Gastr del Sol

Gastr del Sol was one of the most experimental groups to come out of Chicago's adventurous post-rock camp of the '90s. Shortly after forming around the more outlandish improvisational visions of David Grubbs, Jim O'Rourke joined on to make Gastr del Sol a duo, adding his own musical depth to the project's mix of abstract acoustic instrumental technique, musique concrète-inspired electronics, and playfully deconstructed songwriting. Between 1993 and 1998, Gastr del Sol steadily expanded their sound, reaching a skewed but nearly-accessible type of pop on 1998's Camoufleur and then going their separate ways shortly thereafter, both artists going on to prolific solo careers. In 2024, Gastr del Sol released We Have Dozens of Titles, an archival release made up of unreleased live recordings, non-album rarities, and other long-vaulted material from their run in the '90s. Throughout the '80s and into the very beginning of the '90s, Kentucky musician David Grubbs was part of proto-math punk band Squirrel Bait, and then experimental post-hardcore outfit Bastro. In 1991, Grubbs left Louisville, Kentucky to attend grad school in Chicago, and he and Bastro members Bundy K. Brown and John McEntire formed the first iteration of Gastr del Sol. This trio version of the band reworked unfinished Bastro songs into hushed, lingering arrangements using primarily acoustic instruments, presenting this new sound on their 1993 debut album The Serpentine Similar. Brown and McEntire broke away to join Tortoise in 1994, and Grubbs teamed up with Chicago polymath Jim O'Rourke for all future Gastr del Sol creations from that point forward. The duo was joined by various friends and auxiliary players on 1994 releases Crookt, Crackt, or Fly (a full length album), and Mirror Repair (an EP), integrating bass clarinet, occasional rambunctious punky outbursts, and subtle electronics into their largely acoustic songs. 1996 album Upgrade & Afterlife called on the influence of film soundtracks and American Primitive fingerstyle guitar, among other sonic reference points, and included violin contributions from minimalist composer Tony Conrad on the lengthy closing track, a cover of John Fahey's "Dry Bones in the Valley (I Saw the Light Come Shining 'Round and 'Round)." 1998's Camoufleur was the band's most ambitious album, but also their least challenging. Grubbs and O'Rourke enlisted the help of Oval's Markus Popp for the album's sheen of bright, glitchy electronics, and they brought in a host of players and vocalists that included Edith Frost, Julie Pomerleau, Ken Vandermark, and many others for chamber pop arrangements that utilized full brass ensembles, steel drums, Beach Boys-inspired vocal harmonies, and more. The band dissolved after this album, with both O'Rourke and Grubbs remaining active in multiple projects for decades to follow. In May of 2024, Drag City, the Chicago indie label that had been a home to much of Gastr del Sol's output, released We Have Dozens of Titles, a multi-disc collection of unreleased material and rarities from the band's run in the '90s. In addition to previously unshared studio material, We Have Dozens of Titles included recordings from the band's final live performance in 1997, one that found them working out versions of Camoufleur songs on stage in forms different than what would solidify on the album.
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