Past and present members:Thierry Amar – double bass, bass
David Bryant – guitar, tapes
Bruce Cawdron – drums, percussion
James Chau – keyboards, harpsichord, guitar
Fluffy Erskine – film projections
Aidan Girt – drums, percussion
Norsola Johnson – cello
Karl Lemieux - film projections
John Littlefair – film projections
Efrim Menuck – guitar, tape loops keyboards
Mike Moya – guitar
Mauro Pezzente – bass
Thea Pratt – French horn
Sophie Trudeau – violin
Roger Tellier-Craig – guitar
Grayson Walker – accordion
The Canadian Godspeed You! Black Emperor (commonly abbreviated to GY!BE) is often regarded as the godfather of post-rock, a musical genre encompassing numerous different styles that are centered on instrumental, or mainly instrumental music that is mostly played with traditional rock instruments (eg. drums, bass and guitar).
GY!BE is not the progenitor of this genre, as there are several bands older than them that have played instrumental music that can be regarded as post-rock, but GY!BE is definitely one of the most important influencers on this whole genre of music. Their music is not simple, riff-based instrumental rock music, but instead draws heavily influences from classical music and minimalism, and the songs are often composed of various movements, in which the motif is varied throughout. GY!BE was also one of the first bands to expand their instrumentation from a simple rock outfit to a one sharing common elements with classical music orchestras - throughout their existence they have had various bowed instruments, brass and percussions in addition to their electric string instruments and drums. This adds to their classical sound very much, and together with their massive, often well over 20-minute compositions, they are as much a contemporary classical orchestra as a rock band.
Also, due to their song lengths, GY!BE is not music for people with short attention span - modern post-rock songs are often quite short, somehow riff based compositions, whereas in GY!BE songs the band can easily spend several minutes playing just two chords, adding things and taking stuff away, developing the harmonic texture and mood of the song, making it probably a bit dull to the people who enjoy mostly short and easy post-rock songs, and very boring especially to the people used to standard radio hit singles with a sing-along chorus and catchy riff.
GY!BE has always been a very impressive band live. In addition to the samples and album liner notes, their political, left-wing stance is often represented through the film loop projections in their concerts, and their film projectionist is also regarded as a full member of their already extensive lineup. The band performs in a semi-circle, facing each other instead of audience, and they usually make very little contact with the attendees, becoming completely absorbed in the music.
Their guitarist, Efrim Menuck, is often regarded as the "leader" of the band, but this role is not actually that of a real band leader, but one that comes from him being one of the original founding members the person usually communicating with the media. He, however, has many times expressed his views as a rock idol, and usually, when performing with Silver Mt. Zion, he communicates with the audience with really down-to-earth fashion, discussing current topics, as if just being one of the crowd.
GY!BE ceased all activities in the early 2000's, and many believed they had really quit, although they had stated that it was only an indefinite hiatus. Then, suddenly, in 2010 they announced they would be performing once again, and even I managed to see them live in early 2011. Currently they are believed to be writing new material.
GY!BE is not the progenitor of this genre, as there are several bands older than them that have played instrumental music that can be regarded as post-rock, but GY!BE is definitely one of the most important influencers on this whole genre of music. Their music is not simple, riff-based instrumental rock music, but instead draws heavily influences from classical music and minimalism, and the songs are often composed of various movements, in which the motif is varied throughout. GY!BE was also one of the first bands to expand their instrumentation from a simple rock outfit to a one sharing common elements with classical music orchestras - throughout their existence they have had various bowed instruments, brass and percussions in addition to their electric string instruments and drums. This adds to their classical sound very much, and together with their massive, often well over 20-minute compositions, they are as much a contemporary classical orchestra as a rock band.
Also, due to their song lengths, GY!BE is not music for people with short attention span - modern post-rock songs are often quite short, somehow riff based compositions, whereas in GY!BE songs the band can easily spend several minutes playing just two chords, adding things and taking stuff away, developing the harmonic texture and mood of the song, making it probably a bit dull to the people who enjoy mostly short and easy post-rock songs, and very boring especially to the people used to standard radio hit singles with a sing-along chorus and catchy riff.
GY!BE has always been a very impressive band live. In addition to the samples and album liner notes, their political, left-wing stance is often represented through the film loop projections in their concerts, and their film projectionist is also regarded as a full member of their already extensive lineup. The band performs in a semi-circle, facing each other instead of audience, and they usually make very little contact with the attendees, becoming completely absorbed in the music.
Their guitarist, Efrim Menuck, is often regarded as the "leader" of the band, but this role is not actually that of a real band leader, but one that comes from him being one of the original founding members the person usually communicating with the media. He, however, has many times expressed his views as a rock idol, and usually, when performing with Silver Mt. Zion, he communicates with the audience with really down-to-earth fashion, discussing current topics, as if just being one of the crowd.
GY!BE ceased all activities in the early 2000's, and many believed they had really quit, although they had stated that it was only an indefinite hiatus. Then, suddenly, in 2010 they announced they would be performing once again, and even I managed to see them live in early 2011. Currently they are believed to be writing new material.
***
My list of songs that are worth checking out:
Well, they haven't really done anything not worth checking out.
***
Reviewed albums:
Yanqui U.X.O. (2002) - 96/100
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