Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
List Price:
Our Price: $12.69
You Save: $6.29 (33%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.54 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Godspeed You Black EmperorEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-01-08
Music Label: Kranky
Product features:
- Electronic/Experimental, Instrumental
Music CD 1
- Storm
- Static
- Sleep
- Antennas to Heaven
Free Music Notes for Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Free Music Review: What it means to earn understanding and appreciation
Hit: 5 Stars
Normally I hate people who give five stars to albums (and I also hate people who preface their reviews with "I never give albums five stars but...") but (D'oh!) I must admit I felt an inner protest at the sight of the average customer review of this album only being four stars as it truely is a phenomenal work. I don't intend to namedrop a bunch of other bands from other such fringe genres in an attempt to look sussed and hip, as I think this band stand apart as a completely unique, glorius entity and the merits of this album should not be demonstrated by comparing them with the merits (or lack of) of other bands.Many people also go on and say "Such-and-such album changed my life and perspective on music" blah blah blah...this album no doubt has had a profound effect on me but that is merely the reflection of own my desires and hopes and came from within myself, (cliche as it sounds) salvation lies within. And indeed that is often how I describe the sound Godspeed make, the sound of disappointment, the sound of struggle, the sound of that fraction of a second before you cry out of pain, the sound of bliss, the sound of a spiritual placidity that descends on you from nowhere and imbues you with a sense of invincability, the sound of forgiveness, the sound of compassion...better stop because I could go on and the grammer police probably already want to arrest me!
This album is, no less, the sound of a spiritual odyssey. The first disc is the the more brooding, dark aspect of the album...however, without the decaying ambience of 'f#a#(infinity)' or the furious nihilism of 'Slow Riot...'. Instead, it is the sound of a survived suicide attempt, trying to make sense of the wreckage of a life that they only have themself to blame for. The awakening of responsibilty, a desire to find meaning and purpose but having to call upon all your courage and strength to not give in to doubt and take refuge in irresponsibility and self destruction as you once may have done. It is the sound of making a promise to yourself...no matter what may come. As such the gentle stirrings and nascent majesty that start the album soon give way to echoes of old doubts and fears. It is then that there is a vocal sample of a woman talking about God, and what it means to be with God, 'and when you penetrate to the most high God you will believe you are mad,you will believe you are insane' and sure enough the passage that follows throws at you all the demons of self-doubt and self-persecution that the mind can muster. It is the sound of integrating your dark-side, the pitch blackness that we all carry around buried deep from the surface, every weakness is exposed and beaten, every vulnerability is raped...pain and insanity must be endured in order to keep that promise you made to yourself what seems like an eternity ago. These are sufferings to break Jesus.
Then disc one ends.
Disc two begins on a less hopeful note than disc one, with a man reminiscing about how Coney Island isn't as nice as it was when he was a child, which aptly serves to describe the de-flowering of innocence that ended disc one. 'They don't sleep anymore on the beach' he wistfully remembers as the music begins. However, despite an inextricable sense of unrest, this piece begins with a definite sense of relief and something of an intimation of a solution...although exactly what still remains painfully absent. This anticipation grows as twelve minutes in the drums and eerie, screaching guitars drop away like redundant doubts and concerns as ,pounding beat by pounding beat, strength, vitality, and energy return, leading to (in a group noted for their powerful cresendos) a cresendo the proportions of a religious epiphany...the first disc was the painful initiation, this disc is most definately the fruits of those labours.
The first half of disc two can only be decribed as euphoric, what it means to be a fan of music just changed irrevocably. The second half in many ways recalls the ambience of 'f#a#(infinity)', but where before the mood was one of existential exhaustion, this time around the mood is hopeful (in the newly re-defined sense of the word), more maudlin for the 'you' that had to be left behind, than melancholy for the person you are. And with that, the album ends. With the sound of a dropped drumstick of all the mundane things.
Happiness isn't something you wake up with or win one day and never lose again, it is earned through hardship and sacrifice, and is kept only through continued hardship and sacrifice. Happiness struggles with self doubt, makes mistakes, and loses faith...happiness is a lifelong struggle, and it sounds like this.
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Poster
A double cd of apocalyptic carthartic Canadian musicCanada's Godspeed You Black Emperor raise the ante on their already ambitious orchestral rock by releasing a double CD of material as their second full-length album. The group combines the drums and guitar of typical rock-band instrumentation with horns and strings to create a music built around drones and slowly evolving melodic figures. It rises and falls from delicate introductory passages to unabashed grand climaxes. Their juxtaposition of drums with violins and lush romantic tonality brings to mind Rachel's, but their compositional scale and the pounding repetitive intensity of their dynamic peaks evoke Glenn Branca's The Ascension. Although the two discs are indexed at only two 21-minute tracks each, the package includes a handy road map to the movements into which each is subdivided. The opening piece starts with five minutes of a 15-beat circular melodic pattern that is gradually embellished as the volume swells to an ecstatic roar. The release drops down to a pastoral drone that rebuilds to support an acid-etched guitar solo, which in turn yields to a unified 4/4 kraut rock pound that eventually explodes, leaving behind field recordings of public announcements mingled with wandering late-night Swell Maps piano. The other pieces use a similar set of sonic building blocks to take the listener on comparable journeys. Fans of Godspeed's previous work will be very happy, and the curious might want to hop on board as well. --Bob Bannister
Alternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Alternative Rock Music CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $397.77
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $199.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
![SPIDERLAND [Vinyl] Image](/images/SPIDERLAND-Vinyl-B00008FWRW-X.jpg)
SLINT - SPIDERLAND [Vinyl]Release date: 2004-01-20; Music CD
Best price: $13.63
Radiohead - Kid ARelease date: 2000-10-03; Music CD
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops:
Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take CareRelease date: 2011-04-26; Music CD
Best price: $9.47
Price in other shops:
Explosions in the Sky - Those Who Tell the Truth Shall DieTemporary Residence Limited; Release date: 2001-09-04; Music CD
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
Silver Mt Zion - He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light SometimesRelease date: 2000-04-03; Music CD
Best price: $10.85
Price in other shops:
Godspeed You Black Emperor, Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.Release date: 2002-11-19; Music CD
Best price: $9.66
Price in other shops:
![In The Aeroplane Over The Sea [Vinyl] Image](/images/In-The-Aeroplane-Over-The-Sea-Vinyl-B002PHVHFI-X.jpg)
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea [Vinyl]Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $14.84
Price in other shops:
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zero KanadaRelease date: 1999-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $8.71
Price in other shops:
Explosions in the Sky - Earth Is Not a Cold Dead PlaceRelease date: 2003-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
![F# A# (Infinity) [Vinyl] Image](/images/F-A-Infinity-Vinyl-B000817YF0-X.jpg)
Godspeed You Black Emperor - F# A# (Infinity) [Vinyl]Release date: 1997-02-25; Music CD
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops: