Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

Structure and details

The four tracks on Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven are composed of individually named internal movements. The whole album is instrumental, except for sampled voice inserts. The samples on the album are often used to send some satirical or political message. The inner panels of the vinyl edition released by Constellation contain a diagram used to illustrate the relative lengths of movements within the four tracks; each movement is drawn by Efrim Menuck, as a rectangular block with its length determined by the proportion of the track it comprises. Some of the blocks are shifted slightly upwards to show an increase in intensity. The movement title and the numerical length are denoted either above or below the square. The same diagram is provided as a paper insert in the CD edition from Kranky.

The inside cover drawings were taken from William Schaff's "Notes to a Friend; Silently Listening No. 2", and the cover was a redrawn version of one of the pieces on "Notes to a Friend", by John Arthur Tinholt. The flip side of the vinyl contains various images taken by the band.

Reception

The album was universally praised upon release, receiving a Metacritic score of 84 based on 13 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim". Pitchfork Media called it a "massive and achingly beautiful work" calling the first disc " a refinement of the sound that crystallized on the Slow Riot EP" whilst the second disc "flirts with moments of vertiginous shoegazing, looser rock drumming and reckless crescendos of unalloyed noise". Alternative Press called it "a massive instrumental effort" that "(is) as skilled and musical as it is on-the-fly improvised and messy" (#150, p. 94).The A.V. Club called the album "as beautiful and disarming as its predecessors". Tiny Mix Tapes called the album "alternately hypnotic and captivating, sleepy and startling" comparing its sounds to "a far subtler Pink Floyd". The Austin Chronicle called it "cinematic" and "breathtaking in its grandiose beauty".

The album went on to be included in numerous year-end and decade-end music lists. Magnet (1-2/01, p. 45) included it in its "20 Best Albums of 2000" list. NME (12/30/00, p. 78) ranked it number 16 in its "Top 50 Albums of the Year". Sputnikmusic named it the 6th best album of the 2000s. Pitchfork Media named it the 5th best album of the year. and the 65th best album of the decade. They also ranked the first movement of the track 'Storm' at #283 on their list of "Top 500 tracks of the 2000's". Tiny Mix Tapes ranked it 7th on their "Favorite 100 Albums of 2000-2009" list. LAS Magazine ranked it the 14th greatest album of the decade. Gigwise included the album on its list of the 50 best albums of the 2000s.

Track listing

The album consists of four continuous tracks on the compact disc release split into two CDs. The double LP release has each track pressed onto their own side. Time lengths of individual movements are taken from the official discography. Times for each movement appear in the album's cover art, but those times are very inaccurate. While the movements of the tracks are listed, the names of the four tracks that make up the album are unlisted on the CD.

Notes

Personnel