Godspeed You! Black Emperor And Set Fire to Flames

The inimitable GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times. As the heretical anarcho-punk spirit of the title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band’s most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac.

With Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the question is easy: Where do you even begin? For nearly a quarter century the shifting, roughly nine-member Canadian collective has been releasing swelling, torrential compositions that also gracefully loom, like a dewed spiderweb, squaring the circle of neo-classical and punk rock. It is demanding, complex, wordless music, directed in part at the off-switch of the information age. Godspeed — a project that, remarkably, exists completely on its own financial and creative terms — expects an interpretive exchange from its listeners, and rewards surrender to the transaction. This is music that's not a map but an unreliable compass, precise in its dissonance and generous with its emotions.

From Russia, a fabulous album that would have the UK rock press sailvating if it were a British product. Silence Kit's eponymous 2002 debut is a record that deserves a wide audience. Events commence in eerie but ominous fashion with the instrumental 'Transmiss To Fades' but then the modern post-punk threat of 'Twenty Eight And Two' featuring a thrilling guitar rhythm, clattering percussion and a ghostly vocal. 'Francesca White' is leaner, rawer; evocative of Sonic Youth in their mid-80s pomp. After the doleful lo-fi rock of 'Lunik' the second half is occupied with the dynamic post-rock that Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai used to do so well..

Canadian musician Efrim Manuel Menuck was born in Montreal Canada, November 22, 1970. Famed for his work as a guitarist and prominent member of the ground-breaking Montreal post-rock bands Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion, Menuck is also an established music producer in the Montreal area.
Pissing Stars is a fever dream whose central tensions feel all too real. Of course, Menuck never has and is never likely to create straightforward, routine, or prosaic music. Consequently, it's down to his expressive soundscapes to drive the narrative…

Jerry Lee Lewis - A Whole Lotta Jerry Lee Lewis (2012) {4CD Box Set Salvo Records SALVOBX410}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 1.91 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 699 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 62 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2012 Salvo Records | SALVOBX410
Rock & Roll / Rockabilly / Honky Tonk / Country

Four-disc monument to the Killer, containing no filler… What with one thing and another, it took the Grand Ole Opry a while to invite Jerry Lee Lewis to make his debut. Sixteen years, in fact, from his first hits (“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On”, “Great Balls Of Fire” ) to finally ushering the Killer onto the stage of Nashville’s Ryman auditorium in January 1973. The high temple of the country music establishment had their reasons for hesitating. Lewis was not known for family-friendly behaviour, unless one counts as such already having three families by this point – one, to the detriment of his box office, with a cousin he’d wed when she was thirteen. But he’d grown up, surely. He was pushing 40. He’d married for a fourth time, to someone old enough to vote. And he was reinventing himself as a proper country singer – he’d had hits with versions of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me & Bobby McGee”, Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting For A Train” and Ray Griff’s “Who’s Gonna Play This Old Piano?”. The Opry prepared to formally welcome the black sheep to the fold.

A characteristically humongous (8-CD) box set from the wonderful obsessive-compulsives at Bear Family, documenting the Killer's '60s tenure at Smash Records. Lewis made consistently good music during this period, but the combination of his personal scandals and the British Invasion made him a pariah to radio programmers until mid-decade, when he returned to his country roots. Highlights of the set include the entirety of a Texas live show, with Lewis and his crack band rendering various early rock standards at dangerously high (i.e., proto punk) speed, some excellent duets with his (then) wife Linda Gail, and gorgeous renditions of standards like Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" and Merle Haggard's "Lonesome Fugitive." Lewis fans with deep pockets should grab this one immediately…

With the rise of groups such as Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Sigur Rós come more textured, orchestrated bands following in their footsteps. Under Byen is such a group, although lead singer Henriette Sennenvalt's fragile delivery on "Pilot" sounds as if it's Björk or PJ Harvey fronting the Sugarcubes. Delicate and yet quite intricate, the song takes on a dreamy but gritty tone as Sennenvalt guides things along à la Nico steering a Velvet Underground number. A slow, creeping song ensues titled "Den Her Sang Handler Om at Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det" which saunters along before strings and more instruments give it a different sonic hue. While pretty, it also takes on a slightly somber tone at times, particularly thanks to the combination of Thorbjørn Krogshede's piano and Nils Grøndahl's violin accompaniment, which builds and builds into a very lush and enjoyable coda.