Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!

by Godspeed You Black Emperor

* The use of orchestral instruments on the album provides such a neat and depressing texture to the album. The violin family harmonizes on eachother creating a solemnly serene that sounds much like an epic movie. Still, I think there's a personality here that sets it apart from the generic, forgettable movie orchestrations throughout cinema, whether it be the eclecticism of arrangements—with distorted droning feedback and booming drums on top of said orchestra—or the compositions themselves which are so moving and emotional.

* The instrumentation goes so far beyond the bass lead guitar rhythm guitar drums formula, I've already mentioned the use of orchestra, but more subdued elements such as pianos and drones are also sprinkled on the experience. The piano at the end of "Storm" is a quiet and peaceful moment, sounding a lot like Brian Eno's "Ambient 1," which is all contrasted by the incoherent ramblings of a soldier who longs for home.

* It becomes apparent that the album is an instrumental piece laced with few and far between field recordings which drive so much emotion in these pieces alone. I find the fact that these are simply recording of real people, a snapshot into their lives, it makes you feel you learn a little about them; from an old man not knowing where the time went, a soldier longing for home, people so desperately seeking God, the whole thing incites a feeling of dishope.

* As a whole the variety of its soundscapes exceeds many of its contemporaries. Whether it'd be the serenity or depression from the strings, the peaceful moments of the acoustic guitar and piano, the enthralling drones and ambience, the use of field recordings packing a lot of its personality, it's a very large canvas with many splashes of paint.