{"title":"Gastr del Sol","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"upgrade-and-afterlife","title":"Upgrade and Afterlife","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDrag City present an awesome new vinyl pressing of Gastr del Sol’s \u003cem\u003eUpgrade and Afterlife,\u003c\/em\u003e just in time for its 29th anniversary.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWay back when, \u003cem\u003eUpgrade and Afterlife \u003c\/em\u003ewas the umpteenth release from the individual and collective forces of David Grubbs (known then for Bastro, The Red Krayola, Codeine, Squirrel Bait) and Jim O’Rourke, whose further history has since numbered at least another umpteen or so essential listens.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs part of its time-traveling function, \u003cem\u003eUpgrade and Afterlife \u003c\/em\u003eis a return to roots, but not always necessarily Gastr’s. They were more than happy to stand on branches up above other folks in order to see any next thing worth leaping for.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOpening at their most incandescently impressionistic, ‘Our Exquisite Replica of “Eternity”’ has no precedent in the Gastrlog, and few in most others, either. ‘Rebecca Sylvester’ uses vocal harmonies to sharpen their singular, gamelan tone poem song form into something resembling a pop reverie at the finish. With undeniable (albeit oblique) comedy, ‘The Sea Incertain’ comments upon Crookt, Crackt, or Fly’s ‘The C in Cake’, with the presence of cracked electronics here and elsewhere taking a more forward position.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe stentorian chamber piano sound introduced on ‘Mirror Repair’ is still in full effect throughout \u003cem\u003eUpgrade and Afterlife\u003c\/em\u003e, but the bluesy rattling of finger style acoustic has the last word, with a tranced-out reading of John Fahey’s version of ‘Dry Bones In The Valley’, weaving guitar, piano and Tony Conrad’s trademark droning violin together to close the proceedings with an ingenious, slow-acting bang.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn addition to Tony Conrad, Gastr del Sol drew upon a memorable spectrum of players for the sounds of \u003cem\u003eUpgrade and Afterlife\u003c\/em\u003e, including Anthony Burr, Steve Braack, Gene Coleman, Mats Gustafsson, Terri Kapsalis, John McEntire, Günter Müller, Jerry Ruthrauff, Ralf Wehowsky and Sue Wolf. When issued, this combination of players, parts and play - packaged in an impressively broad tip-on Stoughton gatefold sleeve emblazoned with Roman Signer’s instantly iconic ‘Wasserstiefel’ image - became the fastest-moving Gastr del Sol record to date.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA delightful result, to our way of thinking, of the band’s ability to push at the far boundaries of their music while consolidating upon pleasure points within sounds and songs. Gastr used these polarities to compulsively draw the listener intimately close with sudden injections of g-force and an uncanny interpolation of space.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51701496414539,"sku":"R4271-5525","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a2026724942_16.jpg?v=1745520418"},{"product_id":"the-serpentine-similar","title":"The Serpentine Similar","description":"\u003cp\u003eBack from the undead is this new pressing of the first of all Gastr del Sol records, \u003cem\u003eThe Serpentine Similar.\u003c\/em\u003e It is one of several distinct initiators of a definitive musical drift in the 1990s, and a drift all of its own, to boot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the time, this album was largely heard within an underground whose boundaries were clearly defined - but if today’s sound-pool of ‘commercial’ music is deeper and wider than it was back then, it is without a doubt due to the cracking open of certain doors of perception by Gastr del Sol, alongside their esteemed others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe year was 1992. After a bruising run of tour dates the year before, the final lineup of Bastro, a power-trio of David Grubbs, Ken (Bundy) Brown and John McEntire, retired, exhausted. Shortly thereafter, they were rebirthed, sans drums, via a new set of ideas composed in the cut-down configuration of Grubbs on guitars, keyboards and vocals and Brown on bass. Playing in duo format opened up sound and intention, leaving the need for speed (and the stock in rock) out, while letting in an expanse of brooding, droning acoustic space that highlighted the songs’ serpentine shapes. This was something so radically different as to require a new calling card: henceforth, Gastr del Sol.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSigning to Teen Beat, Gastr del Sol completed \u003cem\u003eThe Serpentine Similar\u003c\/em\u003e in late 1992 for release the following year (the Drag City reissue came in 1997). In the final rendering, The Serpentine Similar’’s roof-rent, white-sky execution was attenuated with several percussion appearances from the prodigal John McEntire. Over the next five years, his cameo presence was a constant in Gastr del Sol’s steadily-evolving tradition of significant breaks from tradition at every turn. There would be an even more significant tradition-breaker onboard for all this; following the release of \u003cem\u003eThe Serpentine Similar, \u003c\/em\u003eJim O’Rourke joined Grubbs in Gastr as Brown exited (to focus on Tortoise, with McEntire et al). For the new Gastr duo, a world of new directions in music awaited, the future became the past, and the music of Gastr del Sol emerged from the thin air, then returned there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow, \u003cem\u003eThe Serpentine Similar \u003c\/em\u003ehas been returned to vinyl from the temporal streams of contemporary music listening, a glorious rematerializing of all its spatial details and available for the first time in 20 years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52878940766539,"sku":"R5401-7395","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_7911a41f-11eb-4c36-9180-1653f06f0392.jpg?v=1752235289"},{"product_id":"crookt-crackt-or-fly-jf","title":"Crookt, Crackt, or Fly","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded with Brian Paulson at King Size Sound Labs and several other spaces in late ‘93, \u003cem\u003eCrookt, Crackt or Fly\u003c\/em\u003e is a stimulating 45-minute listening experience, crystallizing the first phase of Grubbs' and O'Rourke's collaboration, while promising, “Just wait ‘til the next one!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52912130687307,"sku":"R2366-8558","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/201375054978.jpg?v=1752601767"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/gastr-del-sol-1.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}