Best of Post-Rock 2021


Plug all the effect pedals at your local music store into one another and record an album with that, you’ll end up on my list.


Number Five: Voids – Who Needs the Words When There Are Stars Above?


Let’s start with an underground act: Voids, from Russia! Who Needs the Words […] was late to the party, coming out in late December, but it truly deserves to be on this list; vast, expansive, atmospheric, and a little heavy side makes for a great experience!


Number Four: Maybe She Will – No Feeling Is Final


UK’s Maybe She Will released a really pretty and fascinating album. No Feeling Is Final gets the most out of its runtime, and it’s definitely a must for all post-rock fans.


Number Three: Mono – Pilgrimage of the Soul


I’ve never been a huge Mono fan, not that I ever disliked them, but it just never totally clicked either. Well, I guess Pilgrimage of the Soul changed that… It’s… beautiful.


Number Two: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – God’s Pee at State’s End


By now, we know the formula: swelling chords, movie excerpts or whatever, but I still fall for it. GY!BE’s post-rock delivery is among the best there is, and this strangely titled album proves it once again.


Number One: Bruit ≤ – The Machine Is Burning and Now Everyone Knows It Could Happen Again


As soon as I hear the first song off of The Machine Is Burning […], I knew this one would be high on my list, come year’s end. Well, I didn’t know it yet, but I was listening to the album of the year! Calculated songwriting with an emotional weight to it as well as an impressive array of instruments and well-chosen excerpts all help in making this album what it is: a masterpiece.


Notable Releases

Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.

Friday, 29 January

Gaspard – Vertiges

59:49
post-rock
Montréal, Québec
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Wednesday, 17 February

Aalborg – And This Is How…

38:14
post-rock
Clermont Ferrand, France
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 19

Infinity Shred – Recovery

19:13
post-rock, synthwave
New York, New York
Independent

Read our review.

Tracklist (click to display)

Mogwai – As the Love Continues

61:23
post-rock
Scotland, UK
Temporary Residence Ltd.

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 26

Long Distance Calling – Ghost

33:10
post-rock
Münster, Germany
IMD / Avoid the Light


Tracklist (click to display)

Volvopenta – Simulacrum

48:50
post-rock
Mülheim, Germany
Tonzonen

Tracklist (click to display)


Sunday, 28 February

Fine before You Came – Forme complesse

31:51
post-rock
Milano, Italy
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 5 March

Empires of Light – How to Build a Monolith

28:42
post-rock
Portland, Oregon
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

A Reason to Travel – Kingdom

38:52
post-rock
Copenhagen, Denmark
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 12

盲目Not to Say Goodbye, Just to Say Hello

~43:00
post-rock
Japan
Friend of Mine

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 26 March

Young Mountain – Infraröd

31:49
post-rock
Gothenburg, Sweden
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 2 April

Bruit ≤ – The Machine Is Burning and Now Everyone Knows It Could Happen Again

39:34
post-rock, classical
Toulouse, France
Elusive Sound

Read our review.

Tracklist (click to display)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – God’s Pee at State’s End!

52:37
post-rock
Montréal, Québec
Constellation

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 9

Echoes and Signals – Mercuria

51:17
post-rock
Tula, Russia
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Vema – Ocean Gyre

31:52
post-rock
AL, Spain
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Thursday, 15

Høst – Kos

50:14
post-rock
Toulouse, France
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Thursday, 22 April

January – Hometown

37:33
post-rock
Bangkok, Thailand
A Spur of the Moment Project

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 7 May

The Abyss inside Us – What Words Can’t Say

41:20
post-rock
Greece
Ripcord

Tracklist (click to display)


Tuesday, 18

Dûrga – Sequoia

45:16
post-rock
Valencia, Spain
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 21

L’Effondras – Anabasis

39:39
progressive post-rock
Bourg En Bresse, France
Independent

Read our review.

