Stars of the Lid

I was watching a recent French spy drama. The protagonist had completely screwed the pooch - he'd misjudged a situation, his agent had been captured, total disaster. His response, almost instantly, was to trash his apartment. I sat there watching thinking "I would never do that". In that situation all my anger would be turned inward, to curdle into shame. It would never have occurred to me to direct it outwards like that. My therapist made the point that the anger is going to go somewhere. She often tries to connect me to a healthy, self-protective, outward-directed anger.

Luckily for me, anytime I need to do that I just need to visit the RYM page for Gravitational Pull vs The Desire for An Aquatic Life, so I can read Threntall's review: "Cool, warm and enveloping drones. Very much what the rest of their more famous discography sounds like. Not really good enough to standout, but certainly enjoyable and relaxing to listen to."

New AWVFTS single? Why thank you.

https://awvfts.bandcamp.com/album/all-our-friends-are-vampires

Good job there Whiney

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-stars-of-the-lid-made-two-ambient-masterworks-20150721🕸

god DAMMIT sotl you’re killing me! Aaaaaagh oooh nooo *dead*

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Doh how did I do that. Hmm.

Anyway this stood out to me, possibly cause I read this thread backwards and that newish post about dealing with anger was in my mind.

McBride: I like late at night because there’s no distractions. There’s very little chance there’s gonna be dogs barking. You’re not gonna get phone calls. Working on the music, for me, it’s kind of important to not fake it in some ways, to not try to force this emotional state out of it, to sort of pay attention to what’s going on in your life, if you’re feeling inspired or motivated just letting it happen. Especially after you’ve released a bunch of records for a long time, you don’t want to manufacture longing.

Anyway that link is dead, here’s the live (lid) one:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-stars-of-the-lid-made-two-ambient-masterworks-63198/

And what’s a good starting point for AWVFTS? Any consensus there?

The new Winged Victory single is reliably pretty, but there was something about the merging of McBride and Wiltzie's sensibilities that was of a fundamentally different order - Wiltzie left to his own devices, or with O'Halloran in Winged Victory, tends to the syrupy I find, whereas perhaps McBride scuffed the edges a bit in even the last two SOTL records.. I prefer McBride's solo records, at any rate, and I've long since given up on the idea of new SOTL, despite the rather infuriating tendency that they have to vaguely intimate new music every few years or so.

And what’s a good starting point for AWVFTS? Any consensus there?

― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, March 15, 2023 bookmarkflaglink

Start with the first album and go chronologically until you start to get bored. They’re good but they lack the secret sauce of SotL.

…and as much as I like Wiltzie I think McBride is that secret sauce, as evidenced by his first solo album which I rate nearly as high as the last to Stars albums.

I love the first album. "Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears" was on my nighttime playlist for years.

yeah, i've enjoyed their separate efforts quite a bit. i wish i could listen to them without knowing about stars of the lid. but SotL was and is so very special. i think upthread is a spot where i got to see them live. it was just brilliant, one of the top few hours of my life

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Seems we are mostly in consensus. I too appreciate that little bit of a sharp rough tang that gives their work as a duo just that hint of seasoning.

Based on y’all’s recommendations I’ll put McBride’s first solo release on my list. That would be When The Detail Lost Its Freedom, published under his own name? Still trying to get all the names of their different acts sorted — Dead Texan is also a Wiltzie project, okay I’m starting to piece together the clues here.

Lmao wish I could say witnessing a musical performance was a peak life experience. That time I was really high when I was in high school and Primus played my hometown? Nah probably not. I did very much vibe with Sonic Youth at Lollapalooza in Atlanta. Okay sorry tangent.

Yes, When the Detail…

McBride hasn’t had as many side projects. His two solo albums are pretty much it. He was in a group called Bell Gardens (I think?) but iirc they’re not really the same. Wiltzie by far the more prolific of the two.

Until I read this thread, I had no idea that AWVFTS had anything to do with Stars of the Lid. For some reason, I never paid attention to who the musicians were.

Cheers to pfwp for clarification.

Respect always to Jimbeaux too, dissenting view on AWVFTS duly noted. Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears is passable, If you’d told me it was a newer SotL release I doubt I’d know the difference. It definitely follows the typical formula, the simple melody gradually building to a muted crescendo. It just lacks that special something tho.

I will say, for AWVFTS - I *love* Dustin O’Halloran’s theme for the tv show Transparent

I did say it was part of my nighttime playlist LOL. Literally the one I used to go to sleep. It was perfect for that purpose, and that's not a knock.

Right, I have Requiem for Dying Mothers Parts 1 & 2 on my Nap playlist which are the songs with by far the most plays in my entire library.

Still I have to wonder if this poster is okay?

