It turned out that the elaborate structure of the original LP was only one possibility among many. The album, released in multiple formats with different tracklists, broken with long overarching suites divided into sub-titled sections, can be difficult to parse on paper.
The additional material is excellent, but for my money, the definitive version of the record is the Constellation vinyl LP. Besides the quintessential Godspeed builder, the second side of the LP has several abstract sections, some built from manipulated samples. The voice floats into a whining drone that whines and hisses and quakes, until, on the vinyl version, it slides into a locked groove and plays for as long as you want it to. Godspeed had good timing.
As the 20th century was winding down, there was an uneasiness in the air that sometimes became outright paranoia. Any calendar change this significant will bring with it people who think the end of the world is nigh.
At the end of the millennium, in more despairing moments, it seemed as though a simple programming glitch might open that vein. They issued no photos, sold no t-shirts, and gave very few interviews. Given all the mysteries surrounding the record itself, and the openness to interpretation of the mostly instrumental music, that contextual void left a lot of room for the imagination.
The band did provide a few clues. Its ultimate triumph is that each copy still comes with its own sleeve of goodies, including the penny, while the record itself is still comparatively inexpensive. Where most labels create special editions that become valuable because of scarcity, Constellation, 23 years and almost 50 pressings later some runs numbered in the thousands , makes this one available to all for a modest price. Don't Bend! Their Helicopters' Sing. We Drift Like Worried Fire.
Peasantry or 'Light! Inside Of Light! Lambs' Breath. Asunder, Sweet. Piss Crowns Are Trebled. Luciferian Towers Undoing A Luciferian Towers. Bosses Hang. Anthem For No State. Fire at Static Valley. Constellation Records. Labels: band , canada , discography , download , drone , Godspeed You! Black Emperor , Montreal , post-rock , Quebec , zip. Andrew C 29 December at Unknown 2 January at Unknown 29 December at Unknown 9 January at Stormy 12 January at Unknown 28 January at One can't deny that the players here know their craft, and, yes, that they are really feeling what they're playing.
Musical-honesty oozes through this disc, making it impossible to accuse GY! BE of trying to adapt themselves to the times or of sacrificing their values and ideas in favor of what's commercially viable. The band is good, I give you that. Sadly, that's not enough for me and I seem to be a minority here. What this band loves is to create a theme usually a simple theme and develop it till exhaustion. Wait, that's quite wrong. They don't properly develop the musical themes, but they just repeat them till exhaustion.
Yes, that's a better way of saying it. These canadians are very skillful when it comes to dynamics, that's an absolute truth, for they know how to take an idea, keep playing it over and over again just adding small harmonic touches or instrumental details till the volume, the musical intensity reaches a high point, and then they can start doing it again.
But that's not enough for me. I'm not a big fan of listening a few scarce ideas during the course of a whole album, only changed in ways of intensity. It may show subtlety, it may show finesse, hell, it may show the mark of musical genius! The thing is, I don't like it. And as I was praising the guys in GY! BE for their musical honesty, I think I should do the same in terms of my review and the rating I give to this band's album.
Unpopular rating? For sure. Even more. I can't give this a high rating just for the rest of the community to agree with me. That would be falling in the same category that many prog fans accuse many artists of falling into: that would be selling out. But let me at least rationalize my rating, so that the apostles of modern music can understand why I give this album the rating I give.
Saying that would be a lie in my opinion. For me, as I've said earlier, it's NOT. As I mentioned, musicianship and musical integrity exists, and original ideas do exist in this album. For an album to be truly poor, it has to be devoid of all of these. So, this is the perfect example of an album that's ideal for fans, collectors of the genre, as it really encapsulates everything you love -hate- of this new wave in the progressive rock movement.
Recommended for: Fans. You'll love it. Not recommended for: Whoever doesn't like Post-rock This may be actually very, very good. I just don't like it. The vision here is bleak, post apocalyptic and yet from the outset there is beauty. There is an understated and relaxed approach which reminded me of the sorrowful style of the Cowboy Junkies.
However, GYBE do not conform to strict musical formula. By no means, samples, barren soundscapes, abound. There is narration and conversation. For me, Providence stands out as the best example of all the facets of the album. The doleful strings are memorable it's not the rumbling basses of Gorecki's 3rd but the vision is similar. The piece moves from throttled tapped chords and harmonics to milataristic snares with an almost mandolin like folk style which end in almost total deconstruction: a barren and alien soundscape terrifyingly beautiful.
Then silence before haunting echoed keyboards and guitar restore a more positive sensibility. As you may may already know, this band mostly composes lengthy pieces between fifteen and twenty five minutes long, very occasionally going above or below that limit. This album is no exception, with only three songs, and clocking in at sixty three minutes long, Godspeed you!
