In 1994, Chicago was the fountainhead for a bona-fide scene, in which bands gave timbre and texture priority over riffs and power chords. This "post-rock" was the definitive movement of the decade, and front and center were Gastr Del Sol, comprised of David Grubbs (previously: Squirrel Bait, Bastro) and Jim O"Rourke (subsequently: Wilco, Sonic Youth). Avant punk, atonal song-styling, delicate piano-guitar interplay, raw electronics, and modernist chamber music - all are fair terrain, traversed with subtlety and finesse. This re-issue is their notorious "big band" record, and the ten-piece ensemble is a veritable all-star team of mid-90"s Chicagoans, including members of Tortoise, Sea And Cake, Shellac, Dazzling Killmen, Brise Glace, and The Vandermark 5. This is the band"s boldest outing; a record full of blissful confoundment, one that aptly vivifies the spirit of an era. Gastr Del Sol are to the 1990s what The Magic Band, This Heat, and Sonic Youth were to their respective decades; intrepid trailblazers through the backwoods of sound. Table Of The Elements. 2006.