Some interesting instumental music that you may or may not like.

So i've been listening to a lot of instrumental stuff recently, partly cos i've been playing with Audition a bit, making mixes, rather than compilations, for friends/my car/for fun, and instrumentals lend themselves to more interesting mixes than just a simple crossfade at the end - you can layer tracks together a to introduce a stronger sense of continuity - but I digress. Partly cos this blog has been embarassingly dead recently, and partly because I'm bored, I thought i'd share three of the more interesting discoveries I've made.

The Timeout Drawer. I can't go past good use of a Moog, especially when used in such an unusual context. I never thought the humble keyboard could rock so much. Unusually among the post rock crowd, these lads have little use for the 'quiet' part of the quiet/loud/quiet formula, and, to this guy at least, its a welcome change. I do love bands like Mono and Mogwai, who, when they choose to rock out, damn well rock out properly, but I tend to lose patience with those who persist for too long with the more ambient passages. GB!YE, i'm looking squarely at you. For this reason, my next recommendation might seem unusual, but hey, I'm not a usual guy.

Byla. This is what ambient music should be like - enough variation between tracks that you can put this on your headphones, shut your eyes, and enjoy the music, rather than be lulled immediately into slumber. You can hear Closer to the Centre here, which, while not really indicative of the rest of the album, is my standout track.

Ellis The Vacuumchild.Yes, it's a stupid name. But these Swedes are having fun, and it shows in the music. Relatively short songs, except for the closer [Ellis fears Chloe - I wonder if Chloe is as fright-inducing as Satan?] this is post-rock trimmed of the fat.