Godspeed You! Black Emperor have announced their long-awaited return to Dublin. The Canadian post-rock collective will return to the city to play the National Stadium on 27th September. Presented by Foggy Notions and U:Mack, it marks the band’s first show here since they played Vicar Street back in 2016. Revisit our review of the show here. Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday, 2nd February at 10am.
Of all the bands that have reunited over the years, one would not have expected Godspeed You! Black Emperor to have stuck to it. And yet, Luciferian Towers marks the Montreal ensemble’s third album since their return to touring in 2010, following on from 2012’s Polaris Prize winning Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend and 2015’s Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress. Those albums saw a progression of sorts in the collective’s signature sound, with both featuring more thick drones and towering examples of thunderous interplay from guest orchestras. That a group of such inherent breath and scope can continue to expand and develop their sound…
It’s about sixteen months since instrumental Montreal collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor last played Ireland, and with the venue, stage backdrop, equipment, lighting, and setlists almost identical to the last, there’s a familiar sense of n different sort of ritual on this particular Sunday at Vicar Street. The ongoing sub-50Hz rumble of the venue gives way to the entry of the seemingly accidental wandering onstage of a percussionist, double bassist and violinist, kept just visible by warm amber light. As they ease into some droning, exploratory notes, more musicians appear onstage, before the mass organically transforms into the band’s now…
Over the years, ATP has become a watchword for a certain kind of classicism, an “accepted history” of what ‘good’ music is over the last 30 years. In this version of events, punk is good, rock is largely bad, unless it doesn’t take itself seriously, although “new” metal is ok. Electronica is generally given a by ball. Bands like Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo (below), and The Flaming Lips are regarded as in the same way Mojo readers regard The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton, and many of the younger people there are aware they’re seeing something…
Head in the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden, Way Out West Festival is easily the best go-to festival in the country for music-loving, culturally orientated young minds. From a more general perspective, though, it boasts one of the most downright incredible line-ups in a summer festival anywhere in the world this year. Set to take place from 8-10 August, the festival – now in its seventh years – will be headlined by Neil Young and Crazy Horse and will feature a whole host of some of the best artists out there, everyone from Grimes, Kendrick Lamar and Azealia Banks to Godspeed You!…