Allelujah! A new album!

October 3, 2012 10:20 AM

After a ten year break, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have announced a new album, Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Listen.
posted by schyler523 (65 comments total)

After a ten year break

Damn that makes me feel old.
posted by empath at 10:22 AM on October 3, 2012 [7 favorites]

OK!
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 10:23 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hooray! ASMZ are great and all, but this is awesome!

Also, I saw GY!BE on their last tour. They played, for hours, in a giant church in Manhattan. It was the single most emotionally intense show I've ever been to. Anyway, after the show, I stumbled out of there, heart pounding and dazed as hell, and there was Efrim, just having a smoke and talking and laughing with some fans like he just stepped out of a diner or something.

I'm pretty sure he was tailor-made by Forces Unknown to spend his life making and playing this music.
posted by griphus at 10:26 AM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]

huge fan from back in the day.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:29 AM on October 3, 2012

Also, my official GY!BE t-shirt, which bears the triangle thing from booklet art, is the most comfortable piece of clothing I own.
posted by griphus at 10:30 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

But, but, there are no tour dates on that Pitchfork page remotely near me!?
posted by univac at 10:31 AM on October 3, 2012

I-- what-- okay.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:31 AM on October 3, 2012

I've been forever in love with their label-mates, Do Make Say Think.

I know I should like GY!BE, but I think they haven't grown on me yet.
posted by ninjew at 10:32 AM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

Gah! The Boston show was on Monday? Whenever they tour, I always find out just a few days too late. *cries forever*
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:33 AM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I remember seeing GYBE with Sigur Ros supporting in Manchester in 2000, was just about the best thing in the world to my nineteen year old self.

Hope the new record is better than Yanqui UXO, could never get into that album.
posted by brilliantmistake at 10:36 AM on October 3, 2012

Their three-day run at the Rialto in Montreal in the mid-2000s was legendary. Not so legendary that I remember the year (2004?) or even that I have the venue right (definitely on Ave du Parc), but I sure as hell remember the concert. Welcome back, old friends.
posted by Catchfire at 10:40 AM on October 3, 2012

My arms are dutifully lifted!
posted by Cosine at 10:41 AM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

I was just in Boston and saw that they were playing at a theatre there on last Monday. So mad I hadn't scheduled my trip around it. I saw them once in a warehouse outside of New Orleans and it was ... almost hallucinatory, it was so good.
posted by penduluum at 10:47 AM on October 3, 2012

Apparently they began selling the album in Boston. And really? Buffalo is the only stop in NY??
posted by nevercalm at 10:47 AM on October 3, 2012

For the ignorant; How is this materially different than Mogwai?
posted by Keith Talent at 10:49 AM on October 3, 2012

My arms are dutifully lifted!

Like antennas to heaven.
posted by cirrostratus at 10:51 AM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm going to see them in London next month. At least, that's what the writing says on the tickets. Can't quite believe it's going to happen, though. It all seems so ... implausible. Like I'm going to turn up to the venue and there's just going to be a giant sign saying "Ha! As if!"
posted by Sonny Jim at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

For the ignorant; How is this materially different than Mogwai?

More strings.
posted by subtle-t at 10:54 AM on October 3, 2012

My arms are dutifully lifted!

Like antennas to heaven.

Yup! They aren't that skinny though...
posted by Cosine at 10:55 AM on October 3, 2012

For the ignorant; How is this materially different than Mogwai?

Correct answer: cuz Mogwai is snooze-inducing.

Pretentious answer: GYBE places more emphasis on differences in dynamics: loud v. soft, fast v. slow, droney v. rocky. Their music, I would say, is composed more like classical music than traditional rock music.
posted by MetalFingerz at 10:56 AM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]

Mogwai is snooze-inducing.

