The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 26, 2017 — 5
Arts
To call Godspeed You! Black
Emperor’s music challenging
is to scrape the surface of their
20+
year
post-
rock innovation.
But
it’s
true,
nonetheless.
The
collective’s
approach
radically
differs
from
the
two-
three
minute
structure
that
defines the 21st century pop
hit.
Interfacing
orchestral
instruments,
arrangement
and
song
structure
with
textures
and
progressions
traditionally found in rock, GY!
BE yearns for the age-old while
simultaneously
beckoning
forth the distant future.
Here,
Luciferian
Towers
is no different. The album
is immense, at points nearly
exploding. Yet, cooling off
at 44 minutes, the album’s
magnitude is found not in its
length, but rather between the
huge swaths of noisy ambience
and fractured chaos it lugs you
through.
“Undoing
a
Luciferian
Towers” is a clamoring call
to arms. The drum pattern
evokes images of Civil War
drummer boys leading marches
down the battlefield. Waves
of feedback pierce the empty
space
between
whispering
guitars.
Woodwinds
shriek;
trumpets whimper; in jazz-
like fashion, the instruments
compete for attention. For a
burgeoning seven-off minutes,
we approach Judgment Day.
One of Luciferian Towers
distinctive
footprints
is
its
obsession
with
and
manipulation of noise. While
GY! BE has long been interested
in inharmonious sound, what
is striking about their most
recent is its distorted, fuzzy
timbre. At its most gentle,
the instruments bear a slight
whirr, while at its most intense,
everything seems like it’s been
run through a Bit Crusher.
The sound of the pick running
down an electric guitar string
is manipulated into a dial-up
crinkle in “Bosses Hang, Pt.
II.” On “Anthem
for No State, Pt.
III,”
clangorous
feedback
saturates
the
soundstage, only
the guttural kick
drums
finding
space to escape.
Now, Godspeed
You! Black Emperor’s music
has long drawn influence and
been critical of the political
sphere. Consider the album’s
track
titles:
“Undoing
a
Luciferian Towers,” “Bosses
Hang,”
“Fam/Famine”
and
“Anthem for No State.” Even on
its Bandcamp page, each track
comes with a series of cryptic
remarks aimed to contextualize
the sound. On “Bosses Hang,”
they write “Labor, alienated
from the wealth it creates / So
that holy cow, most of us live
precariously! / Kicking at it,
but barely hanging on!”and —
“The proud illuminations of
our shortened lives!”, also —
“More of us than them!”, also —
“What we need now is shovels /
Wells, and barricades!”
While
Luciferian
Towers
oscillates
between
densely
packed
pandemonium
and
gentle, minimal soundscapes,
the album’s flaw lies in its
dynamics. For one, the album
seems
engineered
entirely
around the strings. To be
fair, this is the majority of
the collective. Yet, even in
those few occasions where
electronics, brass or drums
emerge
in
the
foreground,
the
mastering
seem
more
concerned in letting the strings
breathe rather than focusing
on their melodic complements.
Where “Anthem for No State,
Pt. III” has a brilliant drum
section that could’ve exploded
into a movement resembling
“Providence”, guitar melodies
overtake
the
composition.
On “Fam/Famine,” the kicks
and
snares
flail
in
every
direction, but they sit so far
in the distance behind walls
of reverb-induced guitar and
violin that their complexity is
difficult to notice.
While
this
album
is
instrumental
like
the
rest
of their catalogue, there is
a marked absence of field
recordings and vocal samples
that littered their earliest LP’s.
So, even though the music is
gripping and rife with conflict,
the only contextualization of
the sounds are the track titles.
It’s clear that GY! BE wants to
make contact with the political,
but they seem to offer nothing
more than emotional reprieve,
which, of course, might be the
point.
Luciferian Towers is one
massive event — one single,
cathartic
release
—
rather
than a series of less significant
moments strung together in
succession. Although distinct
points do beg to be re-listened,
these moments feel incomplete
without the context of what
comes before and after it.
Like the rest of Godspeed’s
catalog,
running
through
the
entirety
of
Luciferian
Towers comes with a sense of
accomplishment.
When
the
album’s main theme makes its
final reprise on “Anthem for No
State, Pt. III,” we feel resolved.
