Stars of the Lid

Oh, really? Whoops. I knew that someone else did the artwork and the videos for the accompanying DVD, but I didn't know there was a musical collaborator.

"don't worry chief,
there is news and a new 2xcd 3xlp to come.

should be availible in march/april at the latest..."

I'm putting "Stars of the Lid Chief" on my business card, if I ever get one.

It's just plain odd, and quite possibly counterproductive, seeing SOTL at the top of the Metacritic list of albums of 2007. Kind of counter to their whole ethos.

it produces some pretty funny backlash comments though so i'm all for it

Robin C. gave it a 2:
This is a joke,right? These critics have such a wacky sense of humour.

Chris C gave it a 3:
Indie kids decided that the new vogue was a bunch of random tones slowly fading in and out? Why didn't they send me a memo?!

Hehheh.

Best:

Matt A. gave it a1:
This album licks my balls. It's even worse than The Field and so I guess it makes sense in an ironic way that it beats out that atrocity of an album for best of the year on this web site. The critics need to get a clue that they aren't proving anything by raving about this crap. It's aimless electronic nonsense and anyone with ears and half-decent taste in music can tell you that.

Interesting that this was revived, I finally got around to hearing this today. It was pleasant enough. Good ambient music. But top of the list?

xpost
Those comments are hilarious indeed.

I don't understand why it would be counter to their ethos? Unless you mean it's odd to rate it competitively. But it's always fun to read idiot comments.

ironically, this is probably their most "pop" record though in that there are clear melodies/passages in almost every track that stick out in my head and work as hooks, which didn't happen for me with most of tired sounds

it's a bit less minimal and more cinematic than any of their previous albums but i didn't really see anyone touch on this in any of the reviews linked from the metacritic page

I noticed those comments earlier. And chuckled briefly.

ironically, this is probably their most "pop" record though in that there are clear melodies/passages in almost every track that stick out in my head and work as hooks, which didn't happen for me with most of tired sounds

it's a bit less minimal and more cinematic than any of their previous albums but i didn't really see anyone touch on this in any of the reviews linked from the metacritic page

-- ciderpress, Sunday, 18 November 2007 23:18

I'd partially agree with that.. certainly the occasional track like 'Even If You're Never Awake (Deuxieme)' is markedly hooky by their standards.

i think my favorite part of that metacritic page is
GENRE(S): Rock, Electronic

So, it's become imperative that I buy either "Tired Sounds. . ." or "And Their Refinement of the Decline." Either way, Is there any consensus on which is better to get first? From what I gather the consensus says Tired sounds is more so, and I'm not too familiar with, and don't want to burden myself with the arduous task of actually deciding for myself. Or, is there not much difference?

start with tired sounds, yes.

*Should say "Not too familiar with "And Their Refinement. . ." I have, in fact, made my own decisions before.

tired sounds is more singular in tone to atrotd; atrotd goes for full-on widescreen euphoria, where tired sounds culminates with a series of endless blissed out drones. kinda like the difference between inner and outer space. both are some of the best music ever recorded imo so you need both really. even if you only start with one you'll get the other eventually.

going to watch them live on monday. gonna be sick.

I agree with the post above re: the singular tone vs widesceen thing, and that if you like the one you'll want the other eventually. Still, I'd say start with Tired Sounds, as it contains perhaps the greatest consecutive 15 minutes of music they've ever made - Requiem for Dying Mothers, Pts 1 and 2, which somehow manages to evoke the feeling of drifting around in North Atlantic coastal waves, or some impossibly long descent from the top of a tree as a falling leaf, or maybe just peaceful last breaths before dying, all without sounding nearly as gay as I just made it sound. And the rest of the album is nearly as good. Refinement goes for a more varied blissed out feeling, and succeeds, mostly, but if you dig the melancholy mood of Tired Sounds, you'll be obsessed.

i was really upset by those metacritic posts.

Of the next 5-10 cd's I buy, there's a good chance both will be included. It's honestly sometimes hard to fathom how much of an affect they can get out of so little, it's some of the most viscerally captivating and straightforward music I've heard in so long.

woohoo, live in Seattle at the Triple Door 4/18!!!
(with Christopher Willits and Lusine)

a while back a friend gave me all of their albums, and because i get so much music all the time, i didn't really pay them any attention.

and now i've been listening to Avec Laudenum and Refinement on the daily.

i should add that i was incredibly distracted by the other stuff he gave me, too: lots of Plank and rare Eno shit.

woohoo, live in Seattle at the Triple Door 4/18!!!
(with Christopher Willits and Lusine)

― Mackro Mackro, Friday, February 29, 2008 9:37 PM (8 months ago) Bookmark

i love these guys but if my experience seeing them live is any guide you were way too excited about a Stars of the Lid show

I"m pretty sure "Dungtitled" is still my top track on Last.fm

anyone else see them closing the Brainwaves festival last night? they were great!

