Like former tourmates Sigur Rós, Godspeed You Black Emperor! create music of grandiloquence and oppressive beauty. This nine-piece indie rock arkestra (two guitarists, two bassists, two drummers, a cellist, violinist, and no singer) from Montreal have an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink m.o. that actually serves them quite well, supplementing their massive sound with field recordings of ranting survivalists, found-sound collage, xylophones, glockenspiels, etc.
Their songs usually last a minimum 20 minutes. Sounds like the ingredients for an incredibly pretentious endurance contest? Not if you’re conscious when they explode into naked emotional torrents that multiply Dirty Three’s expressionism to the power of ten. Add the Ennio Morricone sense of desolation, Mogwai’s disgust with the world, piles and piles of intense sadness, and you have the nine-headed monster that Radiohead wish they could be if they could only get up from all fours. GSYBE’s mastery of dynamics and scale betray a knowledge of classical composition that keeps things moving with a sense of pace and drama. While it would be interesting to hear what they could do with shorter songs, Godspeed may very well be the most powerful band on the planet.
