GASTR DEL SOL

GASTR DEL SOL
CAMOUFLEUR (1998)
320 KBPS

Gastr Del Sol consists primarily of Chicagoans Jim O'Rourke and former Squirrel Bait member David Grubbs. For the better part of the '90s, they've brought avant-garde concepts of experimental sound to a younger, ex-indie rock audience. Camofleur generally mined for experimental sounds, but this time they came from pop and folk. With echoes of Van Dyke Parks and John Fahey, Gastre shifted their focus from sound to arrangement, presenting tunes for the first time. Still, the music defied category, melding piano, acoustic guitar, strings, horns, tape noise, and deadpan da da lyrics into delicately abstract and melodic sound paintings. This is Art music at its most listenable, eluding your grasp rather than testing your patience.

1. Seasons Reverse
2. Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder
3. Black Horse
4. Each Dream Is an Example
5. Mouth Canyon
6. A Puff of Dew
7. Bauchredner