I’m most excited by the Decades series when I’m served up albums like this one. One of 2000’s most acclaimed releases is by a band called Godspeed You! Black Emperor with the glorious title Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven.

As I write this I haven’t heard a single note, but whether it’s a disaster or a new favorite, I’m excited to live for a little while in the bubble of uncertainty before I dive in and figure out what this thing is. Here goes!

Which of you guessed Canadian experimental rock group? Give yourself a gold star!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (which got its name from the title of a 1976 Japanese documentary) is a 9-member band though its size fluctuates as contributors come and go. They have released six albums between 1997 and 2017, three on either side of a decade-long hiatus from 2002-2012.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven is their second album. It consists of four songs, each around 20 minutes long, spread over two CDs. Each song is broken into movements, and they are all instrumental (save for some spoken-word samples).

I’m sorry to say I don’t have the time or patience to listen to an hour and a half of ambient pop, but the opening movement (today’s SOTD) is quite nice. It’s the very definition of a slow builder, going from dead silence to a rousing and quite cinematic wall of sound.