Years of Rice and Salt – The Best off Music

Years of Rice and Salt is a UK‑based post‑rock band formed in 2008 by Julian Keenaghan (guitars, vocals), George Taylor (guitars, glockenspiel, ebow), Alex Parish (bass) and Milo Marsei (drums, vocals). The group released their debut EP, Service Bell, in January 2009. Later that same year, the lineup expanded with the addition of Steve Packe (keyboards, trumpet) and Agata Kubiak (violin), creating a six‑member ensemble. This formation recorded the band’s first full‑length album, Nothing of Cities, released in 2011. Years of Rice and Salt perform a cinematic form of post‑rock characterized by dynamic crescendos, layered guitar arrangements and the use of strings and brass to enhance emotional depth. Their sound has been compared to acts such as Explosions in the Sky, Mono and yndi halda, blending delicate melodic passages with expansive climactic structures. The band’s debut album, Nothing of Cities, has been widely praised within the post‑rock community. Listeners and reviewers often describe it as a work that balances intimacy and grandeur, combining small‑scale emotional detail with sweeping, atmospheric arrangements. The album’s opening track, “Amongst Your Earthiest Words the Angels Stray”, is frequently cited as an early indication of the band’s compositional strength, featuring a gradual build that incorporates guitars, strings, horns and choral textures.
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