influenced classical music. We can't help but feel as if Quartets is the album Krassner always wanted Boxhead Ensemble to make, with the highly focused content and unbelievable restraint. "Three" and "Six" are standouts, almost exceedingly rich in Krassner's vision and astoundingly captivating for the listener. The musicians exert a strong connection between themselves and the music being forged from their instruments, residing somewhere amidst freeform compositions and masterful improvisation.

Key Tracks: Two; Three; Six.

Constellation's first taste of Sandro Perri is a spellbinding affair of dark ambience and forbidding techno. While somewhat complimentary of Vladislav Delay's earlier works, Perri cuts deeper with the ambient edge, discarding excessive experimental avenues and cultivating as large an organic process as feasible. "Requiem for a Fox" epitomizes this work, providing a bridge from his past dirges to current idealized movements. Polmo Polpo begins to crawl out of the proverbial hole in the ground and witnesses a whole new world thriving above the lamenting compositions of old. It's what he does in this newfound territory that will leave his mark on the world, but Like Hearts Swelling is a positive glimpse of the future.

Key Tracks: Requiem for a Fox; Sky Historie; Like Hearts Swelling.

After both bands released highly acclaimed albums in 2002, halcyon post-rock experts The Mercury Program and Maserati team up for a split of the titans. Each contributes three tracks, which puts the six minute disc over the thirty minute mark, but does sacrifice some of the strong identity which both bands had forged on previous efforts. However, it is quite startling how well the two bands do end up meshing in the end; The Mercury Programs flows without obstruction as usual, and Maserati explores their softer side for the majority of the record, recalling chilled guitar based instrumental tracks in the vein of Tristeza or Labradford. Double the pleasure, double the fun – everyone can sing along.

Key Tracks: You Give Me Problems About My Business; Saint Rose of Lima; Closer than You Know How.

Before "Comfort Me, I've Lost My Heart" had a violin accompaniment, there were soft vocals and synth action to take its place. That soft descent back down to earth that marks the ending was also modified, instead giving way to an extended post-rock fireworks show. But, nothing really compares to the searing force of "Simple Reminder," undoubtedly one of the most cut-throat climaxes to ever cross the Atlantic. Light years away in space that track is fucking up all sorts of alien spacecraft. In many ways, The Jangling Dischords of Our Nation was the sound of Upcdownc turning over a new leaf, condensing their wildly experimental and bloated ways, and really showing their full potential. Years later, we're beginning to see the fruits of their labor.

Key Tracks: Simple Reminder (Anger is Not a Good Motive); Don't be Sad that I'm Gone, Just be Happy that I was Here; Comfort Me, I've Lost my Heart.

Pelican's debut is a corrosive cup of red-hot molten lava. Excluding the untitled acoustic track, Australasia is forty-five minutes of balls out instrumental cock rocking. Unrelenting to the very last second, Pelican repeatedly explores sprawling tracks that append a heavy metal exclamation mark at the end of post-rock. With superb guitar parts throughout the disc, the string movement is the main attraction, propelling Lebec and de Brauw to inspirational roles for future generations. With "Nightenday," "Angel Tears," and "Australasia" all breaking the ten minute mark, Pelican is rewriting the definition of epic.

Key Tracks: Nightenday; Angel Tears; Australasia.

Continually finding themselves on the cutting edge of experimental instrumental rock, Timeout Drawer see no boundaries when they wake up in the morning and look out the window. One part space-rock cadets, one part atmospheric, ambient yielding sorcerers, and one part experimental alchemists, Timeout Drawer show solid improvements in Presents Left for the Living Dead, somewhat tightening their song-writing while still allowing the nuances to seep through. The listener is treated to a psychedelic space voyage, bending the conceived notions of electronic and instrumental rock and twisting time into a Klein bottle. This is astro-crunk for adults, NASA approved. Perhaps one of the more criminally overlooked bands stateside -- stratch that -- definitely one of the most criminally overlooked bands stateside.

Key Tracks: Terrible Secrets Revealed For an Instant by a Flash of Lightning; Broad Grins from the Boarding Ship; Hunting with Fire (The Most Fertile Ground for Drama).

