2:17 PM EDT October 15, 2023:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "Fire At Static Valley" From the album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

I honestly don't get this 2m song thing

Especially the part where everyone was arguing in the replies about repeating choruses or doubling up the lines to artificially make it longer.

Music isn't lyrics.

Lyrics is a part of music but generally they don't dictate the music. (especially pop, pop lyrics are generally an afterthought after the composition has been finished) You may say that artist of the past repeated choruses too much or something but there generally is a musical reason behind it.

But how do you give yourself time to explore the composition in 2m. There is neither build up nor sustain. Absolutely no chance to repeat an idea, legitimise it, then build on it.

Moreover how do you listen to something that is just a soundbite? What is the meaning, the feeling, behind it if the artist never gave you enough time to explore it?

Discography Deep Dive: GY!BE

Part 1: Introduction

In their nearly 30 year history, Godspeed You! Black Emperor's contribution to the experimental/post-rock genre is nothing short of canon. The long sprawling tracks of gritty drones, anthemic oceans of guitars, soft touches of strings, poetic incorporation of field recordings all undergird moments of transcendent melancholy and even...hope.

In this first of what I hope to be an ongoing writing project called Discography Deep Dive, I explore the sonic and aesthetic world of these not-so-quiet Canadians. After listening to each record at least twice I came up with a rubric of sorts that places how each album fits within the overall canon of the 8 records I discuss. The criteria I use are specific to what I find to be specific to this band's particular compositional and orchestrational techniques.

Rubric

On a scale from 1-5 I use the following criteria with prompts I think about when looking through each lens: -

Mixing: How well is sonic balance achieved between the foreground, middle ground, and background textures? How well is the balance achieved between the different instruments (this is especially true when string or brass instruments are involved)? In such tracks that have field recordings; I ask how well are they incorporated into the overall mix.

Pacing: How does the pacing of ideas occur within each track? I'm especially listening for how the repetitive layers build to climactic points and/or when the remains static without much movement toward climactic moments. Is there a perceived consistent internal logic behind transitions between and ideas? Is there a balance between repetition, contrast, variation, and transformation.

Track ordering: This has to do more with narrative structure. All GY!BE heads will know right away, that what makes their work so engrossing is the compelling ways in which they move from one track to another. I ask if the track ordering is well-balanced, or in cases where there seems to be unbalance, are there sonic/artistic reasons why this happens? In a way, how do they play within their own meta-narrative of long-form developments through repetition -

Orchestration and texture: This component easily blurs with the mixing element. However, I am curious how each album manages to gain variety AND uniformity of texture. A balancing act that is required by the very sonic universe they inhabit.

Melodic ingenuity: This one came to me late in my assessment. But, as I've listened to each record now a few times, I've come to realize that there is A LOT more melodic/riff-like material than is heard on first listens.

Aesthetic consistency: There is no denying that GY!BE is its own aesthetic/vibe. From the downbeat of nearly every track, those who traverse in the post-rock world know straightaway: THIS IS GODSPEED!! However, each album All of these criteria seem to encapsulate the musical world of GY!BE. I am not comparing each album to broader musical genres, but rather how they hold up within the album itself and inside the complete discography.

Based on this rubric, here are the rankings:

Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (2012)

2. G_d’s Pee at State’s End (2021)

3. Luciferian Towers (2017)

4. Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (2015)

5. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

6. F#A#♾️ (1997)

7. Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada (1998)

8. Yanqui U.X.O. (2002)

finished all of gy!be's discography 🎉 i love all of it but i think G_d's Pee at State's End may be my favorite, close seconded by F sharp A sharp infinity.

what are some of your favorite music artists's best albums? were you the person who said they liked drone music?

here's just a few because there are many artists i like

hisui (maedasalt) - you were beautiful when i loved you, you were beautiful when i lost you.

the world is a beautiful place & i am no longer afraid to die - illusory walls

godspeed you! black emperor - g_d's pee at state's end!

yes - 90125

owl city - ocean eyes

car seat headrest- teens of denial

kishi bashi - omoiyari

neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea

the mountain goats - transcendental youth

jimmy eat world - bleed american

also yeah! big drone fan, particularly Terry Riley or John Cale and their contemporaries, or Jim O'Rourke. as for their best albums, i'd say Riley's is the Bang on a Can version of In C (not really "his album" but so it is with classical), for John Cale i just really like his early work compilation CDs, and Jim O'Rourke's best drone stuff would either be the Live at Japan 2002/9/16 bootleg's rendition of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car, or Shutting Down Here (i wouldn't call him a fave, but i also really love Michael Pisaro's Nature Denatured and Natured Again, which is a fair bit less drone but hits the same appeal)

Yeah, G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! is amazing. Sorry this post looks like that, by the way.

