As promised, here is a second post today to make up for yesterday's laziness. The significance of this record is that GY!BE played I'll Be Your Mirror last year and were incredible. I only went for one day and it was a choice between GY!BE + Portishead or Company Flow + Portishead. As awesome as it would have been to see Co Flow, I think I made the right choice (although, in sad news it seems that El-P can't play this year. I do hope I get to see him soon).
My friend Aled raved about Godspeed for ages and for some reason I went for a very long time without listening to them. I found this in Amoeba in San Francisco and added it to the large number of records I was already buying. I think the "original 1997 lp" printed on the plastic sleeve is a reference to the songs on the record, rather than when it was pressed (you wouldn't print that on a record in 1997, nor would you find the first print of f# a# ∞ for such a reasonable price). The cd has a very different tracklisting and is a bit longer, but if there were ever an album worth having on vinyl it's this one.
I've tried to capture quite how lovely the package is in the pictures, but there's more than the envelope full of goodies and the flattened coin (I love the idea of someone sat by a train track putting Canadian cents on the track solely for putting in these sleeves, not to mention that it's a crime to destroy an image of the queen!). The track names are etched into the groove run-offs and the title of the album is a reference to the locked-groove at the end of Side B, so the final notes, f# and a#, just repeat for ever. These things are lost on cds.
Also, musically it's perfect the way it is. On first listen I thought the intro to Nervous, Sad, Poor... went on too long, but now I know to be patient. For me though, it's all about side B. The whole 17 minutes of it is beautiful. I'd not seen 28 Days Later before getting the album so when he starts wandering around the empty, deserted streets of London and East Hastings kicks in I was amazed. I'd never considered it to be the sort of music that would fit a film (of course it had to be heavily edited) but it worked so brilliantly. I don't think of the film in general now when it breaks, but I do think about the isolation and desolation of that scene. I've often just played Bleak, Uncertain, Beautiful a few times over in a row, and let the locked groove run a bit (whilst I'm told it's f# and a# at the end, it could be anything - my musical talents don't extend anywhere near as far to confirm that).
ATP announced this morning a GY!BE gig for November in the Forum, which I've now got tickets for. I'm willing to believe that every show is as good as the one I saw in Alexandra Palace last year, so it should be good. This blog doesn't get a huge number of views (to say the least) and if you've read this far, it's probably because you're interested in the band or a massive vinyl nerd like myself. If the latter, then I imagine the lush packaging here will tempt you, but in either case have a listen to some of the music because it's really wonderful.
Format: 12", silk-screened drawing of a train, envelope containing: a4 insert, gig flyer, contact sheet and a flattened 1 cent coin
Tracks: 2
Cost: £10.95 new
Bought: Amoeba San Francisco
When: 07/09/10
Colour: black
Etching: Side A: "Nervous, sad, poor...." Side B: "Bleak, uncertain, beautiful..."
mp3s: no