Few artists today can make
music as rich and cathartic,
let alone without lyrics or
field recordings. And this is
ultimately what makes their
music so challenging, because
we can step away from the
music and feel as if we gained
something. But it’s nothing
physical; it’s nothing we can
point to and claim de facto.
Maybe it’s defying norms.
Maybe it’s just learning to
focus.
AARURAN
CHANDRASEKHAR
Daily Arts Writer
Luciferian
Towers
Godspeed You!
Black Emperor
Constellation
Records
Godspeed You! Black
Emperor stays mighty
Following up on 2014’s “The
Secret Service,” the second
“Kingsman” film spends most
of its runtime trying and failing
to justify its existence. Like the
first film, “The Golden Circle”
is filled to the brim with rip-
roaring action sequences, nifty
spy gadgets and pretty people
taking off their clothing. What
this second film lacks that
the first film so greatly had is
originality.
Like the first film, “The
Golden
Circle”
features
a
fantastic
ensemble
led
by
Taron Egerton (“Eddie the
Eagle”) as Eggsy Unwin, now
a
world-saving
superspy.
Colin Firth (“Bridget Jones’s
Baby”)
and
Mark
Strong
(“Miss Sloane”) also return to
reprise their roles
from the original
film,
joined
by
Halle
Berry
(“Kidnap”), Pedro
Pascal
(“Game
of
Thrones”),
Channing Tatum
(“Logan
Lucky”)
and
Julianne
Moore (“Maggie’s
Plan”) as an evil
drug
trafficker
out to destroy the
world. As should be obvious
from these names, the cast
is superb, and watching this
many
talented
people
hop
around the globe saying silly
things is certainly fun. But
we’ve seen this all before, and
with a plot that feels strangely
similar to that of “The Secret
Service,” it’s hard not to wish
that director Matthew Vaughn
(“Kick-Ass”) had offered up
something different with his
sequel.
The
thing
that
most
differentiates this film from
other sequels is
the addition of
the
Statesman,
a
group
of
American
spies
that hides their
organization
behind a liquor
business
rather
then
a
tailor
shop.
While
the idea behind
the
Statesman
is
interesting,
nothing much is really done
with them. Other than a few
cheap gags, the Statesman don’t
add anything to the dynamic
that the Kingsman already had.
The action sequences, which
were a definite highlight of the
“The Secret Service,” are still
the main draw here. Vaughn
employs a diverse use of slow
motion, close ups and hyper-
stylized movement to create
truly unique action sequences.
The problem is that there
are just so many of them. It
rarely stops. By the time the
characters are making a final
stand set to “Country Roads,”
the audience has long ago
lost interest. “Kingsman: The
Golden Circle” is at least a
half-hour too long and could
probably have done with two or
three fewer action scenes.
Since
the
film’s
release
last week Vaughn has said
in numerous interviews that
he intends to complete his
trilogy with another Kingsman
film before moving on to
spin-offs (possibly involving
the Statesman or others). If
he wants this series to be
remembered
he’s
going
to
have to work harder to make
the third movie feel different
from
the
first
two.
Right
now
it’s
hard
to
imagine
this formula working a third
time. “Kingsman: The Golden
Circle” skates by on goodwill
for the characters and the
franchise held over from the
first movie. “Kingsman: The
Third Chapter” might not be so
lucky.
Star-studded ‘Kingsman’
sequel succeeds by chance
“Kingsman:
The Golden
Circle”
20th Century Fox
Rave Cinemas,
Quality 16
MELLO MUSIC GROUP
“It feels like only in my
nightmares will I see my own
body, dead and still. But when
sleep paralysis cross-pollinates
what is dreaming and what is
real, the fears of seeing my own
body, frozen and corpse like, is
unfortunately so realistic.”
I wrote this immediately
after waking up from my worst
episode
of
sleep
paralysis.
But before I enter the truths
of this hellacious experience,
it’s important to see what’s
happening, how to fight it and
of course, how to prevent it.
Sleep
paralysis
can
be
defined
as
“a
temporary
inability to move or speak
while falling asleep or upon
waking.”
As
someone
who
suffered from chronic sleep
paralysis, and after hours and
hours of research, I finally have
a decent explanation for what’s
happening in our bodies. And
it’s hauntingly fascinating.
