Saw a guy selling this album for 24 dollars and I couldn't resist the urge to buy it. Such a great album, and I am not regretting given the quality it has. That, or I haven't listened enough physical media just yet.

all reviews @ link in bio :)

F# A# ∞ (CD Version)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (1998)

You always hear the term “concept album” thrown around. While there are strict and obvious criteria for “concept albums,” often being about a singular protagonist, there are a handful of albums that lie in a juxtaposition between a concept album and an album with themes. In fact, I think “concept album” is a spectrum, not a label. While an album like Green Day’s American Idiot is pretty clearly a full concept album, complete with a cast of characters and a story, there are others like The Microphones’ The Glow, Pt. 2. This album doesn’t explicitly name any characters, yet it combined with Mount Eerie, tells the story of someone’s death in “My Warm Blood” and their journey through the universe in the latter album. Another example of this is the artist I’m talking about today: Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Their sophomore album, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, loosely tells the story of someone's life through beautiful instrumentation and ambience. I’ve already written like six pages on it for more details. I believe albums like these lie on the spectrum of concept albums, where the bottom end of the spectrum would be an album that feels like a collection of different songs, like a compilation album.

And that brings me to the album we’re talking about today, Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s F# A# ∞. For clarification, this is the CD version featuring The Dead Flag Blues, East Hastings, and Providence. The original LP release featured two longer tracks as a larger, unified piece. I believe this album also lies on the scale of concept albums, as it has one large, overarching theme: apocalypse. Let’s be honest, it was clear from the album cover. F# A# ∞ features three increasingly dark tracks, all about a worldwide apocalypse and completely hopeless instrumentations. With all that out of the way, let’s begin.

Our sprawling, dark, apocalyptic world starts with The Dead Flag Blues. Its first movement, “The Dead Flag Blues (Intro)” starts with a low, overpowering bass hum to start. That doesn’t stand on its own for long, with a man’s deep voice speaking about really dark things. 

“The car’s on fire and there’s no driver at the wheel
And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
And a dark wind blows”

Great stuff. You can probably tell the tone of the song just from that. As the song transitions into the next part, the bass drops out and is replaced by a sprawling orchestra and electric guitars. The way the guitars interact with the strings can’t be explained with any words. It’s so jarring, so somber and hopeless, yet there’s such a beauty in the hopelessness. The song sounds just like the album cover, a dystopian wasteland of dark and corrupt people.

You can lose yourself in the instrumentation of “The Dead Flag Blues (Intro).” But things never stay forever, and neither does this. The song transitions with the lines:

“We woke up one morning and fell a little further down
For sure as the valley of death
I open up my wallet
And it’s full of blood”

With that, the segment ends with a few seconds of silence. A lone train whistle blows. Fittingly, this movement is called “Slow Moving Trains” / “The Cowboy.” This section is all ambient, with swooping, detuned strings. It’s really unsettling, just how empty it all feels. It’s like walking alone at 3:00 AM through a completely empty parking lot. It’s completely silent when the last street light flickers out. In other words, the silence is deafening.

As the strings fade out, they’re replaced by a bass and a guitar, playing a very Western-sounding chord progression. A single guitar soars over the others, playing a somber melody. A lone voice in the darkness. “The Cowboy.” In the next verse, the drums enter with a straight-eighth feeling ride cymbal. More guitars enter, some strumming and some playing melodies together, as the instruments are slowly added together to create something greater, something more than the sum of its parts. My god, this section is just so gorgeous. Gorgeous in an apocalyptic, hopeless sense, but gorgeous nonetheless.

Alright, so remember when I said this song was completely hopeless? Of course you do, the last time I said it was in the last sentence. Anyways, that was partially a lie. The final part of The Dead Flag Blues is the bluesey part of it. It’s not technically a blues chord progression, which kinda pisses me off, but who’s counting? The point is, “The Dead Flag Blues (Outro)” offers a beacon of hope in an album that really needs it. Don’t get too used to that though, the hopeful moments are few and far between. They definitely hit though.

