F♯A♯∞

F # A # ∞
Studio album from Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Publication (s)	August 14, 1997
Label (s)	Constellation Records CST003 , Kranky KRANK027
Format (s)	CD , LP
Genre (s)	Post rock
Title (number)	2 (LP), 3 (CD)
running time	63:30 (CD), 38:40 (LP)
occupation	Electric guitar : Efrim Menuck Electric guitar : Mike Moya Electric bass : Thierry Amar Violin : Sophie Trudeau Electric guitar: David Bryant  Drums , keyboard : Bruce Cawdron Drums: Aidan Girt French horn : Thea Pratt Bass guitar : Mauro Pezzente
production	Don Wilkie, Ian Illavsky
Studio (s)	Hotel2Tango ( Montreal , Canada )
chronology All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (1994) F # A # ∞ Slow Riot for New Zerø Canada (1999)

F♯A♯∞ (pronounced: F-sharp, A-sharp, Infinity ) is the debut album by the Canadian post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor . It was released twice, first in 1997 by Constellation Records , then on June 8, 1998 by Kranky Records as an extended version which is 63 minutes long. In terms of style, the mostly instrumental, overly long songs, which are divided into segments, stand out.

The album was recorded at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal . The first edition of the album was strictly limited. Most of it was distributed at concerts.

Initially there was little interest in the album, which was due to the small number of copies and the band's lack of awareness. After the reprint and several interviews and articles in well-known music magazines (including the New Musical Express ), the band and thus the album ultimately became better known. The reception of the album was largely positive. Critics praised the band's subtle, orchestral character.

background

GY! BE bassist Mauro Pezzente live in London , November 2000.

In 1995, Mauro Pezzente, co-founder of GY! BE, moved to the Mile End of Montreal with his girlfriend at the time . Pezzente also used his apartment as a venue for concerts and called it the Gallery Quiva . Around 1996 Efrim Menuck moved into the now vacant apartment and founded Hotel2Tango as a rehearsal room, recording studio and concert hall for the city's musical scene. It was there in 1997 that the recordings for the LP version of F♯A♯∞ took place. At that time the band had fifteen members, which were reduced to ten for the recordings as well as a few guest musicians.

The material collection for the record went back to 1993. This material then became two long pieces, each about 20 minutes long. The band originally intended to release the album as a double 7 ". The idea was discarded after Don Wilkie and Ian Ilavsky, founders of the then new indie label Constellation Records and co-producers of the album, offered the album as a third release The album was released in August 1997, limited to 500 hand-wrapped and numbered vinyl discs.

After the release, the band toured the United States . To make themselves a little better known, they sent a copy of the album to Chicago , where the indie label Kranky is based. Kranky, extremely impressed with the album, offered to re-release the album on CD . So the band quickly went back to the studio to re-record the album. It was released in June 1998. There are differences to the LP version. The CD version has more material, which is reflected in three tracks and almost 65 minutes of music.

style

Danny Boyle (2008)

The music on "F # A # ∞" is known for its strong volume changes , dark music atmosphere, dispensing with vocals and text and dividing the long pieces into different movements . All tracks contain field recordings and samples, once referred to by David Keenan in the music magazine The Wire as eschatological tape loops . The main theme of the album is often referred to as apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic .

British director Danny Boyle was inspired by the album during the production of the horror film 28 Days Later . During an interview with the Guardian , he stated:

“I always try to have a soundtrack in my mind [when creating a film]. Like when we did Trainspotting , it was Underworld . For me, the soundtrack to 28 Days Later was Godspeed. The whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head. "

“I always try to have a soundtrack in my head [when making a movie]. For example, when we were shooting Trainspotting , it was Underworld . For me, the soundtrack for 28 Days Later was Godspeed. The whole film was Godspeed in my head. "

The first track, The Dead Flag Blues , begins with a monologue spoken by Lee Marvin . This monologue is from an unfinished film by guitarist Efrim Menuck called Jail (English: prison ). Underlaid by a dark drone and a string melody, the speaker describes a destroyed city in which the government is corrupt and the residents are crammed with drugs. This monologue is then replaced by the sounds of steam locomotives starting and longer, high-pitched tones. This then develops into a country- like melody and is then replaced by an outro that includes glockenspiel , violin and slide guitar .

