F♯A♯∞
Encyclopedia
F♯ A♯ ∞ is the debut album of the Canadian post-rock
band Godspeed You! Black Emperor
. It was released twice, first in 1997 by Constellation Records
and then again on 8 June 1998, by Kranky
as an expanded edition that ran for 63:27. The album is devoid of traditional lyrics and mostly instrumental, featuring lengthy songs segmented into movements
and wide dynamics
.
The album was recorded at the Hotel2Tango
in the Mile End of Montreal
. It was initially released in very limited quantities, and was mainly distributed through live performances
and advertised by word of mouth
.
moved into a loft with his then-girlfriend in the Mile End of Montreal
. Pezzente used the flat as a performance venue, dubbing it the Gallery Quiva. Around 1996, fumes from the mechanic's garage below the loft forced them to vacate it. Shortly after their departure, Efrim Menuck
moved into the space and established Hotel2Tango
, serving both as a recording studio and practice space. There, in 1997, the original recording of F♯ A♯ ∞ took place. By this time, the band had reached an unwieldy fifteen members. In preparation of the album, they trimmed their numbers to ten, but still included a number of guest musicians in the recording.
The culmination of material spanning back to 1993 resulted in two lengthy songs, each about twenty minutes in length. After the record's release, the band became interested in touring the United States
. In order to make headway, they sent a copy of their album to the Chicago-based record label Kranky
. Kranky, impressed by the recording, offered to republish the album on compact disc
. The band quickly returned to the studio and re-recorded the album, which was released in June 1998. Changes to the album included the addition, subtraction and reorganization of material, resulting in three tracks and slightly over an hour of music.
s and sampled sounds
, once referred to by David Keenan of The Wire
as "eschatological
tape loops." Therefore, the overall theme of the album is often pinned as apocalyptic
. Indeed, English
director Danny Boyle
was heavily inspired by the album during the making of 28 Days Later
. During an interview with The Guardian
, he explained, "I always try to have a soundtrack in my mind [when creating a film]. Like when we did Trainspotting
, it was Underworld
. For me, the soundtrack to 28 Days Later was Godspeed. The whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head."
The opening track, "The Dead Flag Blues", begins with an ominous introduction which originates from an unfinished screenplay by guitar
ist Efrim Menuck
. Backed by a string melody, the speaker describes a derelict city, where the government is corrupt and the inhabitants are drugged. The introduction is followed by the sounds of a train and high-volume suspended noise. This eventually develops into a Western-themed
melody, and is capped off by an upbeat section which includes glockenspiel
, violin
, and slide guitar
.
The second track, "East Hastings", is named after a street in Vancouver's blighted Downtown Eastside
. It begins with bagpipes reprising the theme of "The Dead Flag Blues" and backing the shouts of a street preacher
. The sermon slowly quiets, and is replaced with the movement "Sad Mafioso", an edited version of which appeared in the film 28 Days Later
. The movement also contains a brief portion where the band quietly sings in a rare occurrence of vocals. The track concludes with a series of electronic noises and buzzing until throbbing bass takes over.
The final track, "Providence", is considerably longer than the first two, coming in around thirty minutes in length. James Oldham of NME
described it as "part The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
and part Spiritualized
drone freakout." The introduction features a vox pop
interviewee who references "A Country Boy Can Survive
" by Hank Williams, Jr.
The speaker is quickly replaced with a cello piece accompanied by glockenspiel
, violin
, and horn
. Percussion is added to the melody which peaks, and is continued by a distorted singing woman. A quasi-military tune follows and is eventually taken over by the sung phrase "Where are you going? Where are you going?" The voice is sampled from the song "By My Side," from the 1970 musical Godspell
. A collage of sounds and drones then round off the track. After a period of silence, a brief coda named for the American musician John Lee Hooker
is performed.
The original five-hundred records' jackets were handmade by the band, their record label
, and local Montreal artists
. One of three original photographs—depicting a watertower, train, or road sign—was glued onto the cover. The sleeve and jacket made no mention of the track titles. They were instead scratched into the run-off groove of the record, accompanied by the catalog number and side indication.
Inside of the jacket was an envelope filled with inserts. The contents included an old handbill, the album's credit sheet, a picture drawn by guitarist Efrim Menuck
, and a Canadian penny crushed by a train. A silk-screened image dedicated to the blues
musician Reverend Gary Davis
was also included in the jacket. Barb Stewart of Stylus Magazine
and Mike Galloway of NOW
called the packaging and inserts "beautiful." After numerous repressings, the assembly process was streamlined. However, the record still ships, to this day, with virtually the same packaging elements as the originals.