I saw them friday in nyc. great show.

That tour CD they were selling this year is really, really good. I guess it's a combination of earlier rarities + new tracks, although I haven't been able to find anything that lists which is which and where they come from. The only track on it that I recognize is "Virginia", a 20 minute cover of a Labradford song. It's actually one of the weaker songs on the CD. The last song exists in the middle ground between SotL and Dead Texan.

I bring all of this up only because I noticed that they're selling the left over copies of the tour CD on kranky's website now, if anyone's interested.

I forgot to mention, one of the guitarists said something like, "we're stars of the lid and this is the last time you'll see us in... a long, long time" right before they started playing. pretty cryptic. I took it as, "touring is no fun and we won't be doing it again anytime soon" but who knows.

@ nikefanatic90: Sup (Z S), the discogs entry for Carte-De-Viste gives details of where the various tracks come from: http://www.discogs.com/release/1143841

Tracklisting:
1 The Mouthchew (Part 2) (3:45)
2 JPRIP (4:37)
3 Requiem String Melody (2:46)
4 Porch (Version #28) (5:00)
5 The Kraut (9:42)
6 Slight On The Childproof (5:01)
7 Virginia (20.03) (20:05)
8 Hunting For Pops (5:24)
9 The Funereal (2:27)

¤ Tracks 1, 6 and 8 are out takes from And Their Refinement Of The Decline
¤ Tracks 2 and 3 are out takes from The Tired Sounds Of
¤ Track 4 is an out take from Maneuvering The Nocturnal Hum
¤ Track 7 was previously released as part of The Kahanek Incident - Volume 3
¤ Tracks 5 and 9 are previously unreleased (1999 and 1997 respectively)

Ah, thank you for that!

I was going to say earlier, on one of the tracks there was the same deep, resonating, buttitch-inducing bass tone that comes up in "Requiem for Dying Mothers, pt. 2" on The Tired Sounds Of, so it doesn't surprise me that it's an outtake.

I am surprised that The Funereal is from way back in 1997. It's more "active" than most of their other material, particularly their stuff from back then.

Stars of the Lid are planning a movie...

http://sunhammerpounding.blogspot.com/2008/11/stars-of-lid-plan-feature-film.html

Wonder if non-Youtube clips will embed?

http://vimeo.com/1847116?pg=embed&sec=1847116

I heard that Adam was becoming sort of bored with the set list.

lol

Had no idea that Brian had a new band: http://www.bellgardensmusic.com/

I think I'll pass on this one after hearing those samples.

Roffle

http://spinalbap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/blog-post.html

Live in London:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/187786

lol at that link ned posted:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f4t_enzgKJg/T5bzTGTVWQI/AAAAAAAAAL0/mm1OYHQR4F0/s640/SL1.bmp

can't believe it's been 5 years since And Their Refinement of the Decline.

does a new live gig mean there's a new album in the works?

Promoter's page is silent on the matter. Going to have to spend the next month huffing their older stuff so I don't mistake it for new.

this band remains really something.

itunes tells me i listened to tired sounds...167 times this year. that's not counting playing it on my phone, or on spotify, or on cd, or anything else. some days i think i could only listen to the two parts of "requiem..." happily for the rest of my life.

They played Requiem last night, and December Hunting, and er others - including a new piece. I read somewhere that you can't fully experience SotL without seeing them live which is always a bullshit line - sucks to be you if you never get the chance - but especially in this case when you really don't want the real world intruding on and distracting your experience. Yes I mean the hell of other people. The venue was fantastic, a large church, freezing cold which seemed oddly appropriate, and a wall with stained glass in the middle and large expanses of white plaster either side where the amazing visuals were projected. TBH the crowd weren't too bad, a few cameraphones here and there at the beginning and one bloke in front of me writing a text wtf you arsehole, but once December had reached its impossible series of ever increasing crescendos everyone that i could see was pretty much stunned into passivity. But there was a bar in the rear corner and in the quieter moments you could hear the clinking of bottles and chinking of cash drawers all the way through the gig. So overall it was awe-inspiring enough but I never achieved transcendence.

