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1996 studio album by Gastr del Sol From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Upgrade & Afterlife is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Gastr del Sol, released on June 17, 1996 by Drag City.[4]
| Upgrade & Afterlife | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 17, 1996 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Post-rock | |||
| Length | 49:12 | |||
| Label | Drag City | |||
| Gastr del Sol chronology | ||||
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The album cover is Wasserstiefel (Water Boots) by Swiss artist Roman Signer.[5]
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.
| No. | Title | Writer(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 Fahey | 12:28 |
All tracks are written by David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke, except where noted
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