• Artist: Stars Of The Lid
• Album: And Their Refinement Of The Decline
• Label: Kranky
• Release: 2007
• Links: Official Site, Label Profile

And Their Refinement Of The Decline is the first Stars Of The Lid album since 2001’s lauded The Tired Sounds Of. Founding members Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie have remained active during this release gap though. Both released solo albums. In 2004, Wiltzie appeared as The Dead Texan and issued a self titled effort. McBride used his own name to release When The Detail Lost Its Freedom in 2005. The two composers succeeded on their own, but continued to piece together music for what would become And Their Refinement. Many artists take extended breaks from new releases, resulting in a build-up for their return that eventually disappoints. This is not the case with Stars Of The Lid.

This album should be recognized as a huge victory for cut-and-paste collaborations. Wiltzie resides in Brussels, Belgium while McBride spends his time in Los Angeles. As Wiltzie recently told Lost At Sea, the two only met once in person to work on the album. The duo sent each other ideas through AOL Instant Messenger and would then elaborate on the exchange before repeating the process again. This doesn’t hinder the album’s intimacy at all. In fact, as of this writing, I’d say that And Their Refinement is even fuller than The Tired Sounds Of. The two albums do have a great deal in common though.

Much like The Tired Sounds Of, the new album is spread across two CDs or three LPs (depending on your preference). It sounds as if McBride and Wiltzie picked up right where that album left off, making it hard to believe that it has almost been six years since The Tired Sounds Of was released. These guys are working in a classical mindset. Despite their epic ambitions, And Their Refinement is engaging throughout and the filler count is low. SOTL’s sonic palette utilizes everything from flugelhorn to a children’s choir. On an album this large, favorite tracks will differ with each listener, but the “Articulate Silences” suite is what I first glued my ears to. You could still categorize this music as drone, but that would be limiting what this duo has accomplished. After a listen or two, if you are patient enough, you will realize that there is a lot happening on this record.

I’m calling for a David Lynch/SOTL collaboration. The bio on the Kranky web site states that both McBride and Wiltzie were/are Twin Peaks obsessives and their 1997 release (The Ballasted Orchestra) contained a suite titled “Music For Twin Peaks Episode 30.” Some of their music would be a perfect fit for one of Lynch’s films. Both Lynch and SOTL have a dark sense of humor to say the least. You’ll understand this once you look at some of the song titles on And Their Refinement. “Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage” and “December Hunting For Vegetarian Fuckface” stand out. I am curious to know the amount of drugs that were consumed during the making of this record, but I don’t want to cheapen how much I have enjoyed it. I am curious though.

What interests me most is where McBride and Wiltzie will go from here. I’m confident that they will continue to release solo music, but how long until another SOTL record? Will there even be another record? That’s for them to decide, but this would be quite a note for them to go out on. These masterful composers have made one thing certain though. They’ve forged one of the most daring collaborations ambient has seen in recent memory. It’s no wonder that they have positioned themselves among the most acclaimed acts in the genre over the last decade.

(4/14/07)

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