Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
EP by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Released	8 March 1999
Recorded	1998
Studio	The Gas Station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre	Post-rock, experimental, dark ambient
Length	28:36
Label	Constellation CST006 Kranky Records KRANK034
Godspeed You! Black Emperor chronology
F♯ A♯ ∞ (1997) Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (1999) Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, also stylized as Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada, is the first EP released by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was released on the Montreal-based record label Constellation Records in 1999, and was re-released by Kranky Records. Users of the website Rate Your Music rate it as the greatest EP of all time.^[1]

Packaging

The album packaging makes only sparing reference to either the band or the album title: the outer packaging does not make any reference to Godspeed, but mentions them in the liner notes; the album title is only shown on the spine of the album cover. The song titles are not listed anywhere on the cover.

The cardboard album case is unusual in that it opens in the opposite direction of a conventional CD case; this is due to the Hebrew text being read from right to left.

The front of the album contains Hebrew characters, in transliterated form, "Tohu va bohu" (formless and empty). This phrase is used in both Genesis 1:2 and Jeremiah 4:23, the former to describe the Earth before God separated light from dark and the latter to describe the Earth after the Lord's Day. The dots and dashes above the letters are called trope. They dictate the tune and intonation and are found in the Torah as well as the rest of the Hebrew Bible. On the inside cover, this text is put into greater context, with Jer 4:23–27 provided in both Hebrew and English (seemingly the Jewish Publication Society version):

²³ I beheld the earth,

And, lo, it was waste and void;

And the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved to and fro.

²⁵ I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,

And all the birds of the heavens were fled.

²⁶ I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the LORD,

And before His fierce anger.

²⁷ For thus saith the LORD:

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet will I not make a full end.

The back of the EP contains a diagram with instructions in Italian on how to make a molotov cocktail.

Unusually, each side of the LP is meant to be played at a different speed. Side A, "Moya," is played at 45 rpm, while side B, "BBF3," is played at 33 rpm.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Sputnikmusic	5/5[3]
NME	8/10[4]
Pitchfork Media	9/10[5]

Songs

Moya

The song title is a reference to band member Mike Moya. Concert setlists sometimes refer to this song as Gorecki because it is a reworking of his third symphony.

BBF3

The song title "BBF3" refers to the vox pop interviewee going by the name of "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III", whose eccentric ramblings form the core of the song. Finnegan recites a poem which he claims to have written himself. The poem is, in fact, mostly composed of lyrics from the song "Virus" by Iron Maiden that were written by their then-vocalist, Blaze Bayley. Blaise Bailey Finnegan III is also apparently the same person being interviewed at the beginning of F♯ A♯ ∞'s "Providence", and indeed some concert performances of "BBF3" also incorporate that sample.

Track listing

Personnel

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

• Thierry Amar — bass guitar, double bass
• David Bryant — guitar, tapes
• Bruce Cawdron — drums, percussion, keyboards
• Aidan Girt — drums, percussion
• Norsola Johnson — cello
• Efrim Menuck — guitar, keyboards
• Mike Moya — guitar
• Mauro Pezzente — bass guitar
• Sophie Trudeau — violin

Technical Personnel

• Dale Morningstar — recording and mixing

References

External links

• Constellation's Information Page on Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada