photo by Francois Marchard

To all who pre-ordered the new GYBE record, thanks! We're almost finished packing the last batches and hope to complete shipping by Thursday 10 October. While most orders will arrive pretty close to the release date, a few may not, but will get there soon after.
Regarding the free MP3 that comes with orders placed through our web shop, delivery of that MP3 is triggered as we change the status of an order to "shipped". Even though all orders will have shipped, we will be changing the status to "shipped" only on release date (16 October). On the same date, the MP3 codes inside the vinyl version will become active.
Thanks again for your support and patience. It's been a wooly couple of weeks here at CST HQ.
 

 
If the various rips floating around the internet aren't really doing it for you, Godspeed You! Black Emperor's forthcoming LP, 'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!, is now streaming in full at The Guardian:
 
STREAM: 'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!
 
As reported previously, 'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!, the band's first new recording in a decade, will be released next week (Oct. 15 in Europe, Oct. 16 in North America). We're actually not taking any more pre-orders directly, but our release page has listed several options for pre-ordering it elsewhere.
 

 
Day two after the GYBE album announcement and our web shop has been pleasantly, unexpectedly and utterly overwhelmed by orders for the new Godspeed album.
 
In light of the limited time left before the record hits shops on October 15/16, and because we can no longer guarantee shipment by release date for any further pre-orders, we've suspended sales through our web store.
 
If you've received confirmation from our web store about an order you've placed, we promise we are working around the clock to get all pre-orders in the mail to all regions of the globe so that they arrive by the Oct 15 release date.
 
Please rest assured that plenty of records (on both LP and CD) have been pressed and will be widely available at shops around the world on (or in some cases, possibly shortly after) the release date.
 
Our release page provides links to recommended independent retailers (physical shops and mail-order services) that we encourage you to consider.
 
This is a follow-up announcement to our previous post yesterday.
 
Thanks for your support and understanding; both are appreciated immensely!

 
The response to our GYBE album announcement and pre-order has been overwhelming. The band is humbled and so are we. Huge thanks to everyone who cares so passionately about the group.
 
In the past 15 hours we have received as many LP orders as we can fulfill and mail out from our Montreal HQ such that they still arrive to customers by the official release date 2 weeks from now. CDs are still available for pre-order, and we'll start taking orders for the LP again soon, but for the time being:
 

LP PRE-ORDERS IN OUR WEB STORE ARE NOW SUSPENDED.

 
Please check back on our site over the next couple of days for further developments.
 
Meantime...
 
We apologise for any inconvenience. We sincerely and strongly encourage you to support independent music retailers by buying the album when it is in stores or appears on other mail-order sites. Constellaton and GYBE care deeply about keeping indie record shops alive and viable – please support them by requesting/reserving the album, or if you do not live anywhere near a good indie store, check out the many stores that do also have online shops.
 
Record Store Day has an excellent indie store locater here:
www.recordstoreday.com/Venues
 
Our UK distributor Cargo Records has a list of UK indie shops here:
www.cargorecords.co.uk/collective
 
Good pricing from indie retail on the GYBE LP would be in the 18.00-23.00 range (USD/CAN/EUR/GBP - we can't really speak for other currencies or territories).
 
We have pressed a pretty large amount of vinyl but because of the proximity of the announcement to release date, this LP stock is already allocated and moving through numerous distributors to get the album in shops. There is no need to be paying any sort of premium on e-bay or elsewhere in the next couple of weeks as substantial LP stock is going to be out there and available upon release date.
 
Utmost thanks again for your interest and support!
 
Ian & Don at Constellation

 
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!
CST081    180gLP+7"/ CD / DL
 
Out 15/16 October 2012
 
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW.
 
We are proud to announce the first new recordings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor in a decade. Featuring two twenty-minute slabs of epic instrumental rock music and two six-and-a-half minute drones, 'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND! provides soaring, shining proof of the band's powerful return to form.
 
Having emerged from hiatus at the end of 2010, GYBE undeniably picked up right where they left off, immediately re-capturing the sound and material that had fallen dormant in 2003 and driving it forward with every show of their extensive touring over the last 18 months. The new album presents the fruits of that labour: evolved and definitive versions of two huge compositions previously known to fans as "Albanian" and "Gamelan", now properly titled as "MLADIC" and "WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE" respectively. Accompanied by the new drones (stitched into the album sequence on CD; cut separately on their own 7" for the LP version), GYBE have offered up a fifth album that is absolutely as vital, virulent, honest and heavy as anything in their discography.
 
