Issue date: 11/23/02 Section: Undefined Section

My parents always told me never to judge a book by its cover. And for a while, I believed them. But being that I am now an adult, I realize that covers sometimes contain valuable information. Such is the case with 10-piece Canadian band Godspeed You! Black Emperor's latest record, Yanqui U.X.O. (Constellation). 

The sleeve displays an amazingly intricate and confusing network of connections between the corporate side of the recording industry and the arms industry: Columbia Records to warfare simulations; BMG to fighter jets; and, my personal favorite, Madonna's Maverick label to the Tomahawk Cruise Missile. And then there's the title: "Yanqui" implies American imperialism directed toward the Latin world, and "U.X.O." stands for unexploded ordinance. So it's a political album, right?

Slow down -- this isn't Rage Against the Machine.

Produced by Chicago indie stalwart Steve Albini (Nirvana's In Utero), Yanqui U.X.O. is Godspeed You! Black Emperor's finest show of orchestral rock to date. At a massive 75 minutes long, the album only has three songs. But each one demonstrates G.Y.!B.E's ability to craft beautiful and evocative musical contradictions. 

In the first movement of "09-15-00," the first song on the album, chaotically detuned violins combine in unison with a steady drum beat and guitar line. The second movement, however, provides a compelling counterpoint, consisting merely of a piano and guitar playing in sync above an ambient backdrop.

The final opus, ominously titled "Motherfucker=redeemer," not only shows Godspeed's talent as a band but also Albini's genius as a producer. The guitars at the beginning of the song enter with seemingly endless sonic circles and, in the second movement, they coalesce into a frantically apocalyptic swirl of drums, guitars and violins. It's confusing, suffocating and absolutely lovely.

As beatific as the music is, however, behind it there's a secret, and Godspeed isn't telling. Unlike the band's past full-length records F#A#(Infinity) and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, there are no telling lyrics or song titles to hint at the ideas driving the album or even the song titles.  Reading the liner notes gives no insight into what might have happened on Sept. 15, 2000, or to what the band's overtures could possibly be referring on "Rocket Falls on Rocket Falls."   

So is this record some kind of ambiguous political commentary? Maybe. But the only conclusive answer Godspeed gives you at the end of the hour-and-a-quarter trip of Yanqui U.X.O. is the music, which is the most important thing. nyou

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