By Shaan Dahar ’18, Contributor
Yes, it is. Go listen to this in one sitting, alone, in the dark.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock group who named themselves after a documentary about a Japanese biker gang, had their music featured in the movie 28 Days Later, once had up to 15 members at a time, earned the Polaris Prize for their record Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, and included pennies flattened on a railroad track in the vinyl release of their record F# A# Infinity.
Oh, and they also created one of the greatest records ever made with “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.”
Across this double album’s 87 minute(!) runtime, the collective displays an experimental, unique blend of rock, drone, ambient, noise, classical, and shoegaze that critics ended up labeling as “post-rock.” Full disclosure: I think this genre name is one of the most pretentious things on this planet, rivaling even Kanye West himself, but I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t describe GY!BA’s sound perfectly.
Take 1st track “Storm”, which opens with horns and drums leading what feels to be a military march, with soaring, tremolo picked guitars lifting you up; yet, something seems to hint towards disaster. Maybe it’s a note progression here or there, but it feels like this beautiful, morale boosting moment can’t last. And it doesn’t. At about ~12:39, everything comes unhinged, and all these previously comforting instruments start to build suspense and dread with a current of noise. Shrill viola notes join this unholy choir, and a few moments later, the thunder hits, rain pouring, wind blowing around. It drags on, and eventually slows to a halt, and after a moment of silence, an AM/PM announcement plays, leading into a dreadful drone. A somber piano plays over a muffled and unintelligible sample of someone talking. The talking grows more desperate by the second, and more tones fade in and out. Finally, the sample fades, and the apocalyptic first track dies out after 22 minutes and 32 seconds.
There’s always a looming darkness throughout these tracks, and it’s conveyed through the musical motifs and samples. Whether it’s Static’s musical shift during the preacher sample into a chaotic climax with a guitar bend coming undone, or the now legendary 1st movement of Sleep, “Murray Ostrill: ‘…They Don’t Sleep Anymore On The Beach …’”, the deep melancholy and sadness that aches in these tracks is omnipresent.
It’s always hope that cracks through, however. After many samples on final track “Antennas to Heaven,” the band goes full scale climax mode during movement“She Dreamt She Was a Bulldozer, She Dreamt She Was Alone in an Empty Field,” but opting for a more triumphant explosions. The blaring horns and guitar line give said moment a end-of-movie-and-the-hero-we-thought-had-died-is-alive feeling, and you have no choice but to bask in the glory of the moment. It’s over. The hero won despite all the odds, and you’ve been there for the ride.
Finally, everything fades to beautiful, glorious, glimmering waves of guitar feedback. The record ends, and you sit in silence of the mammoth of a record you just heard. It’s 11 PM, but you didn’t notice it because you spent the last hour and a half ingesting this record. You surrender yourself to sleep, and wake up just in time for the sunrise. You stare out onto the horizon, letting the milky pink and orange sky envelop you in warmth at the sight of it. And in this moment, you are content.
Do yourself a favor and listen to this record immediately, but don’t just listen to it. Look up the artwork for the packaging, or maybe borrow a CD copy from your library. Take in all the sights that come with the sounds, as it is another half of the experience entirely. Hook up your phone into your home theater and sit down, or lie in bed with a great pair of headphones and press play. Attentively listen the entire time, and you will be rewarded with one of the greatest musical experience I have ever had in my—and maybe even your—life.
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Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Your_Skinny_Fists_Like_Antennas_to_Heaven
http://cstrecords.com/statement-from-godspeed-you-black-emperor-on-polaris/