Godspeed You! Black Emperor

There’s no separating darkness from beauty in the music of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the legendary Montreal-based collective who create symphonic soundscapes that d(e)volve into sharp, processed noises and cold but pointed crescendos. Unlike, say, the buoyantly evocative mood created by an Explosions In the Sky song, what Godspeed does is more foreboding. The band’s live performances are served well by tape and film loops that evoke feelings of being closed up inescapably in a doomed system. Its albums feature samples of people and snippets of sounds from places that have either disappeared or become increasingly automated, and the music fleshes out this idea. Violins played in a non-traditional way and near-constant cymbal crashes lend Godspeed’s instrumentals an air of humanity screeching out of control. But something kind cuts through the sense of doom, reminding listeners that even though the system’s doomed, it’s constantly being rebooted. (Saturday, 8:30-10, Green Stage) –text: Brendan Dabkowski