F♯ A♯ ∞

Genre defining & apocalypse conjuring. Slow, patient, and ominous - a frenzy gathers force and explodes, collapsing the boundary between inner turmoil and a world on fire.

This thing was a real journey. Don't know how to put it into words but it was something and at times cool but other times kinda dull.

I don't like Godspeed and I don't like how they changed the post-rock genre, and they very much did change the genre because almost everything post 90s that tried to be post-rock followed Godspeed's methodology.

F Sharp A Sharp Infinity is very typical of their style, droning ambient soundscapes interspersed with rock-oriented crescendos, usually with spoken word segments sprinkled in about "society".

As I said I don't like this style of post-rock but F Sharp A Sharp Infinity is probably one of the most important albums that exists (as well as its follow up), and it's widely celebrated by fans and critics alike.

Should it be on the list: Yes 100%

I'm not afraid to say I don't understand this.... But I'm glad you like it. It has its moments, but is way too out there and ambling for me. I don't deny that they are stellar artists, it's just not for me.

Favourite songs: The Dead Flag Blues (the poem in this song is stellar. The Machine is, indeed, hemorrhaging)

Least favourite songs: East Hastings

3/5

Muistan kun löysin tän bändin yläasteella. Sillon tykkäsin kovasti. Ja onhan se edelleen kova! ainakin 4/5. annetaan femma.

One of my favorite albums of all time. It’s so emotionally powerful. It’s beautiful, yet bleak at the same time. The opening monologue haunts me.

Just taken off of streaming, but I don't mind, I bought the album on Bandcamp the moment I found out, and you should, too. Support artists directly if you can! That being said, listening to that very version on Bandcamp, as the LP, vinyl version, while the original, is not exactly quite as accessible.

Anyway, the album itself is mystifying. There are plenty of moments on this record that you could argue aren't even fully "music," but the overall tone of the album is such a foreboding, heavy feeling that feels like the world could rip itself apart at any moment, and when it all comes to a climax, you find yourself swept up in all the right emotions. It can be a long wait, and if you're impatient like me you may start to doubt the album, but it always pays off; just let it cook.

Absolutely perfect timing because I saw 28 Years Later after listening to this album. Not sure why I didn't listen to this sooner, but it's a unique take on post-rock, bringing in jazz and classical influences.

Never listened to these guys before, and this wasn't at all what I was expecting (Thought it was going to be, like, black metal or something). Instead, it's a masterwork of ambient, atmospheric soundscaping. Super cool!

Prog folk, but better than that probably sounds to most people.
Lots of field recordings, and three very long songs, and an absolute joy

This one’s early in their career, before they re-watched the Japanese bousouzoku documentary and realized they’d misplaced the exclamation! mark. My response to this album is heavily influenced by my handmade limited edition vinyl copy, which includes interesting little artworks, a penny flattened by a train on the track, and a locked groove at the end of the album, so that it drones on softly into ∞, never stopping until you pick up the needle. I love that attention to detail. The music? Post-rock cowboys and trains, of course, right down to the dreamy steel guitar. What the West was built on, a waltzing homage to the emptiness of an aging and dead destiny just before the turn of the 21st century. Anyone remember that part where astronaut Dave enters the monolith as it orbits Jupiter? Yeah, this album sounds like that at one point. And then Dave evolves into a mosquito.

I’m a big post rock fan, (Mogwai was my pick) so this post rock masterpiece was always getting 5 stars. Really should be on the main list!

Cinematic and haunting. Deserves a place on the list.