Godspeed You Black Emperor! Do You Like Them?

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Hello,
While I'm sure there is a faction in here that will poo-poo GSYBE as being "too accessible" (preferring some unknown sheep farmer from Boliva's lastest release) but I have to say that GSYBE are an amazing collection of musicians.

The only thing that sucks about this, would you call them a "band"?, is that their shit is SO long that you can't get one album on a CDRW...have to actually purchase the albums. worth it though.

― Derek Dalek (Derek Dalek), Friday, 30 August 2002 09:40 (twenty-three years ago)

they seem just a tad too 'worthy' for my liking. some sections of the songs are terrific but the overall effect, for me, is of dullards being polite.

― phil turnbull (philT), Friday, 30 August 2002 09:43 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/godspeed.html

I don't like them much.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 30 August 2002 09:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Theyre not cool enough to like anymore. Too many people know who they are, It was better when i saw them at gigs with only 30 people there.

― Ian, Friday, 30 August 2002 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

All I can see is I went to see them on the strength of them having a funny name, and it was one of the greatest evenings of my life.

Hairs standing on back of neck throughout.

Earnest for sure; pointedly 'different' (no visual focus, just 9 or 10 people sitting on chairs and playing their hearts out, seemingly unaware there's an audience); but the music itself is extraordinary. Geological, foreboding, yes - see thread on the subject - even profound.

It's fantastic on record too, but I cna believe you need to see it live to 'get' it.

― jon, Friday, 30 August 2002 10:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I know what you mean about them being 'worthy' - but in interviews especially they seem hell-bent on being doggedly obtuse - like every single thing they do is loaded with transcendental meaning, blah-de-blah.
I saw them live recently and to be honest I 'got it' less in a live setting than on record. I think a lot of this had to do with the woefully inadequate PA they were playing through; I was hoping for apocalyptic volumes and got polite hi-fi. In addition, a lot of stuff (Maya especially) was replicated note-for-note - the fact it was live added nothing to it. Never mind, still a great gig.

― Microkomputer (Microkomputer), Friday, 30 August 2002 10:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Individually, supposedly all but one or two are nice people, as a band they are the biggest fuckoff hippies I've met in my life. Its only natural that what Kate reffered to as "Lunatic fringe socialists" crowd has swallowed them whole as one of there own.

, It was better when i saw them at gigs with only 30 people there.

Not sure about that, it was harder to ignore them. And they could smoke up the place with their unison chain smoking techniques.

That said I do like them. They were responsible for one of the best shows I've seen, outplaying Do Make Say Think before them and Low afterwards next door.
There image is corny as hell, but it also sits well with those travelling deadheads who follow the G8 leaders around the world.They played the media as well as they could, with their refusal to give interviews or even focused photographs sparking even more interest in them from some parties not used to such behavior from those who normally are accustomed to grabbing their ankles for them.
Their label Constellation could give others a lesson on packaging these days, nearly everything the label has put out is wonderfully done on a visual level.
If your going to get something by them start with F# A#.
(if it makes you feel better it probably wasnt the PA, they've never been that loud that I remeber. You can only mic an xylophone so much I suppose.)

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 30 August 2002 11:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I like 'em quite a bit, though I certainly like the first two releases more than I like the double album, which was just a bit too much in one place. I suppose the whole thing isn't necessarily all that original, but I just like the way it all comes together, the guitar swoops and swells, etc.

Cue Ned with "the Swans did it first".

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 30 August 2002 12:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Yet again it is time for me to pop up and say that they are RUB because they sound like they are attempting to be WAR OF THE WORLDS but they are not as good hahahaha!

― Sarah (starry), Friday, 30 August 2002 13:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Does not have "repeatability." But each album is okay once or twice.

― Rahul Kamath (Rahul Kamath), Friday, 30 August 2002 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

The "one swoop does it" bit of Tom's article sums up my take on them: I have and adore the Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada EP and that's the extent of my interest in them. It really is like an artier version of listening to the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, or something, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I listened to the first track of Slow Riot in the middle of a desert once and decided it would perfectly score a film about Samson, pushing that mill wheel at the opening and knocking down the pillars at the climax. This was a fun thing to imagine.

I saw them live once, and agree with the praise here: their whole approach is all about drifts and squalls and room sound, and hearing that stuff echoing around a big open space greatly enhances it. I'm actually quite amazed that they manage to compress it all onto record as effectively as they do, without stripping too much of the swell and power off of it or letting it become a big soupy mess.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 30 August 2002 17:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Hahaha I am parallel to Rahul: I can listen to them repeatedly, but only need one or two tracks for it. I think I enjoy them more when I have the piece figured out, and can mentally anticipate all of the movements.

Savage Republic are better.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 30 August 2002 17:38 (twenty-three years ago)

OK. but you wan the first Silver Mt Zion album. Now that's really great stuff.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 30 August 2002 17:49 (twenty-three years ago)

That first Silver Mt. Zion is quite good. The plucked bass sound especially. Agree about seeing them live. And agree about the first track on the Slow Riot ep. (I have no original thoughts of my own.) I own 3 GYBE! cds but you might as well just own one. (Same as Low.)

― bnw (bnw), Friday, 30 August 2002 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I have the "Slow Riot" EP and "Lift Yr Skinny Fists", and I like them pretty well, but I don't listen to them very often.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 30 August 2002 18:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Let me just say that I'm very enthusiastic abt that first silver mt. zion. it is one of my favourite recs from the last few years.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 30 August 2002 19:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I can see why some people wouldn't care for them, but I think they're great. Beyond my adoration for the music itself, I appreciate them for having the balls to not be humble and make music that's just so friggin immense sounding. They're one of the few post-rock groups that doesn't bore the fuck out of me. They were even my favorite band for a bit... but now I kind of think they shouldn't release anything ever again. It doesn't seem like they have anywhere to go... especially if they stick with the quiet-loud-cresendo-back-to-quiet formula.

