5 key post-rock albums
![Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/02193f09e13b28672340390bb021bd3d-320-80.jpg)
Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team
Looking to explore the vast soundscapes of instrumental rock and post-rock? Start here...
Long before media spats with Metallica, Mogwai put out a debut that turned the UK rock scene on its head, with delay-heavy tremolo picking and cyclic two-chord progressions the order of the day, culminating in 16-minute dynamic powerhouse Mogwai Fear Satan.
![Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/faaceefc927c7aa2c5831c69a801bca8-320-80.jpg)
Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
The triple-guitar onslaught of this Texan four-piece marries crystalline arpeggios with gut-wrenching melodies.
Their third album is hard to top. Excerpts of its tracklisting - most notably, First Breath After Coma - have soundtracked their fair share of weepy moments in film and TV, too.
![Battles - Mirrored](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/68e511d5913ae369f0abf17adf3bcfca-320-80.jpg)
Battles - Mirrored
Featuring members of Don Caballero and Helmet, this alternative supergroup gave math-rock a shot of off-kilter adrenaline with their 2007 debut.
They garnered mainstream attention, too, with Atlas appearing in ads for Sony’s LittleBigPlanet.
![Slint - Spiderland](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/1cb16a8f33110d10d488823d422c76c3-320-80.jpg)
Slint - Spiderland
Littered with sparse clean guitars and ripping distorted passages, this 1991 album is what many consider to be the first ‘proper’ post-rock release.
Guitarist David Pajo went on to join Tortoise in the mid-90s and short-lived Billy Corgan-led supergroup Zwan in 2003.
![Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/16d3c1035060f7b51c0e4b28ff7caca5-320-80.jpg)
Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun
Where would BBC wildlife documentaries be without these Icelandic atmosphere merchants?
Jónsi Birgisson is renowned for his prominent use of a cello bow to form huge orchestral textures, best captured on the band’s unpronounceable 1999 album.