Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Stars of the Lid


The new double-CD release from Austin, TX-based minimalists Stars of the Lid is a fantastic collection of sounds, the perfect thing to have on the stereo for a meditative Sunday afternoon.


I didn't get too deep into these guys when I lived in the ATX, but I'd known about them and heard some of their stuff, and put them on the same plane as Labradford, who I liked quite a bit but who also got limited play time due to the situational constraints of the appropriateness of the music. In other words, this is music for a certain time and place.


In the proper context, And Their Refinement of the Decline is an amazing record. It's drone-based music whose changes are subtle and elegant, tracks made up more of lengthy movements than any verse/chorus structure, transitions from one track to the next often indistinguishable. This is ambient music at its best, and well worth checking out.

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