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 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O. [Constellation Records - 2002]Godspeed You! Black Emperor (yes, the punctuation changed) received a fair amount of well-deserved praise in the past few years. Their blend of classically structured epic instrumentals and punk spirit has been a revelation for many who recently discovered the world of post-rock (although the term has become almost meaningless; see indie-rock and alternative-rock). I cannot deny that my expectations were quite high so, now that I have had about one month to wrap my head around it, lets see how well it held up.The Montréal 9-piece had already figured out what they wanted to do on their first album, F#A#OO, and while they mostly stuck to their guns on following releases they always did tweak certain aspects of their sound as time went by. Knowing that, it is not surprising to learn that Yanqui U.X.O. is an improvement but not a big departure. The aesthetics are familiar: this is still visceral instrumental music aimed at the guts as much as the brain, long sprawling pieces with ups and downs – if you look up GYBE in the dictionary you’ll see “excellent use of dynamics” - which generally have a few hair-raising bombastic moments of pure beauty. For my money, Yanqui U.X.O. is Godspeed’s most mature and satisfying creation to date. The reasons for that, aside from the honing of the band’s compositional skills, are the little changes: Primo, the tracks have a stronger feeling of unity and the transitions between the movements are better executed. It makes each song feel less like a collage and more like a whole. Secondly, Steve Albini’s talent behind the recording desk is apparent and the sound quality is excellent (even if his work here is quite different from what he did with Mogwai). This is definitely an album to play loud. Another notable change, and fans will be divided on this one, is the total absence of field recordings. It thought they were effective in the past, but I believe that omitting them wasn’t such a bad move since: 1) the music speaks for itself quite well 2) there was a danger of falling into self-parody; how many recordings of crazy right-wing loons can you use before it becomes a cheesy cliché? Finally, they got rid of the excess of interminable ambient drones. I always thought it was the weakest link on Lift Yr. Skinny Fists and their exit only makes the compositions tighter and the album more rewarding for active listening.Newcomers should be warned that Yanqui U.X.O. is not as immediate as GYBE’s back-catalogue. This is far from being a flaw and, in the long run, this LP is as satisfying – if not more - as anything else the band recorded. If you want to experience Godspeed You! Black Emperor for the first time, you should probably start with the Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada EP or the band’s second album, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Comme Antennas to Heaven; Just make sure you come back to this one…What I tell my friends: Definitely GYBE’s most difficult album but ‘Oh!’ so rewarding in the long run. 
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|  | | Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yan... | Godspeed You! Black Emperor (yes, the punctuation changed) received a fair amount of well-deserved praise in the past few years. Their blend of classically s...
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| | | The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H... | Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
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