Also there was a loud crash in the middle of one of the songs, I looked around and up in the pulpit was the photographer leaning over and looking glum. Wasn't sure if he was just into the music but previously he'd been strolling round quite indifferently. Turns out he'd just knocked one of his lenses onto the floor ten feet below.

Also I still feel like I've got a long way to go before I've internalised most of their stuff, but The Ballasted Orchestra is in to my top 3 with a bullet.

Ledge did you see the concert at St Giles a couple of years ago?

I fell asleep standing up the last time I saw these guys live

You couldn't have fallen asleep during "December...", bass was immense. Didn't see them at St Giles (4 years ago more like), I saw them at ATP around the same time but that setting lends itself even less well to transcendence, although reasonably well to a kind of semi-distracted acquiescence.

very cool

Fantastic - thanks!

[

I believe that if JonR345 can crush our hopes he can also make them a reality.

It's gonna happen. Not soon but it's gonna happen. Also, just great interview overall https://soundcloud.com/airpodcast/air-077-adam-wiltzie

I was surprised how gorgeous the site itself was, then just now saw it was designed by Jon Hicks who’s done great work for ages: https://hicks.design/journal/stars-of-the-lid-forever

i landed on "refinement of the decline" this morning after frantically trying to find something soothing and distracting to listen to in the background of a meeting wherein someone was annoying me.

i left it playing in my headphones and "december hunting" just hit like a ton of bricks, especially *that moment* at 8:40. and just generally i'm hearing and appreciating more details. something about how the sound is processed makes it really easy for "what is actually going on" to slip out of focus and you're just left with that tranquil and serene mood. not a bad thing, but the "what is actually going on" part is wonderful too.

i have a faint memory of ordering the "tired sounds" 2cd from a distro pretty soon after it was released, i think it was forced exposure, without having heard any mp3s or anything, not really knowing what to expect. and once it arrived it just immediately became a favorite, something i couldn't live without, especially on road trips. i had a yellow sony discman that matched the color of the album cover. the cover and the blue-gray cds were so pleasant to look at. i'm listening to it now on bandcamp for the first time in forever. there was a feeling i had at the time, that music was full of endless excitement and discovery, big open horizons-- i can still feel that today, and for that i am grateful.

What is interesting to me about SotL is how extremely different each record is in their approach. Refinement is great if I’m driving with somebody, Tired is when I’m driving alone

That's interesting! Just now, my impression is that "tired sounds" is a little more cheerful overall somehow? More plinky-plonky and fuzzy-nostalgic. Which is weird because "austin texas mental hospital" is still like staring at waves coming in on the ocean at night for 10 minutes. Maybe what used to seem morose to me now seems cheerful lol.

i think that maybe i prefer nitrous oxide to tired sounds at this point! i've been really loving it since the rerelease.

for me it’s Refinement>>>Nitrous>>>Tired Sounds

what about The Ballasted Orchestra? I feel like that one's reputation has diminished over time for some reason, but in my view it's as good as or better than Tired Sounds

the Ballasted Orchestra is too quiet for ne

me*

Refinement for me
(humblebrag: I took some of the photos/short vids for the 2008 Echoplex gig for the SOTL Forever site)

Winged Victory's first album ranks just as highly, verges into Erased Tapes territory (and it's... released on Erased Tapes so go figure) but it's a nice "spa day" version of SotL

I rank four SotL albums as "perfect": Ballasted, Laudanum, Tired and Refinement. I don't know if I've listened to Gravitational vs. Aquatic

Refinement will always be my favorite, Tired next, then When the Detail Lost Its Freedom

Table, that’s my ranking too.

My esteem of “Refinement” has matured like a fine wine over time. I loved it when it came out, but since then I’ve come to consider it one of the top albums of the 2000s, and then the 21st Century, and now I consider it one of my top albums of all time, period. Tired Sounds is excellent but hasn’t quite matured like that for me. And I only discovered Music for Nitrous Oxide after the latest repress, though I was really impressed by it out of the gate. Refinement, though, what a special album.

i have a clear memory of driving through the mojave national preserve on my way back to la listening to 'refinement'. it was a strong beam of light and peace that reached me during a dark and turbulent time.

I never connected with this band, not really, despite it being right in my wheelhouse. Ambient, Kranky, etc. But I'm listening to “Refinement” for the first time in eons, maybe really listening for the first time, and boy is it connecting. (At the same time, I'm having vague flashbacks to dozens of different documentaries and indie films.)

I only started liking Kranky stuff when I got old and my ears got tired

“Tired Sounds” suit tired ears - especially if you are old and, ahem, Kranky.