FEATURED CD - Godspeed You Black Emperor : Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennae To He

[Duncan Glenday]

Per Amazon:

Canada's Godspeed You Black Emperor raise the ante on their already ambitious orchestral rock by releasing a double CD of material as their second full-length album. The group combines the drums and guitar of typical rock-band instrumentation with horns and strings to create a music built around drones and slowly evolving melodic figures. It rises and falls from delicate introductory passages to unabashed grand climaxes. Their juxtaposition of drums with violins and lush romantic tonality brings to mind Rachel's, but their compositional scale and the pounding repetitive intensity of their dynamic peaks evoke Glenn Branca's The Ascension. Although the two discs are indexed at only two 21-minute tracks each, the package includes a handy road map to the movements into which each is subdivided. The opening piece starts with five minutes of a 15-beat circular melodic pattern that is gradually embellished as the volume swells to an ecstatic roar. The release drops down to a pastoral drone that rebuilds to support an acid-etched guitar solo, which in turn yields to a unified 4/4 kraut rock pound that eventually explodes, leaving behind field recordings of public announcements mingled with wandering late-night Swell Maps piano. The other pieces use a similar set of sonic building blocks to take the listener on comparable journeys. Fans of Godspeed's previous work will be very happy, and the curious might want to hop on board as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Lift-Skinny-Fi.../dp/B00004ZD69

[battema]

My first, and second fave overall, just a hair behind Don't Bend, Ascend. Great, great stuff.

[mnprogger]

epic, journey record. I consider this and Sigur Ros' () to be more or less key/iconic Post Rock records.

[bob_32_116]

Nothing in particular against GYBE or Sigur Ros, but I find it hard to appreciate the whole "post-rock" genre.

[NogbadTheBad]

Great album.

[Progatron]

Love it.

[Mythos]

My first venture into the (modern) post-rock world, although I really have to be in the mood to listen to it....

I have since discovered so many more post rock bands that I like more...

[markwoll]

Perhaps when the proper mood strikes I would like it more.
I have not heard much of their work. When I have, I lost interest after a while.

Post rock I can do.
I suppose it is like any music, some I like.....some not as much.

[Socrates]

Awesome album. Nowadays I find the likes of Godspeed much more intense and stimulating than what is conventionally labelled as prog.

[Lieto]

One of the best albums of all time

[WHORG]

superb

[Yves]

A band whose studio output leaves me somewhat indifferent but whose live shows are a must!

[DTA]

Sleep is such a brilliant track, but the album as a whole is really interesting. The spoken-word piece at the beginning of the song really adds to it. The only album of theirs I can really get into. It reminds me a lot of a post-rock Tales From Topographic Oceans due to the lengths, and that one's probably my favorite Yes album as well!

[spacefreak]

Their best (along with the Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada mini album). Was lucky to see the tour. Memorable gigs.

[miamiscot]

Sleep is such a brilliant track, but the album as a whole is really interesting. The spoken-word piece at the beginning of the song really adds to it. The only album of theirs I can really get into. It reminds me a lot of a post-rock Tales From Topographic Oceans due to the lengths, and that one's probably my favorite Yes album as well!

All my friends who hate Prog love this album. Go figure.

[Rarebird]

Sounds interesting.

[Proghound]

Sorry to rain on the parade, as I am not sure what qualifies as "Post Rock" or "Math Rock" but this sounds extremely repetitive, simplistic and noisy to me....
Not interesting at all - to my ears of course... Not sure I understand the attraction...

[Oreb]

this sounds extremely repetitive, simplistic and noisy to me.... Not interesting at all - to my ears of course... Not sure I understand the attraction...

+ 1

[gpeccary]

Just saw them a couple weeks ago after not listening to them for some time now. Blew my mind. Incredible concert. I have NO idea how to describe them, their sound, but it was well worth the time and effort to go see them!

[Trane]

I much prefer their debut album and the Slow Riot EP than this one... I must say That though I've got them all (except for their latest), I don't spin any of them at all anymore


Kind of got fed up of this type of post-rock, even though GYBE! almost invented by themselves (along with Tarentel)

saw them live twice some 8 to 10 years ago. Very static show, would've been boring if they didn't have those films (hardly fascinating, but it gives something to look at) on the screens, it would've been a total bore

[bob_32_116]

Sorry to rain on the parade, as I am not sure what qualifies as "Post Rock" or "Math Rock" but this sounds extremely repetitive, simplistic and noisy to me....
Not interesting at all - to my ears of course... Not sure I understand the attraction...

I'm not a fan either, but I do know that "math rock" is a somewhat different concept from "post rock", though the two may sometimes overlap. "Math rock" implies lots of noise and lots of rhythms, although often very strange ones. Post rock, at least what I have heard, often seems devoid of any rhythmic structure altogether. I suppose that's the reason it's called "post rock"; you can't rock to it. I'm sure others here can explain the difference better than I can.

[Trane]

Sorry to rain on the parade, as I am not sure what qualifies as "Post Rock" or "Math Rock" but this sounds extremely repetitive, simplistic and noisy to me....
Not interesting at all - to my ears of course... Not sure I understand the attraction...

I'm not a fan either, but I do know that "math rock" is a somewhat different concept from "post rock", though the two may sometimes overlap. "Math rock" implies lots of noise and lots of rhythms, although often very strange ones. Post rock, at least what I have heard, often seems devoid of any rhythmic structure altogether. I suppose that's the reason it's called "post rock"; you can't rock to it. I'm sure others here can explain the difference better than I can.

Yup, don't be fooled by the PA grouping of both styles, it was done purely out of managing the workload of inclusion and updating.

However, there are bands that are flirting the boundaries of both styles (Guapo and Don Caballero, to name two)

Guapo's early career was definitely noisy/Avant/math, before veering Zeuhl (Oni & 5 Suns) and then post-rock.

[Proghound]

I'm not a fan either, but I do know that "math rock" is a somewhat different concept from "post rock", though the two may sometimes overlap. "Math rock" implies lots of noise and lots of rhythms, although often very strange ones. Post rock, at least what I have heard, often seems devoid of any rhythmic structure altogether. I suppose that's the reason it's called "post rock"; you can't rock to it. I'm sure others here can explain the difference better than I can.

Thank you for those definitions....for me, neither of those sound like anything that I would be interested in. As a musician myself my rule is any "music" and/or noise I can make in my garage is not something I will pay money for when I can do that myself.

[spacefreak]

Not sure I understand the attraction...

The attraction is that it is honest, full of passion, original in it's conception and uplifts by speaking to the soul.

[Trane]

Thank you for those definitions....for me, neither of those sound like anything that I would be interested in. As a musician myself my rule is any "music" and/or noise I can make in my garage is not something I will pay money for when I can do that myself.

Don't be fooled by Bob's imperfect (says he )description of post rock

90% of post rock is definitely not "noisy"... It's more like Ambiant rock... Long drawn-out, somewhat dronal, a bit minimalistic (àla Terry Riley) tracks ... and despite not having that much "rhythm", it's very much a drummer's music


Post-rock name comes, I think, from the apocalyptic - or more accurately post-apocalyptic dimension.
An image: It's the music left after music imploded or exploded