Tracklist (click to display)

Our Next Movement – This Room / This Battlefield

30:45
post-rock
Valencia, Spain
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Yoo Doo Right – Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose

40:22
post-rock
Montréal, Québec
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 4 June

Himiko Cloud – Telomeres

44:44
post-rock
Wenatchee, Washington
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 18 June

A – A

39:39
post-rock
La Chaux De Fonds, Switzerland
Hummus

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 2 July

The Languid Current – Iceland

24:03
post-rock
Iceland
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Monday, 26 July

小女巫

28:44
post-rock
Shaoxing, China
Space Circle

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 6 August

Some Became Hollow Tubes – Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

35:51
experimental post-rock
Montréal, Québec
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 13

Eve Beeker – Portraits

38:45
post-rock
Eugene, Oregon
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Wednesday, 18

كنمتكEnsemble 1: ال جَدْي

35:34
experimental post-rock
Beirut, Lebanon
النِّهَايَة

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 20

Deaf Heaven – Infinite Granite

53:30
blackgaze
San Francisco
Sargent House

Tracklist (click to display)

World’s End Girlfriend – うみべの女の子

36:55
post-rock, soundtrack
Tokyo, Japan
Virgin Babylon

Tracklist (click to display)


Thursday, 26

Blak – El tall d’Escil·la

42:06
post-rock
Roda De Ter, Spain
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 27 August

Ranges – Cardinal Winds

39:49
post-rock
Bozeman, Montana
A Thousand Arms

Tracklist (click to display)


Wednesday, 1 September

AACKR – Almæ

34:29
post-rock
Cologne, Germany
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 3

Apoa – Kryonaut

43:31
post-rock
Dresden, Germany
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Tuesday the Sky – The Blurred Horizon

46:12
post-rock
United States
Metal Blade


Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 17

Mono – Pilgrimage of the Soul

57:18
post-rock
東京都, Japan
Temporary Residence Ltd.

Tracklist (click to display)


Thursday, 30 September

전파사억겁의 싸이-키

67:13
post-rock
South Korea
미러볼 뮤직


Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 1 October

Himmellegeme – Variola vēra

38:53
post-rock
Bergen, Norway
Karisma & Dark Essence

Tracklist (click to display)


Saturday, 9

Golden Hymns Sing “Hurrah” – The Great Dystopian Songbook Ⅱ: Songs of Blood

56:21
post-rock
New York, New York
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 29

In-Dreamview – Triptych

43:13
post-rock, jazz fusion
New Jersey
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Saturday, 30 October

瀚海澜汐總有一天你會遇見一個彩虹般絢麗的人

50:51
post-rock
上海市, China
Weary Bird

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 5 November

Could Seed – Mirage

22:48
post-rock
Le Mans, France
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Ephemeral Echoes – Ascension

44:39
post-rock
Greece
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Long Hallways – I Still Believe in Us

35:21
post-rock
Portland, Oregon
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 19 November

Maybe She Will – No Feeling Is Final

50:16
post-rock
Leicester, UK
Wax Bodega

Tracklist (click to display)


Wednesday, 1 December

The Color of Cyan – Agape

52:38
post-rock
Chicago, Illinois
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)

Super Pink Moon – Super

41:38
post-rock
Lviv, Ukraine
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Friday, 10

Mondaze – Late Bloom

41:52
post-rock
Faenza, Italy
Quiet Panic

Tracklist (click to display)


Thursday, 23 December

Voids – Who Needs the Words When There Are Stars Above?

53:44
post-rock
Angarsk, Russia
Independent

Tracklist (click to display)


Best of 2021

01/01 – Best of Afrobeat
01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal
01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal
01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal
01/05 – Best of Classical
01/06 – Best of Death Metal
01/07 – Best of Deathcore
01/08 – Best of Doom Metal
01/09 – Best of Folk
01/10 – Best of Grindcore
01/11 – Best of Hardcore
01/12 – Best Improvisation
01/13 – Best of Indie Rock
01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion
01/15 – Best of Jazzcore
01/16 – Best of Math Rock
01/17 – Best of Mathcore
01/18 – Best of Metalcore
01/19 – Best of Modern Jazz
01/20 – Best of Noise Rock
01/21 – Best of Nu Jazz
01/22 – Best of Nu Prog
01/23 – Best of Pop
01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore
01/25 – Best of Post-Metal
01/26 – Best of Post-Rock

One comment on Best of Post-Rock 2021

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