| With the single "20 Songs Less," guitarist, composer, and tape manipulator Jim O'Rourke signed on, and following the departure of Brown, and with the decreased involvement of McEntire, Gastr del Sol became a kind of catchall tag for Grubbs and O'Rourke's many eclectic projects; the acoustic Crookt, Crackt, or Fly followed in 1994, as did the EP Mirror Repair.Upgrade and Afterlife they returned to more more traditional dynamics to create their most beautiful and intriguing work to date.O'Rourke left Gastr del Sol in 1997, shortly after completing work on Camoufleur, which was released in Janurary 1998.David Grubbs, a former member of Squirrel Bait, Slint, and Bastro.Write a ReviewYour TakeTell the world what you think about Gastr del Sol!Visit other CNET Networks sites: Select SiteBNETCNET.Sign in to get personalized recommendations.After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.Alternative Rock, Bands, U.Own Gastr del Sol Today!Gastr del Sol appeared at a huge variety of venues during its tenure, ranging from the 1996 Toronto Jazz Festival to local rock clubs, including the Empty Bottle.David Grubbs on guitar, Bundy Ken Brown on bass and John McEntire on drums, gave new meaning to the word "subtlety" with The Serpentine Similar (1993), which inherited from Slint the grammatical mistakes but replaced the hardcore energy of Slint with an anemic nonchalant flimsiness.John Fahey's transcendental suites.Gastr Del Sol's research program was basically continued by the solo albums of David Grubbs, beginning with the solo sonatas of Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange (1997).Its compositions betrayed and fused Grubbs' influences: Red Crayola, Pere Ubu, John Fahey and John Cage.David Grubbs (guitar player in three of the most important bands of the
'80s,
Squirrel Bait
Bitch Magnet and
Bastro)
along with bass player Bundy Brown, formed Gastr Del Sol.Jar Of Fat (a rendering of Sketch For Sleepy by Bastro)
is an improvised piano solo in the style of
Thelonious Monk.Grubbs even indulges himself by doing
an imitation of Duan Eddy's "twang" in Ursus Arctos Wonderfilis,
unsurprisingly producing that atmospheric tone in simple
arrangements and dynamic structures that recall
the inspirational jams by John Fahey.Bundy Brown, i Gastr Del Sol, la
naturale evoluzione dei Bastro.Grubbs si toglie persino la soddisfazione di rifare il verso al "twang" di
Duan Eddy in Ursus Arctos Wonderfilis, naturalmente immettendo quel
timbro atmosferico in strutture minimaliste e in architetture dinamiche che
ricordano le suite trascendenti di John Fahey.The shorter pieces of the album are throwaways, but the longer ones
contributed to define a new vision at the border between rock, folk and jazz.Nel secondo l'ensemble incorpora suoni "trovati", tape loop e accordi sparuti
di strumenti acustici.Mirror Repair (Drag City, 1994) is
another sequence of staggering experiments, moderated by the lyric
sensitivity of Grubbs.The protracted Eight Corners
tests the dimension of the piano romance in minor tones,
interspersed with lean roars and screeches of wind instruments.Henry Kaiser e finendo a passo di carica.Le dissonanze ambientali di O'Rourke dominano la piece
The Harp Factory On Lake Street (Table Of The Elements, 1995)
di diciassette minuti
per piccolo ensemble.Il cromatismo intricato e la dinamica assurda di questo
pezzo aumentano ulteriormente la posta in gioco, portando il progetto ai
confini della musica classica.On UPGRADE AND AFTERLIFE, Gastr Del Sol's David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke carry
most of the load themselves, in contrast to the more collaborative nature of
their earlier albums.Con Upgrade And Afterlife (Drag City, 1996)
Grubbs e O'Rourke, rimasti praticamente
soli (salvo occasionali collaboratori, fra cui John McEntire e Tony Conrad),
giostrano ormai soltanto con un pentagramma di sofisticate trovate timbriche.Grubbs' Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange
(Table Of The Elements, 1997)
is an avantguarde record along the lines of Loren Mazzacane Connors.Morton Feldman
and the meditations of Japanese classical music rather than Mazzacane's
experiments.Ideally, this album represents the end of a long journey through
the labyrinth of sounds, a journey launched with Squirrel Bait, continued in
Bitch Magnet and Bastro, and perfected in Gastr Del Sol.Mazzacane lo stile composto e
statico di Grubbs fa pensare alle composizioni di Morton Feldman e alle
meditazioni della musica classica giapponese.Questo disco costituisce idealmente la conclusione di un lungo viaggio nei
meandri del suono, un viaggio iniziato negli Squirrel Bait, continuato nei
Bitch Magnet e nei Bastro, e perfezionato nei Gastr Del Sol.O'Rourke and Grubbs are in top form on
Camofleur (Drag City, 1998), a makeshift meeting
of abstract art and pop music, and, in a way, the alter ego
of Upgrade And Afterlife.There is a sense of apathy and futility that envelops and warps these ballads.Season's Reverse deconstructs funk, soul and jazz (and maybe
even gives a glimpse of a more "popular" side of Grubbs' music).Puff Of Dew is both the most surreal and the most apathetic track
on the album.On the contrary: O'Rourke and Grubbs had too much to say.Credit must be given, actually, to Oval's
Markus Popp for keeping at bay the centrifugal tendencies of the two.It wasn't a coincidence that the album by Gastr Del Sol