The song Dead flag blues is an extremely bleak track, framed around a short monologue at the beginning of the song talking about the destruction of America, corrupt governments, suicides, the works.
And the rest of the song just flows through this atmosphere of depression, leaving you extremely The next song East Hastings was featured on the movie 28 days later, and though I cant really say it fit in too well, the song is probably my favorite in the Godspeed catalogue. With the swelling of the epic climax, to the dark ambiance afterwords, a song you cant miss.
Another reason why this is my favorite album by the group is because the strings are basically as prominent as the guitars. While in the other albums, they're a bit more uneven especially Lift your skinny fists. Extremely sad strings glide over the softer parts, while completely untampered with guitars make beautiful harmonies to contrast, and as the build up begins, the arpeggios become more faster and aggressive, while the strings start to crescendo and start moving in a chord progression rather than just droning.
The climax will come while the EITS like drummer pounds away at the snare, and everything starts coming together, in a hurricane of noise, that becomes so intense at points that really all you can call it is noise. This only lasts for minute or two, or even less, before the crash is hit, the guitars suddenly stop, the strings come to a desperate crawl, and ambiance sets in to drift to the end of the song. This trend is basically on followed in the latter two songs.
The first song, Dead flag blues, is a song that is in a constant motion, or ebb and flow, as guitars drop to strings, strings drop to ambiance, ambiance rises to guitars, and guitars drop to strings. This song is basically what sets the tone for the album Melancholia, the factor that gives ninety percent of what post rock is made of.
Bleak, unforgiving melancholia, a force to be reckoned with, a mood that hasn't been written in the stones of progressive music until this album was made. Sure Universe Zero may have contributed, hell even influenced it, but I do believe this band, and in particular, this album, brought the depressing side of music to post rock, and maybe even prog rock, and for that I am very grateful.
Therefore, I give this album, with no hesitation Five stars. The Dead Flag Blues starts really good with an apocalyptic sample which sets the mood for the rest of that song. Again it starts with a sample and then sounds for a couple of minutes until the guitar starts and for the first time on this album there is something which vaguely reminds me of normal song structure.
The drums then comes in an the repetitive riff builds slowly to a climax. This part of the song is where I finally find something that excites me just a bit. The songs ends with more minutes of noise. Providence starts like the two other songs with a sample and this song also have different climaxes that are build up from almost nothing. This is almost 30 minutes long but never gets boring. There are lots of different sections and soundscapes. The musicians seem competent but the playing is very minimalistic most of the time and subtle playing seems to be prefered here as opposed to dynamically louder parts.
When it is most intense there some good energy in the songs but most of the time they just drag along in a slow tempo. The sound quality is excellent and it makes the music sound much more exciting than it really is. At least this is how I feel. I find it too minimalistic and when things get going it is too repetitive. If you like music that is slow building with intense climaxes this post rock album might be for you. Personally I only think this deserves 2 stars though.
The soundtrack to the apocalypse. On this album, you can find some of the most tear jerking and emotional moving touches in music. That bill is brought out by a diverse instruments and exotic use of instrumentation.
This band can even be considered a small orchestra, as many people do. This record is fully instrumental sans the dialogue sampling contained in the beginning of each of the three epic pieces. Pertaining much too classical structures, each of the pieces can be broken down into movements, each having their elaborate purpose to serve the overall tone to the piece itself.
There is also a lot of free-time and space left in the middle. This opens that gateway for lush ambience and prolonged silences, all to fit the greater mood which is complete darkness. There is absolutely no happiness to be found anywhere in this album. Some of the subjects the album deals with are war, violence and poverty. This band aims their ideals at America, which is kind of strange since they're Canadian. What sets Godspeed You! All these things don't take practice or proficiency in ones instrument, but just the emotion that one wants to put into setting or building up to a peak and letting everything fall out into abrupt chaos.
The dialogue samples add a picture to the music, I can easily view what the person speaking and the music is trying to portray. This band is cinematic. This album is one of a kind to me. I can't think of any other band that can get a message across like this. Don't expect a typical rap against government crap like Rage against the Machine; these are guys that aim of the societal problem in America. Dead Flag Blues- Boring. The freaking song takes forever to build up.
The vocals are disturbing. Maybe I'll listen to it once every couple years out of curiosity, but I've tried listening to this more than a few times but it doesn't do much for me. East Hastings- Man, this one's even worse! This is way too uneventful for my tastes. The drums are The instruments themselves aren't bad; everything simply takes way too much time to develop.
And does it really go anywhere? Doesn't seem like it to me and this hardly keeps my attention. Do NOT listen to this expecting to concentrate fully on it. Providence- How could this delve even more into bland songwriting?
This is definitely the worst track. The song doesn't get any better at developing ideas and some just come across as annoying, particularly the vocal part about 11 and a half minutes through. I mean, what is that? This is so uninteresting for me. The parts where they randomly interview people are tedious and ineffective. Pass on this unless you want to hear the musical representation of a coma. In actuality I cannot review this album conventionally as it simply defies explanation.
