El Ten Eleven

The music genre post-rock was a term popularized by music critic Simon Reynolds in 1994, he described the music as "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures rather than riffs and power chords."  Post-rock bands typically produce instrumental music (or have a strong focus on instrumentation), and are usually associated with epic builds and crescendos of sound.  Anyone familiar with Explosions In the Sky, Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, or Talk Talk wouldn't be surprised to hear that.  A year or two ago, one of my really good friends introduced me to one of the most unnoticed post-rock outfits called El Ten Eleven.  More specifically, he made me listen to their self-titled 2004 debut, El Ten Eleven.  I was pretty blown away by it, and listened to it pretty consistently.  El Ten Eleven follows all the post-rock guidelines, they use their guitars for texture and have a heavy focus on instrumentation (well, they're instrumental, so I guess they'd have to).  The tone of El Ten Eleven is slightly subdued and softer in comparison to some of the aforementioned bands, making it very tranquil.  For a while now I've considered the song "My Only Swerving" as one of the absolute best late night driving songs.  On top of that, the whole album flows extremely well together, almost becoming one full song.  After a few listens, I couldn't believe these guys didn't get more recognition for their work.  They have a new album coming out November 9th, and I'm hoping it lives up to expectation.  Below I've posted the songs "My Only Swerving" and "Sorry About Your Irony" from their 2004 album El Ten Eleven.

My Only Swerving

Sorry About Your Irony

If you like it, you can download here.

I have one more thing I'd like to mention on today's post, just because it's so cool.  What if I told you that if you went to see a Phoenix concert at Madison Square Garden, that Daft Punk would appear out of nowhere for their encore?  Well, according to what I read today on Pitchfork, this happened last night!  While Phoenix was playing one of their best songs, If I Ever Feel Better, for their encore, the lights went down, and when they came back up, Daft Punk was there.  They played a set with Phoenix that included "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", which transitioned into "Around the World", and eventually an extended "1901".  HOLY FLUCKING SHIZNIT.  The sheer epicness of it just blows my mind.  Words cannot describe how badly I wish I could've been there to experience it.  For everyone in the audience, the show must've been unreal.  I posted the video of it below.  Prepare yourself for unparalleled awesomeness:

I've never been more jealous in my life.  I wonder if I'll ever be lucky enough to have a surprise of such magnitude at a concert.  My favorite part is when people actually realize what's going on and start screaming their heads off.