Gastr Del Sol
Camoufleur
[Drag City]
Rating: 9.6
Reviewing a Gastr del Sol album is like drinking fine champagne through your
nose. In both processes, you cannot ignore the creeping suspicion that you
are, in fact, a dumb ass.
Listening to Gastr del Sol on the other hand is quite a different
experience. Mixing elements of orchestral pop, avant jazz, soul, Celtic
fiddle jams, ambient drones, math rock, found sound, minimalist composition,
and god knows what else, the duo of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke is out to
post-rock your ass like its never been post-rocked before. While previous
incarnations were perhaps a bit too abstract for this reviewer's liking,
Gastr del Sol's last record, Upgrade and Afterlife hinted at a more
tuneful direction. On this, their latest offering, that hint has become a
solid elbow in the ribs, and the results are dazzling.
Camoufleur is packed with what can only be described as "transcendent
moments." From the opening track, "The Seasons Reverse," with its stuttering
time signatures, precision- plucked guitars and bubbling noises, to the gentle
drone of "Each Dream Is An example" with Drag City crooner Edith Frost on
backup vocals, Camoufleur summons a glorious mindfuck of a racket.
Guitars, drums, horns, violins, and tape loops intertwine and bounce off
each other, forsaking your conceptions of musical composition
in favor of something greater and more difficult to grasp. This is the type of record
that continually reveals new aspects of itself with every listen. It's a
refreshing antidote to the disposable nature of pop music.
Which makes this writing gig of mine damn difficult. Love Gastr del Sol for
the indescribable magic they bring us. Hate what they are doing to the lowly
journalists.
-Samir Khan