Quote:
We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine, and the machine is bleeding to death
The sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles
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There's absolutely no way pretentious music could come out of Canada, bidding Rush aside. Scottish, nordics was my first reaction when I heard them. Maybe it's all a big lie!
That's right, I still remember the old audiogalaxy days when a friend of mine suggested
"The Dead Flag Blues" by Godspeed You Black Emperor. At the time I was pretty much into "proggresive" music and the like but was getting pretty tired of everyone ripping on either Genesis, Floyd or King Crimson. And then it struck me when I heard GY!BE, they totally did something innovative that had sum roots in what was done before, but still remained very interesting to the ear(in both concepts and music itself).
So few bands are truly "progressive" that is, trying something new, musically. If people thought of GY!BE when they heard the word "progressive" it wouldn't have such a stigma. True progressive is moving forward and that is what keept it fresh. Kudos to the band for being bold.
Unfortunately they have unwittingly become torchbearers for the anti-globalisation movement which has created a groundswell of opposition to the way that Western culture is crushing individualism, community and art in recent years. Maybe you've heard about that, or find yourself to busy looking for reviews of last night's Buffy Episode. All I can say is whether one agrees or disagrees with the group's anti-capitalistic/corporate/democratic government stance is secondary; it's the music that matters, more than whatever political agenda. GY!BE's music is packaged along with unapologetically self-indulgence and intentionally cryptic (conceptually speaking) music, make not mistake about that. But its musical adventurousness that proves them to be intoxicating, especially compared to the staid pabulum currently occupying the airwaves today!.
Pretentious ****yness aside, this is NOT music for everyone. This is not elitism by any means, rather I'm aknowledging the fact that most people couldn't bear the thought of listening to an "EPIC" song(a tune that expands the 25 minute mark WHOA!). Shame on them for sure, they may be thinking they aren't missing much, BUT they're wrong. The sound of their music ranges from dark ambience to steadily driving, but it keeps the same atmospheric, movie-soundtrack quality throughout with alot of dynamic buildups(cresendos and such) + spoken-word samples which have become quite characteristic of their "style" which mixes strings, light horns, bells, guitars, drums and tons of other instruments combining in a very sweeping and somewhat dark, but always interesting motions and textures.. Their instrumental motifs while being quite simple in theory are VERY EFFECTIVE. Whatever the circumstances externally/internally of the listener is of minor importance here. The point is, it all WORKS. But go ahead, turn it up real loud. You'll be glad you did. After repeated listens, I always feel exhausted but invigorated. It's a terrific feeling. Kinda like sex!..
Enuff talk, Here are sum recommendations:
-The Dead Flag Blues
-Moya
-BBF3
-East Hastings
-9-15-00
-Storm
-Mother****er Reedemer(that shuold read f-u-c-k-er right there, it's a tune from their last album which is divided in TWO parts, clocks around 30 minutes or so)
I can't really add anymore, those songs are more than enough. I wouldn't call them the future of music, a lot of fans get a little enthusiastic. [img]smile.gif[/img]
[ January 25, 2004, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: Captain Beefheart ]