![[For Beginners] Popular Post-Rock Songs in Western Music: A Curated List of Recommended Classics](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/0gIW5ZVG76s/maxresdefault.webp)
[For Beginners] Popular Post-Rock Songs in Western Music: A Curated List of Recommended Classics
Though the definition of the genre known as post-rock is ambiguous, it garnered worldwide attention as experimental music that goes beyond the conventional framework of rock.
While its instrumentation—guitars, drums, and so on—often mirrors that of a rock band, its distinctive soundscapes and structures give it a cinematic expansiveness, much like a film soundtrack, and many bands make bold use of electronics as well.
In this article, we present works that will broaden your musical horizons, focusing on popular and classic tracks by representative bands from the 1990s to 2000s—the period when the genre truly spread—even as many bands continue to adopt post-rock approaches today.
[For Beginners] Popular Post-Rock Songs in Western Music: A Curated List of Recommended Classics (1–10)
Last Day of WinterPELICAN
This is a grand instrumental piece that paints the end of a harsh winter and the arrival of a hope-filled spring using sound alone! Hailing from Chicago, the band Pelican opens this track with a quiet acoustic guitar before gradually expanding into a massive, heavy sound.
The absence of vocals lets each listener conjure their own story—that’s part of its charm.
Featured on the classic album “The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw,” released in May 2005, the record earned the No.
1 spot in Decibel magazine’s year-end list.
While their approach is often called “post-metal” for its incorporation of post-rock techniques into metal, anyone who loves thunderous post-rock that moves between calm and intensity is sure to enjoy this!
Svefn-g-englarSigur Rós
A song by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós that feels like traveling through a dream.
Jónsi’s translucent falsetto and the guitar played with a cello bow create a fantastical resonance—truly a healing soundscape.
With intentionally ambiguous lyrics, the piece lets emotions beyond words resonate directly in the listener’s heart.
Included on the acclaimed 1999 album Ágætis byrjun, the track is also widely known for its role in the film Vanilla Sky.
Listen alone on a quiet night, and you’ll be enveloped by its vast soundscape, feeling as if you’ve become the protagonist of a movie.
TNTTortoise
Tortoise, pioneers of post-rock who emerged from the Chicago music scene.
This is the title track from their classic album TNT, released in March 1998.
It’s an instrumental piece with no lyrics, but instead, a rich array of instruments weaves a compelling narrative—that’s a major part of its appeal.
The track opens with a cool jazz vibe, then layers guitars and marimba to build an easygoing groove.
It was produced using what was then a rare method of editing performances on a hard disk, achieving a remarkable fusion of live warmth and digital construction.
The music alone conjures vivid scenes, making it perfect for reading or driving.
Even if you don’t usually listen to instrumentals, this is a song that can broaden your horizons—one you should definitely experience.
AtlasBattles
A track included on the debut album Mirrored by Battles, an experimental rock band based in New York.
Although it was released back in May 2007, it still retains a sense of innovation that hasn’t faded.
The sound, where machine-precise drumming intertwines with hypnotic repeating phrases, might seem “difficult,” but that’s exactly their true forte.
It was also featured in the game LittleBigPlanet, so many people may have heard it without realizing.
Battles is a supergroup made up of highly skilled musicians active across various fields; while they are currently a duo, they are indispensable when discussing the post-rock scene since the 2000s.
Be sure to check them out.
Your Hand in MineExplosions in the sky
From delicate guitar melodies to a climax where emotions seem to burst—Explosions in the Sky, the American band, weaves a film-like story using sound alone.
The masterpiece I’m introducing begins with a beautiful melody that rises out of silence and gradually gathers heat, as layers of guitars and drums merge to paint a vast sonic landscape—an utterly moving track.
The absence of lyrics is precisely what allows each listener to project their own story onto the music, and that’s a major part of its allure.
Featured on the classic album The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, released in November 2003, it gained widespread love after being used in the film Friday Night Lights.
It’s a perfect piece for quiet, contemplative nights alone, or for listening amid grand natural scenery.
Mogwai fear SatanMogwai
Mogwai is a rock band from Scotland.
Their music, masterfully weaving silence and thunderous noise, has become emblematic of the post-rock genre.
Closing their debut album, “Mogwai Young Team,” this piece is a monumental instrumental that runs over 16 minutes.
Though it has no lyrics, the bassist’s personal theme of “fear of the devil” intensifies the dramatic contrast between quiet and loud.
The way it unfolds—from delicate flute melodies to an all-consuming flood of noise—plays out like a film.
Released in October 1997, the track was also used in the documentary film The 11th Hour.
It’s a perfect choice for when you want to step away from the everyday and immerse yourself in music, or when you’re in the mood to feel an epic story.
Never MeantAmerican Football
An emotionally moving song whose delicate phrases, woven by two interlacing guitars, seep deep into the heart.
It’s the opening track of the American indie rock band American Football’s 1999 album, American Football.
While it portrays the bittersweet feelings of a love nearing its end, the ensemble built on irregular time signatures and the softly resonant trumpet in the final section gently envelop those sentimental emotions.
Fifteen years after its release, the official music video was unveiled in 2014 and became a topic of conversation.
Like this track, if you listen on a night when you want to quietly immerse yourself in fading memories, you’ll feel a warm catharsis nestled within the sadness.