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









Disponibilité: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Note: - "they dont sleep anymore on the beach...."
if you purchase one album in this lifetime, this is it. while godspeeds prior releases as well as their latest album are worthy of ownership, "lift yr skinny fists..." is quintessential of what the group has tried to achieve. when listened in its entirety, the two discs that form this album provide an enhanced listening experience similar to that of the hammer of god pounding on your chest. if you are a fan of godspeed and do not own this, then you have failed to see the light and need to immediately make this album part of your world. as in past albums, godspeed combines orchestral soundscapes with climatic musical flourishes and samples, such as the eerie musings of a christian mystic or the lamenatations of a man who remembered when they used to sleep on the beach at coney island..."it was a playground, they called it the playground of the world...". beautiful, elegant, disheartening, and yet quietly hopeful, this "lift yr skinny fists..." embodies all those things we wish for when morning brings grey skies and cold winds, and we try to see the beauty in this land but sometimes have a hard time doing so...

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Note: - Okaaaaaaay...
Alright, I got this CD on impulse because it thad an intriguing title. The music was decent; long classicalish pieces interspersed with bizzare snippets of randomness - I d give it three stars; it was a bit slow in some places, and I didn't notice too much that was truly spectacular. I'll give them another half-star for the two pictures on the CD container; which were truly insane: One seemed to be a masked Ben Franklin snipping off some guy's hands with some scissors. The other had the masked Ben Franklin and a masked, 3-armed George Washington trying to make some slacker wear a suit as the no-handed guy protrudes from a cloud with an odd expression on his face. That makes 3.5, and they can have another half-star for giving the impression that there's some deep political statement embedded in the album that as of yet I have failed to grasp. Pick it up if you need to replenish your supply of randomness.

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Note: - * the last train to Krankyville ...
Music that matters. 2 disc, 4 songs. A planet spins out-of-control coming undone. Outer space - order and sense have no place here. Language is unnecessary. I hear you speak to me in tongues unspoken, unheard - a series of clicks. Arms weave and frail with a rhythmic nature. Arriving in storms - bleak, gray, thunderous, bashing and thrashing like a whip-coiled snake. Sonic membranes pulse to the sounds of the ether. We have not been here before, nor have we ever left. The thought process is necessary only for beginners. Jumping off, I know I will never crash, nor land. I will flow and glide, gain speed, transverse like a rocket, arriving early, late, or never at all. Oh you soothsayers and cosmic guides, "looka' here by golly". Been there and done that. The proof is in the pudding and the pressing (disc that is). Come visit when your journey is over. We'll talk and possibly, with probability, come to a solution.

Here ye, hear ya, ear yaw, God speed you, oh naked emperor. The setting sun beckons. Waves slap, oceans swell, the deep is our home and hero. My ticket to infinity has been punched, a purple light shines, and a smile breaks my face, post-modern Egyptian, neo-classical Roman. Like a testament, in this world that is mine, I have no need for hands that clap.

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Note: - The London Walk in 28 Days Later...
One of the best things about Amazon is that you get the reviews of people that have bought the CD, and that simply love music wihtout being a famous critic.
Because of a mistake in someone's review I was looking for the music where Jim is walking through London all alone, and I accidentally bought this album instead of f#a# . That's how I got to meet these espectacular musicians, and these has been one of the best music trips I've ever had in my life, I keep listening over and over the CDs, have a 12CD music Box in my car and since I got these Cds now I have only the two Godspeed CDs inside, I don't need more!!!.
Close you eyes, turn the volume up and listen.. and you'll have a great trip.
If you are already here, don't hesitate to buy this CD.

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Note: - * The London Walk in 28 Days Later... ...
One of the best things about Amazon is that you get the reviews of people that have bought the CD, and that simply love music wihtout being a famous critic.
I was just about to buy the soundtrack of the 28 Days Later... movie because I loved the music where Jim is walking through London all alone, but it's not in the soundtrack!. That's how I got to meet these espectacular musicians, and these has been one of the best music trips I've ever had in my life, I keep listening over and over the CDs, have a 12CD music Box in my car and since I got these Cds now I have only the two Godspeed CDs inside, I don't need more!!!.
Close you eyes, turn the volume up and listen.. and you'll have a great trip.
If you are already here, don't hesitate to buy this CD.