We don't have much time for mythology, but we'd be lying if we said the return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 2010 didn't signify a whole lot to us as a marker from which to look back on the past decade, to reflect on what's been gained or lost within the confines of independent music culture and what's been gained or lost in the socio-political landscape writ large. Godspeed's music will do that to you. It is music that bears witness to, channels and transforms this predominantly terrible, infuriating, venal and nihilistically sad story we're all living, sharing, resisting, protesting, deconstructing and trying to change for the better. GYBE once again provide a uniquely moving and compelling soundtrack for these acts of analysis, defiance and ascension.
 
More info about 'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND! is on our official release page.
 
The band has set off for two weeks of live dates around the United States, beginning Monday 01 October in Boston. They head to Europe in November, and Australia in February. All currently confirmed dates are here.
 

 
BERN • PARIS • MUNICH • VIENNA • LEIPZIG
 
As previously announced, this November we're staging some mini-festival events in France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany to celebrate our 15th year as a record label. These have come together really nicely, more artists have been added in recent weeks, and a whole new city (Munich) as well!
 
Check this page for confirmed lineups and ticket links, and keep reading below for further details and testimonials.
 
We truly feel the present is a great moment to take stock of what we've done over the past decade and a half. Bands with whom we have some of our longest-standing relationships continue to make music among the most vital and inspiring to grace our ears, while in the past few years we've begun new relationships with artists producing equally jaw-dropping work, whose vision and integrity remind us why we started doing this in the first place.
 
We've felt an outpouring of warm support from our many friends and allies in Europe and around the world in organizing these events, while back home we've had the privilege of participating in the inspiring and unprecedented (in Canada) popular movement protesting tuition increases and the fraud of neo-liberal "austerity" economics that took over the streets of Montreal this spring. These days we truly feel more connected than ever to the local and global communities we consider ourselves part of, accountable to, and inspired by.
 
We're deeply grateful to everyone who's found occasional or sustained meaning and common cause with Constellation thus far, and genuinely look forward to spending time and celebrating with everyone that can make it out to these events in Europe.
 
And it goes without saying, we are utterly humbled and honoured by the support we've received from all of our presenting partners in these five European cities, most of whom we've had a long-standing relationship with in various respects. We set out to collaborate with the people who historically have meant a lot to us and our artists, and could not have hoped for more. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts.
 
• • • • • 
 
While the mighty Siskiyou has sadly had to pull out of any further appearances this year (read a message from the band here), our European mini-fest anniversary shows continue to be anchored by Do Make Say Think and Silver Mt Zion, along with Sandro Perri (backed by a full band), Eric Chenaux, Elfin Saddle and Hangedup. These six artists will be present at all four of our previously announced events in Bern, Paris, Vienna and Leipzig.
 
We have also now confirmed the participation of Carla Bozulich and Matana Roberts at all four of these events as well - whether as part of the "main stage" line-ups or in interesting site-specific or off-site performances. We're still ironing out a few of those ideas and logistics, but rest assured no performances will be running concurrently.
 
Additionally, we'll have Hrsta at most engagements, and have managed to yank Colin Stetson out of his crisscrossing solo tour schedule to appear on the final night of the Bern fest.
 
The Bern weekend will be truly epic, with a minimum of eleven CST bands appearing over four days, and the Dis-patch Art Collective from Belgrade, Serbia installing their wonderful exhibit "Ce côté en haut: The Fragile World of Constellation" - an exhaustive retrospective of the label's album and poster artwork. Looks like there will also be a label-related photo exhibit in Bern, as well as a couple of day shows, art talks and other off-site things going on too.
 
Also: Munich! The excellent Feierwerk venue in Munich has come on board to host two nights featuring 3-band bills each evening, with DMST, Perri and Chenaux playing on Nov 19 and SMZ, Hrsta and Matana Roberts playing on Nov 21.
 
Again, click HERE for a re-cap of the main stage line-ups in each city along with ticket links, and/or watch the video clip at the end of this post for a listing of those main stage line-ups at each event.
 