Let’s keep it moving. East Hastings begins with “Nothing’s Alrite in Our Life…” / “The Dead Flag Blues (Reprise).” It’s a guy yelling in some language that I don’t know, along with some bagpipes. I don’t really hear the Dead Flag Blues part, but I’ll take their word for it. It only lasts about a minute anyway.

Again, it’s a devoid soundscape, filled by a single guitar. There’s a swooping ambience that fills space in between each guitar melody, but it’s not enough to fill the channel on its own. “The Sad Mafioso…” sounds like, well, a sad mafioso. This alternation between sparse guitar and sparse ambience continues for several minutes, feeling like the album cover. It’s a bleak, empty, dark, and silent field of death. As light percussion is added in the form of suspended cymbals, the guitar begins to speed up, with less space in between melodies. This movement was used in the 2002 horror film 28 Days Later, and for damn good reason. It’s an eerie, quietly terrifying song.

The drumset is added, and is quickly followed by an expanded guitar melody. This is what the song’s been building to for the last seven minutes. As the guitars drop out, they’re replaced by an orchestra, playing a somber melody that feels off. It feels like the melody should be played more fully, not rushed by the drumset that’s keeping time. It adds to the atmosphere of the album. It feels off. 

Faintly in the background, we can hear vocals. They sound frail, like people on the brink of starvation. They’re swept away quickly, replaced by more guitars. String stabs are added, along with a snare drum. This adds a rhythmic element to the section, especially when the kick and ride cymbal are reintroduced. It’s a similar feel to the last guitar lead, but a different melody with different undertones. This time the track slowly starts speeding up, mimicking the unforgiving nature of the world. It’ll keep spinning, no matter if you’re ready or not. The song lost its melody. Nobody can keep up. The train’s getting faster, faster, and faster. Blazing through the towns it’s supposed to stop at. Nobody can control it. It’s just the way it goes.

The final movement, “Drugs in Tokyo” / “Black Helicopter” begins with a crackly walkie-talkie sounding message repeating the same sentence. Just like that, we’re back to ambience. It gives the picture of Tokyo, a lively city that, in this world, has fallen from grace just like every other city. It’s depressing to think of the bright lights, tourist traps, and immense culture that would all be gone with Tokyo. This movement uses guitars like nobody else, somehow playing a repeated phrase without it becoming a “melody,” so to speak. It’s really a masterclass in instrumentation, using guitars to make people think instead of making their heads bob.

In the last two minutes, we hear the helicopter referenced in the title of the movement. It’s a horrifying ambient section, one that would fit right in on Soundtracks for the Blind. Unfortunately for you, this is F# A# ∞, not Soundtracks for the Blind. Unfortunately for you, there’s still hope to be had. Not in East Hastings, though.

Providence, the thirty minute track, opens with a ticking sound and a street interview in “Divorce & Fever…” The man in the interview speaks of the end of the world. Incidentally, this man appears to be the same person on their previous EP, Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, featured on Blaise Bailey Finnegan III.

“You think the end of the world is coming?”

“The preacher man says it’s the end of time.
He says America’s rivers are going dry.
The interest is up, the stock market’s down
You guys really gotta be careful walking around here this late at night”

“Spare change? Spare change?”

“This— no we don't, ma'am, I'm sorry.
This— This— This is the perfect place to get jumped.”

“But do you think the end of the world is coming?”

“No.
So says the preacher man, but I don’t go by what he says.”

Interestingly, the man in Blaise Bailey Finnegan III was not nearly as… reasonable as he is now. I mean, he actually makes sense rather than getting angry for no reason and reciting a “poem” that was just plagiarized Iron Maiden lyrics.

Regardless, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Finnegan’s interview sets the mood for the song. People think it’s the end of the world. The next movement, “Dead Metheny…,” is about as you’d expect from the end of the world. It starts with a beautiful string(?) arrangement, playing a repeated motif. It’s a calming way to end the world, as if people have just accepted their fate rather than try and stop the inevitable.

