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Godspeed You! Black Emperor

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For the film, see God Speed You! Black Emperor.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (formerly punctuated Godspeed You Black Emperor!) is an avant-garde Canadian post-rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 1994, the ensemble has been influential in its genre, with bands from as far as Hong Kong and Singapore citing them as influences in their musical work.

Working on a near orchestral scale, the nine-piece group had been known to use wide dynamic ranges; unusual use of instrumentation and sounds; elongated songs, composed almost classically, with multiple movements therein; and use of art and visuals in both their album packaging and live performances.[3]

History

David Bryant

The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exhibit influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde. Each record consists of a few fairly long tracks (mostly between 15 and 25 minutes, but some as long as 29 minutes and some as short as 6), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve.

Efrim Menuck playing for GYBE in November 2000.

The band formed around 1994 with three members,[3] but its lineup has changed frequently. The band has had as many as twenty members at one time, but has tended to settle down to a group of nine. The instruments played vary with the lineup, but the music tends to be based around electric and bass guitars, strings and a percussion section. Other instruments such as the Glockenspiel and the French horn make more occasional appearances. The music on some of their records is accompanied by spoken samples recorded by the band across North America, including an apocalyptic street preacher from Providence, Rhode Island, an announcement at a gas station, a group of children talking and singing in French, as well as many recordings taken off shortwave radio.

Mauro Pezzente playing bass.

The band members have in the past been reluctant to give interviews, and have expressed their distaste for the mainstream, corporation-owned music industry. This has given them a reputation as shadowy, even unfriendly figures, and not a great deal is known about them personally. They did, however, become considerably more widely known after appearing on the cover of British music magazine the NME in 1999.

File:Nme1.jpg
Cover of the July 24, 1999 issue of NME.

The member who interacts with the press the most is Efrim Menuck, and for this reason he is sometimes presented as a front-man. However, he has strongly repudiated this label, perhaps due to the anarchist ideal of leaderlessness. An interview can be found here with Insound where Efrim and former band member Roger-Tellier Craig have a strong showing of their political views on corporate media.

Several members of the group are anarchists, and there is a strong political component to the band's music.[4] For example, the liner notes to Yanqui U.X.O. describe the song "09-15-00" as "Ariel Sharon surrounded by 1,000 Israeli soldiers marching on al-Haram Ash-Sharif & provoking another Intifada," and the back cover of that album depicts the relationships of several major record labels to the military-industrial complex. Several of their songs also incorporate voice samples which express political sentiments, most notably "The Dead Flag Blues" (on F♯A♯∞) and "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" (on Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada).

Members of the group have formed a number of side projects, including A Silver Mt. Zion, Fly Pan Am, Hrsta, and Set Fire to Flames. The band contributed the song "East Hastings" from their first album F♯A♯∞ to the soundtrack of the UK film 28 Days Later, though the song was heavily edited; this was an unusual step for the ensemble. However, the track is excluded from the CD soundtrack, due to group ethics. In 2005, the band allowed songs from Yanqui U.X.O. to be used in the documentary film Bombhunters, stating that while they didn't normally allow their music to be used in films, they could align with the social nature of the film. A segment of the track "Providence" was used to promote the BBC drama series Superstorm, which aired in April 2007.

The band released the CD versions of its first two albums on the Kranky record label, and released the LPs through Constellation Records. The LP and the CD of Yanqui U.X.O. were produced by Constellation after their contract with Kranky ran out.

In 2004, long-time guitarist Roger-Tellier Craig left the band on amicable terms to devote more time to Fly Pan Am.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor announced an indefinite hiatus in mid-2003, and have no plans to reconvene in the immediate future.[3]

The group was once misconstrued as being a band of terrorists.[5][6] After stopping at a local gas station for fuel in the town of Ardmore, Oklahoma, during their 2003 tour of the United States, the station attendant working that day believed the group of Canadians to be terrorists. She quickly passed a note to another customer also getting fuel to call the police. When the local police appeared, the group was held until they could be questioned by the FBI. Although the police were suspicious of the band's anti-government documents and some stranger photos they had (such as those of oil rigs), they found no incriminating evidence. After background checks were run, the ensemble was released from custody and continued on their way to their next show in St. Louis, Missouri. Efrim Menuck later spoke to the crowd about what happened to them during their appearance in Missouri and speculated that their race was a motive in their being released quickly ("Its a good thing we're nice white kids from Canada"), hinting at racism in the police force.[7] The incident was mentioned in Michael Moore's book, Dude, Where's My Country?.

Live concerts

The group is known for their film loops, which they project behind them during performances. Efrim Menuck has explained that these loops, which are commonly produced by violinist Sophie Trudeau, are an important aspect of their concerts, because they "put the whole into context".[8]

Because the band is taper-friendly—that is, they allow audience members to record their live performances—fans often release new material before the band makes an official recording.[9] Examples of this include the songs "Albanian" and "Gamelan", which are thus far unreleased.

Members

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Live, compilations & other

See also

References

  1. ^ Amy Phillips (2008). "Godspeed Still on Hiatus, Not Completely Broken Up". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  2. ^ Carpenter, Lorraine (2003). "Easy Being Green: Frog Eyes Whip Up a Colourful Cabaret" (html). Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltée. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  3. ^ a b c Constellation Records (2006). "Godspeed You! Black Emperor biography" (html). Bands Index. Constellation Records. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
  4. ^ Anarchistnews.org piece on Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  5. ^ Biehr, Steve, Marion Bornas, and Stefan Claudius. "Godspeed You! Black Emperor Collage" (jpg). Retrieved 2006-11-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Biehr, Steve. "Band Members Released After Terrorist Report" (html). The Daily Ardmoreite. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  7. ^ Godspeed You Black Emperor! (2003). "Godspeed You Black Emperor! at Mississippi Nights (2003-03-16)" (shn). Live Music Archive. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
  8. ^ Visser, Menno (2001). "Interview with Godspeed You Black Emperor!" (html). OOR Magazine. OOR. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
  9. ^ Godspeed You Black Emperor! (2003). "Godspeed You Black Emperor! at L'Olympic (2003-05-14)" (shnf). Live Music Archive. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
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