***Received a 7.7 rating from Pitchfork. The release of Music For Nitrous Oxide, the 1995 debut by Stars Of The Lid, heralded a new strain of the American underground music scene, one born of the heat and humidity, boredom, and the insular, constipated, rock-ist music scene of Austin, Texas, home of the duo of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. It was a muffled lashing out against surrounding musical conventions, a small middle finger to the local dominant “Americana” scene, but one that nobody could see outside the shack of a house in which they recorded or at their occasional sparsely populated live performances. It was as punk a move as anyone could make at that place and in that time. But, in a surprise to the two members of SOTL, people took notice, as related rumblings and grumblings were taking place simultaneously in other parts of the American landscape. Coming quickly on the heels of their debut was Gravitational Pull vs. The Desire For An Aquatic Life, released one year later. This is a transitional release that travels from the scruffiness of the debut’s ambiance to more extended and subtle undulating tides of assembled sound, yet still dominated by processed guitars as the primary sound source. It also serves as an omen to the mini-orchestral works to come, beginning with the Avec Laudenum album a few years later. This is a small masterpiece.
LP $19.00
03/30/2018
CD $14.00
10/31/1997
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The Avec Laudenum originally released on the Belgian Sub Rosa label in 2000 (and again by Kranky in 2002) from cosmic sound explorers ADAM WILTZIE and BRIAN McBRIDE. Recorded via mail between the home ports of Chicago and Austin, the record is a hypnotic foray into the realm of drones, drifts and dreams. Groovy, brilliant and transcendent. One time pressing of 1,000 copies. On tour beginning April 15th.
LP $20.25
04/15/2008
CD $14.00
10/29/2002
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The long awaited new album from STARS OF THE LID is finally ready for your sonic immersion. Painstakingly recorded, processed and assembled over the past five years, the band once again deliver a massive work that clocks in at over two hours. The band moves their epic soundscapes beyond mere drone subsequently frustrating the typical ambient clichés associated with their music. Received an 8.6 review in Pitchfork upon its original release. "Crushingly sad, lightly melancholic, or even uplifting, depending on the state of mind of the hearer… a sound divorced from intention and its ambiguity is its strength."—Pitchfork
2XCD $16.00
04/02/2007
3XLP $58.00
08/18/2023
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The sixth full-length offering from these heavens-soaring, super-sonic, gargantuan sound explorers. A massive blend of treated strings, organs, backwards tubular bell runs, field recordings, and much more, expertly layered and crafted into a relentlessly uplifting symphony of hymnal beauty. Gracious, me. "Their relentless commitment to subtlety sets them apart, as does their masterful hand with tone… dissonance is doled out in small portions, perfectly coloring the sculpted fields of sound."—Pitchfork
2XCD $16.00
10/30/2001
3XLP $58.00
08/18/2023
***A unique collaborative project between tonal feedback reverie kings Stars of the Lid, and New York minimalist painter JOHN McCAFFERTY who's work was influenced by the band's Music For Nitrous Oxide album. In an attempt to blur the distinctions between mediums, The Stars have incorporated the sounds of McCafferty painting into the music, as it was composed to accompany the visual images.
LP $19.00
01/08/2001
CD $14.00
11/17/1998
***CHECK STOCK!!! Received an 8.5 Best New Reissue rating from Pitchfork. The vinyl version of the second (or third, depending on how you calculate) STARS OF THE LID album, their first for kranky, is finally being reissued. When kranky tried to reorder this title from our then vinyl manufacturer many years ago, we learned that the metal mothers had become oxidized and unusable, probably through poor care in storage. So we shrugged our shoulders and let it be. But with the recent resurgence in vinyl sales, the continued interest in the SotL catalog, and the promise of recent and future activity by the duo, here we are. The original 4 track cassette recordings (yes, 4 track cassette my friends) were remastered and new lacquers were cut, and the original artwork has been updated. The music itself shows Sotl with one of their first major transitions, from the found sound and guitar abstractions of their previous Music for Nitrous Oxide to a much more defined and refined compositional structure which would soon develop into the full blown miniature symphonies heard on later works. As an added bonus, the double LP vinyl version has 9 additional minutes of material not on the CD or digital versions. Stars Of The Lid’s first major statement as a sonic force to be reckoned with is now available on the analog format once more.
CD $14.00
02/12/1997
2XLP $24.00
01/08/2013