post-rock – Queen City Sounds and Art

Koen Holtkamp Orchestrates a Perfect Synthesis of Visuals and Sound on Post-Rock Jazz Single “Slow Fox Run”

Koen Holtkamp, photo courtesy the artist

The music video for Koen Holtkamp’s “Slow Fox Run” is like a visual representation of the rhythm and tonal vectors of a song slowly developing from percussive tones later joined by minimal, brushed drums and introspective saxophone. The complexity of the sounds slowly develops along with the streaking motes of colored lights in the video at times bursting as the dynamics of the song do. It’s a seamless blend of visuals and sound and musical ideas that complement each other perfectly like the fusion of jazz, post-rock and electronic composition aesthetics that seem to underpin the song itself. Fans of Chicago post-rock groups like Tortoise and Sea and The Sea and Cake will appreciate the creative detail and flow of sounds present here. Watch the video for “Slow Fox Run” on YouTube and follow Koen Holtkamp at the links below. His new album Nightlife is out October 9, 2026 via Western Vinyl.

Koen Holtkamp on Instagram

Koen Holtkamp on Bandcamp

Jules Reidy’s “Clerestory Windows V” is a Masterful Arc of Guitar Maximalism to Sheer Minimalism

Jules Reidy imbued “Clerestory Windows V” with a unique intricacy of tone utilizing a hex electric guitar. The Euclidean sequencing with some pitch shifting on single notes and tones lends the piece the quality of something that sounds like it was composed and then programmed into an electronic device. But in fact it is guitar technique and that sound that gives this mathematically precise song a feel like something that had to come from the expression of an analog creature especially evident later in the song when the sustains linger and the pauses feel less calculated and more intuitive. To the point where the feedback oscillates slowly as not a singular note so much as a pulsing frequency that is opposite of the rich tapestry of guitar work and sounds performed with great energy. If the beginning of the song could be said to be the analog of a star being born, the end of the song is like the pulsar at the end of that stars life. It’s a fascinating piece that may initially have you thinking it’s a weird math rock song but the built in deconstruction happening in real time disabuses those notions before the halfway point as the song shifts from maximalism to utter minimalism. Listen to “Clerestory Windows V” on Spotify and follow Jules Reidy on Instagram.

Bank Myna’s Live Video of “No Ocean of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” is Darkly Cosmic, Heavy Post-Rock Evocation of Spiritual Catharsis

The live video for Bank Myna’s performance of “No Ocean Of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” was filmed at Chapelle des Petits Augustins in Paris, France on February 4, 2026. The setting with the old art pieces along the walls and subtle lighting plaster casts and bas-reliefs line the walls with a replication of Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment, images of French Renaissance monuments and other sculptural images enhances the majestic sound of the music that is a fusion of heavy post-rock and moody post-punk reminiscent of late 80s Dead Can Dance. During the second piece the band strikes upon an urgently menacing section halfway through that juxtaposes dynamic footage of the band with the classical statuary invoking and channeling some kind of ancient energy that predates classical music and reaches something more Gothic, even tribal and the band builds the tension expertly that fans of Swans, Museum of Light, SUMAC and SOM would appreciate. When that build breaks into more ethereal moments, bass thrumming from being struck by drum mallets, the group escalates the sound into an even more intense build that is sustained through a noisy and hypnotic repetition that tumbles into a crushing processional outro and intensely cathartic release. Watch the video of Bank Myna performing live at Beaux-Arts de Paris on YouTube and follow Bank Myna at the links below.

Bank Myna on Facebook

Bank Myna on Instagram

Stray Theories Ambient, Post-Rock Single “Catalyst” is Like the Closing Music For a Science Fiction-Themed Cosmic Horror Film

Stray Theories, photo courtesy the artist

The atmospheric drift and flow of “Catalyst” by Stray Theories is anchored by a minimalist piano line and processional drums with a hovering guitar drone that traces the outer edges of where the tones expand outward. The project incorporates a touch of discordance in the decaying harmonics while bell tones warm the melancholic mood of the piece. All distinct musical elements dissolve into the slow-modulating haze of sounds peeking through white noise like the musical analog of the end of the universe in a uniform state of entropy. The track has a sense of unease yet soothing at the same time like an acceptance of the inevitable. Think the closing sequences of a science fiction/cosmic horror film. Although the song title suggests the ending of one thing or cycle and the beginning of another. Listen to “Catalyst” on YouTube and follow Stray Theories at the links provided.