Godspeed You! Black Emperor

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

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Background information
Also known as	Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre(s)	Post-rock Space rock Progressive rock
Years active	1994 - present (currently on indefinite hiatus)^[1]
Label(s)	Constellation Kranky (1998 - 2002)
Associated acts	Valley of the Giants A Silver Mt. Zion Exhaust Fly Pan Am The Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary
Members
Norsola Johnson Efrim Menuck Mauro Pezzente David Bryant Aidan Girt Sophie Trudeau Thierry Amar Bruce Cawdron James Chau
Former members
Roger-Tellier Craig Mike Moya Grayson Walker^[2] Shnaiberg^{[citation needed]}

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (formerly punctuated Godspeed You Black Emperor!) is a Canadian post-rock band based in Montreal, Quebec.

Formed in 1994, the ensemble has been quite 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 has been known to create wide dynamic ranges, unique use of instrumentation and sounds, large songs that are composed almost classically with multiple movements within themselves, and engrossing use of art and visuals in both their album packaging and live performances.^[1] They are currently on an indefinite hiatus, as members of the band are busy with many other projects.^[1]

1 About the band
2 Live concerts
3 Discography
4 Related projects
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] About the band

They took their 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 exist outside any established scene and take 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), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve.

The album cover of Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (1999).

The band formed around 1994 with three members,^[1] 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. Most of the members are also anarchists, and their music has strong political overtones.

The band members have in the past been reluctant to go in for the traditional self-publicizing interviews, and have openly 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.

Cover to 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. 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.

Members of the group have formed a number of side projects, including A Silver Mt. Zion, Fly Pan Am, and Set Fire to Flames. The band contributed the song "East Hastings" from their debut album 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 soundtrack, due to group ethics.

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 the summer of 2003, and have no plans to reconvene in the immediate future.^[1] On August 24 2006, at a Silver Mt. Zion appearance, Efrim responded to a question about Godspeed's hiatus by saying that he "[does not] believe that anyone has given up on the group, but it's very complicated."^{[citation needed]}

The group was one time misconstrued as being a band of terrorists.^[3]^[4] 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. When no incriminating evidence was found in their various vehicles and background checks were run, the ensemble was released from custody and continued on their way to their next show in St. Louis, Missouri. Interestingly, 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, hinting at racism in the police force.^[5] The incident was mentioned in Michael Moore's book, Dude, Where's My Country?.

[edit] Live concerts

The group has a unique presence when performing live. Presumably due to the length of their tracks, some of the band members opt to sit while performing. They are also 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".^[6]

The band is taper-friendly—that is, they allow audience members to record their live performances. Due to this, it has frequently been the case that new material is released through the fans before its official recording.^[7] Examples of this include the songs "Albanian" and "Gamelan", which are thus far unreleased.

[edit] Discography

1994 All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (cassette only, limited to 33 copies)
1997 f♯a♯∞ (LP, initially in an edition of five hundred copies, numbered, with various inserts including a train-flattened penny, then in 1998 on CD, with different recordings/arrangements to the LP)
1998 aMAZEine 7", contributed track "Sunshine + Gasoline".
1999 Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (EP)
2000 Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, also known as Levez Vos Skinny Fists Comme Antennas to Heaven
2002 Yanqui U.X.O.
2004 Song of the Silent Land (compilation album), contributed track 14, "Outro"

[edit] Related projects

1-Speed Bike (aka Bottleskup Flenkenkenmike)
Bakunin's Bum
Balai Mécanique
Black Ox Orkestar
Esmerine
Et Sans
Exhaust
Fly Pan Am
'Gypt Gore
Hrsta
The Lonesome Hanks
The Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary
Molasses
Set Fire to Flames
Sam Shalabi
Shalabi Effect
A Silver Mt. Zion
Valley of the Giants

[edit] See also

List of Quebec musicians
Music of Quebec
Culture of Quebec
List of rock instrumentals
GodSpeed! You Black Emperor documentary:
- JMDB entry
- IMDB entry - there is no subtitled or dubbed version for the English language market, and the title of the documentary is incorrectly romanized.