O Emperor - Only Comes to Pass

A band from Waterford in the southeast of Ireland who are often compared to the likes of Mercury Rev and Grizzly Bear. Not exactly my sort of thing but I have to admit they do it as well as anyone else does. Better than many.

This is from a 2010 EP.

Disco Inferno - Set Sail

Disco Inferno wasn't exactly the obvious choice of name for a band whose music blended the post-punk sounds of Wire and Factory Records with the atmospheric trance of the likes of the Underworld, which perhaps explains why they seemed to have slipped under most people's radars. And that's really a tragedy, because many of their recordings were things of stunning beauty meriting a much wider audience of those with discerning taste. Like readers of this blog.

They were from Essex and put out a number of albums and EPs in the early to mid 1990s, absolutely all of which are worth picking up, if you can find them.

This is from their 1991 debut, Open Doors, Closed Windows.

Mogwai - Summer

I mentioned recently that I'm not a huge fan of Mogwai's style of music, since I generally find it too background-y for my tastes, whereas I prefer music that engages you. But a good song is a good song, and janey mack is this ever a good song. And remarkably engaging, too.

Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine

I'm not a huge fan of the whole Explosions, Mogwai, "post-rock" (what a silly name) thing, for a number of reasons. I tend to prefer my songs short and snappy, and I like music that really engages you rather than just sounding nice in the background while you’re doing something else. Same as I didn't like the related genre of "ambient". But I have to admit that once this song gets going, it’s really quite lovely.

From their 2003 album, The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place.