came out right after O'Rourke's Bad Timing, a work as revisionistic as
this one, if not more.O'Rourke e Grubbs sono al culmine della loro forma e lo dimostra
Camofleur (Drag City, 1998), che rappresenta un provvisorio punto
d'incontro fra arte astratta e musica pop, e in un certo senso l'alter ego
di Upgrade And Afterlife.Mouth Canyon, di O'Rourke,
e Blues Subtitled No Sense Of Wonder, di Grubbs, una
romanza per pianoforte, organo, violoncello e tromba che sfocia in una lunga
coda per solo pianoforte.Black Horse decostruisce quadriglie folk, colonne sonore western e salsa.O'Rourke e Grubbs litigano subito dopo la registrazione di questo album
e si separano, decretando la fine del progetto Gastr Del Sol.The experimental pieces begin with the anguished drones
of 40 Words On Worship and segue into the piano
and horn sonata of Swami Vivekananda Way.The record concludes with the "Tibetan" drones of On Worship,
as if a long "hum" were needed to free itself of a throng of emotional
waste.Grubbs indulges in his habit of
timbre exploration, and another of folk melodies,
where Grubbs reinvents tradition with a taste of psychedelic
Zen similar to as much done by Van Dyke Parks.Grubbs canta la sua storia accompagnato soltanto dallo
strimpellio di un banjo e dai colpi del basso, ma dopo due minuti il banjo
pizzica accordi come un'arpa giapponese e la fisarmonica e il corno intonano
un salmo funereo.Disaster, che ricorda i This
Heat con le sue incalzanti figure minimaliste di pianoforte, l'incalzante ritmo
sincopato di batteria, e i muggiti del corno in sottofondo
Il disco di chiude con i droni "tibetani" di On Worship, come se avesse
bisogno di un lungo "om" per liberarsi di tante scorie emotive.The show is "inside" the music, where tones challenge tones and harmony is
continuously reinvented.Tradotto da Silvia Romiti)
I cupi droni di 40 Words On Worship e On Worship ispirano le
due lunghe suite di Apertura (Blue Chopsticks, 1999),
una collaborazione fra Grubbs e il jazzista d'avanguardia svedese
Mats Gustafsson.With the frugal and tender country vignette Whirlweek Grubbs sounds like
an alluring cross between Nick Drake (vocals) and Leo Kottke (guitar).Most of the time, his talent as an arranger is left in the closet.Oltre al suo terzo
album solista, Coxcomb (Rectangle, 1999), Grubbs ha pubblicato
Push Comes To Love con Stephen Prima, Apertura (Blue
Chopsticks, 1999) con Mats Gustafsson e Fingerpainting con i Red
Krayola.Chicago a New York, ha
incontrato nuovi amici ed ha raggiunto una maggiore autonomia.Grubbs si gode il ruolo di dimesso cantastorie folk,
tanto nell'incatevole atmosfera da racconto fiabesco di A Shiver In The
Timber quanto nel raga vagamente psichedelico di Pink Rambler.Solo i due
brani strumentali lasciano intravvedere il suo talento.Grubbs is beginning to
abuse the patience of his listeners with recordings that are often
trivial.The Nearer By And By,
the loud and dischordant Pinned To The Spot
experiment with intricate textures and neurotic atmospheres.Unfortunately, the album is too short to pursue these new directions and
Matmos pen two electronic instrumentals that don't quite seem to connect
with the rest.Embryonic melodies and sparse, loose soundscapes
are no longer original features and can become a distraction rather than
an attraction.Il David Grubbs cantastorie folk ritorna in Rickets and Scurvy (Drag City, 2002).The Neophyte,
the psychodrama You'll Never Tame Me, the
piano lied Your Neck In The Woods,
the guitar frenzy of Pangolin and the
sense of drama of Hurricane Season.Unauthorized use is prohibited.External Resources:
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Direct links to the same topic on other websites.Gastr Del Sol: Jim O'Rourke, David Grubbs, Markus Popp.Augmented by friends and hired hands who play a variety of instruments, Gastr aims for the grand pop of Van Dyke Parks on tracks like "The Seasons Reverse" and "Each Dream Is an Example," which feature horns, violin, accordion, piano, and even steel drums.At the same time, Markus Popp of Germany's digital music renegades Oval contributes heavily to some tracks, giving a seething electronic undertow to the songs.David Grubbs sings his literate musings more effectively than ever before, and O'Rourke even handles the vocals on one song.CAMOUFLEUR combines all these disparate elements in a satisfying and organic way.The songs on CAMOFLEUR have a warmth about them that Gastr Del Sol's more experimental work lacked; if anything, it's closer to the spirit of Can..."Your full email address is never displayed and is not used for marketing purposes.Check our review guidelines for specific details regarding customer review policy.ONLY MODIFY BELOW THIS LINE!Gastr Del Sol have balanced their elliptical melodies and experimental bent with just enough pop to make this album accessible to anyone willing to follow them down their strange paths.The fascinating, disgustingly incestuous Chicago music scene has inbreeding that makes backwoods Alabama look balanced and healthy.Beginning with the feel of a skewed Irish folk song with its lilting violin, it soon dissolves into a ethereal, mesmerizing acoustic drone, ending with a pastoral coda.Warm and embracing with fractured, lush melodies, Camoufleur achieves a peculiar grace.ONLY MODIFY ABOVE THIS LINE!ONLY MODIFY ABOVE THIS LINE! |
