YANQUI U.X.O.

I'm honestly not too familiar with the post-rock genre, not yet anyway. It's something I discovered fairly recently, and I have to say, this band is my favourite for the genre at the moment. The music is dark and moody and is good music for sitting in a dark room contemplating things, especially when you are in a bad mood or are just pensive in general. Most songs start off slowly, often with only one or two instruments, and gradually build to a cathartic climax of crashing instruments. One thing I particularly enjoy is the lack of synths. Now, I'm a keyboard player, but I have so much admiration for this band that creates textures in a more orchestral style, relying on guitars, strings, and woodwinds, as well as the occasional glockenspiel. This album consists of three songs, and two are divided into two parts each. Taken as whole songs though, none of the songs are under twenty minutes. However, this does not get boring, though I tend to prefer longer songs anyway. Many people might find it boring though, because of the minimalist approach and overall slowness of the music. I, however, think this works well for this band who I look forward to exploring a bit more. I hesitate to give it five stars, but I think it deserves four and a half. Highly recommended, but maybe hard to get in to for those used to traditional symphonic prog.