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: - tired of Pop, not ready for LeMonte Young
Keeping it simple. An intriguing piece, not for the faint of heart, and by that I mean you can't sit around telling fish stories and only half listen to something like this. They do an excellent job of bridging the divide between 'serious' progressive music and pop. Fans of Sonic Youth, Dvorck's (sp) 9th, and Radio Head Kid A and Amnesiac will enjoy this album. If you're craving a true LISTENING experience this is the way to go, play it on something capable of good sound reproduction.

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Note: - "What does anyone want but to feel a little more free?"
Here's one I know will be with me forever. It's had and will continue to have a profound impact on me. Music for every part of a person. Music to nourish your soul. Music for any time of day or night. LYSFLATH is Music to listen to with an open mind and a seeking heart pounding and throbbing with a deep thirst for answers to your abyssmal questions. If you approach the Music like this, it will not only answer your questions but lead you into a perpetual rebirth of questions and answers. Sometimes though, it's just nice to have something that has the power to transport you for awhile. Yes? Yeah. \m/ And she smiles... Four songs, two cds and 87:23 running time, yet with every listen, Time Dissipates and I am in a world of peace, light and beauty--this world. Coney Island revisited perhaps? So I say, sleep on the beach if you want--I am! If you don't understand, you will after you listen. The upper echelon of stars--five doesn't come close...this Music is Infinite. One thing is for sure, LYSFLATH will speak to you. What it says is up to you. It is my hope that it lifts you up to...

Soar!

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Note: - * No matter what you call this, it's great music ...
Is this post-rock? Instru-rock? Ensemble-classical? Who cares what it's called? GYBE make moving, operatic music that is grand in scale and scope, and let's just leave it at that.

From the opening moments on the opening track, I knew I was in for ride. The ebb and flow are amazing. GYBE slowly lift you up to an anthemic summit rife with soaring guitars and strings, and then they bring you back down to the depths with throbbing bass lines and trecherous, pounding guitar.

This album would be worth the price of admission based on the first song alone, but GYBE grace us with four more majestic pieces that twist emotions with cinematic flourishes. Any band (perhaps they prefer the term "collective") that can manipulate your thought processes so effortlessly must be doing something right. I'm not sure exactly how they do what they do to me, but I'm always more than happy to go along for the ride.

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Note: - Amazing
I honestly have to say this is the most impressive band ever!!!... Music is fantastic and its just really emotional music, conveying an emotion with every song. IF you love the music i "STRONGLY" encourage you to see them live. Nothing...NOTHING...is better than seeing them live. Sure its nice to listen to them on CD but man, they are truly a media driven band, Showing Subliminal imagery on the wall while they perform....3 mins into "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven" i almost started crying because its just that much more beautiful...

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Note: - * There's more to a band than its name. ...
Even though the name of the band contains the word "speed" and "Black Emperor", Godspeed you Black Emperor! is NOT a death metal band. That was the impression that I got when they came up mysteriously one day on my Amazon recommendations. Although I was perplexed and curious as to how I would have gotten such a suggestion, I have learned from experience to listen to my Amazon recs. Just a little research piqued my curiosity about this moving and rebelliously original group.

More of an instrumental "collective" than a band, they claim anywhere from six to nine members in the band at any given time, although they generally boast a string section, multiple guitars and percussionists. Even though they undeniably fall within the modern "rock" medium, Godspeed You Black Emperor! composes in a very symphonic soundscape. They strongly recall late 20th century minimalism in that they value dynamics, texture, and interplay above singable melodies. Because of this, fans of melodically-driven music will most assuredly not appreciate the best attributes of "Lift yr. Skinny Fists...". Almost all melody is executed in instrumental ostinato riffs, rather than proper melody. Some people believe that music without melody is without worth, but I believe that one of the basic tenets of music is the creation of tension through harmony and dynamics, and the eventual release of that tension. This is the realm that Godspeed You Black Emperor! heriocally explores. Minimalistic patterns in the style of Phillip Glass interweave into textures that crescendo, explode, and then recede into almost imperceptible whispers on strings and cymbals.

"Lift yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven" is largely instrumental, but occasionally textures will subside to reveal dialogue delivered in a man-on-the-street style. Presented like an undercover news reporter, these vignettes make clear social and political statements that paint a politically aware and vividly humanistic picture. Some of these taped conversations are more obtuse in their meaning than others, but all are interesting in their ability to convey cognitive ideas in the musical framework. One of my favorites is the "They don't sleep on the beach anymore" segment. In it, an older man tells of his recollections of Coney Island in its glory days, and how times have changed. It's actually quite touching, and the underlying atmospheric texture enhances its feelings of intimacy.

Sonically, the best reference that I can suggest is to King Crimson's more atmospheric work from the 70's (in particular, "Starless and Bible Black"), without the technical chops that band boasted (perhaps like Pink Floyd al la "Ummagumma"). The use of the string section may be responsible for this, filling the dual role of David Cross' solo violin and the ever-important mellotron texture that Crimson was using at the time. Combine this with sheets of organic electric guitar and aggressively melodic bass playing and you have a psychedleic sound that is both contemporary and retro, like an analog version of "Kid A".

At two CD's basically tracked as one song, focused listening can be admittedly difficult. While it is obvious that there is musical structure, it is fascinatingly difficult to say how much of the music is structured and how much is improvised. I suggest listening while indulging in a period of zen-like activity, like driving on a solitary road trip or doing menial housework, when you can allow your attention to wander in and out of the music. You will find that parts of it grab your attention, while other parts insidiously allow your attention to wander. Soon, you will get an idea of how the piece works as a whole, and the logic of its teleology.

So why not a perfect rating? Although "Lift yr. Skinny Fists..." is a fascinating album, a very good argument could be made that the repetition of the crescendo-to-explosion-then-start-all-over-again formula tends to become just that: a formula. I will wager, however, that this group is a spiritual experience in a live situation, and that this human connection is lost on record. It is always a challenge to capture this aspect in a studio situation, and even more so within the adventurous genre that Godspeed you Black Emperor! is working in. They may be able to do it, but I'm not sure if they quite do it here.

The lowdown: A brutally honest and beautiful recording that will either move or bore you, depending on what you are into. To really appreciate "Lift yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven", you must allow yourself to be mesmerized by it. It's the soundtrack to your most gut-wrenching personal tragedy, but it also blossoms into a hopeful flower. It represents nameless emotions, like a color that you can't describe, or a feeling that you don't want to. However, if you are looking to get blown away during the first listen, you might have varying degrees of satisfaction.