The second song, East Hastings , is named after a street in Vancouver . It begins with a sermon by a street preacher on a busy street. Then a bagpipe kicks in , repeating the melody from the Dead Flag Blues . The bagpipes then slowly get quieter and the sentence Sad Mafioso begins. A cut version of this sentence appeared at the beginning of the film 28 Days Later . From 8:20 to 8:50 a few band members can also be heard quietly singing along to the melody. The track ends with electronic sounds and a loud bass.

The last track, Providence , is the longest track on the record - it's just under 30 minutes long. James Oldham, NME , described it as "partly The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and partly spiritual drone spectacle." The beginning of the song is a field recording , which quotes a song by Hank Williams, Jr. and states that he does not believe in the approaching end of the world. This speaker will soon be replaced by a cello piece, accompanied by glockenspiel , violin and French horn . Percussion also sets in. This is followed by a recording of a singing woman, but manipulated with all kinds of effects. An almost military melody follows. Then follows the sung phrase "Where are you going? Where are you going?" , sampled from the song "By My Side" from the musical Godspell (1970). A sound collage rounds off the track. After about three minutes of silence, there is a short dedication to the American blues musician John Lee Hooker .

symbolism

The title of the album is pronounced "F-Sharp, A-Sharp, Infinity". This refers to the chords with which both sides of the LP begin, as well as the endless loop at the end of side B. The CD version does not contain this loop.

The LP version with all the extras

The 500 original records are known for their unusual packaging and content. The LP was designed by the band, their label Constellation and artists from Montreal. One of the three photos - showing a water reservoir, a train or a traffic sign - was glued to the cover. The covers of the LP did not mention the song titles. However, they (and further information about the album) were scratched into the unplayed vinyl of the LP (!).

In the LP packaging there was not only the LP, but several extras. An old leaflet, the liner notes on a separate piece of paper, a picture (painted by Efrim Menuck ) and a Canadian penny , blown by a train. A blurred image, dedicated to the blues musician Reverend Gary Davis , was also on the LP. Barb Stewart of Stylus Magazine and Mike Galloway of NOW Magazine called the packaging and contents “beautiful”. After several new editions, the collection process for the individual bonuses was streamlined. Everything was no longer done by hand. However, the record is still sold with the same packaging to this day.

The artwork of the CD version of the album is much simpler. Guitarist David Byrant once called the packaging a “jewel case CD freak” and preferred the self-made LP. The photo of a street sign was chosen as the cover image and was significantly enlarged and darkened from the original photo. In the jewel case are the liner notes and pictures, as well as the "Faulty Schematics of a Ruined Machine", the picture that Efrim Menuck painted.

Reviews

The publication was largely rated positively.

LP

There were hardly any reviews for the LP version. Stylus Magazine said the record was "inventive and innovative" and it would "mark new territory in a world full of trite experimentation" Gordon Krieger of the Canadian music magazine Exclaim! described it as a "slow soundtrack full of regrets and desire, equally grumpy and expectant" The Montreal Hour wrote the long tracks "could be pretty pretentious, but the sounds [the band] makes are far too cool to be cool and arrogant to be."

The chart magazine evaluated the LP as ranked # 46 on their list of the 50 best Canadian albums of all time.

CD

The CD edition received more reviews that were generally positive. Marc Gilman from Allmusic said that "the music on the album is unique and full of power" and that "it would be very difficult to find any imitators of this revolutionary form of music". Magnet felt that the three tracks could be served as breathtaking psychedelia in a headphone or surround sound context and voted it # 38 of the best albums from 1993-2003. The NME called it an authentic classic and noticed the variety of sounds present in the album. Pitchfork founder and critic Ryan Schreiber noted that Godspeed was one of the few experimental bands that "didn't keep beauty and emotion out of their pieces". Pitchfork later ranked the album at # 45 on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the '90s .

Track list

LP version

1. Nervous, Sad, Poor ... - 8.43pm
   1. The Dead Flag Blues (Intro) - 6.09
   2. Slow Moving Trains - 3.23
   3. The Cowboy - 4.16
   4. Drugs in Tokyo - 3.29
   5. The Dead Flag Blues (Outro) - 1.52
   6. Untitled - 1.34
2. Bleak, Uncertain, Beautiful ... - 17.40
   1. ... Nothing's Alrite in Our Life ... "/" The Dead Flag Blues (Reprise) -2.00
   2. The Sad Mafioso - 5.33
   3. Kicking Horse on Brokenhill - 5.36
   4. String Loop Manufactured During Downpour ... - 4.29

