and their Refinement of the Decline

by Stars of the Lid

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fakestreet123 my favourite from lid

pointermusician It allows for introspection and exploration of one's own loneliness. Absolutely beautiful. Favorite track: Even If You're Never Awake.

The Laughing Stock The most beautiful album ever made along with it being in my top 3. It tugs on the heart strings hard with it not only being beautiful. but sad, melancholic, hopeful, and what feels like to me, immense amounts of grief all at the same time. my absolute favorite stars of the lid album. At this point, I can't even pick favorites on this album. It's just (and I rarely use this word) a MASTERPIECE.

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1.	Dungtitled (in A major) 05:54	buy track
2.	Articulate Silences 05:24	buy track
3.	Articulate Silences part 2 05:37	buy track
4.	The Evil That Never Arrived 05:04	buy track
5.	Preludes (in C sharp major) 03:44	buy track
6.	Don't Bother They're Here 10:10	buy track
7.	Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage 05:54	buy track
8.	Even If You're Never Awake 09:20	buy track
9.	Even (Out) + 04:51	buy track
10.	A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaning(less) Process 04:32	buy track
11.	Another Ballad for Heavy Lids 04:32	buy track
12.	The Daughters of Quiet Mind 13:21	buy track
13.	Hiberner Toujours 01:49	buy track
14.	That Finger on Your Temple is the Barrel of My Raygun 05:04	buy track
15.	Humectez La Mouture 05:31	buy track
16.	Tippy's Demise 08:18	buy track
17.	The Mouthchew 03:40	buy track
18.	December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface 17:45	buy track

about

Painstakingly recorded, processed and assembled over five years, SOTL once again delivered 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 and turn it inside out, transforming what would otherwise be an arduous test of nerves into an interlude of half awake dreams that ends too soon.

In this album, SOTL picks up where The Tired Sounds Of… left off with an emphasis on melodic development, moving their epic soundscapes beyond mere drone and subsequently frustrating all the typical ambient cliches associated with their music. Perhaps the best references for this current work would be found in the score to the film "Le Mepris" by Georges Delerue, the orchestral works of Zbigniew Preisner, or the 1958 CSO/ Fritz Reiner recording of Hovhaness’ Mysterious Mountain, specifically the third movement. But in the final analysis, such comparisons are superfluous at best, as Stars of the Lid have created a musical universe in which they are the sole inhabitant.

Simply put, this album is a masterpiece.

A landmark work for both the artist and the label, this was kranky's 100th release and SOTL's most refined example of their unique vision to date.

credits

released April 2, 2007

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about

Stars of the Lid Brussels, Belgium

Stars of the Lid, the now-legendary drone duo consisting of Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride, was founded in Austin, TX, on Christmas Day in 1992. Ever since the release of their debut album in 1995, they have scratched out a distinct niche in the amorphous world of atmospheric music. A wise man once described the band as “divine classical drones without the tedious intrusions of drums, or vocals”. ... more

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