Stars of the Lid
A drone-based ambient music duo, comprising Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas in 1993 and their music is largely beatless soundscapes, composed of droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, strings, and horns
A drone-based ambient music duo, comprising Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas in 1993 and their music is largely beatless soundscapes, composed of droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, strings, and horns
Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline
2023 Re-press. Triple LP. Painstakingly recorded, processed and assembled over the last five years, Stars Of The Lid once again deliver a massive work filling two compact discs and three vinyl albums, clocking in at over two hours. While most albums of this length would be considered tedious at best, SOTL are arguably the only contemporary composers who can seemingly alter the time-space continuum simply through the playback of their organized sound. They take time itself and stretch, compress a…
Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid
2023 repress on triple-vinyl. "Are there other earthling-conjured soundworks rivaling the majesty of Henry Flynt's minimalist hillbilly fiddle fantasias or the heavens-rending power of Olivier Messiaen's works for organ? Undoubtedly, else why bother listening. But the only thing speaking at us right now from these charmed regions are the celestial airs of these Stars of the Lid. Alternately lulling and wielding a potency that wholly escapes 'experimental' musics, Stars of The Lid bring big, whom…
Avec Laudenum
2023 repress. "The first vinyl release in the U.S. for this, the fifth Stars of the Lid album, originally released by Sub Rosa in 1999 and then reissued by Kranky in the fall of 2002. A pivotal album in their career, this marked the first time the duo completely stepped away from the more abstract sound pieces of earlier albums and engaged with the more symphonic and compositional approach that has become the forte of their more recent recordings."
Gravitational Pull vs. The Desire For An Aquatic Life
2022 Repress ***Received a 7.7 rating from Pitchfork. The release of Music For Nitrous Oxide, the 1995 debut by Stars Of The Lid, heralded a new strain of the American underground music scene, one born of the heat and humidity, boredom, and the insular, constipated, rock-ist music scene of Austin, Texas, home of the duo of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. It was a muffled lashing out against surrounding musical conventions, a small middle finger to the local dominant “Americana” scene, but one th…
The Ballasted Orchestra
The much-in-demand vinyl version of the second (or third, depending on how you calculate) Stars of the Lid album, their first for Kranky, now finally reissued on vinyl. The original 4 track cassette recordings were remastered and new lacquers were cut, and the original artwork has been updated* When it comes to genre-defining releases, even releases that define a band's career, few sum up ambient music, and the work of Stars of the Lid in general like 'The Ballasted Orchestra'. Released in 1…
Music for nitrous oxide
This of course, was our first cd release from all the way back in 1994. Robert Ovetz (Ultrasound) mentioned this guy Adam who was doing amazing 4-track stuff at home. I think the name of the tape he gave me was called “Ombudsman”. The success of this release was a nice surprise and certainly having Joel at Cargo champion it, who was just getting Kranky going as well, certainly put us both out there. Ultimately, SOTL ended up at Kranky and are still making amazing recordings for them. Many say th…
The Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid
Are there other earthling-conjured soundworks rivaling the majesty of Henry Flynt's minimalist hillbilly fiddle fantasias or the heavens-rending power of Messiaen's works for organ? Undoubtedly, else why bother listening. But the only thing speaking at us right now from these charmed regions are the celestial airs of these Stars of the Lid. Alternately lulling and wielding a potency that wholly escapes 'experimental' musics, SOTL bring big, whomping chunks of sonic firmament with a sustaining, l…
Per Aspera Ad Astra
The unique pairing of the tonal feedback duo Stars of the Lid and NYC minimalist line painter Jon McCafferty. McCafferty (best known for the cover art of R.E.M.'s Green album) approached Stars of the Lid in the summer of 1995. McCafferty had done a series of paintings influenced by Stars of the Lid's Music For Nitrous Oxide. After discovering the similarity in McCafferty's paintings to the colors of sound in Stars of the Lid, Adam Wiltzie contacted McCafferty and collaboration began. In an attem…