I like to play 'Requiem for Dying Mothers Part 2' from 'Tired Sounds....' on a 24/7 loop

…
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 2 November 2014 23:06

I love SotL, as everyone should, but WVFtS bores me to tears, for many of the reasons stated above. Seeing them live early on definitely did not change my mind

have never dived into WVftS and this conversation is not exactly lighting a fire under me. But When the Detail Lost its Freedom is A+++, I definitely love it as much as the SotL records, though I think of it as pretty different (at least within the paradigm of this type of music, I'm sure they'd be indistiguishable to someone pulled off the street)

I really love the album that Wiltzie made with Robert Donne from Labradford under the name Aix em Klemm— I think it’s Wiltzie’s best work outside of SotL.

yep, that one's great!

I still believe that The Dead Texan record is the best non-SotL record by a SotL member.

Why, this is good to see

https://starsofthelid.bandcamp.com/album/avec-laudenum

welll, that was a mightily cruel thread bump :) we're never seeing a new album, are we?

Pitchfork is reporting that Brian McBride has died. Terrible news.

https://pitchfork.com/news/stars-of-the-lids-brian-mcbride-dies-at-53/

fuck

REST IN PEACE BRIAN MCBRIDE [1970-2023] pic.twitter.com/fvSSeRL6pi

— krankyltd (@krankyltd) August 27, 2023

Oh my fucking god :(

Awful news

Horrible, horrible.

His solo work is also whew, so good. I love this album.

https://starsofthelid.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-detail-lost-its-freedom

When asked what he will miss the most when he’s gone during an interview with podcast Five Questions, McBride said surprises. “Maybe you’re in a matter of fact mood, you’re driving home from doing a bunch of errands, you see somebody walking their dog, and the cat has gone on the walk with dog and the owner, and she’s running past them, showing off, scratching the trees. And you suddenly take delight in that,” he explained. “The weird appreciation for the mundane or the banal. That’s what I’ll miss the most. The times when you can surprise yourself and notice things that seem quite matter of fact but are actually quite beautiful depending on how you look at it.”

big oof

I had to get some thoughts out of my head:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/in-honor-of-88329908

very lovely, Ned. truly difficult to describe my relationship with this music— it seems almost all-encompassing at times.

Thank you. It's that sense of scope and immersion without...without drowning you in it, if that makes sense. You feel it more than hear it.

Ah fucking hell, no way. RIP.

i remember years ago when i coached hs debate and i was looking at the ut austin summer debate camps (which i soon discovered our school could never afford). i saw one of the coaches names there as brian mcbride and thought, ha that guy has the same name as the guy from sotl. and then i found it it was the same guy and my mind split apart. everytime i'd listen to them i'd marvel at these grieving sound poems and then think, man imagine this guy teaching teenagers how to spread in debate.

Just devastating.

While my primary musical interest as a teenager was rave culture, my tastes were eclectic (e.g., I started posting here as a teenager). When I started attending parties, I couldn’t understand why ambient and drone didn’t didn’t permeate into dance music culture. The cultures felt, despite their shared history and interests (e.g., computers and drugs), antagonistic toward each other in the late-90s/early-00s. It was particularly baffling in Detroit where the specialized shops like Stormy (Wendy & Carl’s shop) and Neptune exclusively catered towards these two cultures. The one exception was Stars of the Lid. Everyone loved them. This band from, of all places, Texas, was the one artist that managed to bring together all these disparate Detroit music sub-cultures. By 2007 with the release of “And Their Refinement of the Decline” it felt bizarre to think these sub-cultures were so isolated. They truly brought people together.

i.e., rip

legit been reaching out to people with whom i shared major life moments with to this music— i remember my friend Eric giving me a bunch of SotL mp3s in early 2008 when all i’d heard was ATROTD.

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just had a debate coach friend of mine reach out to me. apparently when my friend was a young debater, mcbride was his judge on occasion. when he later became a teacher, his debate kids worked with mcbride and apparently he put on little concerts for the students. he had no idea of mcbride's side gig as a musician until i told him about it some years ago.

oh how my heart aches

refinement was so healing for me in such a crucial and dangerous moment in my life. the beauty there is unfathomable.

very sad about this as both an ambient/drone fan and a one-time forensics club kid (didn't know that about him until i read the p4k obit). RIP, too too soon

stars of the lid are my most played artist in itunes. it's not even close. it's reductive to describe the influence of music in numbers like this, especially music with as much soul and grace as the music of brian mcbride.

but the amount of _time_ i have spent with mcbride's (and adam wiltzie's) music ... it is a part of me. i will never forget the nights i spent alone in the control room of the 107" telescope at the mcdonald observatory, refinement of the decline blasting out in the silent high desert. rip brian.

Really sad news. I recall that Brian was briefly on the DroneOn list just as SOTL were signed to Kranky. Nice guy. Remarkable music that continues to resonate. RIP.

Just awful news. Refinement might be my most-listened to ever album.

Sawdust - I ran the DroneOn list. I remember when I saw that he subscribed. Kinda undone by this... RIP

his music has meant so much to me. really sad news. RIP.