Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, also stylized as Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada, is the first EP and second release by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was released on the Montreal-based record label Constellation Records in 1999, and was re-released by Kranky.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
NME8/10[4]
Pitchfork9/10[5]
Sputnikmusic5/5[6]

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
EP by
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
ReleasedMarch 8, 1999 (vinyl) [1]
March 29, 1999 (CD) [2]
Recorded1998
StudioThe Gas Station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenrePost-rock
Length28:36
LabelConstellation
CST006
Kranky
KRANK034
Godspeed You! Black Emperor chronology
F♯ A♯ ∞
(1997)		 Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
(1999)		 Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(2000)

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 CD pressing. 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 תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ, Tohu VaVohu ('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.

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.[7] Blaise Bailey Finnegan III is also heard interviewed at the beginning of the track "Providence" on the group's previous release F♯ A♯ ∞ ,[8] and indeed some concert performances of "BBF3" also incorporate that sample.

Reception

It is the highest-rated EP of all time on Rate Your Music.[9]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Moya"10:51
2."BBF3"17:45
Total length:28:36

Personnel

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Technical personnel
  • Dale Morningstar – recording and mixing

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20160803091026/http://www.brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/krank034.html
  3. Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada. AllMusic. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  4. "Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada". NME. March 27, 1999. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  5. "Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada". Pitchfork. April 1, 1999. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. Downer, Adam (January 1, 2008). "Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  7. "Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada". Sputnik Music. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  8. "dead metheny - monologues - the dead flag blues (intro)". www.brainwashed.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  9. Top EPs of All-Time. Rate Your Music. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
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