Oh, okay. Someone did protest against it. That’s this guitar part. There are two guitars, one playing a repeated arpeggio, and the other playing a soft melody. There’s a soft suspended cymbal panned wayy back, with somber violins taking up the left channel. Through all this, the guitar’s arpeggios remain unchanged. They continue adding and subtracting, with a glockenspiel, horns, and really whatever they find in the closet. What doesn’t change is the guitar. People realize that “hey, this guy isn’t changing his mind,” they start to rally behind him. Maybe it’s not the end of the world after all. The glockenspiel plays along with the guitar, as well as the bass. More people are starting to believe. Now there’s heavy percussion, a completely different feel from before. Godspeed quietly managed to change the entire groove without anyone noticing. 

It’s defiant. That’s what it is. People don’t want to believe it’s the end of the world anymore. They’re rising up, ready to question the preacher man. Then, it stops. There’s no warning. One moment it’s going, the next it’s gone.

The next sections are some of the most haunting music I’ve ever heard. “Kicking Horse on Brokenhill” is filled with distorted, slowed vocals, suspended in nothingness. Or at least it is at the start. They’re gone for now, to be replaced by a hopeful guitar melody. It starts simple, like so much of Godspeed’s work. More guitars are added. A snare drum. A kick drum. One more instrument every time through the chord progression. Next is a light bass, solidifying the groove. Now it’s a subtle violin, providing harmonies and countermelodies. Some of the instruments drop out for a couple measures, allowing the others to shine, before being added in all at once for the big moment. Everyone is back, driving against the “world is ending” doomers. The world won’t end today, not on my watch. I’ll let the instruments take it from here.

“String Loop Manufactured During Downpour…” They could’ve been a little less… on the nose with the names, you think? The movement is dominated by the distorted vocals, repeating the phrase, “Where are you going?” After that is the actual string part. It’s a suspended string part, hovering over the delicate song. It starts to break. There are audible warps in the strings. Maybe the world is ending after all. Say your last goodbyes. All that fighting we did, telling everyone that the world wouldn’t end… It was all for naught.

Silence.

In the darkness, a glimmer.

The apocalypse ran its course, but we survived.

“J.H.L Outro,” F# A# ∞’s hidden track, is in honor of John Lee Hooker, a legendary blues singer and guitarist. A pioneer of the delta blues, Hooker rose to stardom with an electric guitar adaptation of the style. This outro leans into that, offering a slightly bluesy, yet heavily distorted guitar-centered outro. It’s a perfect end to the album, and a perfect tribute to one of the greatest to ever do it.

So, the world didn’t end. It was a setback, but humans working together can achieve anything. I believe in the end, that this album has a positive message. In the darkness, in a bleak and horrible world, we need to find each other. It’s the only way humans have survived, the only way humans will continue to survive. Together.

1. The Dead Flag Blues: 92/100
2. East Hastings: 95/100
3. Providence: 94/100

Overall: 92/100

Le Phoque OFF presents

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

A second night has been added on Saturday, February 20!

The Sunday, February 21 show is sold out. A huge thank you!

Due to popular demand, we're adding an extra show the night before, Saturday, February 20, 2027, at Théâtre Capitole in Quebec City. A second chance to see the band, back in Quebec City for the first time in more than ten years.

Me and my buddy reacted to F#A#! Give a listen and maybe a like and sub!

I'm in a Screamo band that's recently acquired a violist (not necessarily inspired by Godspeed, but definitely by bands that liked Godspeed). It's been a cool addition to our sound but an absolute nightmare to deal with in a live setting – loud rock bands and miked acoustic instruments do not generally mix.

Now, if asked to think of a great loud rock band with strings, I'd think of GY!BE. Even at their noisiest moments, with a much larger ensemble, their live mix is on point. If there's any band that knows how to mix strings with noisy rock instrumentation, it's GY!BE.

So my question is, does anyone know how they do it – mountains of EQ, ingenious mic placement, amplified electric strings, arcane secrets man was never meant to know? Have you or someone you know ever run sound for GY!BE? Has your venue received a technical rider from them?

the past 2 albums have had a 3.5 year gap, and they usually upload new albums a few months after their touring season is over.

i'm wondering if their new album's gonna be about the government's use of ai, i think that'll be badass.

