Album Revew: sleepmakeswaves - Love of Cartography

It has been a while since I've consciously sat down behind the screen with the idea of creating thorough review which encompasses both musical and emotional approach. Not sure whether that was the lack of focus or just the absence of a record which truly captures my neurosystem, but I guess things are somehow different right now.

I've been slowly exploring sleepmakeswaves' Love of Cartography for about a month now and ever since I stumbled upon "Great Northern" & "Something Like Avalanches", I felt I would end up sharing this magnificent piece of art with you.

I've read a few reviews of the record and it was interesting to encounter the ongoing opinion (from few fans of the genre) that the post-rock music would eventually die out due to the lack of creativity and the mass EILTS-like copies out there. Yes, I have to admit, it's not always easy to find a truly captivating post-rock band (at least for me), but I've stumbled upon this issue ever since I got into the genre years ago. IMO, post-rock is very much alive and the fact that it's gaining traction and a lot of young musicians are trying to find their sound (and eventually end up sounding like some prominent bands) does not mean that there's lack of creativity in the scene.

On the contrary - some of the most profound music experiences while seeing post-rock acts and I've always encouraged people who are not even fans of this kind of music to go and see a proper post-rock band live.

Where am I going with all this blabberish? Well, sleepmakeswaves are the perfect example of things done right. The Australians used a pre-order campaign approach and their fans support in order to finance this record and managed to raise 30k $!

Anyhow, I'm drifting away from what's important now - Love of Cartography. Loving the record and the slightly electronic direction which the Sydney post-rockers take with few of their tracks. I very much enjoy the constant shift between electronic elements and some typical post-rock build ups. I've realized that many of the prominent acts in the scene like Mogwai and 65daysofstatic went in that direction as well, but the thing I like about sleepmakeswaves is the fact that they kept the rock in post-rock.

I won't go into details, because as always I encourage you to hear the record from the beginning to the very end, but my favourite tracks are... hmm, sorry guys, I realized I would list 70% of the album. Just go for it!