CD version

1. The Dead Flag Blues - 16:27
   1. The Dead Flag Blues (Intro) - 6.09
   2. Slow Moving Trains - 3.23
   3. The Cowboy - 4.16
   4. The Dead Flag Blues (Outro) - 1.52
2. East Hastings - 5:58 pm
   1. ... Nothing's Alrite in Our Life ... "/" The Dead Flag Blues (Reprise) - 1.35
   2. The Sad Mafioso - 10:44
   3. Drugs In Tokyo - 3.43
   4. Black Helicopter - 1.56
3. Providence - 02/29
   1. Divorce & Fever ... - 2.44
   2. Dead Metheny ... - 8.44
   3. Kicking Horse on Brokenhill - 5.53
   4. String Loop Manufactured During Downpour ... - 4.36
   5. Unlisted silence - 3.32
   6. JLH Outro - 4.08

notes

vinyl

• The names of the movements are de facto nowhere to be found on the vinyl release, they are taken from the CD version.
• The last sentence on side A cannot be found on the CD edition.
• The length of the individual sentences is only an estimate as they merge into one another.
• The vinyl edition actually runs ad infinitum .

CD

• "Slow Moving Trains" and "The Cowboy ..." are listed as the same set, but are actually different pieces.
• "Drugs in Tokyo" and "Black Helicopter" are listed as the same set, but are actually different pieces.
• The lengths of the sentences were taken from the official discography .

Guest musician

The names of these guest musicians come from the album's liner notes. The surnames and instruments used by the musicians are unknown.

• Amanda
• Christophe
• Colin
• Dan O.
• Jesse
• Peter
• Slyvain
• Shnaiberg

John Arthur Tinberg is responsible for the Slow Moving Trains ... set .

Bibliography

1. ^ Review of Pitchfork: Pitchfork Media (9.3 / 10) Schreiber, Ryan: F♯A♯∞ review . In: Reviews . Pitchfork Media. 1998. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved on February 23, 2009.
2. ↑ Review by SputnikMusic : (5/5) F♯A♯∞ review review accessdate = 2009-02-15
3. ^ Carpenter, Lorraine and Rahman, Ali: Experimental jet-set trash and new stars . In: Montreal Mirror . 2000. Archived from the original on November 12, 2002. Retrieved on February 14, 2009.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Constellation Records: F♯A♯∞ release information . In: Releases . Constellation Records. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
5. ↑ Kranky: Godspeed You Black Emperor! . Kranky. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Keenan, David: Godspeed You Black Emperor! interview with The Wire . In: brainwashed.com . 1998. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
7. ^ Interview with The Scotsman . In: brainwashed.com . 2000. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Empire, Kitty: Get used to the limelight . In: guardian.co.uk . Guardian News and Media Limited. 2002. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
9. ↑ According to Menuck, the sermon came from an Afro-American woman who preached on this street day in and day out in the 80s and 90s.
10. ↑ In the original: "Part The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and part spiritualized drone freakout." Reviews of F♯A♯∞ . In: brainwashed.com . Retrieved February 23, 2009.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Constellation Records: F♯A♯∞ packaging . In: Wayback Machine . Constellation Records. Archived from the original on August 18, 2001. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Reviews of F♯A♯∞ LP . In: brainwashed.com . Retrieved on February 23, 2009 (Original: beautiful ).
13. ↑ Original: jewel cased CD montrosity
14. ↑ In the original: innovative and inventive , "stakes out unique territory in a world overrun with hackneyed experimentation."
15. ↑ Original: slow soundtrack of regret and desire, equal parts morose and expectant.
16. ↑ Original: ... could be really pretentious but the sounds [the band] make are way too cool to be merely coldly superior.
17. ↑ Chart Staff: Top 50 Canadian Albums of All Time . Chart . 2000. Archived from the original on February 3, 2002. Retrieved on August 7, 2009.
18. ^ Gilman, Marc: F♯A♯∞ review . In: Reviews . All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
19. ↑ In the original: served up as staggering psychedelia for a headphone or surround-sound context
20. ↑ Acclaimed Music: Magnet's Top 60 Albums, 1993-2003 . In: acclaimedmusic.net . Magnet. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 23, 2009. 
21. ↑ In the original: "one of the few that [haven't] left out beauty and emotion in their pieces."
22. ^ Schreiber, Ryan: F♯A♯∞ review . In: Reviews . Pitchfork Media. 1998. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved on February 23, 2009.
23. ^ Pitchfork Staff: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s . Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2009.

Web links

• F♯A♯∞ on MusicBrainz
• F♯A♯∞ at Last.fm