Can we get a description of what post-rock and shoegaze are, rather than just music videos? Cause I listened to most of the posted videos, and I still don't really know what they are.
Hm.
Shoegaze is basically rock, but it is much slower paced and heavily utilizes sound transformation technology, both pre and post production, to create intricate walls of noise sound, and the singing is usually mesmerized and dreamy. It has a quite distinct sound to it and many noise-wall rock genres today are basically shoegaze, except they aren't called shoegaze anymore. It's still really influential in musical undercurrents, and I believe it has the potential to become a mainstream musical consumption.
Post-rock varies in style from band to band, especially its progenitors utilize different styles (Tortoise is jazz-electronica while GY!BE is a soundscape of dystopia and insane crescendos). But it is generally a heavy sound (not metallic-heavy, just heavy to listen to, weighty) with a broad, long, 'big' sound. It is usually instrumental and utilizes minimalist repetition to create tension over long time, eventually to erupt into a climax at some point. The Sigur Ros and Explosions In The Sky videos I shared are really not that good representations of the genre, I searched for the more "upbeat" post-rock tracks, you know, wondering whether mass consumption could actually hook onto post-rock. Better representation of it must be the Mogwai video which is basically one big crescendo until the distortion explosion.
As for grunge, it was the "punk" of the 90s. It was a rebellion against the mainstream. It has generational value to some people, like someone has said.
Is it interesting? Well, what do you mean by interesting? If I were a musician trained in music theory, I might say no.. but I really have no idea, as I'm not.
I actually find it theoretically interesting (I find interesting properties in most musics; and even grunge can be analyzed in a sense of socioeconomical implications etc) but I wondered why people found it interesting to listen to. It was more like that.
Uh, yeah. That's because grunge invented alternative rock. The parred down ensembles and use of distortion distinctly separates grunge from its antecedents in hair rock and new wave. The slower cadence separates it from punk. Grunge was revolutionary because it paved the way for all the alt-rock stuff that followed.
--
Your attitude is almost like saying "what's so great about Dylan plugging in '65 Newport? Now a-days plenty of folk artists do it."
That isn't really the case. Shoegaze was popular before grunge exploded and shoegaze is much more influential on what is considered alt rock today. Before I posted the OP, I did some background checking too, and most sources did tell me that grunge was actually a merger of alt rock and heavy metal - meaning alt rock was already present - so it does not seem particularly accurate, that which you are saying. But I'm all up for it being true. I'd prefer it that way, I think.
EDIT: Traitorfish said it better, listen to him
I have never heard of post-rock or shoegaze. Are those popular genres in Europe? Are they somehow related to grunge or something?
Post-rock and shoegaze are both subcultural genres today that are basically kept alive through fan pockets on the internet. Shoegaze used to be almost-a-thing, actually, in the start of the nineties, but got swept away when all the cool kids went the other kind of angsty.
This is a thread for musical archaeology.
I adore this statement.
