Caspian (US)

It's been a while now since the term "post-rock" was first introduced to describe that fertile crescent of rock music that accentuates sound, rhythm and texture over traditional song structure - in short, freedom over form - but lately, even the music itself seems to be moving beyond the imagery of the language. From an artist's perspective, that's no easy feat to pull off, but over the course of three albums and nearly ten years in the trenches, Caspian has emerged as an elite band that deserves a place in the conversation about the changing face, sound and scope of instrumental rock music.