Stars of the Lid

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:19 pm

For the benefit of Flyingpurplepeopleeater I thought I would resurrect this thread. OK, it's just a shameless plug for my favourite band, but hey...

Here is the answer I gave our friend Eppers some while back when he asked about SOTL. Hope it gives you a start:

Just saw your question about SOTL. You can't really go wrong - all their work is astounding. My favourite album is probably "The Tired Sounds..." but "Refinement of the Decline", "Avec Laudenum", "Ballasted Orchestra"..they are all amazing.... how about the following playlist:

* Mullholland
* Apreludes in C#Major
* Requiem For Dying Mothers (Part 1 and 2)
* Central Texas
* The Atomium (Parts 1, 2 and 3)
* December Hunting For Vegetarian Fuckface
* Tapehiss Makes Me Happy

thedisavowed · Post by **thedisavowed** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:34 pm

Great taste there, Mexicola. I have to add that Atomium Parts I, II, and III is one of the most amazing pieces of ambient I've ever come across. Heck, just get Avec Laudenum.... now... go to your favorite shop now...

ryetronics · Post by **ryetronics** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:33 pm

bleak. wrote:according to McBride, the band’s name refers to “your own personal cinema, located between your eye and eyelid”, suggesting the colors and patterns one can see with closed eyes.” ...this makes me smile!

Although I have never been able to get into this band (overboard on the ambiance for my tastes), the explanation of their name is brilliant. Maybe I need to give them a fifth chance...

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:35 pm

yeah rye, i didn't get into SOTL the first or second time i heard them, i kept thinking "too ambient, not enough happening, bored." you kinda have to be in an ambient mood. for a while i was listening to nothing but Manual/Jess Kahr's The North Shore, but it kept looping and I realized i was gonna wear it out with overlistening. if you're ever in that kind of position just throw like 3 SOTL albums on in succession and you'll discover your love for them.

Flyingpurplepeopleeater · Tue Dec 16, 2008 7:51 pm

Hey, thanks Mexicola!

I got my hands on Avec Laudenum, Ballasted Orchestra and The Tired Sounds Of
I also just got Brian Eno's Music For Airports and listening to both, couldn't tell the difference when SOTL finished and he began!
It is still a bit too ambient for me I think, maybe it takes a whlie to get into, I don't know- time will tell. Some tracks, such as Mullholland are pretty nice though.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:24 pm

You're welcome.

I know some of you have already seen this, but thought I would x-reference here too. Click below for a teaser of the upcoming SOTL movie. Takes longer than an ice-age to load, but it's worth watching right until the end. Last time I was this excited by a movie trailer it was for "Heima".

Bring on 2010!

Vordhosbn · Post by **Vordhosbn** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:46 am

ooooooh

thedisavowed · Post by **thedisavowed** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:53 pm

Not that it matters to anyone really, but after a good year of listening I'm inclined to say that Stars of the Lid now occupies the "favorite band" seat in my head.... if indeed they can be called a 'band'.

Their music is everything music ought to be.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:14 am

thedisavowed wrote:Not that it matters to anyone really, but after a good year of listening I'm inclined to say that Stars of the Lid now occupies the "favorite band" seat in my head.... if indeed they can be called a 'band'.

Their music is everything music ought to be.

You won't be surprised to learn I agree 100%. Faultless music imo.

Archrival · Post by **Archrival** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:37 am

I agree! top 5 maye.

Vordhosbn · Post by **Vordhosbn** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:39 am

Austin Texas Mental Hospital part 2

puts me

in a state of such awe

bleak. · Post by **bleak.** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:06 pm

i feel this thread deserves a bump...

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:11 pm

note: SOTL are still awesome.

Guido · Post by **Guido** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:49 pm

Someone posted this video some time ago, I think it was Mexicola? It is made by a member of this forum, who doesn't seem to post here anymore. It is so so awesome.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:09 am

Did I post that? I remember seeing it, but not sure I posted. Either way, it's freakin magnificent so thanks for reminding me of it

Twoism-ist · Post by **Twoism-ist** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:37 am

i like them a lot too. my friend says their music is lazy and talentless

Beacon · Post by **Beacon** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:14 am

SOTL are great. This is really lame... But I listen to certain songs by them only on special occasions. It keeps them fresh and emotionally stimulating. Articulate Silences Part 2 is one of those songs.

bleak. · Post by **bleak.** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:45 am

i cant believe the sotl film is due out next year...time flies!

Goiter Sanchez · Post by **Goiter Sanchez** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:21 pm

In a thread rife with overt fanboyism I feel compelled to add even more...

The two movements of 'Requiem For Dying Mothers' changed music for me. I didn't realize that music (or any disparate artform for that matter) could be so emotionally pervasive, nor had I ever experienced the effect in quite the same way before or after hearing it. To this day it is the only piece of music that can, on a consistent basis (listening environment permitting), reduce me to a sobbing human wreck. The dry, miasmic hum of fx-swathed guitars anchor me while the immensity of those bass tones in the second movement crush my floundering consciouness into a quivering ball of plant detritus tumbling across the arid wastes of central texas.

Like many of you, I too was completely unwhelmed with my first few listens of SoTL. The turning point was the track 'The Kraut' off of their tour album Carte-De-Visite. That's when I started to realize the immensity of this sonic gem I had unearthed.
It's slow, and in this autotuned, instant grat culture we find ourselves in the thick of, it's not for everyone; but once I <i>got</i> SoTL I had the overwhelming feeling that I had been searching for it my entire life.

</fanboyism>

bleak. · Post by **bleak.** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:40 pm

Goiter Sanchez wrote:In a thread rife with overt fanboyism I feel compelled to add even more...

The two movements of 'Requiem For Dying Mothers' changed music for me. I didn't realize that music (or any disparate artform for that matter) could be so emotionally pervasive, nor had I ever experienced the effect in quite the same way before or after hearing it. To this day it is the only piece of music that can, on a consistent basis (listening environment permitting), reduce me to a sobbing human wreck. The dry, miasmic hum of fx-swathed guitars anchor me while the immensity of those bass tones in the second movement crush my floundering consciouness into a quivering ball of plant detritus tumbling across the arid wastes of central texas.

Like many of you, I too was completely unwhelmed with my first few listens of SoTL. The turning point was the track 'The Kraut' off of their tour album Carte-De-Visite. That's when I started to realize the immensity of this sonic gem I had unearthed.
It's slow, and in this autotuned, instant grat culture we find ourselves in the thick of, it's not for everyone; but once I <i>got</i> SoTL I had the overwhelming feeling that I had been searching for it my entire life.

</fanboyism>

this is very much like the track 'even if you're never awake' for myself...the most beautiful song i've heard to date.