Stars of the Lid

yeah, i don't want to criticize the roll-out of the entire midwinter thing too harshly because i'm guessing someone i know, here or otherwise, might have worked on it, but on the whole it has been very, very confusing just to figure out what is going on, who is playing and when, how much it costs, and what you will be able to see with a ticket.

the sound installations are just some sonos speakers stuck in corners of certain rooms. all the music i heard from them was pretty ambient. the stars of the lid one was probably the most effective because it was in a more open space and was loud enough to hear. the julia holter one was almost inaudible.

Will they remain installed outside of the midwinter fest? Trying to experience a sound installation at a giant party is futile.

no but they were all in various gallery rooms of the art institute so it wasn't very party like in there

on the dark side, couldn't really hear the stars of the lid soundscape because of crowds and people talking

on the bright side, accidentally caught a laurie anderson encore performance while i was checking out this butt!

https://i.imgur.com/6iQyVZa.jpg

That's an amazing photo! How was her show?

it was wonderful! i feel bad posting a long thing about it in the stars of the lid thread (where with every revive i hope it's news about a new album), so i put it here instead: S/D Laurie Anderson

sotl are so good at naming things :D

it has been 12 years, 3 months, 16 days
since you last released an album
i go out every night and stars of the lid all day
since you last released an album

karl otm

otm

i got the new kyle bobby dunn album in today and was able to listen to about half of it before it got too late to play loud. it's really good, highly recommended for sotl fans. but soon afterward i grabbed headphones and went back to the source.

Karl otm, of course. Wiltzie still busy with soundtracks it seems, there's a new one out I didn't know about. But nothing compares, obv.

otm otm otm

otm-est

I also want a new SotL record. nothing scratches the itch in the same way.

kyle bobby dunn got cancelled btw. read into it. pretty bad stuff

kyle bobby dunn got cancelled

What a time to be alive.

Global is not kidding btw. It is pretty bad stuff and unfortunate to see.

By the way, Stars of the Lid were dicks to me when I opened for them once hah hah :)

Not a big deal, touring life is complicated, but still. Was not expecting it.

I know, it's just such a strange sentence to read.

They could be unpleasant to other bands and ppl putting them up etc, heard a story or two over the years.

Yep

Yeah, I heard of the Kyle Bobby Dunn stuff when it happened (it was discussed in another thread). His initial replies were dumb and not at all helpful, and he didn’t really deny anything. However, the accusations themselves were very vague - I’m not sure anyone outside that circle has any clue wtf happened or the nature of the transgressions. fwiw several people have mentioned his struggles with mental health (not that it’s an excuse for chronic bad behavior) and he also issued a blanket apology (very vaguely, to match the vague accusations) the other day.

a new album by a winged victory for the sullen, the undivided five, came out a few days ago, for those who may be interested

On first listen The Undivided Five is pretty gorgeous. Not much of a jump from Atomos, but somehow a bit more intimate. If you liked Atomos, I can't imagine you not liking this.

Are Stars of the Lid a finished proposition?

nope, they're still going. they keep dropping hints that they're working on a new album, so we can expect it somewhere in the 2020-2027 timeframe

At first pass I like The Undivided Five better than their first two albums – it feels less facile somehow.

lol good song titles on the undivided five record ... "aqualung, motherfucker"

It's no 'December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface' but I'll take it.

'Our Lord Debussy' is just a statement of fact.

the Facebook post for the new AWVFTS album made it pretty clear we'll get a new SOTL album eventually; never feel like the former is an adequate substitute for the latter tbh

nice.
just listened to the tired sounds for the first time in a while a few weeks back — it remains miraculous.

never feel like the former is an adequate substitute for the latter tbh

Correct. :(

Still, I had no idea a new SOTL album was even so much as hypothetically in the works. Gaudeamus igitur!

At first pass I like The Undivided Five better than their first two albums – it feels less facile somehow.

― pomenitul

i'm giving it another listen right now, but i felt similarly the first time through. i could be completely wrong, but it seems like wiltzie must handle a lot of the plaintive piano parts that form the skeleton of many of the songs. i say that because the piano resembles the piano from The Dead Texan (another wiltzie project, with christina vantzou). but i'm not in love with the layers surrounding the piano (often orchestral, or at least sampling orchestral instruments). i can't say why with any coherence. it's an odd thing to say about mostly slow music, but maybe the arrangements seem too busy?

Pre-And Their Refinement of the Decline they struck just the right balance between cinematic classical and reverb-laden ambient. Everything that's come after (doubly so since they've temporarily parted ways) has leaned a little too heavily on the former aspect of their shtick imho.

somehow i've never listened to their Maneuvering The Nocturnal Hum EP...*90s movie trailer guy*...until NOW

yeah if anything "Requiem" is so affecting because it's an outlier at that point

xp Oh man, I love that record!

Great news about a possible new SotL, I too thought it unthinkable at this moment in time. Will give the new one a spin soon.

Pre-And Their Refinement of the Decline they struck just the right balance between cinematic classical and reverb-laden ambient. Everything that's come after (doubly so since they've temporarily parted ways) has leaned a little too heavily on the former aspect of their shtick imho.

― pomenitul, Tuesday, November 5, 2019 11:58 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

I, too, agree. I've zero evidence to back this up, but my theory is that 'Refinement' was made - in part - with the following tour in mind. They came out - relatively, of course - guns blazing, with the string quartet and the whole shebang on stage. And it was beautiful! But they lost something with/after that album. I'm sure Pom will concur 'reverb-laden ambient' is a flawed description but it's close to the truth. Something of the profundity was lost, though.

I caught them during their Refinement tour (on the top floor of a Masonic Temple, no less) and it was absolutely wonderful, but I remember thinking that it put the album the shame. So your theory makes sense to me.

So AWVFTS are playing here in SF in April at Grace Cathedral, which, yes.

i wouldn't be surprised that guys who make a living selling minimalism aren't the nicest. patience wears thin when the grasping classes contend

I get the impression that Wiltzie and Brian McBride are barely collaborating these days, but don't want to say anything definitive about the end of SOTL as a recording project. There was talk last year of a McBride solo album but it never materialized. My best guess is that SOTL will reappear periodically to tour, but that's about it, unfortunately.

together we stand. divided we fall. trance syndicate. windsor for the derby. labradford

Aix Em Klemm, the Dead Texan

^^ both up there with the very best SotL ever did.

I caught them during their Refinement tour (on the top floor of a Masonic Temple, no less) and it was absolutely wonderful, but I remember thinking that it put the album the shame. So your theory makes sense to me.

― pomenitul, Tuesday, November 5, 2019 11:07 AM (fifty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

my ex-wife was at that show if it's 2008, mtl

Indeed it was!