Stratosphere (Duster album)
Stratosphere is the debut studio album by American slowcore band Duster. The album was released February 24, 1998, on the Up Records label in the United States.

The album was primarily written and recorded by members Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber, with Jason Albertini contributing drums to three tracks. The band subsequently released the Contemporary Movement album in 2000, and Stratosphere was reissued as part of the Capsule Losing Contact box set in March 2019.

Cover
The album's cover is a photograph taken from a November 1970 issue of Life magazine taken by Sam Ehrlich in Alberta, Canada.

Reception 

The album was mostly unnoticed upon release. Though Pitchfork wrote a favorable review comparing the band to Galaxie 500 and My Bloody Valentine, no other pieces about the record from the time have been found. AllMusic initially gave the album 3 stars but later changed their rating to 4.5. Their review compares the band to Pavement, Seely, and Sonic Youth, and calls "Echo, Bravo" the "highlight of the record".

In the years following its release, Stratosphere developed a cult following among online message boards. The album has since been cited as an influence on artists and bands such as Ricky Eat Acid, Peaer, Girlpool, Hovvdy, Ovlov, and Alex G. In 2019, the album was reissued by The Numero Group as part of the box-set Capsule Losing Contact.

Track listing

Personnel
Duster
Dove Amber (credited as C. Amber)– performance, production, mixing
Clay Parton (credited as E. Parton)– performance, production, mixing
Jason Albertini – drums 
Technical
Phil Ek – production 
Kip Beelman – assistant production 
Chris – assistant production 
Jeff Pinn – recording

References

Further reading 

 
 

Duster (band) albums
Up Records albums
1998 debut albums