Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Watch Godspeed You! Black Emperor

By Mark Floyd

Hailing from Montreal in Canada, Godspeed You! Black Emperor is post-rock music group. They are generally known for their visual and extensive live shows and lengthy instrumental songs. Their performances and recordings mostly consist of percussion instruments and electric guitars yet more obscure instruments such as glockenspiels and French horns have made appearances as well.

The band got their name from an ambiguous Japanese film about a motorcycle gang, the "Black Emperors". The number of people in the group is never given, ranging anywhere from 9 to 20 at any given moment. The group was on a lengthy break for a few years so that its various members could focus on other endeavors, though they are scheduled to perform together at an upcoming English festival.

The band's lack of a front man and ever changing line-up is partly explained by their consideration that their music is greater than the group. They also have a strict moratorium on personal interviews and group photos. Their desire for the listener to disregard trivial details and focus on the music is the motive behind their strange philosophy.

The more well known members of GYBE stress in their rare interviews that multinational corporations are what is wrong with the media industry and the American economy in general. In fact, many of their album and song linear notes reference the wrongdoings of the corporate media. On their latest album, an image was included on the back art work that linked several record labels to America's military-industrial complex.

Fans of the band say their live shows are exhilarating and random events. Since the group doesn't use singers they employ a heap of visual imageries in the concerts. These movies, which are often filmed and produced by one of the bands' main members, are used to wrap the songs and their message together for the listeners.

In the early 2000s, GYBE's band mates were mistaken for a band of criminals in a rural Oklahoma town. The group and their crew was caravaning through the mid-west on tour when, at a small gas station, an employee became convinced that they were terrorists. The authorities were called after the station attendant got another customer to call them.

When the Ardmore police arrived, they discovered anti-government documents in both of the group's two vans. These finds, coupled with the groups general scruffiness prompted the local officers to call in the FBI. The band members were immediately detained and personally questioned for some time before the authorities decided to let them go. And although GYBE made it to their next tour stop in time, the run-in no doubt only fueled their anarchist philosophies.

They have officially released three albums since their debut in the 1990s. Since then, Godspeed You! Black Emperor has also put out several releases and EPs. Several of their songs have even come out without being on an album since GYBE encourages their fans to record their concerts. The band has even lent songs to a handful of television and movie soundtracks as well, although it happens very rarely. - 40726

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