 

 
 
Other cool things we can tell you about:
 
It's already pretty darn exciting that Do Make Say Think will be performing their classic album Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead in its entirety for their live set, but our presenting partner the Viennale will additionally be programming a series of experimental films to be projected during the band's set in Vienna. Since the Viennale is one of Europe's most respected and iconoclastic film festivals, this is sure to be a very special visual accompaniment to a very special musical performance.
 
Mike Moya was a founding member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor back in the early 1990s but pulled back from the band by the end of that decade to concentrate on Montreal-based projects as well as his excellent psych-folk group Hrsta throughout the 2000s. Moya then re-joined GY!BE when the group came off hiatus in 2010 and has been back in the third guitar chair with them ever since. Hrsta will perform at all the CST European events except Paris, and will be joined by new Godspeed drummer Tim Herzog, GY!BE/SMZ violinist Sophie Trudeau and Musique Fragile artist Nick Kuepfer for these sets.
 
Carla Bozulich will be premiering new material in a non-Evangelista guise; admittedly the distinction between these two identities has always been somewhat fluid, but we are super excited about the new music Carla has been working on and this will be a first opportunity to hear some of this stuff live.
 
Jerusalem In My Heart will perform in Leipzig. Date and location specifics have yet to be finally determined, but rest assured this will be very special and very cool. JIMH is the mutli-media project founded by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, a musician and sound engineer who is a close collaborator of Constellation on many fronts. He has engineered and/or mixed numerous albums in the CST catalogue, has made films and videos for several CST artists, has performed as part of Land Of Kush, and will be helping to stage-manage the Europe events. JIMH now includes experimental filmmaker Malena Szlam, who will join Radwan for the performance in Leipzig, involving multiple 16mm film projections and his totally unique and intense blend of synthetic and organic Arabic-influenced sound.
 
The Dis-patch album art exhibit will transition from Bern to Vienna and be installed in an anteroom of the Porgy & Bess venue in Vienna from opening night of the first CST show on Nov 21 through to the end of the 4-day Blue Bird festival on Nov 24.
 
Dis-patch will also be bringing limited edition screenprinted posters and hand-stitched cotton LP bags which are going to be quite lovely. We'll have 100 posters (4-colour on archival A2 size paper) and 50 bags available at each event in Bern, Paris, Vienna and Leipzig (apologies, but these will not be available in Munich). We promise these are going to be really nice items, reasonably priced and, y'know, all commemorative and stuff.
 
Anyway, we think these are going to be good times for all.
 
Now watch a video:
 

 

We're very pleased to announce a series of 15th Anniversary concerts that will take place in Europe this fall.
We'll be partnering with some of our favourite venues and arts organisations to present multiple-night mini-festival events featuring a diverse cross-section of artists, including newer groups like Sisksiyou and Elfin Saddle, long-standing roster acts like Sandro Perri, Eric Chenaux and Hangedup, and two of the label's best-known bands: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Do Make Say Think.
Thee Silver Mt Zion will be returning to Europe for the first time since touring behind their acclaimed Kollaps Tradixionales album in early 2010, and premiering new material including pieces released as a tour-only 2x7" in the USA earlier this year. Do Make Say Think, one of the most consistently acclaimed and long-standing instrumental rock groups of the past decade-and-a-half, will be performing their classic sophomore album, Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead, in its entirety.
At each of the two-night events, Do Make Say Think will close one show and Thee Silver Mt Zion will close the other. Exact line-ups for each night in each town will be confirmed and announced later this summer, but every concert will feature at least 4 bands and sets by at least 8 different artists across the two nights.
The event at Bern's Reitschule is unique in that it runs for a full three days, starting on Friday 16 November with the final European date of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's fall 2012 tour (a golden opportunity to see the group in a smaller, grittier venue with some truly awesome natural room compression).


-----


Here's the plan:
NOV 16-18 • Bern, CH • Dachstock Reitschule

Presented by Heartland Festival and Dachstock
3-night passes available now HERE and HERE


The Constellation event in Bern is a full label takeover and collaboration with Heartland Festival, in conjunction with the Dachstock collective who administer an awesome 700 capacity live room at the Reitschule complex - where many a fine Constellation memory has been forged over the years (and often then half-obliterated in the ensuing post-show massacre of brain cells at the bar).
 