The compact disc
version of the album is much simpler artistically. Guitarist David Bryant once referred to the packaging as a "jewel-cased CD monstrosity," preferring the original handcrafted record. The photograph of a road sign was chosen as the cover image, and was enlarged and darkened significantly from the original. Inside of the case are liner notes
and images, including the "Faulty Schematics of a Ruined Machine," the hand drawn picture by Efrim Menuck present in the record.
Constellation
and co-producers of the album, offered to publish it as their third record. The album was released in August 1997, and was initially limited to five-hundred hand-packaged and -numbered vinyl records
. The first publication of F♯ A♯ ∞ was reviewed by a scant number of critics. Stylus Magazine wrote that the record was "innovative and inventive" and that it "stakes out unique territory in a world overrun with hackneyed experimentation." Gordon Krieger of Exclaim!
described it as a "slow soundtrack of regret and desire, equal parts morose and expectant." Montreal-based Hour
magazine said the lengthy tracks "could be really pretentious but the sounds [the band] make are way too cool to be merely coldly superior." Chart
magazine went on to rank the two-track record as #46 on their list of the top 50 Canadian albums of all time.
Reviews of the second publication were generally positive and more widespread. Marc Gilman of Allmusic said that "the music on [the] album is unique and powerful" and that someone "would be hard-pressed to find any imitators of [Godspeed's] revolutionary musical form." The Magnet
commented that the three tracks can be "served up as staggering psychedelia for a headphone or surround-sound context," voting it #38 on their list of the best albums from 1993 to 2003. The NME
called it a "genuine classic," noting the variety of sounds present in the album. Pitchfork Media
founder and critic Ryan Schreiber remarked that, of the many experimental bands around, Godspeed You! Black Emperor were "one of the few that [haven't] left out beauty and emotion in their pieces." Pitchfork later ranked the album #45 on their list of the top 100 albums of 1990s.
Guest musicians
All guest musicians are credited in the liner notes of the album. No surnames or instruments played are given.
Production and design
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
band Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
. It was released twice, first in 1997 by Constellation Records
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
and then again on 8 June 1998, by Kranky
Kranky Records
Kranky is an independent record label, located in Chicago, Illinois. It was started in 1993 by Bruce Adams and Joel Leoschke.The bands it houses are noted for combining experimental and often electronic influences with elements of more traditional rock structures, and many of the artists on Kranky...
as an expanded edition that ran for 63:27. The album is devoid of traditional lyrics and mostly instrumental, featuring lengthy songs segmented into movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
and wide dynamics
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
.
The album was recorded at the Hotel2Tango
Hotel2Tango
The Hotel2Tango is a 24-track analogue recording studio situated in the Mile End district of Montreal, Quebec. The current facility is the second to bear the name, and was preceded by a similar operation in the same neighborhood until 2007 when the studio changed locations...
in the Mile End of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. It was initially released in very limited quantities, and was mainly distributed through live performances
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
and advertised by word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
.
Recording
In 1995, Mauro PezzenteMauro Pezzente
Mauro Pezzente is a Canadian musician. He is best known as being co-founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.Pezzente, along with Efrim Menuck and Mike Moya, founded Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 1994. Along with Thierry Amar, Pezzente plays the bass guitar for the band.Pezzente was the first to...
moved into a loft with his then-girlfriend in the Mile End of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Pezzente used the flat as a performance venue, dubbing it the Gallery Quiva. Around 1996, fumes from the mechanic's garage below the loft forced them to vacate it. Shortly after their departure, Efrim Menuck
Efrim Menuck
Efrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
moved into the space and established Hotel2Tango
Hotel2Tango
The Hotel2Tango is a 24-track analogue recording studio situated in the Mile End district of Montreal, Quebec. The current facility is the second to bear the name, and was preceded by a similar operation in the same neighborhood until 2007 when the studio changed locations...
, serving both as a recording studio and practice space. There, in 1997, the original recording of F♯ A♯ ∞ took place. By this time, the band had reached an unwieldy fifteen members. In preparation of the album, they trimmed their numbers to ten, but still included a number of guest musicians in the recording.
The culmination of material spanning back to 1993 resulted in two lengthy songs, each about twenty minutes in length. After the record's release, the band became interested in touring the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In order to make headway, they sent a copy of their album to the Chicago-based record label Kranky
Kranky Records
Kranky is an independent record label, located in Chicago, Illinois. It was started in 1993 by Bruce Adams and Joel Leoschke.The bands it houses are noted for combining experimental and often electronic influences with elements of more traditional rock structures, and many of the artists on Kranky...