Zoetropia’s Top 10 Albums of 2021

Honorable Mention

Cheekface - Emphatically No.: It seems like a vast majority of current music across all genres is pulling heavily from the emo scene of the early aughts, so it’s nice to have a band stop by with a snotty, too-clever-by-half, slacker ‘tude and a plethora of hooks that traces their roots back through They Might Be Giants to Devo. It’s probably too much in heavy doses, but it’s a solid palate cleanser.

Cool Ghouls - At George’s Zoo: A sunny slab of laid back, surf-soul inspired garage rock. It’s almost TOO Californian for this lifelong east coaster, but a record like this could turn someone who hasn’t even so much as touched a surfboard yearn for a wasted day in the waves. See you at the beach.

Sun June - Somewhere: A warm and generous indie soft rock record set apart by lead singer Laura Colwell’s clear and expressive vocals. Combine that with a solid, well-composed backing band that’s uninterested in being flashy and you have a record that’s just on the right side of easy-listening. Perfect for a warm, wistful summer night.

Remember Sports - Like A Stone: Power pop is a genre hanging by a thread, it seems (so much so that a new Alvvays record seems like a revolution), so I’m glad to have a solid entry to include on my year end list. We need more kids discovering early Superchunk records, come on!!!

Black Country, New Road - For the first time: A striking debut from a young band with clear musical chops trying to nail something down. If they do, look out... (spoiler: they will).

Kiwi jr. - Cooler Returns: A shimmering indie rock record with fun, hooky tunes and an infectiously laidback vibe. Perfect for a summer hangout.

Top Ten

10. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!: A new Godspeed record and you think I wasn’t going to put it on this list somewhere? "Cliffs Gaze” is up there with some of the best stuff they’ve put out and they continue to make music unlike anyone else for a time that desperately needs it. Our side has to win, indeed.

9. The Antlers - Green to Gold: The Antlers drifted away for 7 years, and with Peter Silberman developing tinnitus, recording a solo album, and Darby Cicci leaving the group, it looked doubtful they would ever be back. But they came, uh, gently rolling back with this collection of gorgeous songs that lushly ache for the beauty in the passage of time and the changes it brings. A lot of my favorite indie bands of my youth are dealing with similar subjects as we collectively get older, but this is one of the finest statements I’ve heard on the matter from that generation of artists yet.

8. Iceage - Seek Shelter: Took me a while to warm to Iceage (ha ha ha) despite the constant championing from the likes of Pitchfork, but they’ve really matured into an incredibly strong rock band that’s able to meld they’re scrappy beginnings with an eye toward more refined composition. This is a Big rock record in the best of ways, a record by a band that forgot that radio rock is dead and decided to keep pushing that sound forward anyway.

7. Quivers - Golden Doubt: Super catchy jangle pop, the whole band singing full throated in harmony? Sign me up. Melbourne has been at the forefront of the jangle pop revival and this is one of the best entries yet. It also helps that these guys seem like one of the nicest groups in existence. When I saw them live this year, their positivity and excitement for doing their thing in front of a receptive audience was infectious.

6. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature: A beautiful gift of a record. When I saw Cassandra Jenkins live this year, she said she recorded most of these songs not really intending to release them anywhere, as they seemed to her too personal and idiosyncratic to share. But I’m so glad she did. This is a intimate yet expansive record that is grounded in honesty and clear observation. It’s sad, yes, but it’s also so warm and hopeful. It’s a long hug from a close friend after a tough time. It’s being somewhere you feel safe so you can fall sleep. It’s something that finally understands. It’s over way too soon.

5. Nation of Language - A Way Forward: Modern new wave-y synth bands need a few things for me to really dig them: 1) understanding that the artifical sounds of synths and drum machines are not an excuse for remove but a way to enhance the emotional core of their music through counterpoint, 2) acknowledging that the core of synth pop is danceability (even if it has fallen out of fashion on actual dance floors), and 3) simple, catchy melodies. This band and record has all of these things in spades. This record has burrowed itself into my brain since coming out and hasn’t let go. It’s real good.

4. Wednesday - Twin Plagues: The shoegaze/alt-rock/country pipeline that I never knew I needed. Wrangling noise from a lap steel and angst from a tradition of music that pervades Appalachian mountains, Wednesday has got to be my favorite young band right now. It’s the good part of what happens when kids have access to every and all type of music at their fingertips and smush it all into something uniquely their own. And they’re already a force as a live act.

3. No-No Boy - 1975: It sounds like a better backstory than an actual record: an album that started out as a Ph.D. dissertation that traces the 20th century Asian American experience through music. It all falls apart if the songs aren’t good. But they are. Really good. And the stories the songs tell are never less than compelling and vital. A rare treasure of a record, one that is both important and a treat to listen to. If there’s one record one this list that I would recommend everyone who see this to listen to, it would be this one.