Or, in the case of Like Herod, a snooze interrupted at the 3 minute mark by a jet aircraft crashing through the bedroom window.
posted by Sonny Jim at 11:01 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

These are truly the last days.
posted by Palindromedary at 11:04 AM on October 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

I wouldn't say Mogwai are snooze inducers, Sine Wave is one of my favorite songs (although its' not exactly typical of their music). It's just that GY!BE is more emotionally powerful by several orders of magnitude. If you don't feel feels while playing F♯ A♯ ∞ in it's entirety you aren't a real human.
posted by cirrostratus at 11:05 AM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

I found out that GY!BE is playing Louisville, the same week I'm going up for my Gramma's birthday. Unfortunately she's a bit up in years, and not likely to enjoy the show... so I'm going with my aunt.

Also, if you need to find out how and why Godspeed rocks your genitals off, watch this. If you're new to post-rock in general, the advice is 'give it a few minutes'.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:11 AM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Oh crap, that "Listen" link is for the entire album? I made it fifteen minutes in before wondering how long the track was. I regret nothing.
posted by Stagger Lee at 11:14 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Going tonight in Baltimore.
posted by oneironaut at 11:24 AM on October 3, 2012

Are their shows ultra-loud, like My Bloody Valentine? I'd like to go see them, but I don't have enough hearing left to just squander it for fun anymore. EDIT: I am aware that I am too old, thank you.
posted by thelonius at 11:36 AM on October 3, 2012

I love these guys. Even if I dont like the noise/music I still love these guys.
posted by shothotbot at 11:48 AM on October 3, 2012

They're not as loud as MBV (or Mono, for that matter) but they're loud. However, they put on a show for which I'd trade some audible frequencies.
posted by griphus at 11:50 AM on October 3, 2012

Has anyone, ever made love to GY!BE?
posted by shothotbot at 11:50 AM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

In my opinion, this is a truely marvelous year for "instrument heavy music" (for lack of a better term to describe the following three records at one).

First Swans crushed me with one of their best records to date, expanding on their already pretty good comeback record and reminding me of the good old days (that is, for me, their also very post-rocky and experimental "Soundtracks of the Blind").

Then, out of nowhere Max Richter's Recomposition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons proved itself to be an astonishing addition to the neo-classical genre, evoking some very weird reactions in me on the first listening.

And now there's the new GY!BE record, which, I can predict will (deservedly) end up on a lot of "Top of 2012" lists as well. I've listened to it yesterday walking through the dark under a full moon (the street lights of a few blocks were dead throughout the yesterday's night) and it came pretty close to those "Lift your skinny arms.." days. (So it's by no means a revolutionary new record, the dawn of post rock or whatever but a nice callback to the times when this genre had its heyday. Which seemed a long time ago.)

(I'm sorry if this comment sounds a bit bloated but I've had to make my love for this three recent records public. Maybe it'll inspire a listen in someone of you.)
posted by bigendian at 11:54 AM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]

I... What?
posted by looli at 11:57 AM on October 3, 2012

shothotbot: TMI maybe, but some of the best erotic experiences I've ever had were when GY!BE was in the background. Inebriation also helped.

I can highly recommend Motherfucker = Redeemer, Part 2 and the Dead Metheny part of Providence. East Hastings is still too creepy for sex though.

Just putting it out there.
posted by donquixote at 12:02 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Holy shit, 14 minutes in, this new piece does a lovely epic* Love Reign O'er Me sort of a movement/break down of sorts...lovely. That's one of my favorite songs of all time.

*Epic?? What the fuck, about GS!YBE isn't EPIC. HA.
posted by Skygazer at 12:04 PM on October 3, 2012

Has anyone, ever made love to GY!BE?

You just strap yourself in and feel the g's.
posted by adamdschneider at 12:06 PM on October 3, 2012

Just saw them in Boston. Didn't have an extra $20 for the new record, but the live material was great. But good lord, that Super 8 film.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:07 PM on October 3, 2012

Has anyone, ever made love to GY!BE?

