In retrospect, Gastr del Sol make you wonder how few years they existed and how few albums they left behind, considering their impact. The name alone can evoke reverent silence or more expressive reactions of awe. Their sound certainly didn’t come out of nowhere: the haunting folk innovations of John Fahey, for example, had their place as influences alongside the acoustic drones of Tony Conrad. There was also a bold use of sampling, whether as plunderphonics or in the musique concrète style of field recordings. Now, 26 years after their break-up, “We Have Dozens Of Titles” is a compilation of previously unreleased material and rarities that sound like a very late last album.
It opens with “The Seasons Reverse” by “Camoufleur” in a stripped-down live instrumental version, recorded in 1997 at their last concert at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. The versions of “Dictionary of Handwriting” and the closing “Onion Orange”, a minimalist sounding guitar and synthesiser meditation that is the longest track at 18 minutes, also come from this performance. Previously released on an EP, “The Harp Factory on Lake Street” is a fine example of how the band, with their clear aesthetic ideas, had absolutely no interest in the marketing boundaries of the music business, long before the word “genre crossover” became a marketing tool. Performed in a chamber setting and augmented by four wind instruments, three strings and percussion, for long stretches, the work could pass for new music. Gastr del Sol always preferred to transcend their own boundaries rather than fix their identity to a “sound”. Seemingly paradoxically, Gastr del Sol still sound unique today.
