Upgrade & Afterlife

Spin (8/96, p.104) - "...offers a drone heaven where orchestras tune up, pianos duet with radiator hiss, and a John Fahey acoustic arrives with violin courtesy of VU associate Tony Conrad.." Alternative Press (10/96, p.77) - 5 (out of 5) - "...Words and bits of sound are played (with) and collected, manipulated and spliced together...and given new life....Songs emerge from within songs, improvisization and composition overlap, chaos shakes hands with control....they've [Gastr Del Sol] cracked the surface, peeking out to find themselves alone at the top of the world." Option (9-10/96, pp.107-108) - "...I found myself...left somewhat floored by both the subtlety and the range of the band's vision....These [songs] range from soft jazz-inflected guitar and piano sketches, to collions of roaring flames..." Melody Maker (8/24/96, p.43) - "...an exhilarating trawl through American freedom spaces....a symphony of non-head directed movement and continent-scale sound-shifts....`smart rock' isn't always a grueling proposition and doesn't always imply standing about in a field reading a book..."