How can you explain this music - you simply cannot. You have to experience it, feel it, wallow in its tranquil beauty and sudden darkness that overwhelms each track. And they arent even tracks - they are something undefined. Is it music or is it an expression outside the realm of sound? There are musical instruments but they are played with almost infinite and at times maddening patience.
This is as slow as I have heard, minimalism, repetition and trance like rhythms. You cannot really expect to enjoy this music in one listen, it has to enter the conscious. Once it does the realm of music is reinvented. It is not at all pleasant but it is nonetheless invigorating to the soul. Maybe I should write in stream of consciousness style: It is gentle it is relaxed it is bold it is original it is an acquired taste and many will be turned completely off, similar to Magma I guess.
Perhaps this music is supposed to be a message? Perhaps it is just enigmatic for its own sake - but underlying the whole thing there is a definitive monologue that is haunting and disturbing.
But it is honest and sincere and downright raw emotion! I saw this clip on youtube and it was emotionally arresting.
There are doom laden basslines and violins and piano staccatos that stab and weave like a tapestry among the maelstrom of sound. I still cannot really enjoy this music - perhaps its not meant to be thoroughly enjoyed - but I can give it at least 3 stars for pure inventiveness and daring. Post-rock has been said to be a genre in decline, but at its peak was once Godspeed You!
Black Emperor, a band who really went beyond the minimalistic guitar flourishes many have become accustomed to with the genre and amped up the orchestrations with lush string sections and electronic ambiance.
With that having been said, I can simultaneously see why they might herald such acclaim, but I am also remarkably underwhelmed. Instead, Godspeed seems to get lost in their own indulgences with their debut. Although the album is over an hour long, there are only a few precious minutes on each track that truly warrants a listener's excitement. Most notable among these are actually the more conventional post-rock moments on the album, which bring about a great deal of emotional resonance to them.
The dialogues do come as a bit of a system shock- the sound of a human voice in this mostly instrumental affair comes as something of a surprise each time- but despite what philosophical ponderings they may stir the first few spins around the record, the rough way they are mixed and the somewhat off-putting way they are integrated into the music doesn't work so well. Had the band used the exact same ingredients but used them in such a way where much of the droning silence was taken out in the favour of cohesive composition and musicianship, Godspeed could have easily convinced me of their excellence.
Godspeed You Black Emperor's debut full length establishes the traits of the band of subject as well as a bite of the sound of post-rock in general. There's no time to fiddle with riffs in the traditional rock sense, no over-the-top goofiness, not even many words to follow along with. The whole point of F A infinity appears to put the listener in a mood.
It's almost as if the album is meant to be understood subconsciously, so those with a more ''normal'' approach to understanding prog rock will have anger bouts trying to determine just what the heck is going on. The music has more in common with classical music or film scores, but the electric guitar plays quite the prominent role in shaping the themes, so it's fair to assume this has ''rock'' connotations.
The mood GY! BE put the listener in is quite bleak and depressing. Listening to ''Dead Flag Blues'' after the poetry at the beginning which by itself sounds rather dull gives a surprisingly distant yet warm tone that cannot be fully transposed into words.
Then there are those ecstasy moments, usually augmented by the drum tempo, where the band go into full Magma mode where the brain tunes out the world around so that there's nothing left but the intensity and mesmerisation of the music in your headphones. All that said, there are simply too many nitpicks. Many times there will be some dead space in between themes. It's good to have the listener breathe, but there's only so much quiet tension one can take before boredom sets in.
The worst is towards the end of ''Providence'' which does the irritating 90's trick of going into a few minutes of silence before pulling back into the music. If you've ever heard of an album being more of an experience, this is one of those albums. Get this to hear how the granddaddies of post-rock got the ball rolling. Black Emperor album, sets a haunting mood that would forever define the musical career of these Canadian Post Rock pioneers. But more than that, it also describes the experience of listening to the album itself, which for a newcomer can feel like a headlong plunge into a bottomless pool of terror and bliss.
Despite all the maudlin strings and atmospheric guitars, that first epic medley is nowhere near as gloomy as its apocalyptic monologue would suggest. In fact after the rumbling freight train sound effect it turns almost jaunty, in a turn-of-the-last century sort of way. But what was it that Freud said about trains and death? The eighteen-minute instrumental tension and release of "East Hastings" could have been designed as a blueprint for Post Rock structural dynamics.
And when the nearly half-hour long "Providence" rolls slowly over the horizon beginning with more rumors of Armageddon the harder rock elements are finally pushed to center stage, in a tense, escalating jam that almost singlehandedly justifies the band's place on a web site devoted to Progressive Rock.
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