Albums by this artist

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)

Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada (1999)

Godspeed You Black Emperor!

Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada

---

» ERIC WEDDLE | STAFF WRITER

Godspeed You Black Emperor! Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada Constellation/Kranky, 1999 RiYL: Pink Floyd, Henryk Gorecki, Sonic Youth

Perhaps the most elusive yet championed group to emerge in the music underground in 1998 was Godspeed You Black Emperor! Obscured by its anti-interview and photograph stance, the band still managed to position themselves in the media and infiltrate the buying public. Consisting of more than eight members, Godspeed is less a typical band than a music collective, incorporating film and other visual elements into its sound.

Godspeed's second release, Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada, consists of two pieces with a combined time of almost 30 minutes. The movements condense the multiple ideas covered on its debut, F No. 9 No. (Infinity). Godspeed's blend of stringed instruments, guitar, drums and taped sounds clearly emulate the bleakest of classical music, making Slow Riot a requiem for the apocalypse.

The first piece, "Moya," leads with a simmering of cello and violin. Similar to Godspeed's live shows, the windswept sound slowly builds up to the second movement of dense guitar, entwined with small bells and opaque background drones. The piece, at times, dips into the dark orchestral psychedelia Pink Floyd fashioned on Atom Heart Mother and Obscured By Clouds. Godspeed's use of shifting melody forces a dramatic and cinematic atmosphere into the piece. The end is signaled by a repeated measure that quietly collapses.

"Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" opens with a disturbing taped interview of a Rhode Island street preacher commenting on the impending doomsday of America. Unlike "Moya," the movement is broken into three distinct portions. First, cello and guitar accentuate the voice's prophecy. The instruments gently fluctuate back and forth, creating more of an ambience than an arranged piece. "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" ends with a subdued, calm segment similar to the harmonic portions of Henryk Gorecki's symphonies.

Those waiting for the next proper full-length from Godspeed may simply find this EP too brief. Although the two pieces evoke different moods, they are quite similar and don't veer far from the music of the band's debut. It should be interesting indeed to hear what Godspeed tries next.

ERIC WEDDLE |