Yes, but no one's ever lived through it intact enough to take credit for it...
posted by Skygazer at 12:10 PM on October 3, 2012

We're trapped in the back seat of this horrible machine
And the machine is a 1986 Chevy Nova.
posted by griphus at 12:16 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh crap, that "Listen" link is for the entire album?

Query: what's the difference between posting a download link on an MP3 blog (e.g. here, here, or here) and posting an unauthorized full stream of an album on YouTube?

I would posit none--no difference (aside from the imprimatur of Google).

I downloaded the album yesterday along with everyone else. It is good.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:26 PM on October 3, 2012

One of the best gigs I've ever been to - and I've been to a lot, because I spent more than a decade as a music hack - was Godspeed, supported by Mogwai and a friend's band in Glasgow in 1999. It was a small venue - not sure of the exact capacity but maybe about 300 - and good Christ, it was amazing. Mogwai, as ever, were great, and, as ever, sandblasted my ears; Godspeed weren't quite as loud, but fuck, they were amazing.

I also still feel slightly guilty because myself and a fellow MeFite were supposed to go and see Godspeed on his 25th birthday, and when he didn't turn up I was kind of miffed. And then later I found out he didn't turn up because his lung had collapsed.
posted by Len at 12:29 PM on October 3, 2012

I don't normally enjoy a GY!BE album on the first listen, but this one has sucked me in straight away. Perfect for a dark and rainy night such as this.
posted by Acey at 12:37 PM on October 3, 2012

Cat Pie Hurts: "Gah! The Boston show was on Monday? Whenever they tour, I always find out just a few days too late. *cries forever*"

Songkick is pretty good for alerts on that sort of thing, as long as you're optimistic enough to put even the most disbanded of bands in (The Smiths excepted).
posted by Auz at 1:03 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Was lucky to catch them playing in Hudson, NY a couple of weeks back.

It was incredibly loud. Far louder than I assumed they'd let any band play live in America. At times you felt it inside and through the vibrations in the concrete floor. It was brilliant.

The drive back to the city afterwards was very quiet. I don't remember if the 3 of us actually spoke at all.
posted by 13twelve at 1:22 PM on October 3, 2012

I saw them last night in Philly, it was incredible
posted by smackwich at 1:33 PM on October 3, 2012

Cat Pie Hurts: "Gah! The Boston show was on Monday? Whenever they tour, I always find out just a few days too late. *cries forever*"

Like Auz says, get on Songkick. You don't need to manually configure it, it will scan iTunes or last.fm or Spotify or Pandora and put in all the bands that you listen to. It is pretty much my favourite thing on the internet.

Sonny Jim: I'm going to see them in London next month.

Me too. It is my birthday. Tickets were sold out but I managed to pick some up at face value on last.fm*. Already seen 'em before twice (the Troxy gig a couple of years ago was great), but definitely looking forward to this.

*There is a place in music heaven for people who sell tickets to sold-out shows at face value to other fans.
posted by Infinite Jest at 2:08 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I saw them in Detroit (almost exactly) eleven years ago and they were amazing, and I am so, so sad to learn about their new tour just as it's out of reach.
posted by gauche at 2:10 PM on October 3, 2012

So this thread made me download F#A#Infinity and I just put it on, because my copy of the LP -- the LP that I mail-ordered when I was about 15, before the Internet, really, and was somehow the first record I mail ordered, since I was hundreds of miles away from any record store that had ever even heard of it, and I actually sent a letter and a money order all the way to Montreal, and when it finally came it included a handwritten note of thanks from the guys who ran the label -- is thousands of miles away, and I haven't listened to it in probably a decade or more, and this is probably as close as I'll get to a time machine. And it's still perfect.
posted by junco at 2:22 PM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

No Canadian dates? Aw man...
posted by papafrita at 2:28 PM on October 3, 2012

Godspeed You! Fat Moggie
posted by Sebmojo at 3:01 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

No Canadian dates? Aw man...
posted by papafrita at 11:28 AM on October 3 [+] [!]

