F♯a♯∞

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The correct title of this article is f♯a♯∞. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

Professional reviews
f♯a♯∞

Studio album by Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Released	August 14, 1997 (First press) June 9, 1998 (Second press)
Recorded	May 1997 at the Hotel2Tango
Genre	Post-rock
Length	38:40 (First edition) 63:27 (Second edition)
Label	Constellation CST003 Kranky KRANK027
Producer(s)	Don Wilkie Ian Ilavsky Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Pitchfork Media (9.3/10) June 1998 All Music Guide link CanuckistanMusic (Very favorable) link
Godspeed You Black Emperor! chronology
All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (1994)	f♯a♯∞ (1997)	aMAZEine 7" (1998)
Alternate cover

Vinyl album cover

f♯a♯∞ is the debut album of the Montreal-based band Godspeed You Black Emperor! (later punctuated Godspeed You! Black Emperor). It was released twice, first in 1997 as a vinyl LP by Constellation Records^[1] and then again on CD in 1998 by Kranky. The tracks are split into various named movements. The CD version was remastered and edited, and includes some extra material, including an extra track and a hidden track.

The original vinyl was limited to a pressing of 500 copies,^[1] and came in a handmade package with various inserts, including original photographic prints, posters, and a Canadian penny that had been crushed by a train.^[2] The record sleeve and jacket made no mention of the track titles. The names were instead scratched into the run-off groove space, accompanied by the catalog number and side indication. The final track is a locked groove that loops indefinitely on certain record players. The album's title is technically F Sharp, A Sharp, Infinity, a reference to the keys in which each side begins and to the endless loop at the end.

The track "East Hastings" is named after a street in Vancouver's blighted Downtown Eastside. With the band's agreement, an edited portion of the track was used in the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's 2002 horror film 28 Days Later, though it does not appear on the film's soundtrack album.

The vox pop interviewee included at the beginning of the song "Providence" references "A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams, Jr., and is apparently the same man that quotes Blaze Bayley in "BBF3" on the band's Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada. This sample was used by the band to end their performance of "Steve Reich" during their live session for VPRO Radio in 1998.

1 Track listing
- 1.1 Vinyl edition
- 1.2 CD edition
2 Edition notes
- 2.1 Vinyl
- 2.2 CD
3 Personnel
- 3.1 Godspeed You Black Emperor!
- 3.2 Technical
4 References
5 External link

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Vinyl edition

"Nervous, Sad, Poor..." – 20:43
1. "The Dead Flag Blues (Intro)" – 6:09
2. "Slow Moving Trains" – 3:23
3. "The Cowboy..." – 4:16
4. "Drugs in Tokyo" – 3:29
5. "The Dead Flag Blues (Outro)" – 1:52
6. (untitled segment) – 1:34
"Bleak, Uncertain, Beautiful..." – 17:40
1. "'...Nothing's Alrite in Our Life...'/Dead Flag Blues (Reprise)" – 2:00
2. "The Sad Mafioso..." – 5:33
3. "Kicking Horse on Brokenhill" – 5:36
4. "String Loop Manufactured During Downpour..." – 4:29

[edit] CD edition

"The Dead Flag Blues" – 16:27
1. "The Dead Flag Blues (Intro)" – 6:37
2. "Slow Moving Trains" – 3:33
3. "The Cowboy..." – 4:17
4. "(Outro)" – 2:00
"East Hastings" – 17:58
1. "'...Nothing's Alrite in Our Life...'/Dead Flag Blues (Reprise)" – 1:35
2. "The Sad Mafioso..." – 10:44
3. "Drugs in Tokyo" – 3:43
4. "Black Helicopter" – 1:56
"Providence" – 21:20
1. "Divorce & Fever..." – 2:44
2. "Dead Metheny.." – 8:07
3. "Kicking Horse on Brokenhill" – 5:53
4. "String Loop Manufactured During Downpour..." – 4:36
5. "J.L.H. Outro" – 4:08

[edit] Edition notes

[edit] Vinyl

Names of movements are not actually given anywhere in the vinyl release; these are taken from the CD release.
The final movement on side one does not have a corresponding segment on the CD release.
Time lengths given are approximations.

[edit] CD

"Slow Moving Trains" and "The Cowboy..." are listed as the same movement, but they are actually separate pieces.
"Drugs in Tokyo" and "Black Helicopter" are listed as the same movement, but they are actually separate pieces.
"J.L.H. Outro" was named in honour of John Lee Hooker. On the CD edition it is hidden after approximately four minutes' worth of silence at end of "Providence."
Time lengths of movements given are taken from the official discography.