GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR - YANQUI U.X.O.

“Yanqui” is the Spanish word for “Yankee”. The liner notes also refer to “Yanqui” as a “multinational corporate oligarchy”, while “U.X.O.” stands for “unexploded ordnance”. The packaging of the album contains an arrow diagram and is accompanied by a photograph of falling bombs. 

Back Cover

The handy diagram on the back cover is tracing the links between major media conglomerates like BMG, Sony and Time Warner and the manufacture of U.S. weaponry, while the innersleeve suggests the purchaser avoids giving money to ‘predatory retailers and superstores’. The band later admitted that a particular extension of the chart, (namely EMI appearing on the chart as a subsidiary of AOL Time-Warner) was incorrect, conceding that some of their research had been inaccurate.

Booklet

The three winged kittens and the hammer of hope are the work of Nadia Moss, a Montreal-based visual artist. Her favoured media includes drawing, painting and doll making.