Stress Relief: Stars of the Lid
Artist: Stars of the Lid
Album: And Their Refinement of the Decline
Genre: Ambient
This is and album I picked up a few months ago knowing it is a good way to relax and mellow out. Stars of the Lid specialize in super ambient music and sounds and most of their music doesn't even really have any beat. I find this music really good for stress relief but it can also be great background music when in thought or when trying to think of an idea (i.e. for a project, your own song, anything...I used it once when thinking of a movie idea for my film class).
Sample Song: Articulate Silences Part 1
Background and History
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. 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".
Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1993, SOTL is composed of two members — Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. McBride explained in an interview 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.
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