2. Julie Doiron - I Thought of You: This one was a true surprise to me. Julie Doiron, almost 50 at the time and after an almost decade off, made a solo record more lively, more youthful, and more energetic than artists half her age. She combines that with an expert thoughtfulness and ear toward composition that only experience can be bring. And that voice! Please don’t make us wait a decade for the next one, Julie.

1. Low - HEY WHAT: This album has taken on an unfortunately more significant air since the passing of Mimi Parker. And what a loss indeed. Mimi’s voice and accompaniment on percussion were... are... irreplaceable. It made this band who they were. It’s very rare that a band would still be releasing not just relevant material this far into their careers, but also still stretching, expanding, improving. That we won’t see where they would go together from here is a small tragedy, that such a great artist and wife and person is gone too soon is a great one.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is as lovely and intricate to me as any symphony. Listening to G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END and just letting the beauty wash over me.

AO3 wrapped: 27

27. What do you listen to while writing?

For just basic writing, I have a mixed playlist that is mostly retro synthwave and trance that's called my "Writing Playlist." I typically cannot listen to ANYTHING with lyrics when I'm writing, because my brain just starts singing along instead of writing. (Similarly, when I'm working - my job involves a lot of writing - I just play a lofi station for the focus. Occasionally I'll use that when writing fiction, too.)

There are some exceptions to this, though. If the story was inspired by a specific song or album, I'll often listen to that song a lot while writing. For example, the first part of Mind, Body, and Soul was heavily inspired by the soundtrack to the game Gris, so I played that album a lot. When I'm writing fight scenes, I'll often dip into soundtracks: the Transformers: Prime and WFC: Siege soundtracks are ones I frequently listen to. (I'm a little peeved that the Siege soundtrack got pulled from Tidal. What's up with that?)

And one of my WIPs is being inspired tonally by an album the same way that MBS was inspired by the Gris soundtrack: G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. One song in particular, “GOVERNMENT CAME” (9980.0kHz 3617.1kHz 4521.0 kHz), always stops me in my tracks, and I've been trying to capture its vibe for the emotional arc for the main character. 🥺 I don't know if I'll be able to do it to my own satisfaction, but I'm sure as hell gonna try.