Our brains go into REM
cycle while we sleep, which is
what produces vivid, internal
dreams. When we are in REM,
our bodily senses turn off and
let us have uninterrupted sleep.
By shutting off our senses, our
body allows mental REM to
safely take over, so you don’t
actually attempt to jump off
the building and fly (something
you might be dreaming of in
that moment).
Imagine your senses like
light
switches:
When
you
sleep, they’re all turned off.
Normally when we awake,
all those switches turn on
at once. We see the sunlight
through our window, we hear
the chipmunks chatter and we
taste our oh-so-nasty morning
breath. But in the instance of
sleep paralysis, those senses
turn on at different times,
and eventually, they are all on
except for one: your ability to
feel.
You’re lying in bed, unable
to move and usually unable to
speak, but there is the window
with the light and sound of
the cars rushing by outside.
It’s all there, but muscles and
senses that are under voluntary
control, like getting up out of
bed, are not available. You’ve
woken up before your REM is
over; you’re paralyzed, and it’s
freaking terrifying.
Your mind has completed
its REM; it’s ready for the day.
Meanwhile, your body is still in
it, longing for more sleep and
relaxation. I imagine my nerves
and my receptors firing at one
another: Half of me needs to
go to my 9 A.M. class, and the
other half of me needs to keep
sleeping. It paralyses me.
So one may question: how
did I get to this moment and
how the hell do I get out of
it? Whether it’s one random
episode, or four times in one
semester (like myself), the
reasons for sleep paralysis are
all common and most likely
preventable. Those who do
experience this are usually
under great stress, suffer from
regular anxiety, have had an
irregular sleep schedule, or
they’ve simply been sleeping
on their back all night. Other
factors can include depression,
drugs and alcohol and certain
medications.
I’ve
suffered
from
sleep
paralysis quite a few times
in my life, starting in my
adolescence and in high school.
But with the social, academic
and emotional stress of college,
and
as
someone
who
has
anxiety, sleep paralysis has
found a new place in my life.
My excerpt above reflects
one of the terrors I had when
trying to come out of my sleep
paralysis.
My
nightmare
showed my body in the exact
position it was in my bed, and
it was all from a birds-eye
view. I wasn’t breathing in this
image, my body was lifeless and
I wasn’t asleep –– I have seen
what I will look like when I die.
The scariest thing about all of
this is the utter lack of control
that you have. Every day, we
live in control of our minds,
our bodies and our souls; every
choice, every motion, that’s
all up to us. And the instant
we lose that ability to be an
autonomous human is a fear
that many, if not all of us, would
not want to encounter.
To
be
quite
honest,
I
thought that nightmare was
the worst part of it all, but
boy was I wrong. The moment
I woke up from the paralysis
and hallucinated a daunting
black figure in my bathroom
was something I had never
experienced before. It was
there when I decided that this
cannot happen again, or at least
not like this.
With a pretty consistent
sleep schedule, no caffeine
before bed, some melatonin, a
happy episode of New Girl or a
chapter of a good book, I have
now been free of sleep paralysis
since April. Making sure our
bodies and our minds are
relaxed before sleep is so vital,
not just for sleep paralysis, but
for our overall health. Take
preventative
action
sooner
than later, and that can even
start by telling others. Tell
your roommates, your family
and your significant other. The
more people aware of this, the
more they can help you and the
more they can be informed for
themselves.
If
you
do
happen
to
experience sleep paralysis, do
not fight it. What makes the
dreams and the aftermath so
horrifying is that our body and
our mind are at war. To safely
wake up, allow your body to
sleep, let your mind dream the
crazy dreams. And you will get
out of it. I can promise you that.
The realities of sleep
paralysis
HEALTH & WELLNESS COLUMN
ERIKA
SHEVCHEK
Our brains go into
REM cycle while
we sleep, which
is what produces
vivid, internal
dreams
With a pretty
consistent sleep
schedule, no
caffeine before
bed, some
melatonin ... I
have now been
free of sleep
paralysis
20TH CENTURY FOX
IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer
Hyper-stylized
movement ...
create(s) truly
unique action
The action
sequences ... are
the main draw
here
FILM REVIEW
MUSIC REVIEW