Gastr Del Sol counts as among one of Jim O’Rourke’s best projects. The ability and talent he showed to combine extremely difficult experimental tendencies mixed with occasional pop was brilliant. Lately he’s gone too much towards the “not sure if I’m doing this ironically or not” category. With Upgrade and Afterlife, he is very clearly serious on what he’s about to do.
According to the original concept, this was supposed to be their “pop” album. When you first hear the beginning of “Our Exquisite Replica of ‘Eternity’” you immediately realize that wasn’t followed at all. Consisting of sustained organ drones and random static noise, it explodes at the end into music coming from another dimension.
“Rebecca Sylvester” is the probably the easiest song on here. Don’t worry, the lyrics aren’t normal, but there are less of the jarring effects you’ll encounter throughout the rest of the album. I think I scared someone as I listened to the beginning of “Hello Spiral” which is very loud static. This transforms into a normal kind of rock jam before tripping over itself at the end.
What the end offers makes up for any of the overly difficult passages. A rendition of John Fahey’s “Dry Bones in the Valley (I saw the Light)” shows the soul of the players, something they tried obscuring. It is a perfect ending.
If you’re familiar with Jim O’Rourke’s more recent work, this will be a nice surprise. Gastr Del Sol had a lot of great albums, but this is probably their best.