Godspeed you! Black Emperor
GYBE's all instrumental approach avoids the pitfalls of dull politico-rock, realising that the frame around their music is the place where some kind of dialectic with their audience is likely to happen. Though GYBE (literally) wear their political sympathies on their sleeves, the music itself has an ambiguous yet important role to play; an unmediated, emotional response to the uncertainties of the early 21st century. (Use it as a soundtrack to Newsnight for best results).

The sound is big; electric guitars, string quartet and drums engage each other in a kind of stretched, stripped prog rock that unwinds itself slowly. Insistent ostinati are woven through with mournful melodic lines, building to skullcrunch intensity and falling away again. If Stravinsky was still around, he'd be a fan.

Though GYBE's amped up minimalism is often as dark as pitch, there are episodes of beauty and even hope. But for the most part the music is taut, suffused with a ragged but determined power that has few equals among their contemporaries.
Peter Marsh
BBC November 2002

www.brainwashed.com/godspeed