Chroniques et points de vue:

Un incontournable québécois:
C'est loin des projecteurs que Godspeed You Black Emperor ! a concocté Lift Your Skinny Fists…, un impressionnant enregistrement post-rock qui a voyagé discrètement mais sûrement autour du globe. 0n y trouve un travail des atmosphères qui séduit autant qu'il commotionne.

From :
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. lt 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. --Bob Bannister

Amazon.ca:
Godspeed You Black Emperor! récidive avec son rock instrumental somptueux et ses paysages musicaux enveloppants dans sa troisième production, Levez vos skinny fists comme antennas to heaven!. Le collectif montréalais – deux batteries, deux basses, trois guitares, un violon et un violoncelle – livre ici un disque double où l'expérimentation sonore, parfois proche du bruitage, se fait plus présente, l'orchestration encore plus riche, la charge émotive toujours puissante.

Les quatre morceaux, d'une vingtaine de minutes chacun, sont divisés en sections qui s'enchaînent à la manière des mouvements d'une symphonie. À partir d'un motif répété en sourdine, Godspeed échafaude de lancinants crescendos, qui aspirent inéluctablement l'auditeur dans des tourbillons de guitares bourdonnantes et de percussions appuyées. La tempête finit par s'apaiser, mais la quiétude cède bientôt le pas à l'intervention lyrique des cordes, à l'irruption solennelle des cuivres, à l'orage affolant des guitares.

Les compositions quasi filmiques du groupe incorporent des voix, captées hors du studio, qui donnent à l'ensemble un incroyable pouvoir d'évocation. lci, un vieil homme se remémore le paradis de sa jeunesse, Coney lsland ; là, un duo de glockenspiel débouche sur des comptines d'enfants, comme autant d'hommages à l'innocence dans un monde en décrépitude. Une sorte d'espérance obstinée, de foi enragée, affleure, malgré les ambiances angoissantes qui baignent l'album. Levez vos skinny fists comme antennas to heaven! est une bouleversante invitation au rêve et au cauchemar de la part d'un groupe qui échappe aux comparaisons. --Noémi Mercier









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Note: - This is atmospheric music that makes you listen!!!
Drop everything and listen to this ambient, atmospheric,instrumental, orchestrated, dark, lovely, beautiful album. This is some of the most original music that has been recorded in a long time. Instrumental madness. How does one start to write these passages???? Beautiful

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Note: - Great orchestral post-rock, but requires close listening
I'll be honest - I only bought this CD after being a big fan of Mogwai for a few months, and was told that they're similar to Mogwai - Well, they are, but I really didn't like this CD at first. Maybe I wasn't listening closely enough, but just recently, it has all really clicked for me; I really enjoy a lot of the music on here now because I pay such close attention to the instrumentation.

My favorite track on here is definitely track 1 on disc two, "Sleep", but specifically I enjoy Part II, Monheim, the most. Quite possibly the saddest song I've ever heard; though it builds continuously on this same sad theme over and over again, it eventually begins to sound uplifting after this big tempo change about 10 minutes into the track. Remarkable that they can cause such a change in mood using only a tempo change, but no key modulation at all. What I particularly love about this track is the "voice" in the background, which sounds like an opera singer with an amazingly wide vibrato, or something like that - Well, I ended up finding out, after repeated listening that it was actually a guitar, and soon after inquiring to tons of different GYBE fans online, found out that it's actually one of the guitar players playing his guitar with an electric screwdriver! I'm surprised he actually managed to make it sound that good, and that convincing.

The only thing I don't really like about this CD is the amount of segueing they use - I enjoy segues just as much as any other post-rock fan, but this is almost overkill. At least 15-20 minutes of this near-90 minute album is comprised of noise tangents and movements between songs. I guess that's fine, but to me it seems like overkill.

Other than that, it's a great CD for people who are into stuff like Mogwai or Sigur Ros, but may take a few more listens for fans of those bands to get into this.

