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 the album 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 taken by Sam Ehrlich in Alberta, Canada.

Reception and legacy
On its release, Pitchfork wrote a favorable review of Stratosphere, comparing the band to Galaxie 500 and My Bloody Valentine. The Olympian Tucker Peteril wrote that, while somewhat derivative of other bands, Stratosphere was "a joy to listen to", occupying "the outer realms of catchy minimal guitar and drum instrumentals, somewhere between space rock and slo-mo". Paul Primrose of The Rocket was similarly favorable: "This is, as the title suggests, an album about leaving predictable confines and traveling, flying and floating into new spaces". AllMusic initially gave the album 3 stars out of 5 but later changed their rating to a perfect score. 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.

Personnel
Duster Technical
 * Dove Amber (credited as C. Amber) – performance, production, mixing
 * Clay Parton (credited as E. Parton) – performance, production, mixing
 * Jason Albertini – drums (tracks 2, 8, 12)
 * Phil Ek – production (tracks 2, 8, 12, 14)
 * Kip Beelman – assistant production (track 3)
 * Chris – assistant production (track 3)
 * Jeff Pinn – recording (tracks 4, 13)