Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! LP

A decade has passed since the release of Yanqui U.X.O., the last album by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Never a band to pay heed to industry wisdom, Yanqui was released shortly before Xmas 2002 with little publicity, no press availability, no marketing plans, cross-promotions or brand synergies, adorned with now infamous back cover artwork diagramming the links between major record labels and the military-industrial complex. Like all GYBE albums, this one did just fine and ‘found it’s audience’: a passionate and committed fanbase galvanized by the group's sonic vision and its dedication to unmediated, unsullied musical communication.That such simple principles and goals have become harder to maintain and enact a decade later is an understatement. For all the contents and discontents, for all the “content” of our present cultural moment, the idea of circumventing the glare of exposure or side-stepping the careful plotting of media cycles and identity management seems profoundly illadvise