I recently began listening to post-rock more systematically. After coming across the Chinese band Qianshui and revisiting the Russian post-rock mainstay Mooncake, it felt like the right time to map out another round of listening and spend some time with the genre properly.
I followed a range of leads and gathered the names below. This is a living list, and corrections or additions are welcome. It is intentionally just a list rather than a set of introductions: descriptions can easily become subjective or partial, and many of these are already well-known bands that need little introduction.
Chinese-language scene
- Wang Wen
- Sugar Plum Ferry
- FAZI — post-punk / psychedelic / indie rock / post-rock influence
- Hualun
- Glow Curve
- Sparrow
- Qianshui
- Swamp
- Soundbug
- A-fei-si-ya
- 21 Grams
- Xiantong
- Time Passing at the End of Summer
- Elephant Gym — math rock / post-rock influence
- deca joins — indie / alternative rock / post-rock influence
- Forests (Singapore) — emo / math rock / math pop / indie
- Little Wizard
Japan
- MONO
- toe
- mouse on the keys
- LITE
- envy
- miaou
- Anoice
- World's End Girlfriend
- 3nd
- te'
- jizue
- sgt.
- downy
- The Novembers
- 45°
- OVUM
Russia
- Mooncake
- Sleep Dealer — post-rock, solo project
- I Am Waiting For You Last Summer
- RQTN
- Weary Eyes — post-metal / post-rock influence
Ukraine
- April Rain
Spain
- Toundra
- Exxaxens
- Medusa
- F.E.A.
- El Altar del Holocausto
- Corea
- RO
- Blak
- Jardín de la Croix
- Astralia
- Syberia
- Les Temps du Loup
Norway
- Spurv
- Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson — emo / post-rock
- Monograf
- The Samuel Jackson Five
- Jaga Jazzist — jazz / electronic / experimental / post-rock adjacent
- Caves of Steel
- Himmellegeme
Sweden
- Ef
- Oh Hiroshima
- Imanu El
- Moonlit Sailor
- A Swarm of The Sun
- Planetariet
- Barrens
- Our Last Hope Lost Hope
- Dorena
- Seas of Years
- Star of Heaven
- U137
- Lights & Motion
- Feed Me to the Waves
- Sagor Som Leder Mot Slutet
- Soars
- September Malevolence
- Loud Exit
Finland
- Locomotora
- Magyar Posse
- Baulta
Denmark
- The Seven Mile Journey
- Ammonites
- Nordsind
- The Shaking Sensations
- Late Night Venture
- Skyggekat
- A Reason to Travel
United Kingdom / England
- Mogwai
- 65daysofstatic
- Maybeshewill
- Bark Psychosis
- Yndi Halda
- The Pirate Ship Quintet
Iceland
- Sigur Rós
Canada
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor
- Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
- Do Make Say Think
- I Spell It Nature
United States
- Explosions in the Sky
- This Will Destroy You
- Caspian
- The Album Leaf
- Russian Circles
- Slint
- Tortoise
- Hammock
- The Evpatoria Report
- If These Trees Could Talk
- Maserati
- The End of the Ocean
- The Calm Blue Sea
- Joy Wants Eternity
- Red Sparowes
- Vaudlow
- Pelican
- Ranges
- Pray for Sound
- El Ten Eleven
- Saxon Shore
- Wess Meets West
- Hiroe
- Loraine
Serbia
- Ana Never
India
- aswekeepsearching
- Ioish
- Across Seconds
Australia
- sleepmakeswaves
- We Lost The Sea
- Tracey Chattaway
New Zealand
- Rhian Sheehan — ambient / neo-classical adjacent
FACT Mag: 30 Essential Post-Rock Albums
I also came across FACT Mag’s “The 30 best post-rock albums of all time”, another useful trail to follow with plenty of classics. It leans toward post-rock pioneers and experimental music rather than pure post-rock, so it is worth keeping those stylistic differences in mind.
- Mono — Under the Pipal Tree
- Pram — Helium
- Long Fin Killie — Houdini
- Jeniferever — Spring Tides
- These New Puritans — Field of Reeds
- Tarentel — From Bone to Satellite
- 65daysofstatic — The Fall of Math
- Moonshake — Eva Luna
- Twenty-Six — This Skin Is Rust
- Fly Pan Am — Fly Pan Am
- Explosions in the Sky — The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
- Do Make Say Think — & Yet & Yet
- Aerial M — Aerial M
- Stars of the Lid — The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
- Rachel's — The Sea and the Bells
- Directions — Directions in Music
- Hood — Cold House
- Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band — Horses in the Sky
- Main — Dry Stone Feed
- Disco Inferno — The 5 EPs
- Gastr Del Sol — Camoufleur
- Sigur Rós — Ágætis byrjun
- Labradford — Mi Media Naranja
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor — F♯ A♯ ∞
- Mogwai — Young Team
- Rodan — Rusty
- Talk Talk — Laughing Stock
- Tortoise — Millions Now Living Will Never Die
- Slint — Spiderland
- Bark Psychosis — Hex
Notes
This article will continue to be updated. Corrections and additions are welcome.