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: - Ouch...
I've been listening to pop music for about four years now. During that time, I've been searching for music from popular culture that I can enjoy as much as the classical music that I grew up on. Having noticed the reviews of this band I bought "Lift Your Skinny Fists".
I hate this. It starts off with a seven minute crescendo. This is the definition of boring. Godspeed adds instruments and gets louder for seven minutes. Playing the same thing the whole time. This is the basic formula for the entire album.
I get a mental picture of a giant metal cage with some tablecloths thrown over it. A steady drum beat and endless repitition make up this scaffold and all the other flimsy musical elements are thrown on top. Sometimes this scaffold is made up of a recording of someone talking. There is no harmony, rhythm, or melody in such blind repitition. This is the definition of boring. This is rap music without the rapping. Seven minute crescendos are boring.
Does this music have anything to do with "minimalism"? Maybe a little. But if this is so, then this is really pathetic minimalism. I just played in a performancee of Adams' Shaker Loops. I enjoyed that. I did not enjoy having my expectations raised by reviews of a band only to find that their music was filthy.

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Note: - Decisions, Decisions
Is this pure, uncut musical genius, that should be leading our ears into the 21st century? Or is this indie-rocks answer to Yes's "Tales from Topographic Oceans"? You decide.

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Note: - * One day you wake up and everything's changed ...
Just to put my two cents in here: I am a pop music fan, who worships at the altar of Matthew Sweet, Spoon, and the Beatles. I was looking for something different, something to shake up my sensibilities a little. I read a review of this is the Austin Chronicle, thought it sounded interesting, an I bought it. Since then, I have added perhaps 25 cds to my collection of this type of music, mostly from the Kranky records label. I still love a well-crafted pop song, but the vast majority of my listening time is now spent studying these beautiful aural landscapes and marvelling at the power and beauty that GYBE (and their many offshoots) have been so kind to create for us. If you are ready to venture into some uncharted musical waters, I cannot reccomend this band highly enough.

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Note: - deeply emotional, musically rich...a Montreal institution
As a Canadian, and as someone who has lived in Montreal briefly, I would like to apologize for the recent Quebecois Canadian musical exports, which includes such embarrassments as Cline Dion and Lara Fabian. But Montreal, the land of Du Maurier cigarettes, LaBatt Blues, and disgruntled Frenchmen, also pumps out some luminary musical talents. For example, Leonard Cohen. And more recently, the exhilarating and invigorating post-rock outfit, Godspeed Your Black Emperor. I have all three of GYBE's available releases. I celebrate their entire catalog, but I would have to say that "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Haven" is my favorite. And if you are looking for a place to start with GYBE, may I suggest this full-length album as a starting point. GYBE is influenced by a wide variety of musical styles: from the 20th century minimalist classicists (John Cage, Steve Reich, Arvo Part) to the post-rock/post-punk undergroud (Sonic Youth, Tortoise, Sigur Ros) to ambient electronica (Brian Eno). GYBE's music is always eloquently composed in a controlled and relaxed pace. A strange fusion of traditional rock instrumentations with exotic found-noises. Almost all of GYBE's pieces start in a soothing and cerebral fashion-reminiscent of Eno's hologram composition or Part's tintinabuli style. And almost as a rule, each piece, after about 15 minutes of exploring, pondering, and searching (for a new developmental dimension), will, slowly but surely, builds up to a both poignant and cathartic crescendo. Something that's sensitive and gentle explodes into an anthem-like, intense climax. One of my favorite pieces on "Lift Your Skinny Fists" is the one that opens with an old man remembering his childhood fascination with Coney Island. Melancholy and affecting, instantly reminds me of Ferlinghetti's "Coney Island of the Mind". GYBE, along with the smoked meat and the St. Catherine street strip joints, is distinctively Montreal. My personal memories of the island city are always painted with melancholy, a foreign romanticism, regret, and angst. GYBE captured all these emotions and much more. GYBE is a very personal band to me, and I believe their sweeping sonic scape will make them your personal band as well. Highly recommended!

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Note: - * Pretension Versus Ingenuity ...
I am often reluctant to write music reviews. Many reviews, especially on this site, reek of pseudo-boho conceit and aesthetically shallow opinion. However, I must share my thoughts with regard to this epic creation. LYSFLAH is a creation...an experience rather than an album. It attempts to fuse genres and shatter expectations, and does so with great success.

When listening to music, I am moved by musical talent and melody. Many groups have both, but fail to compose a balanced, unique recipe for the masses. Upon initial consideration, I was repulsed by the group's self-indulgent, incoherent drone. Mammoth tracks, abstract sound clips and the dentist-drill guitar...I imagined the members of Godspeed, sipping on bottles of LaBatt Blue and tuning instruments in their Montreal bar, chuckling in disbelief over their Kranky record deal. Poor art-rock enthusiasts...we were just throwing around some experimental sound structures and we landed a record deal...enjoy our new "record". Hee hee... eh?

Although I was growing tired of the CDs quickly, I knew that something significant lie in the lofty arrangements of sonic chords and oft ethereal harmonies. Yes...I would listen until I found truth and could digest the sounds entering my auditory meatus.

I found what I was looking for...after listening to both discs...six times each...while reading and washing dishes.

Godspeed, in my humble opinion, requires concentration and time. Their style is innovative and abstract. Weezer it is not. If you, as listener, put in the effort, Godspeed will guide you. The album is like Versailles...with compassion.

Yes...humble.