. Kranky, impressed by the recording, offered to republish the album on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. The band quickly returned to the studio and re-recorded the album, which was released in June 1998. Changes to the album included the addition, subtraction and reorganization of material, resulting in three tracks and slightly over an hour of music.
Music
All of the tracks feature a number of field recordingField recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
s and sampled sounds
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, once referred to by David Keenan of The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
as "eschatological
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
tape loops." Therefore, the overall theme of the album is often pinned as apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
. Indeed, English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
director Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
was heavily inspired by the album during the making of 28 Days Later
28 Days Later
28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...
. During an interview with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, he explained, "I always try to have a soundtrack in my mind [when creating a film]. Like when we did Trainspotting
Trainspotting (film)
Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...
, it was Underworld
Underworld (band)
Underworld are a British electronic group, and principal name under which duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have recorded together since 1980.- Early years: 1979–1986 :...
. For me, the soundtrack to 28 Days Later was Godspeed. The whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head."
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Efrim Menuck
Efrim Menuck
Efrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
. Backed by a string melody, the speaker describes a derelict city, where the government is corrupt and the inhabitants are drugged. The introduction is followed by the sounds of a train and high-volume suspended noise. This eventually develops into a Western-themed
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
melody, and is capped off by an upbeat section which includes glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, and slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
.
The second track, "East Hastings", is named after a street in Vancouver's blighted Downtown Eastside
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code"....
. It begins with bagpipes reprising the theme of "The Dead Flag Blues" and backing the shouts of a street preacher
Open-air preaching
Open-air preaching, street preaching or public preaching is the act of publicly proclaiming a religious message to crowds of people in open places...
. The sermon slowly quiets, and is replaced with the movement "Sad Mafioso", an edited version of which appeared in the film 28 Days Later
28 Days Later
28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...
. The movement also contains a brief portion where the band quietly sings in a rare occurrence of vocals. The track concludes with a series of electronic noises and buzzing until throbbing bass takes over.
The final track, "Providence", is considerably longer than the first two, coming in around thirty minutes in length. James Oldham of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
described it as "part The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
and part Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
drone freakout." The introduction features a vox pop
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
interviewee who references "A Country Boy Can Survive
A Country Boy Can Survive
"A Country Boy Can Survive" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Hank Williams, Jr. The song was released as a single in January 1982 and reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts in March 1982...
" by Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr.
Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
The speaker is quickly replaced with a cello piece accompanied by glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, and horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
. Percussion is added to the melody which peaks, and is continued by a distorted singing woman. A quasi-military tune follows and is eventually taken over by the sung phrase "Where are you going? Where are you going?" The voice is sampled from the song "By My Side," from the 1970 musical Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
. A collage of sounds and drones then round off the track. After a period of silence, a brief coda named for the American musician John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
is performed.
Packaging
The title of the album is pronounced "F-sharp, A-sharp, Infinity". This is a reference to the keys in which each side of the record begins and to the endless loop at the end. The compact disc version does not contain the loop.The original five-hundred records' jackets were handmade by the band, their record label
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
, and local Montreal artists
Culture of Montreal
Montreal was referred to as "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle Magazine. The city is Canada's centre for French-language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia and print publishing. The Quartier Latin is a neighbourhood crowded with cafés animated by this literary and musical...
. One of three original photographs—depicting a watertower, train, or road sign—was glued onto the cover. The sleeve and jacket made no mention of the track titles. They were instead scratched into the run-off groove of the record, accompanied by the catalog number and side indication.
Inside of the jacket was an envelope filled with inserts. The contents included an old handbill, the album's credit sheet, a picture drawn by guitarist Efrim Menuck
Efrim Menuck
Efrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
, and a Canadian penny crushed by a train. A silk-screened image dedicated to the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
was also included in the jacket. Barb Stewart of Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
and Mike Galloway of NOW
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
called the packaging and inserts "beautiful." After numerous repressings, the assembly process was streamlined. However, the record still ships, to this day, with virtually the same packaging elements as the originals.
The compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
version of the album is much simpler artistically. Guitarist David Bryant once referred to the packaging as a "jewel-cased CD monstrosity," preferring the original handcrafted record. The photograph of a road sign was chosen as the cover image, and was enlarged and darkened significantly from the original. Inside of the case are liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
and images, including the "Faulty Schematics of a Ruined Machine," the hand drawn picture by Efrim Menuck present in the record.
