Outline opens 2024 with a very special edition: Godspeed You! Black Emperor headlines alongside Alan Sparkhawk (of Low) Marina Herlop and Maria BC.
Godspeed is one of post-rock’s truly canonical groups, a mercurial and iconic ensemble whose work both defines and transcends the genre. Their sprawling, 15+ minute instrumental suites give voice to a hard-earned hope amidst crumbling, late capitalist blight. Albums like “F# A# ∞,” “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven” and, more recently, “G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!” play like cinematic traversals of our neoliberal nightmare, weaving spoken word interludes, patiently billowing atmospheres, deeply affecting instrumental passages and climaxes of staggering beauty. Operating well outside of the music industry for thirty years, Godspeed has proven to be a beloved rarity: a group you can hang your hat on, who also wears their heart on their sleeve. “For us every tune started with the blues,” they told The Guardian in 2012. “But pointed to heaven near the end, because how could you find heaven without acknowledging the current blues, right?”
They’re joined by Alan Sparhawk. His group Low, now defunct following the tragic death of his partner and bandmate Mimi Parker in late 2022, was one of Godspeed’s rare peers. Sparhawk and Parker’s relentlessly creative explorations honed raw-to-the-bone, devastating modern lullabies and hymns. Recent albums saw them radically reinvent themselves with a focus on brutal, digital electronics. This will be Alan’s first show in NYC as a solo artist.
Marina Herlop and Maria BC complete the lineup. Both are emerging vocalists who draw, in distinct ways, on operatic techniques meshed with modern electronics, avantgarde structures and a timeless poetry.
