F# A# ∞ - Godspeed You! Black Emperor (1997)

seems GSYBE have disappeared from official channels. Honestly tho, while I appreciate the rhetoric about not owning anything anymore, if buying isn’t owning it’s because you’ve misunderstood what you bought.

GSYBE are a shifting collective of the Montreal fringe. Here they list 11 members in the credits. They made something that was really not like anyone else I was aware of at the time.

I was at the beginning of my mp3-hunting phase when I came across this record. It set my mind on fire in about 50 different ways.

The three pieces on the record–each between 16 and 30 minutes–weave a spell of foreboding, apocalyptic beauty that alternates with the gauzy, vaporous sounds of the comforting past. I don’t think i initially identified this as post-rock but I see now that the band is about as post- as you can get.

I don’t quite have the time to try to zero in on why this record works so well for me. I’m hoping if you just give it a listen you’ll see what I mean.