Release and reception
Originally, the band had planned to self-release the album as a double 7" record set. The idea was scrapped after Don Wilkie and Ian Ilavsky, founders of the independent record labelIndependent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Constellation
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
and co-producers of the album, offered to publish it as their third record. The album was released in August 1997, and was initially limited to five-hundred hand-packaged and -numbered vinyl records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. The first publication of F♯ A♯ ∞ was reviewed by a scant number of critics. Stylus Magazine wrote that the record was "innovative and inventive" and that it "stakes out unique territory in a world overrun with hackneyed experimentation." Gordon Krieger of Exclaim!
Exclaim!
Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...
described it as a "slow soundtrack of regret and desire, equal parts morose and expectant." Montreal-based Hour
Hour (magazine)
Hour is an English-language urban news magazine published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Communications Voir. Its president-publisher is Pierre Paquet, the editor-in-chief is Kevin Laforest. It caters to Montreal's anglophone community and is published every Thursday. The news features "expose...
magazine said the lengthy tracks "could be really pretentious but the sounds [the band] make are way too cool to be merely coldly superior." Chart
Chart (magazine)
ChartAttack is a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine called Chart, which was published from 1991 to 2009, the web version continues operation....
magazine went on to rank the two-track record as #46 on their list of the top 50 Canadian albums of all time.
Reviews of the second publication were generally positive and more widespread. Marc Gilman of Allmusic said that "the music on [the] album is unique and powerful" and that someone "would be hard-pressed to find any imitators of [Godspeed's] revolutionary musical form." The Magnet
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
commented that the three tracks can be "served up as staggering psychedelia for a headphone or surround-sound context," voting it #38 on their list of the best albums from 1993 to 2003. The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
called it a "genuine classic," noting the variety of sounds present in the album. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
founder and critic Ryan Schreiber remarked that, of the many experimental bands around, Godspeed You! Black Emperor were "one of the few that [haven't] left out beauty and emotion in their pieces." Pitchfork later ranked the album #45 on their list of the top 100 albums of 1990s.
Vinyl edition
Compact Disc edition
Vinyl
- Names of movements are not actually given anywhere in the vinyl release; these are extrapolated from the CD release.
- The final movement on side one does not have a corresponding segment on the CD release.
- Time lengths given are approximations. Because of the locked groove of the final track, the vinyl edition technically has an infinite running time.
CD
- "Slow Moving Trains" and "The Cowboy..." are listed as the same movement, but they are actually separate pieces.
- "Drugs in Tokyo" and "Black Helicopter" are listed as the same movement, but they are actually separate pieces.
- "J.L.H. Outro" was named in honor of John Lee HookerJohn Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
. On the CD edition it is hidden after approximately four minutes' worth of silence at end of "Providence". - Time lengths of movements given are taken from the official discography, apart from the division between "Drugs in Tokyo" and "Black Helicopter", which is estimated based on the absence of "Black Helicopter" from the LP.
Personnel
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Aidan GirtAidan GirtAidan Girt is a Canadian drummer for the Montreal-based post-rock collectives, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Exhaust. He is also a solo electronic artist under the moniker 1-Speed Bike and occasionally Bottleskup Flenkenkenmike....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Bruce Cawdron – percussion
- Christophe – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- David Bryant – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Efrim MenuckEfrim MenuckEfrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
– electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Mauro PezzenteMauro PezzenteMauro Pezzente is a Canadian musician. He is best known as being co-founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.Pezzente, along with Efrim Menuck and Mike Moya, founded Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 1994. Along with Thierry Amar, Pezzente plays the bass guitar for the band.Pezzente was the first to...
– bass guitar - Mike Moya – guitar, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
- Norsola Johnson – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Thea Pratt – hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Thierry AmarThierry AmarThierry Amar is a Canadian musician. He is most notable for participating in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as being co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Sophie Trudeau. Amar also participates with Black Ox Orkestar, a Yiddish folk...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Guest musicians
All guest musicians are credited in the liner notes of the album. No surnames or instruments played are given.
- Amanda
- Colin
- Dan O.
- Jesse
- Peter
- Slyvain
- Shnaiberg
Production and design
- Ian Ilavsky – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Godspeed You! Black Emperor – production, mixing
- John Arthur Tinholt – locomotive etching
- Don Wilkie – production, mixing
External links
- F♯ A♯ ∞ at MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
- F♯ A♯ ∞ at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....