Godspeed You ! Black Emperor (GY!BE) specialise in extended quiet-loud instrumentals, classical in scope but punk in attitude .
They are proof positive that, musically speaking, there are more effective ways to subvert the system other than the clichéd rebellion of mainstream rock.
The Kranky record label once called their apocalyptic soundtracks “Hopeful and harrowing narratives for our darkening world”. If you are looking for further illumination of the band’s philosophy or political standpoint, you are in for a disappointment.
GY!BE’s own grammatically challenged and wilfully obscure album sleeve notes and minimal online communications read like frenzied missives from the front line of an unspecified global war. They are random stream of consciousness rants tapped out on cheap typewriters. Their opposition to corporate culture is plain but they resist setting this down in any coherent manifesto. Continue reading