NOV 17-18 • Paris, FR • La Maroquinerie

Presented by Volume


Running concurrently with the Bern weekend, these two nights at La Maroquinnerie will be anchored by Do Make Say Think and Thee Silver Mt ZIon respectively, with three other bands each night. La Maroq has been a favourite venue of Constellation artists over the years, and the site of beautifully raucous yet wonderfully attentive packed houses for several of the label's artists.  Despite the club's literally subterranean and cave-like setting, the full range of Constellation sounds have always gone down perfectly there, from the quietest and most fragile moments to galloping punk-rock explosions.  La Maroq brings out the passion and devotion of music-hungry Parisians who don't mind getting a little down and dirty to achieve sustained experiences of musical immersion, levitation and physicality. This will be good times!
 
NOV 21-22 • Vienna, AT • Porgy & Bess

Presented by Viennale and Blue Bird Festival


Constellation has had a very special and heartfelt relationship with the Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival) in recent years, beginning with their production of filmmaker Jem Cohen's "Empires Of Tin" project.  We are very proud to be celebrating its 15th Anniversary in conjunction with Viennale's 50th Anniversary this year, and excited to be partnering with the Blue Bird Songwriter Festival as well, which will be expanding to a four-day event with the first two days devoted to Constellation.
 
NOV 23-24 • Leipzig, DE • UT Connewitz

Presented by UT Connewitz and Southern DE


Another venue and local promoter collective that is close to Constellation's heart, UT Connewitz is a glorious old theatre space that has hosted countless of the label's artists over the years. Like Paris, this will be 4-band bills anchored by Do Make Say Think and Thee Silver Mt Zion each night, in one of our favourite settings, booked by some of the very best people.  Simple as that.


-----


Stay tuned for more information and finalized lineups in the coming months. There will be also be special collaborations and other little surprises at various events, for which we will supply more information down the road (or, regarding the surprises, maybe not, so that they in fact remain surprises). In the meantime, here's an assortment of MP3s to tide you over:
 
MP3s:
Do Make Say Think • The Landlord is Dead

A Silver Mt Zion • Thee Dirty Olde Flag

Hangedup • Klang Klang

Siskiyou • This Land

Elfin Saddle • The Wind Come Carry

Sandro Perri • Love & Light

Eric Chenaux • Dull Lights (White or Grey)

 
 
 
 

 
The Godspeed behemoth keeps on rolling, as extensive touring plans for this Fall continue to take shape. As we've already announced, after hitting the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago next week and ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror in New Jersey in September, the band will spend two weeks on the road in the United States. They've now unveiled a second leg of touring this fall, which will cover a sizeable chunk of continental Europe as well as well as two (already announced and almost sold out) appearances in London, from 28 October to 16 November. The band's final date will coincide with the first of Constellation's 15th anniversary celebrations in Bern, CH.
 
Check out new dates below - their full schedule is listed on our tours page - and listen to a stream of their most recent, Yanqui U.X.O.:
 

 
 

DD/MM/YY	PLACE	VENUE
28.10.12	Porto, PT	Amplifest
30.10.12	Madrid, ES	Teatro Kapital
31.10.12	Barcelona, ES	Sala Apolo
01.11.12	Bordeaux, FR	Le Rocher de Palmer
02.11.12	Nantes, FR	Lieu Unique - Soy Festival
03.11.12	Lille, FR	La Condition Publique
04.11.12	London, UK	Kentish Town Forum
05.11.12	London, UK	Kentish Town Forum
07.11.12	Brussels, BE	Cirque Royal
08.11.12	Berlin, DE	SO36
09.11.12	Berlin, DE	SO36
10.11.12	Dresden, DE	Reithalle
11.11.12	Prague, CZ	Lucerna Music
12.11.12	Vienna, AT	Arena
14.11.12	Ljubljana, SL	Kino Siska w/ Dirty Three
15.11.12	Zurich, CH	Rote Fabrik
16.11.12	Bern, CH	Dachstock Reitschule

 
 

 
Following appearances at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival this July and New Jersey's All Tomorrow's Parties festival in September, Godspeed You! Black Emperor will head out on the road for two weeks of shows in the United States of America. Beginning October 1, they'll head south for the Lone Star State and then back up, finishing in Detroit on the 14th. Tickets for all new dates except Philadelphia go on sale Wednesday the 9th; Philadelphia goes on sale Friday.
 
Check out dates below, and listen to a non-album "Outro" track, released a while back as part of our Song of the Silent Land.
 
