Godspeed You! Black Emperor

[[GMOD]Vedicardi]

If you've ever heard of them, then you should know enough already.

Formed in 1994, the ensemble has been quite influential in its genre, with bands from as far as Hong Kong and Singapore citing them as influences in their musical work, such as Mono, one of my favorites. Working on a near orchestral scale, the nine-piece group has been known to create wide dynamic ranges, unique use of instrumentation and sounds, large songs that are composed almost classically with multiple movements within itself, and engrossing use of art and visuals in both their album packaging and live performances.

They took their name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exist outside any established scene and take influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde. Each record consists of a few fairly long tracks (mostly between 15 and 25 minutes), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve.

The band formed around 1994 with three members, but its lineup has changed frequently. The band has had as many as fifteen members at one time, but has tended to settle down to a group of nine. The instruments played vary with the lineup, but the music tends to be based around electric and bass guitars, strings and a percussion section. Other instruments such as the Glockenspiel and the French horn make more occasional appearances. The music on some of their records is accompanied by spoken samples recorded by the band across North America, including an apocalyptic street preacher from Providence, Rhode Island, an announcement at a gas station, a group of children talking and singing in French, as well as many recordings taken off shortwave radio. Most of the members are also anarchists, and their music has strong political overtones.

I own all of their albums, none of which are availible in any major retail stores. Believe me, I've checked. You'll have to get them off of amazon, although only Yanqui is availble on CD. All others are vinyl only, although you can buy them off of iTunes, which is what I had to do.
"though godspeed is guilty of profiting from hateful chain-store sales, we encourage you to avoid giving money to predatory retailers and superstores" -Yanqui UXO CD release album footnotes

Here's a small sample of a song from the Yanqui album, 09-15-00 part 1.
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/godspeed_you_black_emperor-09_15_00-1.mp3
Note before that, there's about a 5 minute build-up.
Here's a sample from Rocket falls on Rocket Falls, which is purley ambiance
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/godspeed_you_black_emperor-rockets_fall_on_rocket_falls.mp3
And finally, the dead flag blues, which is the intro to F#A#oo, my personal favorite album.
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/godspeed_you_black_emperor-dead_flag_blues_intro.mp3
And here's a link to the rest of the samples.
http://brainwashed.com/godspeed/music.html

So give it a good listen and tell me what you think. =D

[Kkun]

I like them. I have Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven and I enjoy it.

[That Dude]

I do love listening to Godspeed. Though I think they have a silly political viewpoint they make awesome music. I think I like the stuff from Lift Yr Skinny Fists the best.

[[GMOD]Vedicardi]

I'm hooked on Yanqui right now, since I just got it.

It's the most "musical" in my opinion. Not as much distortion and ambiance.

I loved LYSF, since they had a bigger variety in instraments. The trumet near the end of Murray Ostril is one of my favorite movements.

Has anyone here listened to Silver Mt. Zion? It's the best sub-project of GYBE, from what I've heard.

[That Dude]

I've yet to listen to Silver Mt. Zion yet. Though I'd like to hear it. Do you have any links to their music Vedi?

[[GMOD]Vedicardi]

Yup. Here's some sample from their album, "he has left us alone but shafts of light sometimes grace the corner of our bedrooms"

"broken chords can sing a little."
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-broken_chords_can_sing_a_little.mp3
(Sounds like terrible canyons of static mixed with bbf3 if you ask me)

"sit in the middle of three galloping dogs"
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-sit_in_the_middle_of_three_galloping_dogs.mp3
(I can tell they're more political sub-project)

"stumble then rise on some awkward morning"
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-stumble_then_rise_on_some_awkward_morning.mp3

"movie(never made)"
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp ... never_made).mp3
(They're singing!)

"13 angels standing guard 'round the side of your bed."
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-13_angels_standing_guard_round_the_side_of_your_bed.mp3
(beautiful =D)

"blown-out joy from heaven's mercied hole."
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-blown-out_joy_from_heavens_mercied_hole.mp3

"for wanda"
http://brainwashed.com/common/sounds/mp3/a_silver_mt_zion-for_wanda.mp3


I love it.


I googled the lyrics for "movie (never made)" and I got this.

[*snipped by EireWolf* Mod note: These lyrics are not exactly family-friendly. Please remember that this is a Christian site with a lot of young people. Thanks.]

[That Dude]

I liked what I've heard from them. Thanks for posting the links!

[[GMOD]Vedicardi]

Hur hur hur. Live shows!

Note: Not warez! GYBE and ASMZ encourage people to tape and distribute live shows. They really dislike selling CDs from what I know.

Here's the best one, which includes my two favorites, movie (never made) and God Bless our Dead Marines.

http://www.archive.org/details/asmz2005-06-15.mic.flac16

And here's a GYBE show, including the entire Yanqui album, and a bit of everything else, and what appears to be an unreleased song.

http://www.archive.org/details/gybe2002-01-22.flac16

So have fun with that, and don't feel a need to reply, I can already tell this thread is dead. /shrug. Oh well.