― Justin, Friday, 30 August 2002 19:09 (twenty-three years ago)

you can predict the music like a hollywood action flick. 'ok here comes the build up! ok heres the drum roll! ok now they;re calming down!" throw in some gibberish as a sample and voila every godspeed song.

― chaki (chaki), Friday, 30 August 2002 19:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Julio, tu es très très bizarre!

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 30 August 2002 19:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I want to like them but there is too much sameness to the their music. Some parts are great yet other parts are just background noises while you do the dishes. I prefer Mogwai, at least they rock a bit more...

Very much like Low.

― Juan Marquez, Friday, 30 August 2002 19:47 (twenty-three years ago)

godspeed is wonderful music to listen to when you are walking around with your headphones on (which i used to do a lot). when i stopped walking around with headphones on, the appeal waned almost instantly (but not the respect for a great bunch of artists and fellow canadians). i actually just realized this today ... why i can barely sit through their stuff when i'm at home or at the office. if i want post rock "for the office" i'll put on rock action.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Friday, 30 August 2002 20:05 (twenty-three years ago)

the train squashed dime with the first album was a goodie

they should preserve the myth and split up unless their next move is a mjor departure.

― jon, Saturday, 31 August 2002 17:45 (twenty-three years ago)

they should preserve the myth and split up unless their next move is a mjor departure.

Yes I aggree. Now only if Pink Floyd would have called it quits decades ago...

― brg30 (brg30), Saturday, 31 August 2002 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Rumour was they recorded with Steve Albini but there is debate about how those recordings came out as rumours fly they were scrapped.

Supposedly album coming out this fall.

If they did break up I wouldnt be too upset aslong as Exhaust and A Silver Mount Zion went forward.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Saturday, 31 August 2002 19:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I like 'Lift Your Skinny...' quite a bit, but it was the first one I heard from them. They get a lot of flack for the Quiet-LOUD-quiet pattern thing but for me it's how well you pull off the content within the form, i.e. straight ahead jazz is not innately boring just because it's head-solo-head (though it certainly can become so).

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 31 August 2002 19:48 (twenty-three years ago)

''Julio, tu es très très bizarre!''

why is it bizarre melissa? silver mt zion's on that album is pretty wonderful. I'm not very happy that thye've been lumped in with the post-rock crowd.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 31 August 2002 20:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I have got their two albums plus the ep and definitely prefer Lift Your Skinny Fists to the others. I listened to that album first at Christmas 2000 when I was on my own in the house. On headphones in the dark with my eyes closed. And it was quite a majestic experience. Their music has got a kind of mystical aura for me. Though I don't like to use the word profound (see other thread) Sleep is a piece which would come rather close to what I'd call profound. The old man talking about the old times when there were beach sleepers at Coney Island merging into the understated melancholic theme of the song with the theremin-like effects and the drums accelerating to max speed have got something metaphysical about them.
Of course the recipe of a GYBE! song seems to be simple with those crescendos collapsing back into silence but it still works with me.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Sunday, 1 September 2002 10:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Rumour was they recorded with Steve Albini but there is debate about how those recordings came out as rumours fly they were scrapped.

Supposedly album coming out this fall.

New Steve Albini-recorded 2LP/CD out on Constellation Nov 4 (Europe)/Nov 11 (N. America).

― Vic Funk, Sunday, 1 September 2002 12:47 (twenty-three years ago)

hey, but they played at a last minute benefit for some folks who lost their homes in a big ol' fire--the fire occured a week and a half ago in mtl and the concert took place this past thurs.

not such a big fan, but i do think it was a loverly gesture. i was glad there were more than 30 people there.

― cybele, Monday, 2 September 2002 04:23 (twenty-three years ago)

'New Steve Albini-recorded 2LP/CD out' - check the link - hey! they moved the exclamation mark! Subtle.

God Speed and Lift to Experience where doing 'the end of the world is nigh' serious noise when the world seemed nearly ok. Then September 11 came along. Spooky zeitgeist pre-cog?

PS
I once listened to Godspeed while walking along the North Korean border in winter, and thanked Kim Il Sung for spedning 50 years preparing his country to be the perfect soundtack to my 12 minute walk.

― jon, Monday, 2 September 2002 07:16 (twenty-three years ago)

''I once listened to Godspeed while walking along the North Korean border in winter, and thanked Kim Il Sung for spedning 50 years preparing his country to be the perfect soundtack to my 12 minute walk.''

have i woken up yet or is this a dream?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 2 September 2002 07:18 (twenty-three years ago)

my first exposure to GSYBE! was the opening 5-10 minutes of LYSFTH which left me salivating thinking i'd stumbled upon the very kind of melodic-feedback-noise-pop thing i'd missed since jason pierce began to lose the plot, and Flying Saucer Attack disappeared off my radar. my disappointment was thus great when i realised the rest of that album consisted of portentous. meandering tracks that seemed to get more boring the longer they went on.

that said i would still like to see them play live.

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 2 September 2002 07:38 (twenty-three years ago)

yep, they'd be my dream booking for the First Pyongyang International Music Festival.

Yes Julio, it was real! Minus ten. Crumbling Concrete. Frozen river. Silent factories in which people are starving; armed gaudrs awaiting WWIII. Godspeed!

― jon, Monday, 2 September 2002 09:15 (twenty-three years ago)

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