Try living in New Zealand, my maple-syrup-loving friend.

Cruelly they're even doing a bunch of gigs in Australia, but they're not hopping the ditch.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:04 PM on October 3, 2012

Has anyone, ever made love to GY!BE?

I have. While tripping face on three tabs. It was...um...surreal, to say the least.

I'm happy they've got another album out. I'm going to put on the presidential debates, mute them, and crank this and get drunk and get angry until I pass out.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 3:07 PM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]

*There is a place in music heaven for people who sell tickets to sold-out shows at face value to other fans.

This. This. A Thousand Times This.
posted by hippybear at 4:40 PM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

In the mid 90s a friend set me up on a date. We ended up seeing Palace Brothers on their second round thru Toronto. I never saw the guy again but still email with him every once in a while.

The guy was very cool and nice but it was the last time I went out with a guy. He was a banker I think, or worked in money somehow. That night he said he was sick of Toronto and sick of his job and he'd been thinking of moving to Montreal and starting a label. Lots of friends had told me they were gonna do a label but few ever did so I thought little of it.

A while later another friend who booked shows told me to head to this tiny club in Chinatown to catch this new band she was sure was gonna blow up. It was the first time I'd see Godspeed live. There was maybe 20 people there.

At the merch table? My date from that night! GYBE were one of his first bands and the label is still kicking ass. I've probably seen Godspeed a dozen times and they're always great.

Thanks for being sick of your job and sick of Toronto, D!
posted by dobbs at 4:43 PM on October 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

Goddamn This! Is Awesome

Purchased.
posted by Decimask at 7:10 PM on October 3, 2012

Two tickets purchased for Detroit. See y'all there!
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:31 PM on October 3, 2012

I bought a ticket for their Philly show about six hours before everyone found out there were selling the new album up in Boston. It feels so crazy to actually have it in my hands right now.
posted by dobi at 9:25 PM on October 3, 2012

Show tonight in Baltimore was great! Although I'm annoyed nobody in the crowd kept cheering for an encore...
posted by azarbayejani at 10:04 PM on October 3, 2012

Of course, Silver Mount Zion (Efrim's side project) has been decently prolific during these ten years of down time; well worth digging into!
posted by kaibutsu at 1:20 AM on October 4, 2012

Infinite Jest, I missed out on those Troxy shows even though they kept adding dates - the one I could have got tickets for clashed with something else. However, I'm seeing them at the Forum next month yay!

Is it true that they're wear-earplugs-or-get-tinnitus loud?
posted by phl at 2:18 AM on October 4, 2012

In my opinion, this is a truely marvelous year for "instrument heavy music" (for lack of a better term to describe the following three records at one).

Don't forget the releases by Natural Snow Buildings, Hammock, and Celer.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:48 AM on October 4, 2012

Man, that first track sure does sound like the first track of a GY!BE album.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:56 AM on October 4, 2012

Youtube link has been pulled
posted by 13twelve at 1:06 PM on October 4, 2012

Yeah, that was basically my fucking complaint. Aside from the legal issues involved in posting a link to an unauthorized stream of an unreleased album .. the odds of that link getting pulled and the post becoming useless are non insignificant. Most of those download links still work ...
posted by mrgrimm at 12:34 PM on October 5, 2012

Here's a YouTube stream that works.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:35 PM on October 5, 2012

Epic interview at The Guardian.

We're all of us born beneath the weight of piss-poor governance. It's a miracle that so many of us make it through our teens. Politics is for politicians and all our politicians have the whiff of death to them, it's why they wear so much perfume and cologne, it's why they wear brightly coloured scarves and ties, just to distract from the pallor of their skin. So many of us just want to live away from that stench – we stagger towards the light awkwardly, astonished that so many of us are staggering together thusly, amen.

posted by Shepherd at 4:47 AM on October 15, 2012 [2 favorites]