Yanqui U.X.O

Montreal-based anarchist collective Godspeed You Black Emperor are responsible for making some of the most awe-inspiring symphonic music of the last decade--but on their fourth record, Yanqui U.X.O, it sounds as if the wind in their sails has dropped from a gale to a breeze. By no means has their resolve faltered: Godspeed are still dedicated to autonomy from a music industry they view as corrupt--witness the sleeve of Yanqui U.X.O, which features a pen-scrawled chart that financially links major record labels to arms manufacturers and the American military itself. But the music here--recorded, for the first time, with Chicago-based producer Steve Albini--lacks the inspiring climaxes and dramatic manifestos that characterised the band's earlier works. The second movement of "09-15-00" displays a serene, windswept beauty. But all too often, individual instruments--celestial guitar roar, keening violin, martial drum signatures--aren't given enough space to breathe, gelling into one characterless drone. And with no atmospheric field recordings to section up its five plodding orchestral passages, Yanqui U.X.O begins to feel like an awfully long 75 minutes. Only the closing "Motherfucker = Redeemer" finds the band hitting their stride, but by then, you're mute with surprise that Godspeed have turned out an album that's anything other than totally excellent. --Louis Pattison

Label: Unknown
Studio: Constellation
Released: 2002-12-23
Format: Audio CD