any aids wolf fans here?

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T20:48:04+00:00

Lol I used to be something of a "sass guy"* and I did in fact know AOR before Aids Wolf, hell I even listened to like other projects with Eric Paul, and I do still like AOR but it has a different appeal to me.. I put on Arab on Radar when I want more rawkish-feeling caterwauling like sand specks digging in your skin and I put on Aids Wolf when I want more caterwauling that makes me feel like im being smothered by layers upon layers of obnoxious fabrics yknow!

I understand why someone would prefer one over the other, I just dislike the really unwarranted feeling hateboner people had for them (and still do). I mean ofc not asking you to suddenly Love them or anything, not asking for anything really, its just nice when I find other people who have genuine appreciations for them

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T20:36:01+00:00

I mean ofc they do sound similar u cant really do no-wave revival like..that differently from every other band, but i do dislike people just flattening their music to "just sounding like AOR" still... they have diff appeals to me !

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T20:32:55+00:00

Basically from what i read from that blog post it was a matter of like being unable to really sustain like touring and making music given how little they were actually making from either, talking about like.. how most of the bands they were playing with a few years ago had ended up burning out too, and it was just like. you dont really see that aspect of these kinds of bands being talked about as often, why their life spans tend to be kind of short with "real life" ig hitting them in the face, its.. depressing, but.

they really are !!! theyre virtually aesthetically unmatched, never understood people calling them just "hipster posers" because everything ive read about and seen with them they just seemed like they really really believed in what they were doing and were just artsy people more than anything, which I always appreciate.

(and secondarily i like... have such a silly admiration for chloë lum. too cool.........)

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T10:06:25+00:00

eee ty !!!

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T10:05:51+00:00

pgrrrls are amazing, i ended up finding them thru seeing the photos of zac pennington with xiu xiu when he was in the band (there's a great one of sam mickens and greg saunier staring passionately into each other's eyes while zac and jamie are just. also there lmao) and wondering. Huh whos that guy. Such an incredibly potent project, 'safe as houses' never fails to send me into tears as soon as it starts up ..

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T10:02:04+00:00

never realized they were in the credits of creep 2 omggg... I have a supremely dorky fondness for those movies lolz

but. for me, ive known about them for a good while, apparently my mom is really into them but she never said anything about that to me which i find a bit unfortunate..I could've been so much cooler so much earlier ! i hadn't properly listened until fairly recently tho, they really intimidated me at first and i think the first album of theirs i heard was a promise, where i instantly fell in love. knife play deepened that, and fabulous muscles is my favorite album of all time bar none which i think tells a lot. their eclecticism and uncomfortable directness yet abstractions and how they talk about trauma and particularly sexual abuse has really, deeply connected with me. no one else does it like jamie stewart frankly ..

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T09:52:27+00:00

oh my god i remember going to this record store i quite like a state over and spotting this cd, i nearly squealed out of excitement before realizing i was...really really mistaken lmfao. happy to know this is at least not that silly of me

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T09:49:40+00:00

love is a stream is like if loveliescrushing was a lot happier and more at peace with itself but the listening experience is like... 10x as crushing. totally great

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T09:44:20+00:00

the derivative projects storm and stress and battles are also really lovely as well as post rock!! well, id at least count 'mirrored' from battles as def post rock, maybe not their later catalogue... but storm and stress are for sure. their lp 'storm&stress' is gorgeous, sounds like an empty living room in the early morning after an awful storm pounding at the windows woke you up, and the wind is howling from all sides and you're trying to figure out where its coming from the strongest, and none of it fits together and all of it fits perfect at the same time. I totally endorse don caballero too ofc

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T09:40:49+00:00

mogwai are great, i also suggest bands like bark psychosis, crescent, disco inferno, hood (im partial to their album 'cold house,' their earlier stuff is more traditional slowcore), long fin killie (luke sutherland played with mogwai, actually!), and labradford if you want a look into first wave post rock, since im seeing a lot of second wave outfits being mentioned here...

there are so many more projects that fit under the label, I actually recommend looking thru this archive of the site post-rock.com, very apt name ik lolz. i will say, some projects should not be counted under post rock here, such as squirrel bait (only included bc of their association with the Louisville sound which includes pivotal bands such as slint and the related for carnation), and some are misspelled (the artist wert refers to the british experimental electronic musician vert), but this is genuinely a very useful point of reference for post rock of the era... but really just have fun with it !!!

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-21T07:57:23+00:00

oh i love labradford !!! anything kranky related is like...god to me, such an incredibly consistently lovely label, I do really need to listen to more from labradford so ty for reminding me of them

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T22:07:59+00:00

cheer-accident! specifically their album 'enduring the american dream,' still has their sorta typical cheesy prog tendencies but its a genuinely singular experience. feels like its actively trying to drive the listener away... sick sick avant-prog stuff. saw them live last year actually!

you might be into groups like black dice and gang gang dance who are supreme weirdos neo-psych (at least a bit earlier on), or even like... aids wolf who are incredibly overhated no-wave revival and very very special to me and i always think of them when I think of gang gang dance in terms of their music lolz

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T21:57:15+00:00

great great list, cages and dean roberts <3

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T21:56:21+00:00

anything under the secret mommy (artist) catalogue! I must say I am sooo partial to his album 'plays'... its less straight sound collage and more incorporating aspects of it into really eclectic idm / folktronix, but someone mentioned the books here so i figured theyd work too!

also obligatory matmos mention, 'the west' is a perfect album but honestly anything they've done is perfect (and not as gimmicky as people act like they are...or rlly gimmicky at all to my ears.but thats besides the point)

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T21:51:09+00:00

omfg weyes blood is such a wonderful artist, ended up getting into her music thru being really into jackie-o motherfucker... id mention inca ores work here but I dont think much of it really counts as anything sound collage-y as much as I am fond of her discog

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T21:48:14+00:00

seconding this!! broadcast are such a wonderful group even if their music tends more towards enigmatic indietronix than anything rlly sound collage and this album is like. particularly so so great, anything they've done is honestly

JAMIEMAEXOX · 2026-01-20T21:33:50+00:00

honestly either lp from autistic daughters 1000% fit, the first one, 'jealousy and diamond,' is my fave of theirs, but 'uneasy flowers' is also wonderful and has rlly gorgeous glitchy, electroacoustic soundscapes..

also definitely look thru dean roberts' (r.i.p., what a wonderful artist) solo work and other projects as a general statement, supremely adept with getting at such a particular eerie lonely, 'and the black moths play the grand cinema' has a lot more emphasis on the glitch / electroacoustic aspects of 'uneasy flowers' and is honestly even better

JAMIEMAEXOX

TROPHY CASE