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Note: - * What it means to earn understanding and appreciation ...
Normally I hate people who give five stars to albums (and I also hate people who preface their reviews with "I never give albums five stars but...") but (D'oh!) I must admit I felt an inner protest at the sight of the average customer review of this album only being four stars as it truely is a phenomenal work. I don't intend to namedrop a bunch of other bands from other such fringe genres in an attempt to look sussed and hip, as I think this band stand apart as a completely unique, glorius entity and the merits of this album should not be demonstrated by comparing them with the merits (or lack of) of other bands.
Many people also go on and say "Such-and-such album changed my life and perspective on music" blah blah blah...this album no doubt has had a profound effect on me but that is merely the reflection of own my desires and hopes and came from within myself, (cliche as it sounds) salvation lies within. And indeed that is often how I describe the sound Godspeed make, the sound of disappointment, the sound of struggle, the sound of that fraction of a second before you cry out of pain, the sound of bliss, the sound of a spiritual placidity that descends on you from nowhere and imbues you with a sense of invincability, the sound of forgiveness, the sound of compassion...better stop because I could go on and the grammer police probably already want to arrest me!
This album is, no less, the sound of a spiritual odyssey. The first disc is the the more brooding, dark aspect of the album...however, without the decaying ambience of 'f#a#(infinity)' or the furious nihilism of 'Slow Riot...'. Instead, it is the sound of a survived suicide attempt, trying to make sense of the wreckage of a life that they only have themself to blame for. The awakening of responsibilty, a desire to find meaning and purpose but having to call upon all your courage and strength to not give in to doubt and take refuge in irresponsibility and self destruction as you once may have done. It is the sound of making a promise to yourself...no matter what may come. As such the gentle stirrings and nascent majesty that start the album soon give way to echoes of old doubts and fears. It is then that there is a vocal sample of a woman talking about God, and what it means to be with God, 'and when you penetrate to the most high God you will believe you are mad,you will believe you are insane' and sure enough the passage that follows throws at you all the demons of self-doubt and self-persecution that the mind can muster. It is the sound of integrating your dark-side, the pitch blackness that we all carry around buried deep from the surface, every weakness is exposed and beaten, every vulnerability is raped...pain and insanity must be endured in order to keep that promise you made to yourself what seems like an eternity ago. These are sufferings to break Jesus.
Then disc one ends.
Disc two begins on a less hopeful note than disc one, with a man reminiscing about how Coney Island isn't as nice as it was when he was a child, which aptly serves to describe the de-flowering of innocence that ended disc one. 'They don't sleep anymore on the beach' he wistfully remembers as the music begins. However, despite an inextricable sense of unrest, this piece begins with a definite sense of relief and something of an intimation of a solution...although exactly what still remains painfully absent. This anticipation grows as twelve minutes in the drums and eerie, screaching guitars drop away like redundant doubts and concerns as ,pounding beat by pounding beat, strength, vitality, and energy return, leading to (in a group noted for their powerful cresendos) a cresendo the proportions of a religious epiphany...the first disc was the painful initiation, this disc is most definately the fruits of those labours.
The first half of disc two can only be decribed as euphoric, what it means to be a fan of music just changed irrevocably. The second half in many ways recalls the ambience of 'f#a#(infinity)', but where before the mood was one of existential exhaustion, this time around the mood is hopeful (in the newly re-defined sense of the word), more maudlin for the 'you' that had to be left behind, than melancholy for the person you are. And with that, the album ends. With the sound of a dropped drumstick of all the mundane things.
Happiness isn't something you wake up with or win one day and never lose again, it is earned through hardship and sacrifice, and is kept only through continued hardship and sacrifice. Happiness struggles with self doubt, makes mistakes, and loses faith...happiness is a lifelong struggle, and it sounds like this.

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Note: - MUSIC FOR SEPTEMBER 11
If there was a REAL soundtrack (not any of this corny tribute music) to 9/11, this CD would be it... be careful, it'll shock you if you listen to this music along with your images of 9/11... the funny thing is listening to Godspeed's song, "Dead Flag Blues," (F#A# Infinity Symbol CD) a week before the terrorist attacks. Godspeed really almost predicts the events of 9/11 so perfectly it's horrifying!! This album is terrific, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is Godspeed's most achieved work - all albums are similar in amazement, but, listening to this almost puts me in the events of September 11th and it's scary. All out incredible Canadian band, GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR! Has made a mark in their musical history... purchase this album... yet, be careful.

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Note: - * Amazing Musical Journey ...
This nine-piece orchestral rock (referred to as "post-rock"), is a band of incredible talent and is some of the most unique and interesting music you can find these days. However it is not for everyone, only for those with a very open mind. The average song length is a vast 23 minutes, however the songs radically change from beginning to end. The Music is dark, depressing, bleak, meloncholic, ethereal and beautiful. Mostly, the songs are very slow and require a lot of patience to listen to. Sometimes you might think it is too repetitive or boring, but you must fully indulge to appreciate this. However, usually it can be difficult to do that, you will most likely get "lost" in the music. There are sometimes ambient, quiet sections but they either suddenly explode into a chaotic rush of instruments, or slowly make their way up to a climatic point, then come crashing back down. Guitars, cellos, and violins are mostly used, and also once in a while, quite mysterious sound clips in the background. Not only does this band have great musicianship and put out an excellent performance, but their songs, mostly on the second disc, give you a exhilarating feeling inside. Personally, I like both songs on disc 2 the best. they seem more diverse and more progressive. If you like the music of Tortoise, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and other post-rock type bands, or if you're just looking for something different and interesting, this will fit in perfectly in your collection.