NEIL ON IMPRESSION

Genres: Instrumental/Post-Rock

I like genres. They fulfill some kind of innate, obsessive-compulsive desire within me to organize and categorize my music as if it were a bug collection. An intangible, electronic bug collection at that, but nevertheless, a collection filled with things as individual and unique as the next. Just something about being able to identify something through acquired knowledge really speaks to me. And that wasn't vague at all... But what exactly is a "genre"?

gen·re (zhän'rə) n. 1. A type or class. 2. a. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.

However, my only qualms against genre classification are the somewhat banal titles used to describe the distinct styles of music that exist. With that said, leave it to a description as devoid of emotion as "post-rock" to completely sap the life out of the style of music played by Neil On Impression. Actually, one more "pet peeve" I have against the genre is that similar bands are constantly being compared to Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai. ("Well, we have another band with no vocals and epic buildups. Think EITS!") In fact, NOI blows away most other bands, in this case I'm thinking the likes of Caspian.

So we have Neil On Impression, a seven-piece band from Italy, notably with guitarist, Alessio, from the legendary "emotional hardcore/screamo" band Raein. Upon listening, its remarkable how similar this is to Raein. Obviously the tempo is slower and the melodies are less abrasive, but listen to "Faithless" or "Parte 2" by Raein and anything from NOI's "The Perfect Tango" and you'll get what I mean. Another thing worth mentioning is the stimulating use of the violinist and trumpet, each helping to add to the already haunting and pleasurable soundscapes. I actually had a lot more written here, but upon realizing how futile it is to adequately describe NOI's sound, I gave up and deleted it. In a way, I guess music isn't all too different from religion in that ancient people employed theology to make sense of occurences they found themselves unable to find a reasonable explanation for. And here we have the genres like "instrumental" and "post-rock" attempting to describe such a vibrant form of music. Well, if that's the case, I guess music is my religion.