Atmospheric, instrumental post-rock is, at the same time, one of the most touching and silliest genres in modern music.
The genre pairs perfectly with pictures of beautiful sites in nature in several ways: Both can be extremely affecting and dramatic, but only when done right. Really, when I think of, say, a Mogwai song, what runs through my mind is a slowly panning view of beautiful nature scenes, always in slow motion and usually showing snow. Sigur Ros and the Discovery Channel is a match made in heaven - the huge, epic movements of the music pair perfectly with the vast openness of nature. Music most often described with adjectives that mean 'big' is at home with mountains, deserts and other things that are, well, big.
Now the touching/silly duality is an interesting one.
On the one hand, the simple melodies and often gently lapping patterns, ascending in intensity, can boost the emotionality of any moment. Take for example, a kiss and a Sigur Ros song.
Press play and begin kiss. Pretty nice, right? Gentle piano, light vocals. Some really pretty stuff. But then the track builds as the tympanis and strings crash in and suddenly you're making out, thanking your lucky stars that these dudes from Iceland know how to scale a wall of sound.
On the other hand, this stuff is silly. Many of the songs sound the same in their gigantic crescendos and minimalist musical valleys, and the lack of vocals is starting to get on your nerves. Give me a chorus, damn it.
Still, the bands that do it right are the genre leaders for a reason: Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky turn up the volume at all the right times.
Japanese quartet Mono has never reached the emotional mountaintops of the above four, but it's not for lack of trying.
The band will release it's latest album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, next month on Temporary Residence Ltd. The record is a step forward in Mono's sound (described in just about every review ever written on the band as 'massive) in that these dudes employed a 22-person orchestra to make the songs even more - you guessed it! - MASSIVE.
Below is a video matching two things that were meant to be together forever: A Mono song and nature photography. Enjoy "Follow the Map" and check out the new record March 24.
Many thanks to freefoto.com and freenaturepictures.com
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