Labels: Voice Of The Unheard
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I have listened to way more post rock this year than I have for over a decade. For a long time I found it to be a relatively soulless genre, generally for beard stroking sad lads in their late 20s. This year though I have overcome some of those preconceptions and found it to often be a peaceful, calming background music, music as a means for diffusing anxiety, particularly “Views from Sixteen Stories” by Alaskan Tapes. FaSFH are a bit louder than the post rock I have occasionally “medicated” with after a long session mainlining live news updates on the Guardian, indulging in traditional genre structures of twinkly piano and soaring, sometimes heavy guitar. It’s music to soundtrack an amateur Youtuber’s drone flight over Iceland. Especially on opener “Nearly Saw a Light”. Ah here’s the bit where the sun glints off the sea on a beautiful morning. Then there’s a bit with an imposing glacier under moody skies. And now the snow falls. Moments that truly stood out for me were found on “Afloat Apart” which is gentler and easy going, plus a mere blip of a song at 2:57, even reminding me a bit of my favourite band of this nature, The Six Parts Seven. Other than that, it’s all very post rock. And I have no problem with that at all, it’s executed masterfully and well worth a listen if you appreciate the genre.