 

 
 

DD/MM/YY	PLACE	VENUE
13-15.07.12	Chicago, IL	Pitchfork Music Festival
23.09.12	Asbury Park, NJ	ATP I'll Be Your Mirror NJ
01.10.12	Boston, US	Orpheum Theatre
02.10.12	Philadelphia, US	Union Transfer
03.10.12	Baltimore, US	Rams Head Live
04.10.12	Carrboro, US	Cats Cradle
05.10.12	Atlanta, US	Buckhead Theatre
06.10.12	Birmingham,AL, US	Bottletree
07.10.12	New Orleans, US	Tipitinas
09.10.12	Austin, US	The Mohawk
11.10.12	Dallas, US	Granada Theatre
12.10.12	Nashville, US	Cannery Ballroom
13.10.12	Louisville, US	Headliners Music Hall
14.10.12	Detroit, US	Majestic Theatre

 
 

(photo by Kevin Lo)
 
Rejoice, Californians: Godspeed You! Black Emperor will join you for about a week this April, to stock up on Vitamin D and play some shows in Big Sur and San Francisco. See below for dates, and a stream of 2002's, Yanqui U.X.O., or check our tours page.
 
 

 
 

DD/MM/YY	PLACE	VENUE
04.15.12	Big Sur, CA	Henry Miller Library
04.16.12	San Francisco, CA	Great American Music Hall
04.17.12	San Francisco, CA	Great American Music Hall
04.18.12	San Francisco, CA	Great American Music Hall
04.19.12	San Francisco, CA	Great American Music Hall
04.20.12	San Francisco, CA	Great American Music Hall

 
 
 

Phew, all of this just in. Godspeed re-groups in July to play the Portishead-curated I'll Be Your Mirror ATP event in London in late-July, Evangelista curates a program and performs at Austria's Donau Festival on 07 May, and Thee Silver Mt Zion rises again for the Portishead-curated I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park (New Jersey) at the beginning of autumn.

Tickets for all three late April shows at Montréal’s Corona Theatre sold-out in the first hour or so after going on sale. The band has decided to add two final shows on May 1 and May 2 at Theatre Olympia. Tickets will go on sale Saturday December 11 and will once again be available from Atom Heart, Cheap Thrills, L’Oblique, Phonopolis and The Blues Skies Turns Black web site. They rocked ATP, line-up early…

We’re happy to finally announce the home town shows.  Presented by Blue Skies Turn Black, Godspeed will perform April 27, 28, and 29 at Montréal’s Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame Ouest).  Guests will be announced at a later date and the band will donate all profits from the shows to beneficiaries that will be made public as the shows approach.  Tickets are $12 and go on sale 25 November at Atom Heart, Cheap Thrills, L’Oblique, and Phonopolis.  A limited number will also be available through the Blues Skies Turn Black web site.  There will be no media accreditations for these shows.

At long last, the dates for Godspeed's swing across the continent can be announced (actually, it appears several have already been announced as they seem to be sold-out). So far as we're aware, and with the exception of a couple of Italian dates that are still in the works, this is the complete story for Europe.
Update: Italian dates now added (26-27 January).

Godspeed appears to be a hot ticket, with the two additional shows announced for New York last week selling out in about 30 minutes, and most of the other North American shows also sold-out. In an effort to quench at least the NYC thirst, the band has announced a fifth show, at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. Tickets are set to go on sale at noon on Friday 01 October. That ought do it.
Closer to home, we can now confirm three shows in Toronto on 22/23 April, and an all-ages matinee on 24 April. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 10 AM at The Horseshoe, Rotate This, Soundscapes, and Ticketmaster.
An announcement for Montreal is still to come...
Update 16 October: New show added in Chicago.
Update 18 October: New show added in Toronto.
[Photo by Stefan Claudius]

Tickets moved fast for the Brooklyn & Manhattan shows announced last week, selling out in about 6 hours.  This Saturday (25 September) tickets for two additional shows will go on sale.  Links to the ticket outlets along with dates, etc, are on our shows page.

Come the frigid middle of February, Godspeed You! Black Emperor will have returned from all things ATP and a (yet to be announced) bounce across the European continent.
For the North American tour, they will be jumping off from Vancouver on 16 February. The band then travels south to play 5 USA west coast shows before migrating to the east, resuming in Brooklyn and capping the whole Amerikan experience in Detroit.
Dates/cities/venues are here, with a few more Kanadian dates to come...