Unwed Sailor's The Marionette and the Music Box is a conceptual work revolving around a marionette's journey while he searches for his music box (post-rock for children!). The disc comes packaged with a seventeen page book, complete with one drawing for each track (or vise-versa). The two are intricately linked as Unwed Sailor repeatedly constructs the prefect music to accompany the marionette's magical tale. Textures and hidden dynamics unfold as readily as the pages themselves, making the musical component of the story just as important as the imagery itself. While this effort is not a drastic evolution from Unwed Sailor's previous outings, the brevity of the tracks indicate a no-nonsense approach which could be crucial to the development of the project.

Key Tracks: Cuckoo Clocks, The Call of the Windmill; The Windmill's Tale of the Music Box Floats Through the Air, Riding the Windmill; Jubilee.

Levitating between deconstructive dronescapes and shimmering, shoegazey walls of sound, Cruel Machines is a moody, cerebral release. Greyscale keeps us guessing by being fleeting when we expect commanding, and assertive when we expect compassionate. Tracks like "Silicon and Steel" are superb examples of how the trio combines guitar based compositions with electronic gadgetry to find a middle ground between the always elusive noise rock and volatile post-rock. Each track forgets the budding emotional expanse of the previous, instead distancing itself further and further from sentimental instrumental music and surging ahead with moody, but though-provoking, undertones. There is a ripeness about Cruel Machines that separates it from the pack of instrumental rock enthusiasts, presumably just the tip of the iceberg for a larger, more potent work.

Key Tracks: Flight One Hundred; Silicon and Steel; Metastasis.

Now more confident in his use of shoegaze as a tempering force to balance electronica heavy tracks, Ulrich Schnauss' sophomore album reaches levels of baffling realization that Far Away Trains Passing By had hinted at. "Gone Forever" at once demonstrates the reality of this transformation. Dedicated synths smoothly transverse a landscape dented ever so slightly with programmed beats and other electronic sampling. Vocals take short peeks into the clouds, as if inviting the listener to let the mind wander in Schnauss' newfound home. Other tracks place varying emphasis on intensity and sublimeness, preventing the listener from slipping into a heavy coma due to stylistic over saturation, as well as avoiding aural over stimulation. In the end, Schnauss balances his influences like a well-trained acrobat, and the resulting work is nothing short of breathtaking.

Key Tracks: Gone Forever; Monday - Paracetamol; In All the Wrong Places.

Charging through the dregs of the underworld, Growing's debut album is an icy, unforgiving collection of endless guitar drones, ambient swells, and stomach turning distortion. The title may prophesy the apocalyptic doom of the planet, but the tracks contained on this album provide glimpses of hope in the appearance of riffs on several tracks. By moving away from the constant droning that would pervade much of the subsequent work, a humanistic quality emerges which comforts the listener enough to persuade use to faithfully enter Growing's surreal world. Once there, the impressionistic techniques of this abstract duo takes a stranglehold. It's a bit too little too late for the audience, but certainly Growing is content with the newfound prey.

Key Tracks: Tepsihe (All Music is Folk Music); Southern Rites; Pavement Rich in Gold.

Radio Amor is akin to staring into the Sun. At first the intensity of the experience overwhelms the observer, but over time the senses dull and leave a newfound clarity to the event that transpired. Hecker's sophomore album refuses to apologize for the harsh conditions it subjects its audience to. Epiphanies are reached through reverb heavy pianos that decay into ambient washes and deadly drones, claustrophobic white noise, and ferocious feedback. The only soothing qualities that can perhaps be extracted is the repetitive nature of the work, drawing inspiration from the lack of melody or recognizable structure. Space is promptly explored and conquered, allowing these far fetched experiments to reach a greater profundity through recycled use; and it's precisely these additional listens that begin to create a niche for Hecker's convoluted works. The term brilliant seems fitting, if not entirely dead on.

Key Tracks: (They Call Me) Jimmy; I'm Transmitting Tonight; Trade Winds, White (Noise) Heat.

 

~Jordan Volz