Godspeed You! Black Emperor (formerly punctuated Godspeed You Black Emperor!) is an avant-garde Canadian post-rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 1994, the ensemble has been influential in its genre, with bands from as far as Hong Kong and Singapore citing them as influences in their musical work
Working on a near orchestral scale, the nine-piece group had been known to use wide dynamic ranges; unusual use of instrumentation and sounds; elongated songs, composed almost classically, with multiple movements therein; and use of art and visuals in both their album packaging and live performances.
The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exhibit influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde. Each record consists of a few fairly long tracks (mostly between 15 and 25 minutes, but some as long as 29 minutes and some as short as 6), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve.The band formed around 1994 with three members,[3] but its lineup has changed frequently. The band has had as many as twenty members at one time, but has tended to settle down to a group of nine. The instruments played vary with the lineup, but the music tends to be based around electric and bass guitars, strings and a percussion section. Other instruments such as the Glockenspiel and the French horn make more occasional appearances. The music on some of their records is accompanied by spoken samples recorded by the band across North America, including an apocalyptic street preacher from Providence, Rhode Island, an announcement at a gas station, a group of children talking and singing in French, as well as many recordings taken off shortwave radio.
Several members of the group are anarchists, and there is a strong political component to the band's music.[5] For example, the liner notes to Yanqui U.X.O. describe the song "09-15-00" as "Ariel Sharon surrounded by 1,000 Israeli soldiers marching on al-Haram Ash-Sharif & provoking another Intifada," and the back cover of that album depicts the relationships of several major record labels to the military-industrial complex. Several of their songs also incorporate voice samples which express political sentiments, most notably "The Dead Flag Blues" (on F♯A♯∞) and "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" (on Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada).
The group was once misconstrued as being a band of terrorists.[6][7] After stopping at a local gas station for fuel in the town of Ardmore, Oklahoma, during their 2003 tour of the United States, the station attendant working that day believed the group of Canadians to be terrorists. She quickly passed a note to another customer also getting fuel to call the police. When the local police appeared, the group was held until they could be questioned by the FBI. Although the police were suspicious of the band's anti-government documents and some stranger photos they had (such as those of oil rigs), they found no incriminating evidence. After background checks were run, the ensemble was released from custody and continued on their way to their next show in St. Louis, Missouri. Efrim Menuck later spoke to the crowd about what happened to them during their appearance in Missouri and speculated that their race was a motive in their being released quickly ("Its a good thing we're nice white kids from Canada"), hinting at racism in the police force.[8] The incident was mentioned in Michael Moore's book, Dude, Where's My Country?.
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
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