Upgrade & Afterlife

Upgrade & Afterlife
Studio album by
Gastr del Sol
ReleasedJune 17, 1996 (1996-06-17)
Studio
  • Steam Room (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Airwave (Park Ridge, Illinois)
  • Streeterville (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Soma (Chicago, Illinois)
GenrePost-rock
Length49:12
LabelDrag City
Gastr del Sol chronology
The Harp Factory on Lake Street
(1995) 		Upgrade & Afterlife
(1996) 		Camoufleur
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Alternative Press5/5[2]
NME4/10[3]

Upgrade & Afterlife is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Gastr del Sol, released on June 17, 1996 by Drag City.[4]

The album cover is Wasserstiefel (Water Boots) by Swiss artist Roman Signer.[5]

Composition

Pitchfork writer Nitsuh Abebe characterized Upgrade & Afterlife as a post-rock album where "folk and avant-garde abstract each other into something warm, minimal, and slanted".[6]

"Our Exquisite Replica of "Eternity"" contains a sample of the score from the 1957 science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man.[7] The title of the track is derived from the name of a cheap perfume marketed in public bathroom vending machines.[7]

"Dry Bones in the Valley (I Saw the Light Come Shining 'Round and 'Round)" is a cover of a John Fahey song, and features Tony Conrad on violin. According to David Grubbs, the idea of having Conrad play on "Dry Bones in the Valley" came to fruition after a Gastr del Sol show in Atlanta, where Grubbs observed Conrad "literally dancing with excitement" while Jim O'Rourke played the song alone onstage as an encore.[8]

Several sources misidentify track 3 as "The Sea Uncertain". This title, correctly rendered, appears to refer playfully both to a track on Gastr's previous full-length release titled "The C in Cake" and to one of Gastr percussionist John McEntire's other bands, The Sea and Cake, a moniker derived from McEntire's mishearing of that title.

Track listing

All tracks are written by David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Our Exquisite Replica of "Eternity"" 8:26
2."Rebecca Sylvester" 3:53
3."The Sea Incertain" 6:12
4."Hello Spiral" 10:40
5."The Relay" 5:49
6."Crappie Tactics" 1:48
7."Dry Bones in the Valley (I Saw the Light Come Shining 'Round and 'Round)"John Fahey12:28

References

  1. ^ Bush, Nathan. "Upgrade & Afterlife – Gastr del Sol". AllMusic. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Gastr del Sol: Upgrade & Afterlife". Alternative Press. No. 99. October 1996. p. 77.
  3. ^ Cox, Tom (July 13, 1996). "Gastr Del Sol – Upgrade And Afterlife". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Gastr del Sol – Upgrade & Afterlife". Drag City. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Upgrade & Afterlife (liner notes). Gastr del Sol. Drag City. 1996. DC90CD.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (July 11, 2005). "The Lost Generation". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Bowe, Miles (October 6, 2011). "1996: Gastr del Sol – "Our Exquisite Replica of 'Eternity'"". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Woznicki, Krystian. "Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange: David Grubbs Interview pt 2". Sound Arts. No. 14. Retrieved July 4, 2020.


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