Mono - You Are There (2006)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain (2005)

In early 2006, I moved across the country with my then-girlfriend and a group of bandmates. Despite having so many familiar faces all around -- most of us moved into the same house, even -- my homesickness, for the first few months, was overwhelming. This is, in all likelihood, why You Are There, released shortly after I arrived, struck such a chord with me. From its haunting valleys to its furious, anxiety-ridden peaks, You Are There was, and still is, one of the most deeply sorrowful instrumental records I have heard. For many, Mono's approach to post-rock is too by-the-book -- play quiet, play loud, play quieter, play louder -- and this record marks the moment that they fully embraced this approach, but to me, there's a genuineness to their crescendo-core that bands like Explosions in the Sky simply cannot tap into.

Track listing:
1. The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain
2. A Heart Has Asked for the Pleasure
3. Yearning
4. Are You There?
5. The Remains of the Day
6. Moonlight

Giant me on the other side

Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain (2005)

Welp, I think it's been long enough. Friday Night Lights wrapped up over two years ago, advertising agencies have ditched Mogwai soundalikes for Beach House soundalikes, and here in sunny Portland, OR, the crust punks have abandoned their wannabe Godspeed projects to start wannabe Joy Division projects. Finally, I can listen to tearjerking post-rock without barfing.

To celebrate, here's one of my favorite post-rock albums. It's a collaboration between Mono, Japan's foremost purveyors of heartbreaking, eardrum-shattering instrumental post-rock, and World's End Girlfriend, a Japanese musical project with which I am, aside from this album, completely unfamiliar. Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain is a single, patient, transcendent, deeply sorrowful piece of music. Across five tracks and an hour and fourteen minutes, layered cellos, wordless female vocals, piano, chiming guitars, and cymbal washes build and recede, at times coalescing into huge, distortion-filled payoffs. So, a lot like Mono, but with an overall darker, more neoclassical vibe.

Track listing:
1. Trailer 1
2. Trailer 2
3. Trailer 3
4. Trailer 4
5. Trailer 5

Yearning