For a little bit of context, GIIA comes from the very end of the second wave of post-rock/beginning of the third one, the moment when the genre began shifting from a more experimental songwriting, texture-based approach to a crescendo-obsessed one. Imo they grew as better storytellers with time, this track is from the early stages of the band but it's highly regarded as an instrumental one for many post-rock fans. The song even inspired the now defunct Suicide by Star blog which specialized on all things post-rock/metal and some other scenes in the alternative/indie world. Honestly, I just get an overwhelming feeling from this one, that being the journey or story, rather than having a more concrete narrative. The idea of committing suicide by clashing or ejecting yourself towards a star is so larger than life and melodramatic at the same time, that I just believe they were trying to translate that imagery into the music.
I appreciate you sharing your perspective/feel about the song. Interesting to see how strongly it differs from mine! (I have written up my thoughts in another comment here if you are interested). Do you have a link to the blog? I can't seem to find it. Ah I see you write defunct. Too bad :/
For some reason it never dawned on me how melodramatic that action would be but having it said back to me, it absolutely is. I take it they're a band that likes to create larger than life music?
Loved that you did this one. Thanks! I think I have a lot of context and my own interpretations to add: First regarding the microphones: GIIA is an instrumental band. But some songs include humming and heavy reverb "choir sounds" for a lack of better words. Never lyrics (as far as I know) This song hits extremely hard for me and I think it only does so when one listens to the whole album in one setting. The pay-off is even larger. Suicide by Star is track 7. Before that you get 6 beautiful pieces, that are fairly slow and ambient and cautious in a way. Tip-toeing between joyful, feather light vibes and more melancholic tunes (without ever being clearly one or the other - at least for me). These 6 tracks importantly do not feature any double kicks from the drummer. To be fair I am not even sure if anywhere else in their discography there are double-kick parts like in this song. So you have to imagine you are laying down / relaxing. Joining this atmospheric emotional dance. Rising in tension slightly and letting go. 6 times this happens in the tracks before. You see a pattern. You ease into the vibe and enjoy the ride. But no no - not in this track. The tension rises, and does not stop rising. Double kicks and heavy drums in your face! And after this heavy onslaught (relatively speaking - I have no problem enjoying tech death etc) you get 3 more songs that are just crushingly sad and quiet in contrast. A true feeling of loss emerges. These feelings also inform my interpretation. I feel like this album is about nuclear war. The album cover displays an astronaut standing in front of the smoldering ruins of a building with the sun barely coming through a hazy grey-ish sky. In the background are some tree skeletons. It looks like winter. This could be a reference to a nuclear winter (2nd order effect of nuclear war in which the fires launch so much soot into the atmosphere that the sky is basically darkened for several years, leading to global cooling). Might also fit with the title "All is violent, all is bright" - maybe referring to the bright flash associated with a nuclear explosion. And so coming back to track 7 "Suicide by Star". Coloured by my interpretation I feel like this song is building up to the chain reaction of the explosion in which the radioactive material is split and kick-starts the next atomic split and the next one... leading to a vast destruction. The double-kicks fit this theme in my opinion. And it works with the name of the song: "Suicide" because no matter who starts the nuclear war, both sides die (MAD = mutual assured destruction) - or you die through the second order effects (nuclear winter leading to famine). And the "by Star" refers to the fact that the same physics that fuel our sun are being used here to create an explosion on earth. This theme of referring to a nuclear explosion as a "Sun" (or star) can be found multiple times. Most known one is probably "Two suns in the sunset" by Pink Floyd. And yeah if I listen to this album, with this theme in mind this song and the subsequent 3 quiet songs hit very hard. Like dealing with grief about the end of the world.
They used to play the final video of the guy that sent a mail bomb to Björk in the background when playing this live, ending just before his suicide by gunshot. Very memorable.
I thought I remembered hearing these guys on the channel and you did indeed listen to a track from 2 years ago. I was quite enthusiastic about them but they're one of those bands I still haven't gotten around to. I definitely enjoyed this one too. Just really beautiful atmospheric work that builds to a really satisfying climax. Good stuff.
In terms of songs with a massive payoff, I will say it again. Cressida - Munich, very old school prog-rock with an amazing ending with powerful brass sections - one of my favourite tracks and an underrated/ lesser known gem!. and, Renaissance - Ashes are Burning - with the patient journey capped off by the phenomenal vocal peak and guitar solo ending by guest guitarist from Wishbone Ash. It's a fan's favourite. Both of these songs are journeys with better pay-offs than anything I've heard so far in this theme. Nb. I left to watch your next, but came back to add the missing key point for these - emotion and Dynamics! :D
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For a little bit of context, GIIA comes from the very end of the second wave of post-rock/beginning of the third one, the moment when the genre began shifting from a more experimental songwriting, texture-based approach to a crescendo-obsessed one. Imo they grew as better storytellers with time, this track is from the early stages of the band but it's highly regarded as an instrumental one for many post-rock fans. The song even inspired the now defunct Suicide by Star blog which specialized on all things post-rock/metal and some other scenes in the alternative/indie world.
