Godspeed You Black Emperor "f#a#oo" Kranky Records Krank 027 1998 (63:29)
The Dead Flag Blue (16:27)
the dead flag blues (intro)
slow moving trains
the cowboy
East Hastings (17:58)
...nothing's alrite in our life...
deadflagblues (reprise)
the sad mafioso
drugs in tokyo
black helicopter
Providence (29:04)
divorce fever
dead metheny
kicking horses on brokenhill
string loop manufactured
during downpour
Godspeed You Black Emperor! (1995-98): aidan, bruce, thea, dave, moya, mauro, thierry, norsola, efrim, christophe, steph, sylvain, colin, jesse, dan o., d., shnaeberg, peter, grayson, amanda...
Overall impression: good, but ... GSYBE! are a 9 piece collective from Montreal who utilize two percussion players, three guitar players, violin, cello, glockenspeil and tape loops to create their music. "f#a#oo" (F sharp, A sharp, infinity symbol) is their first album, originally released on vinyl by the Constellation label but now re-mixed, re-sequenced and re-released by the swanky Chicago indy label Kranky Records. The cd is divided into 3 lengthy tracks but each track is also split into seperate movements. The majority of the music is instrumental (with the exception of some spoken and vocal bits here and there) and could generally be split up into two categories: minimal drone-y/found sound type sections and building guitar/percussion type sections. There are some really beautiful violin, guitar and cello melodies and guitar/percussion pieces imbedded within all 3 tracks ... unfortunately they're annoyingly spread about. And that is one of several problems I have with this disc: 1) the indexing forces you to listen to or fastforward through an entire track to hear one part 2) the cd's flow is ruined by the disjointed sections 3) the volume requires frequent adjustment because of the numerous quiet sections 4) several of the sections build up but don't really go anywhere, they just sort of fizzle out or end 5) it's difficult for me to believe this is a nine piece band because it seems like only 3 or 4 at most are playing at any one time. I know, a lot of nitpicking on my part, but it just doesn't quite work for me as a whole. I feel like there's flashes of brilliance here and there, but a great deal of potential has yet to be realized ... I want better use of the band, more diversity, more of the melodic and majestic soundscapes and a more coherent album dammit! I applaud GSYBE! for injecting melody and emotion into this type of music, but they've yet to reach a level I can truly appreciate. Regardless, I do look forward to hearing what their future brings and already have the new ep, "Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada" on order ...
Godspeed
You Black Emperor!
Kranky Records
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Rioux's Records. Email Jason (tell him markw@southwind.net sent ya!)