Reverie

Instrumental post-rock is becoming a worldwide language, with major bands in the style appearing in Japan, Quebec, Texas, Iceland, Scotland, and, in the case of Daturah, Germany. The follow-up to 2005's self-titled debut (released on CD and in a lovely limited-edition two-LP set on colored vinyl), Reverie is a more subtle and dynamic affair than the group's first album, which focused primarily on volume and attack. These five lengthy tracks run on the same basic template as the debut, and to be fair, it's the same basic template that bands have been ringing changes on ever since Mogwai first gained notice: guitars chime, then roar, then dissipate into ambient shimmers, then roar again, then slowly fade out, and on the next track they start all over again in a different key. Meanwhile, indistinct found sounds and sampled voices drone almost imperceptibly in the background at odd moments. In other words, anyone who has heard a Mono, Isis, or Explosions in the Sky record before will find Reverie either comfortingly or deadeningly familiar (depending on the listener's devotion to and/or burnout concerning the genre), but the quartet led by guitarists Flo Ebert and Mathias Heng play with such vigor on side-long tracks like "Deep B Flat" and "9" that Reverie is worth a listen for fans of the style. Those who haven't warmed to extended guitar improvisations in odd tunings so far will find nothing to change their minds here, however.