Stars of the Lid

Stars of the Lid
Background information
Origin	Austin, Texas, US
Genres	Drone Ambient
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Kranky Sedimental Sub Rosa
Associated acts	The Dead Texan, Aix Em Klemm
Website	Official site
Members
Adam Wiltzie Brian McBride
Former members
Kirk Laktas

Stars of the Lid is a duo specializing in drone-based ambient music. They list among their influences minimalist and electronic composers such as Arvo Pärt, Zbigniew Preisner, Gavin Bryars, and Henryk Górecki, as well as Talk Talk (both bands have tracks named "Taphead"), post-rock artists Labradford, and ambient innovator Brian Eno.^[1] Their songs are largely beatless soundscapes, composed of droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, strings, and horns; volume swells and feedback fill the gap of rhythmic instruments, providing dynamic movement within the songs. Their sound has been described as "divine, classical drone without the tedious intrusion of drums or vocals".^[2]

Biography

Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1993, SOTL is composed of two members — Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. McBride explained in an interview^[3] that 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 (either phosphenes or closed-eye hallucinations). Both have released solo material, the former under his own name and the latter under The Dead Texan alias. Their two most recent releases have been triple LPs released to generally positive reviews. Adam Wiltzie currently lives in Brussels, Belgium and Brian McBride in Los Angeles.

Recent activity

On April 7, 2007, Stars of the Lid released triple LP, double CD album Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline.

On August 15, 2007, Stars of the Lid announced a European tour through a Myspace bulletin. They played dates in England, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland.

Throughout their European tour, they were joined live by a string trio featuring Lucinda Chua on cello, Noura Sanatian on violin and Ela Baruch on viola.

Their tour of North America was from mid-April to May 2008. Their North American line-up included Julia Kent on cello.

A teaser for an upcoming Stars of the Lid feature film has since surfaced on the internet: http://vimeo.com/1847116

Discography

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (May 2008)

• Interviews have revealed the duo to be Twin Peaks fans as reflected in some of their song titles: "Music For Twin Peaks Episode #30 - Part I", and "Gasfarming" which begins with a sample of Big Ed Hurley.
• Participated in the Ulver remix album 1993-2003: First Decade in the Machines with the song "I Love You, But I Prefer Trondheim pts 1-4", the title of which is a sly reference to fellow Austin musicians I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness.
• McBride is a prominent member of the policy debating community. He was an extremely successful high school and college debater and has coached college debate teams to multiple national championships. He is currently the coach for the University of Southern California policy debate team.^[3][5][6]
• The song "Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage" from the album Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline refers to the American soccer player Brian McBride, who shares his name with Brian McBride of Stars of the Lid. McBride the soccer player, played, until 2008, for London's Fulham FC, whose stadium is called Craven Cottage.
• The song "Humectez la Mouture" from the album Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline refers to and contains a sample of dialogue from the 1986 French film Betty Blue.
• The song "Requiem For Dying Mothers Part 2" from the album The Tired Sounds of Stars of The Lid concludes with a sample from the 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky film "Stalker" in which the daughter of the main protagonist seemingly shuffles empty drinking glasses across a table using extra sensory projection.

References

External links

• Stars of the Lid at Brainwashed (official website)
• Stars of the Lid at MySpace
• Stars of the Lid at Unfinished (2007 Brian McBride interview)
• Stars of the Lid at Kranky Records (biography, discography)
• Stars of the Lid at Allmusic (biography, discography)
• Stars of the Lid at Epitonic Records (tracks, brief biography)
• Stars of the Lid at Piero Scaruffi (discography, link to 1998 interview)
• Stars of the Lid at Vimeo (teaser for an upcoming SOTL feature film)