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Gastr del Sol

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Gastr del Sol were a U.S. band formed in Chicago in 1991 consisting of, in their most famous line-up, David Grubbs, Jim O'Rourke and John McEntire. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out six records ranging in genre from post rock, the scene they were most associated with, to avant-garde jazz and Musique concrète.

Formed by Grubbs, a former member of the Louisville, Kentucky based Squirrel Bait Gastr del Sol released their first album The Serpentine Similar in 1993. This early line up saw Grubbs joined by Bundy K. Brown on bass guitar and John McEntire on drums. Brown left to play in Tortoise in 1994 and Grubbs and McEntire were joined by the guitarist, composer and producer Jim O'Rourke. At this point Gastr del Sol became mainly a collaboration between Grubbbs and O'Rourke, the two names being the ones most commonly associated with the band.

The bulk of this line-up's catalogue was released by Chicago's Drag City Records, beginning with 1994's acoustic guitar-based Crookt, Crackt, or Fly. "Work From Smoke,", the centerpiece of this album fused Grubbs and O'Rourke's penchant for atonal guitar interplay with bass clarinet and Grubbs's increasingly absurdist lyrics.

Crookt, Crackt, or Fly was quickly followed by a pair of releases in 1995, the Mirror Repair EP bringing in elements of electronic music and The Harp Factory on Lake Street, released on the experimental Table of the Elements label, being a piece for chamber orchestra, with the sparse appearance of Grubbs's voice and piano.

1996's Upgrade & Afterlife included "Our Exquisite Replica of 'Eternity'", a would-be film score by O'Rourke and an extended interpretation of the John Fahey piece "Dry Bones in the Valley."

With the release of Camoufleur in 1998, Gastr del Sol veered further into the realm of conventional melodies and chamber pop creating their most accessible and popular album. In its accessible chord patterns, melodies and flugelhorn and string-heavy arrangements, it resembles some of the solo releases (like Eureka and Halfway to a Threeway) that O'Rourke would go on to record.

After Camofleur the band Grubbs's and O'Rourke both continued producing music in solo careers, Grubbs with 1996's Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange and O'Rourke, who had also released many albums prior to and during his time in Gastr del Sol with Eureka.

Discography

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