Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Hairy Amp Drooling (1999)

I love Godspeed You! Black Emperor, having been a fan since I first heard their stupendous 'Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada' EP in 1999, and when they played my hometown in 2011 they were the band that finally dragged me out of the house for my first music gig in 25 years - and they were just as good live as I could possibly have wanted them to be. Despite being around for 25 years there is very little rare material around, with just a split single with Fly Pan Am which was given away with Montreal aMAZEzine magazine in 1998, and a John Peel session from 1999. However, if they are going to have a rare album out there then they make sure that it's one of the most legendary rarities in music history. 'All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling' was a cassette tape released in December 1994, self-published by GY!BE themselves, and limited to only 33 copies. This very out-of-print cassette is the only released document of the earliest days of GY!BE, and to even call it a release is a stretch as only 33 were ever dubbed. At the time, the ‘band’ was comprised of Efrim Menuck and Mauro Pezzente only, and this cassette foretells where the current ensemble would ultimately go as regards seamless pieces interwoven with compelling field recordings, spoken-word pieces, and strange soundings from who knows where. The tape made an unexpected appearance on the net in 2013 with a thread on Reddit simply titled “Godspeed you black Emperor Question…”, where user Casketjack told us a story:
Okay, A little back story first. Sometime between 1990 and 1995 I was hanging out at this little place called Room 201 records in Moncton, New Brunswick. I always went there because I used to collect demo tapes from the local bands of every city I went to. Anyway, I was in there going through the tapes (Wow, Cassettes eh?) and I started talking to some guy, If I remember correctly he told me he wasn’t local but had a tape I should check out. I brought it home and listened to it, didn’t really like it, and stashed it away with all the other demos I had picked up. Fast forward to this week, I’m cleaning out my music room closet and I stumble across my bin of old demos. The tape I got from the guy in Moncton is sitting on top of the pile, I pull it out and decide to google the name. Anyway, this is it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Lights_Fucked_on_the_Hairy_Amp_Drooling. According to wikipedia, it was limited to 33 copies and no copies are known to still exist. This is kind of cool. Anyway, I guess I’m just looking for some advice, what would you guys do with it?
The thread caused a storm, with all the Redditors going absolutely crazy, begging Casketjack to rip the tape and distribute it on the net. Others questioned the authenticity of the claim, asking for more evidence, and so Casketjack uploaded images of the cassette and a music rip of the last two tracks of the first side, 'Random Luvly Moncton Blue(s)' and 'Dadmomdaddy'. However, the Internet Hate Machine turned on him, with many users labeling Casketjack as a troll, because he didn’t seem to understand the importance of the discovery. Casketjack eventually deleted his account, after explaining that he was considering selling the tape on eBay. Because the music on the tape cross-fades and segues, it's been suggested that instead of two tracks, Casketjack had actually uploaded four, 'Loose The Idiot Dogs', 'Diminishing Shine', 'Random Luvly Moncton Blue(s)', and 'Dadmomdaddy', so that's how I've split them out for this album.
For their 1999 John Peel session the nine-man collective recorded only one track, ‘Hung Over As The Oven In Maida Vale', which consisted of two movements from the upcoming 'Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven' album (Movement II of 'Sleep' – 'Monheim' and Movement III of 'Static' – 'Chart #3') and one unreleased movement entitled 'Steve Reich' (named after the composer of the same name). All three movements were segued into one long track that clocks in at just under 20 minutes.
To close this album I've added a 1999 live recording of my favourite piece of theirs, 'Blaze Bailey Finnegan III' from the 'Slow Riot...' EP. I'm sure that fans of the band will find this a fascinating collection of rare and early music (which I've named in honour of the 1994 cassette), but I also hope that people who are not familiar with their work will start here, and after some exploration of their discography, will come to love the band as much as I do. For an in depth analysis of the 1994 cassette then look here.

Track listing

01 Sunshine + Gasoline (split 7" given away with aMAZEzine 1998)
02 Hung Over As The Oven In Maida Vale (John Peel session 1999)
03 Loose The Idiot Dogs (from 'All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling' 1994)
04 Diminishing Shine (from 'All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling' 1994)
05 Random Luvly Moncton Blue(s) (from 'All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling' 1994)
06 Dadmomdaddy (from 'All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling' 1994)
07 Blaise Bailey Finnegan III (live at Cat's Cradle 1999)