Godspeed You! Black Emperor have shared their first tape in full.
- READ MORE: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ‘G_d’s Pee AT STATE’s END’ review: music for tumultuous times
The group first released ‘All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling’ in 1993. It was dubbed onto just 33 cassette tapes at the time and has become a much sought after recording by fans over the years.
The tapes and songs were thought to be lost. However, recently the tracks were shared to various platforms.
Now, in response to that, the band have added the full contents of the tape onto Bandcamp.
They wrote: “This was a retirement letter, recorded spring/summer/fall summer of 1993. all of it by efrim, and a little bass from mauro.”
All proceeds from sales will be donated to the CJPME’s campaign to provide medical oxygen to the Gaza Strip.
They asked fans to “be gentle” when listening. You can listen to it here.
In an interview for Vish Khanna’s Kreative Kontrol podcast, the band’s Efrim Manuel Menuck (who recorded the tape largely alone before forming the band) opened up about the tape being shared online, saying there was “something really fucked up about making a cassette for 12 friends, and 30 years later it ends up on YouTube”.
He said he was happy for people to listen to it now, even if it is “not the Godspeed you know”. Watch the interview above.
Reviewing the band’s last album, NME wrote: “‘STATE’S END’ is a tumultuous record for tumultuous times, but there’s a piece of galvanising beauty for every moment of crushing dread.
“For all the gunshots and explosions in the background, there are church bells and birdsong too. Godspeed’s new album articulates dark times, but it also presents the countermovement with breathtaking power.”