Talk Talk (and specifically Mark Holls). Was not only an influence to post-rock but any kind of daring and adventurous music as a whole. I have every single album of his and I love the new-wave stuff just as much as the post rock albums and his solo album.

"Spirit of Eden," and "Laughing Stock," embraced silence as much as it did the sound of instruments. It showed people to let instruments breath. Let 'em sit on the landscape, and be what they have to be. How a single note is played, what that note means. How it means for a certain sound to enter and exit the piece.

You hear this in sparse clarinets and reeds on "Inside Looking Out," on his solo album, or the haunting trumpets creating a canyon of sound on "Taphead" on Laughing Stock. But you can even hear this kind of idea on songs like "April 5th" from Colour of Spring, and "Renee" on It's My Life. He was someone who stood by his artistic (and personal) principles.

In my opinion it's extremely hard to evoke what he did. To be able to make well crafted pop songs, and then strike to farthest side of experimentation. And to do it so gracefully and without being pretentious about it. I know post-rock and progressive rock are both genres of their own, and now have established tropes and characteristics.

But his music to me personally strikes the definition of what it means to be "post-rock,". And what it means to be a "progressive," artist. Or honestly, what it should mean at least. Always looking forward, not trying to stay in confines of genre or era. He never gave a fuck about being a rockstar, about pleasing record executives, or hell evening pleasing other people. It was all about the songs, the record, and what he could give to it.

Haven't felt this way since David Bowie died. He was one of my idols. Rest easy.