Russian Circles Make Heavy Music You Can Work To
If you like the idea of working along to music, but keep nodding off to Spotify’s “Chill & Ambient Instrumentals” playlist, then we have a humble suggestion: listen to Russian Circles. For the past decade, the Chicago post-rock trio has specialized in darkly dramatic, bone-rattling instrumental dirges that wash over you like a storm cloud of drone, metal, post-hardcore, and shoegaze. Their music is meditative enough to help your brain drift into a flow state, but carries enough propulsive heft that you won’t wind up drooling all over your keyboard. Consider it “lofi hip hop radio to relax/study to” for people who like gnarly-ass riffs.
Listen to “Kohokia,” off their latest album Blood Year, while crushing your inbox. Then, check out some photos from their mesmerizing show at Toronto’s Lee’s Palace last night.
Photography: Mario Lunardo