Honestly, I just get an overwhelming feeling from this one, that being the journey or story, rather than having a more concrete narrative. The idea of committing suicide by clashing or ejecting yourself towards a star is so larger than life and melodramatic at the same time, that I just believe they were trying to translate that imagery into the music.
Aaah, I see!
I appreciate you sharing your perspective/feel about the song. Interesting to see how strongly it differs from mine! (I have written up my thoughts in another comment here if you are interested). Do you have a link to the blog? I can't seem to find it. Ah I see you write defunct. Too bad :/
For some reason it never dawned on me how melodramatic that action would be but having it said back to me, it absolutely is. I take it they're a band that likes to create larger than life music?
@@CriticalReactionsThey definitely are, one of my favourite tracks by them is titled Worlds in Collision for instace!
Loved that you did this one. Thanks! I think I have a lot of context and my own interpretations to add:
First regarding the microphones: GIIA is an instrumental band. But some songs include humming and heavy reverb "choir sounds" for a lack of better words. Never lyrics (as far as I know)
This song hits extremely hard for me and I think it only does so when one listens to the whole album in one setting. The pay-off is even larger. Suicide by Star is track 7. Before that you get 6 beautiful pieces, that are fairly slow and ambient and cautious in a way. Tip-toeing between joyful, feather light vibes and more melancholic tunes (without ever being clearly one or the other - at least for me). These 6 tracks importantly do not feature any double kicks from the drummer. To be fair I am not even sure if anywhere else in their discography there are double-kick parts like in this song. So you have to imagine you are laying down / relaxing. Joining this atmospheric emotional dance. Rising in tension slightly and letting go. 6 times this happens in the tracks before. You see a pattern. You ease into the vibe and enjoy the ride. But no no - not in this track. The tension rises, and does not stop rising. Double kicks and heavy drums in your face!
And after this heavy onslaught (relatively speaking - I have no problem enjoying tech death etc) you get 3 more songs that are just crushingly sad and quiet in contrast. A true feeling of loss emerges.
These feelings also inform my interpretation. I feel like this album is about nuclear war. The album cover displays an astronaut standing in front of the smoldering ruins of a building with the sun barely coming through a hazy grey-ish sky. In the background are some tree skeletons. It looks like winter. This could be a reference to a nuclear winter (2nd order effect of nuclear war in which the fires launch so much soot into the atmosphere that the sky is basically darkened for several years, leading to global cooling). Might also fit with the title "All is violent, all is bright" - maybe referring to the bright flash associated with a nuclear explosion. And so coming back to track 7 "Suicide by Star". Coloured by my interpretation I feel like this song is building up to the chain reaction of the explosion in which the radioactive material is split and kick-starts the next atomic split and the next one... leading to a vast destruction. The double-kicks fit this theme in my opinion. And it works with the name of the song: "Suicide" because no matter who starts the nuclear war, both sides die (MAD = mutual assured destruction) - or you die through the second order effects (nuclear winter leading to famine). And the "by Star" refers to the fact that the same physics that fuel our sun are being used here to create an explosion on earth. This theme of referring to a nuclear explosion as a "Sun" (or star) can be found multiple times. Most known one is probably "Two suns in the sunset" by Pink Floyd.
And yeah if I listen to this album, with this theme in mind this song and the subsequent 3 quiet songs hit very hard. Like dealing with grief about the end of the world.
Beautiful interpretation of this track!
This was great!
They used to play the final video of the guy that sent a mail bomb to Björk in the background when playing this live, ending just before his suicide by gunshot. Very memorable.
Talking about postrock… maybe one day someone will analyze Yndi Halda. “A song for starlit beaches” would be a great choice
I thought I remembered hearing these guys on the channel and you did indeed listen to a track from 2 years ago. I was quite enthusiastic about them but they're one of those bands I still haven't gotten around to. I definitely enjoyed this one too. Just really beautiful atmospheric work that builds to a really satisfying climax. Good stuff.
love this song
Wow! They sound like if the Cure and Radiohead had a baby
At least live they do sporadic vocals in some tracks, and make heavy use of vocoders.
In terms of songs with a massive payoff, I will say it again. Cressida - Munich, very old school prog-rock with an amazing ending with powerful brass sections - one of my favourite tracks and an underrated/ lesser known gem!. and, Renaissance - Ashes are Burning - with the patient journey capped off by the phenomenal vocal peak and guitar solo ending by guest guitarist from Wishbone Ash. It's a fan's favourite. Both of these songs are journeys with better pay-offs than anything I've heard so far in this theme.
Nb. I left to watch your next, but came back to add the missing key point for these - emotion and Dynamics! :D
There's also a star like in stardom 😊
Oooo, yeah I never even thought about that. I think the Astronaut part of their name subconscious locked me in the space them 😄
@@CriticalReactions Yet, a star above proved to be the intentional aim 😊
Hu did another reaction lie 3 year ago