[the ikara cult]

Sorry to start a thread just to ask a question like this, but did anyone else read a very critical article about the last Godspeed You Black Emperor album that i read recently?

The gist of it was that they (Godspeed) were irrelevant today because the world they had their first run in was gone, and their political sloganeering was out of date and thats why their new album was a big disappointment? It was a superb article and i cant for the life of me remember where it was. Help appreciated

[Severian]

I know I read something like that on Brainwashed. I was pretty shocked. The band started in a pretty goddamn cushy political climate. Then they broke up during the most controversial US presidential administration of the last quarter century. They're politically minded, but they're not rage against the machine.

I've never defined them by their politics, or by their political relevance. I think A Silver mt Zion got it right with that "this is our punk rock" thing. The revolutionary feel of GYBE has always felt more like a revolution for the sake of "because I fuckin' can and because You're a boring fuck, wasting your life." GYBE is not Country Joe as the Fish, Bob Dylan, or even Bob Marley. They're closer to the sex pistols, oddly. Sex pistols for "college boy" and his non profit workin' girlfriend who makes her own soap.

[Severian]

... Oh, and no,I don't know where that article is from. I'd be interested in reading it though, if you find anyone who does.

[Genteel Death]

What are Godspeed's political views anyway? I thought they were always angry about burgers with meat in them and people telling them to cut their hair shorter.

[the ikara cult]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

What are Godspeed's political views anyway? I thought they were always angry about burgers with meat in them and people telling them to cut their hair shorter.

Thats what i need the article for really, they expressed a dissatisfaction and alienation that seems quaint now in a (I hate using this phrase) "Post 9/11 world". Theres a reason the war in Iraq never inspired any great music, its because it was a simple bad decision by an incompetent government who thought they would do something good. Godspeed thrived on the feeling that there was a sinister, malevolent, controlling force that was responsible for any ill you cared about.

They were always pretty vague, they had magnificent cover art that flirted with conspiracy theories (black helicopters, major record labels being in bed with arms dealers). In many ways their album art is the best thing about them, but when the internet makes everyone feel like they have access to infinite information its hard to convince people the world is being controlled by a little man behind a curtain

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by the ikara cult

Thats what i need the article for really, they expressed a dissatisfaction and alienation that seems quaint now in a (I hate using this phrase) "Post 9/11 world". Theres a reason the war in Iraq never inspired any great music, its because it was a simple bad decision by an incompetent government who thought they would do something good. Godspeed thrived on the feeling that there was a sinister, malevolent, controlling force that was responsible for any ill you cared about.

They were always pretty vague, they had magnificent cover art that flirted with conspiracy theories (black helicopters, major record labels being in bed with arms dealers). In many ways their album art is the best thing about them, but when the internet makes everyone feel like they have access to infinite information its hard to convince people the world is being controlled by a little man behind a curtain

They were out and about before 9/11, thriving on the feelings that produce all the things you've listed above. What didn't make them stand out from the crowd is that they joined the chorus of disapproval for the war in Iraq so fervently, and impotently, as the crowds that marched on the streets in protest for it, when they could have used their platform to engage in various (and specific, since political banter embraces so many topics you need to specialise at least in one to gain a respectable reputation as a political band, it seems) issues of the day. I love some of the artwork they used for a label sampler which I used to own several years ago. Shame most of the music from that scene sounds boring to my ears.

[the ikara cult]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

They were out and about before 9/11, thriving on the feelings that produce all the things you've listed above.

Thats what i was saying, apologies if i didnt make that clear.

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

What didn't make them stand out from the crowd is that they joined the chorus of disapproval for the war in Iraq so fervently, and impotently, as the crowds that marched on the streets in protest for it, when they could have used their platform to engage in various (and specific, since political banter embraces so many topics you need to specialise at least in one to gain a respectable reputation as a political band, it seems) issues of the day.

You must spread some reputation around etc.
There was a colossal failure in political music during that era because people didnt know who they were supposed to support. When you live in a relatively free society its hard to pretend that your ideas are suppressed by the government. And at the same time Iraqi and Iranian secularists and trade unionists didnt get the support of Billy Bragg or Godspeed because they were too busy being pissed off with George W Bush (even if its implicit in the case of the various GYBE projects).