David Grubbs & Jim O'Rourke’s long-dormant Gastr Del Sol returns with a first “new” release in 25 years, an epic 3LP/2CD box set collecting previously unreleased recordings and rarities influenced by Derek Bailey’s free improv as much as hallowed jazz staples and musique concrète, like some irresistible force ploughing through the increasingly approachable, you might even say polite, output of their post rock contemporaries back in the late 90’s. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it sounds better now than ever, too.
David Grubbs & Jim O'Rourke’s long-dormant Gastr Del Sol returns with a first “new” release in 25 years, an epic 3LP/2CD box set collecting previously unreleased recordings and rarities influenced by Derek Bailey’s free improv as much as hallowed jazz staples and musique concrète, like some irresistible force ploughing through the increasingly approachable, you might even say polite, output of their post rock contemporaries back in the late 90’s. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it sounds better now than ever, too.
Recorded live in January 2020, just before COVID-19 halted performances for the foreseeable, "Instant Opaque Evening" is the second intense slab from Mats Gustafsson, David Grubbs and Rob Mazurek's Underflow project. It's clear from the first few notes that these players are familiar with each other, and they make a sublime noise together, jumping from skronky free jazz to noisy electronics to impromptu covers of Grubbs' songs with bubbly fluidity. It's not gonna be for everyone but if yr looking for free experimentation, this is a meeting of some of the genre's contemporary masters.
Chicago’s post-rock and jazz dons look to new electronic horizons subtly urged by their home city’s deep house heartbeat.
Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriter’s fifth solo effort, draws from the deep well of that city’s fertile 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground, mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond.