Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada

I'm a big fan of Godspeed and I have a lot of time for them, which is lucky because it often takes a lot of time to listen to them - a lot of their albums are long. That's why this EP is such an interesting release - it's the Godspeed album you listen to when you don't have two hours to spare. At 27 minutes long - one 10-minute song and the other 17-minutes, it's certainly not a normal EP either, but that's kind of the charm.

I got into Godspeed in an odd order, but this was my third purchase, swiftly followed by Yanqui U.X.O.. It's probably most similar to the debut in a lot of way - the songs don't mess around so much and it fits onto a single LP. Moya has a slow build up (and a very enjoyable one - it has a very full sound from the start) but quickly begins rushing and reaches an excellent break - it's everything you want from a Godspeed song. BBF3, which plays at 33prm rather than 45, features a very memorable rant either side of these guitars and violins that seem to take turns in building up to another huge peak (and just for good luck, there's another huge crescendo at the very end, where the drums get to shine alongside the violins).

If you were trying to get into the band, I'd say this could be a strong starting point - it certainly displays everything the band are known for, but at their most concise. It's a very rewarding half-an-hour.

Format: 12", picture sleeve, insert
Tracks: 2
Cost: £7 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 07/09/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

Lift Your Skinny Fists was one of the last Godspeed albums I got. In fact, I bought it the same day I bought their most recent album, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, which the shop owner kindly let me have a few days before it's actual release; with those two purchases my Godspeed LP collection was complete.

Whilst F# and Slow Riot I know are the first two releases and 'Allelujah and Asunder are the two recent releases, I often find I confuse Skinny Fists and Yanqui. They're both long albums from the era before I got into the band. Before today, I probably couldn't have confidently said in which order they were released in. It's not a slight on either of them, I just think they're the two most similar of the band's albums. Lift Your Skinny Fists is definitely a great album and one I should probably listen to more. It's easy to tend towards the first two releases (for their relative brevity) or 'Allelujah because it's possibly my favourite, so they get more play. I imagine I was slightly over-dosed on Godspeed around the time I got this record, especially having very excitedly played the new one immediately before hearing it for the first time (I wasn't hugely taken with the latest album, but more on that another time).

Storm reminds me a lot of We Drift Like Worried Fire from the (much later) follow-up - an uplifting epic piece of post-rock and everything I want from this band. It's dramatic but the mood is definitely positive, or so I feel at least. It has a mildly anti-climatic end, but that doesn't take away from the first 15 minutes. Static the starts off a bit slowly but eventually some strings build up over a man talking, slows down for a moment again (with what I think is a violin being picked rather than played with a bow) before modestly exploding into something much grander and ultimately very menacing. It's harder work than Storm but still very rewarding.

Sleep begins life as a rather gentle piece but the suspense kicks in and the violins seem to circle around you before the song quickly shifts. It speeds its way to what sounds like the end, but gradually grows into another rather uplifting piece featuring what sounds like a trumpet - a very triumphant instrument. Antennas to Heaven takes a little while to get going but when She Dreamt She Was a Bulldozer gets going you know about it.

All in all, Lift Your Skinny Fists is a great album, but the band make you work hard to enjoy the highs - all of the songs are wrapped in tape loops and drones whose sole purpose is to pace out the explosive post rock; it's an aspect I find I still enjoy the album both for and in spite of.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves
Tracks: 4
Cost: £21 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 28/03/15
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.

Yanqui U.X.O. was the fourth Godspeed record I nbought. I'd had F# A# for a couple of years and 'Allehujah! since it came out. I very quickly became a fan of Godspeed but took a while to pick up all their older albums. I got Slow Riot for Zero Kanada and Yanqui U.X.O. within a month of each other. I was worried that I'd struggle to distinguish between the two without having a long time to get to know them individually, but Slow Riot very much has an EP-feel to it, which helps.

09-15-00 explodes into huge violins then falls away to a marching drum, but then spends a lot of time drifting (nicely) without going anywhere again - the hope is that it'll go mental again but it doesn't. Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls starts much spookier and keeps its calm for quite a while despite itself, and eventually explodes into something truly magnificent with layers upon layers of instruments and a swirling guitar/violin/something. Motherfucker=Redeemer straddles two sides of vinyl and spans about 35 minutes. It's instantly beautiful. The second half takes a while to get going again but it's hugely exciting when it does start building up and then reaches its peak. George Bush Cut Up While Talking feels a bit unnecessary but is easily skipped.

I hadn't planned to go record shopping on the day I bought this - I was visiting my wife's (although she was my girlfriend then) relatives in Cambridge and we were exploring the town centre. I stumbled across a record stall in the market and found a couple of albums I fancied there whilst everyone else was browsing other stalls. Later I popped into Fopp whilst Vicky and her aunt were in another shop and found this album and Mr Beast by Mogwai. Not only were they albums I hadn't seen in shops often, both were reasonably priced, so I picked them up too. I certainly hadn't left the house expecting to buy four LPs that day, but it was a nice way to return.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, insert
Tracks: 4
Cost: £16 new
Bought: Fopp Cambridge
When: 05/10/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

I was pretty slow to get into Godspeed for some reason, but since then I've had the good fortune to see them play twice and each time was amazing. The second time was just last month, a few weeks after their fourth studio album in 18 years was released. People were excited, and understandably so: the previous three were all incredible, and they have that rare ability to amaze almost equally on-stage and on vinyl. I picked up a copy as soon as Banquet had them in stock and I've been enjoying it since.

There are four songs on 'Allelujah!... but on a functional level, there are just two (which is fine - they sum to nearly 40 minutes of music so I'm not complaining). The two bridging/drone tracks are on a separate 7" and, in all honesty, I play the songs in the correct order rarely, instead favouring the two on the 12" alone. Those two songs, Mladic and We Drift Like Worried Fire, are both excellent. The first is by far the darker of the two and drags you down with its beat. I love it, particularly after seeing them play it in November; it seemed twice as long and infinitely more dark (as the song hit the final and darkest movement the projectionist began burning the tape so that it curled up in front of the lens). The second song is somehow the opposite, an uplifting piece with wavering guitars and strings that bring you back up from where Mladic left you. The package is pretty nice too, and photographs of the various bits are below. Most strangely, the etching in the run-off groove of the 7" leads to youtube video featuring pictures of a dog (called Loukanikos) running around during the Greek riots. It's worth a watch (the link is below. I tried to photograph the text but seems impossible to do). Banquet have a loyalty card system, which I redeemed on this and another record, hence the relatively bargain price.


Format: 12" and 7", gatefold sleeve, die-cut picture sleeves, 12"x48" poster
Tracks: 4
Cost: £15 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 11/10/12
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A1: "Two thousand stoned kids will be stoked" Side A2: "Too bad they don't vote" Side B1: "For Loukanikos" Side B2: "youtube.com/watch?v=lFd0hztEUWk"
mp3s: Download code

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - f# a# ∞

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