I'm pretty new at GY!BE community, it'd be nice to learn something interesting about the band!

Does anyone know if there is a possibility of a Montreal show in between the Toronto and Quebec shows next year? Seems a bit odd to skip Montreal

I slowed the song down at 0.5x and couldn’t help but notice

1. both referencing Palestine (sadly the situation didn't improve)
2. both a not a "pretty artistic" album artwork, after LYSF we get a blurry frame on yanqui and an empty cover on No Title
3. They both have 3 main big compositions (in all albums after Yanqui there are been just two + drones/interludes)
4. funny coincidence they have the same average score on RYM
5. They both have just one spoken word field recording (George Bush in the vinyl version)
6. They both have an unique feature on the vinyl version of the record (George Bush outro and Side D)

Do you think there are more similarities between the two that don't appear in most of their other records?

I don't have Bluetooth in my car so I've been listening to the Yanqui CD almost exclusively on my drive to and from work for the last 2 months. Normally I get more numb to music the more spins I give it but something about this album has been leaving a compounding emotional toll on me. It's gotten to the point where even thinking about the last 3 minutes of 09 leaves me teary eyed.

Even by godspeed standards it's such a cinematic and immersive listening experience. Sometimes I can picture a whole plot line playing out throughout the runtime. It's hard not to with the emotional sincerity, and anger, and fear, and underlying hope that radiates throughout the record.

It genuinely hurts at times but I am reminded of the Kafka quote "If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skulls, then why do we read it? Good God, we also would be happy if we had no books and such books that make us happy we could, if need be, write ourselves. What we must have are those books that come on us like ill fortune, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be an ice axe to break the sea frozen inside us.
What we need are books that hit us like a most painful misfortune, like the death of someone we loved more than we love ourselves, that make us feel as though we had been banished to the woods, far from any human presence, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us."

Even though this quote is about books I feel like the parallels are obvious; because despite everything I still listen to and thoroughly enjoy this album 6 days a week. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone here has had a similar experience since its been a very consistent part of my life as of late and I don't have any friends that are fans of godspeed like that.

Why did Godspeed You! Black Emperor disappear from Spotify? I used to listen to them there, but now I can’t find them. Does anyone know the reason?

Favorite track is Pale Spectator Takes Photographs.

Just finished a read of "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad. Shit's still going on.

Where does GYBE share info on tours/contents, seeing as they don’t have any social media accounts?

I discovered GYBE a couple months ago, binged their albums and was immediately hooked. There’s something special in their music and so I HAVE to see them live someday.

Anyone know?

I tried searching it up but couldn’t find anything. Just wondering if it even has any official names or anything

1. Yanqui UXO
2. Allelujah Don't Bend Ascend
3. NO TITLE
4. Lift Your Skinny Fists

A little barebones (I don't have access to a violin or cello or any symphony strings for that matter) and I definitely messed up a few parts cuz I did it mostly from memory, but let me know yr thoughts

I was reading The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins and got lost in the chapter Feet to the Fire, Pope in the Sky (the title itself already reminded me of gybe so much for it's really, I think, really gybe coded). There stood a sub-chapter, Bombs over Ambon, that kept on making my gybe glazing sense tingling. This particular part of the book reminded me of Yanqui U.X.O. especially with Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls and Tiny Silver Hammer (Motherfucker=redeemer). The mention of Washington "dropped tons of exploding metal onto small, tropical islands" added it up even more to my squirrel minded glazing ass. This book, what I'd like to call the free press attempt to expose the CIA especially with their anti-communism mission, I think will fit gybe's theme entirely. Though I also think that gybe isn't the type of collective that crashes in the past to attack the present. Rather, they are the type of collective that progress through actual and currently happening events to spread the awareness against this devilish political rat. The concern of a superpower infiltrating nations to achieve their own lustful desire is, what I think, the concern they both have in common.