(((folkYEAH!))) Presents Godspeed You! Black Emperor plus Jessica Moss

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

at The Chapel San Francisco, CA March 13-17, 2023

Godspeed You! Black Emperor released a string of albums from 1997-2002 widely recognized as redefining what protest music can be, where longform instrumental chamber rock compositions of immense feeling and power serve as soundtracks to late capitalist alienation and resistance. The band's first four releases--especially F#A#? (1997) and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)--are variously regarded as classics of the era and genre. Godspeed's legendary live performances, featuring multiple 16mm projectors beaming a collage of overlapping analog film loops and reels--along with the distinctive iconography, imagery and tactility of the band's album artwork and physical LP packages-- further defines the sui generis aesthetic substance, ethos and mythos of this group. GY!BE has issued two official band photos in its 25-year existence (the second, left, a 2010 recreation of the first from 1997) and has done a half-dozen collectively-answered written interviews over that same span. The band has never had a website or social media accounts. It has never made a video. Few rock bands in our 21st century have been as steadfast in trying to let the work speak for itself and maintaining simple rules about minimising participation in cultures of personality, exposure, access, commodification or co-optation.

~~~~~~~~

More about Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE) is a Canadian experimental music collective which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located in Montreal. After the release of their debut album in 1997, the group toured regularly from 1998 to 2003. Their second album, 2000's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, received great critical acclaim and has been named as one of the best albums of the decade. In 2003, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in order for members to pursue other musical interests. In the intervening period, the group was occasionally rumored to have broken up, but finally reconvened for a tour which began in late 2010. Since reforming, they have released four more albums, the most recent being G_d's Pee at State's End! in April 2021.

The band has gained a dedicated cult following and remains very influential in the post-rock genre. In September 2013, their fourth album and their comeback release after 10 years, 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!, won the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.

One of the band's best known songs, "East Hastings", from their 1997 album F? A? ?, was used in the 2002 film 28 Days Later. However, it does not appear on the film's soundtrack because the rights to the song could not be obtained. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godspeed_You!_Black_Emperor

7:58 AM EDT October 9, 2023:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "Fire At Static Valley" From the album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

@blogovision 2022

#9. Hour of the Ox by Katie Kim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRydpIw5YQ

©Migel Ruiz

Last year’s #9: G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

So far: #10. It’s Almost Dry by Pusha T #11. Piano in the Shower by Noda Pappa #12. Τζούς by Στόλεν #13. The Line Is A Curve by Kae Tempest #14. Paper Thin by Green/Blue #15. Pre Pleasure by Julia Jacklin #16. The Overload by Yard Act #17. PORNOVIOLENCE by AV Dummy #18. Animorphs by Honningbarna #19. Cabaret de Lumière by Penny #20. The Liquified Throne Of Simplicity by Širom

Godspeed You! Black Emperor. La Paqui (Madrid). 12/10/2022

La formación canadiense fue introduciendo su sonido desde la penumbra, instrumento a instrumento, en lo que al principio parecía un suave murmullo que podría ser, o no, el último coletazo de la prueba de sonido, mientras el público terminaba de acceder a la sala y asentarse, un acto de puntualidad tan estimable como rigurosa y poco habitual en estos eventos. Como ocurre en la mayoría de sus piezas, Hope Drone, el tema elegido para la apertura terminaría convergiendo de forma abrumadora con todo su arsenal sonoro. Durante todo el concierto, las imágenes de fondo que reflejan el fracaso del capitalismo, o el colapso al que en momentos de crisis parece abocar a nuestra civilización (teletipos de Wall Street, enormes edificios de cemento abandonados, ciudades bombardeadas, poblaciones desamparadas, unas y otras víctimas del desastre de la guerra) repetidas en montajes cíclicos, aportaban un elemento sombrío, una capa crítica, que yuxtapuesto a la música, también paralelamente construida en base a capas sonoras y al concepto de bucle, lograban una comunión perfecta entre el componente visual y el sonoro confirmando que también puede ejercerse la crítica sin necesidad de contar con unas letras incendiarias. Las únicas objeciones que se le pueden poner a propuestas así de radicales son, por un lado, la rigurosidad a la hora de interpretar, una apuesta por el clasicismo que deja escaso margen a la improvisación, y por otro, teniendo en cuenta la larga duración de los temas, el necesario acto de condensar en un set al uso una discografía que tras veinticinco años ni siquiera es tan extensa como cabría esperar pero sí lo suficiente como para que haya omisiones o inclusiones que no lluevan a gusto de todos. Aún así, hubo espacio para tres de los temas más representativos del trabajo que venían a presentar: G_d's Pee at State's End! Al final, completando un círculo, los miembros de la banda fueron abandonando sus puestos uno a uno permitiéndose una pequeña coda con los acoples que el sonido de sus instrumentos provocaba en los mismos altavoces que durante apenas dos horas, lejos de adormecernos, o de hacernos olvidar las injusticias y las miserias que nos rodean, no dejaron de recordarnos donde nos encontramos, a qué nos enfrentamos, y que pese a todo, siempre hay que mantener la esperanza.

Setlist:

1. Hope Drone

2. Job’s Lament

3. First of the Last Glaciers

4. Anthem for No State

5. Cliffs Gaze

6. Moya

7. Blaise Bailey Finnegan III

Twosday Tuesday. Let's Talk About... ~ Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven 2LP ~ Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee at State's End! LP+10" It took me a little while to give this band a chance. At a glance, I had mistaken GYBE for some type of Norwegian metal band that I would "get around to eventually". Then one day around 2004-5, a friend recommended them and stated they are very mellow, instrumental and cinematic and very much like the band I was in at the time. He passed along a CD-r and it was a life changing experience for me. This band was doing everything that my mind had hoped to hear. Today we are represented with the career bookends, almost. There is an album preceding Skinny Fists but this pick two does showcase the early and current sounds of one of the greatest experiments to even record. Sometimes romantic, other times it's the stuff of nightmares. In the end, there is always Hope. File under Bobby's Essential Listening suggestions. Grab one in store at @collectiveclothing or find similar artists on our web store at InherentRecords.com Check the links in our bio for website and Discogs "Welcome to Arco AM/PM Mini Market. We would like to advise our customers..." Skinny Fists: https://open.spotify.com/album/2rT82YYlV9UoxBYLIezkRq?si=idf-S2WbRPeOqZIhQ5OtPQ At State's End: https://open.spotify.com/album/6gZsJeN8MdITXZMVDXrMk0?si=Gw-BwSSeQZarcuaW1Pq6uw #GodspeedYouBlackEmperorvinyl #GYBEvinyl #GYBE #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #LiftYourSkinnyFistsLikeAntennasToHeaven #GodsPeeatStatesEnd #vinyl #collectiveclothing #inherentrecords #chattanooga #records #nowplaying #vinylrecords #yournewrecord #chattanoogavinyl #hiddengem #recordsofinstagram #vinylcommunity #mailorder #vinylmailorder #monumentsinruin #BobbysEssentialListening (at Collective Clothing) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjAsLT6Li3X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

ohhhhh. g_d's pee at state's end. you're my strongest warrior

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! [Full Album]