🎉 Welcome to Reverb — the new Post-Rock Nation community hub. Read the announcement

post rock that is hopeful and not sad.

metabit1837

hi. im new here. i got introduced to post rock like 4 months ago and i was like DAMN this is it, this is the ultimate genre! like so beautiful! sometimes it feels like a a rewarding work, like you listen to a 20 min song for THE MOMENT and the pleasure u get is like drugs.

but iv come to realize them are kinda sad. and the sad ones are insanely sad. im naturally a cheerful and thoughtful person. like i understand the hopeful ones but i really dont connect with the sad ones because of my beliefs. like u listen to something and you are like how can this person have so much sadness?

so my question is what projects should i look into that are more hopeful and not sad?
post rock that is hopeful.
post rock that is about deep thinking.(different from sad)

jack-m

Hey, welcome to the community! Always great to see someone discovering the genre.

I totally get what you mean about the sad side of post-rock. There's a lot of it, and some of it hits hard. But there's plenty of hopeful, uplifting stuff too.

If you haven't checked them out yet, Explosions in the Sky is probably the first band that comes to mind for hopeful post-rock. Their album "The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place" is basically the definition of what you're looking for. "Your Hand in Mine" and "First Breath After Coma" are both about new beginnings and moving forward.

Another favorite of mine is And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA). Their self-titled album is pure joyful energy guitars bouncing off each other, nothing bleak about it. Try "Set Guitars to Kill" if you want something that actually makes you feel like jumping around.

God Is an Astronaut is also worth your time. They lean more uplifting and driving. "All Is Violent, All Is Bright" has some incredible moments that feel more expansive and hopeful than sad.

And if you want something more on the thoughtful/contemplative side that isn't sad, The Album Leaf is great. Gentle, warm, optimistic "Into the Blue Again" is a good starting point.

What kind of music were you listening to before you found post-rock? Always curious what draws people in.

metabit1837

jack-m damn thats a detailed recommendation. nice. ill listen to every one of them.

actually i used to listen to mostly rock and metal.
i kinda listened to almost all kind of genres but always liked the more emotional songs. one of the reasons i kinda dont like pop. it feels too fake.

after sometime i kinda disliked how some of the lyrics were not meaningful or didnt connect with me so i started listening to more songs without lyrics.

i listened to classical and new age too. really love olafur arnalds and nils frahms.
i also listened to instrumental rock and just love buckethead.

after seeing all the artist and their stuff, like seeing an artist cheat on his wife or another artist write a song to get more famous or an metal artist just singing the same old sad song for the 100th time i realized they kinda lied with their art. like it didnt feel like ART anymore.

and then i found post rock. these insanely patient artist who literally no one knows just making such emotional songs and being hones. i fell in love with it right away. like u see this long and emotional songs and such honest emotions.

sorry for blabbering. what about u? how did u find post rock?

Mahdi

I think the list above is pretty good also you could maybe check Tides from Nebula, Long Distance Calling and Sleepmakeswaves

on the idea of post-rock being sad, I've been puzzling a lot on that. as someone who tried to introduce post-rock to pretty much everyone i know, I'd say i've gotten this feedback that post-rock is sad a lot. but personally for me the way that post-rock connected with me a different level of emotions.

I agree there is a intense element of depression in them, but i would say that comes more from the depth's that the music can take you into, and I would say that is not sadness. its beyond that, its the moment when you are done with the sadness and accepted it. at least for me.

jack-m

it was a slow burn over years. I listened to a lot of instrumental movie scores and soundtrack stuff, and eventually the algorithm fed me Ashes in the Snow by Mono without me really knowing what post-rock was. That track just hit different, and it snowballed from there. No dramatic story, just the right music at the right time.

metabit1837

jack-m
nice, seems like a fated encounter to me. like kinda drifting to were u belong.

vander-winden

Kinda late to this post, but to me there's much in post-rock that's more hopeful than sad.
Although fair disclaimer, some things that other people around me feel as melancholic comes across as more wistful to me.
Still seeing and agreeing with Jack's mentions I'd thought to add some more:

Sigur Rós seems to be the most obvious: they Jónsi even sings in what he dubs 'Hopelandic'. Takk was my starting place there.

Spurv from Norway mostly turns to nature and makes it feel uplifting to me: the song Til en ny var and the EP Skarntyde I can't recommend enough.

Baulta from Finland definitely have some songs that are really sad, but they also scratch the same itch as God is an Astronaut and they've got a good sense of humour too. So try Pure Escapism.

Yndi Halda has their first album called Enjoy Eternal Bliss (and the bandname is the same but in Norwegian I recall) ... so it'd seem to be a no-brainer for me. I love them and tend to listen to both of their albums if I'm in the mood for music a bit more on the lighter side of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who start all their live shows with the 'Hope Drone', but I'm guessing you might be familiar with them already from your description)

65 Days of Static (or 65dos) and Maybeshewill I'll lump together here because they tend to be my go-to's when I want the uplifting energetic side of post-rock. 65dos in particular has been one of my all-time favourites:
Suggested:
65dos - Wild Light
Maybeshewill - I Was Here For a Moment- Then I Was Gone (earlier albums are a bit more punky and newer albums are a bit more atmospheric if you want to find more)

MONO are probably my most favourite band, but lots of their catalogue might also seem sad. Their latest works however tend to be more hopeful than sad. So you might lie to try Oath and Snowdrop

If any of the above hit the mark then the following might be up your alley too:
Ef - We Salute You, You And You! and Give Me Beauty or Give Me Death (don't let the album title discourage you. 'Hello, Scotland!' is like my personal anthem to slow uplifting feelings (especially the newly recorded version)
Hazards of Swimming Naked - Take Great Joy or Our Lines Are Down
Endless Dive - A Brief History of a Kind Human (for if you dig the 65dos/Maybeshewill vibes)
Nordic Giants - Symbiosis
Overhead the Albatross - Learning to Growl (I really love 'I Leave You This' but since it's an album dealing with grief it might not be what you're looking for, albeit in a ''celebrate life" kinda way)

Leaning more to the classical side of things:
Esmerine - Dalmak
Jo Quail - Invocation / Supplication

Hope this helps ... if not than I'm into sadder things than i thought 😃