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The three with subtitles happen to be the most striking and make thedisc worth owning. "Allegro Vivace", 'drum 'n bass for grandorchestra', is just that, a clever explosion of d n' b rhythms lacedwith piano, horns and other orchestral instrumentation. "The TerminalBeach", 'permutazione for chamber ensemble', is of course based upon(and borrows lines from) the book of the same name by science fictionwriter J.G. Ballard. Here Koschka conjures up a dramatic amalgamationof beats, break downs, piano flurries, dancing bells and woodwinds invarying tempos. "Homage a Morton F.", 'ambiento con una frase forchamber orchestra', is obviously an homage to legendary NYC basedcomposer Morton Feldman. Slowly piecing together piano chords, strings,harpsichord strums and a slow jazzy rhythm, the highly cinematic trackis a fitting conclusion.
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Stars of the Lid make the finest drone-rock around, and everyone knows it. I remember hearing them for the first time and turning to a friend and saying "Who needs drugs when you can listen to music like this?"
Listening to their records, one does achieve a state of complete relaxation and calm that cannot be compared to any other feeling on this Earth. Fans who are no stranger to this music know that part of this magic is achieved through their intense deception: a lot of the time, you are unsure what is making the sounds your speakers are desperately trying to reproduce accurately, so heavily manipulated are some the sounds. And their bio is just as confusing a read as the music can be a listen. But if you just give in to what you're listening to, it doesn't really matter if it is identifiable or if it makes sense. It just is. And you feel that as it all comes together to greet you. On a more technical and less ethereal note, "The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid" marks the first time strings, horns, and piano have been added to SOTL's repertoire, and the results are astonishing. It is their finest, clearest, most well-conceived effort to date, their "Messiah," if you will. Because those are the images that pop into your head listening to this work: visions of heaven and what lies beyond. It all plays out like different people's visions of an afterlife. Strings mix with dog whimpers and chains dragging, and Eno-esque keyboards reflect a warmth that Brian wishes he could find. It's just plain beautiful, a natural progression and a triumph any band should be immensely proud of. The only thing you're left with when it's all over is a thought: "Where could it possibly go from here?" And isn't that going to be wonderful given what you've just heard?
 
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Upon experiencing them live and then hearing "Gravitational Pull vs. the Desire for an Aquatic Life" a few years ago, SotL redefined for me the aesthetic of 'ambient' music and just how beautiful it can be. Now Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride (and others, including previous collaborator painter Jon McCafferty and film artist Luke Savisky) return with 124 more minutes of sleepy soliloquy.
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It is at once foreboding and punishing while maintaining a lovely undertone. But it also contains sounds and elements you would never hear on a gybe! record. There are moments of high-pitched squeals and over-distorted beats, almost with a trip-hop shuffle to them, and then almost free-form jazz drumming a few tracks later. Voices are manipulated with hisses and pops in a completely fresh manner. Plus, the majority of the tracks are under the 5-minute mark (!). As records go, it has a lot to offer, particularly given the talent involved in making it. So why then is it all so underwhelming? Don't get me wrong, there are some fine pieces of music here. Some haunting, some lovely, all original. But because they're based on largely improvised recordings, it lacks some focus. Tracks begin and end without really getting anywhere, and the structure on some is either not there at all or just plain odd. The band state "things worked out somehow and we got lucky." Yes, but a little more concentration and a little less luck might have taken some of these tracks much further. As it stands, this release is a hint at the power these musicians can capture, a power that is fully realized and explored on other releases by this band's members. I'd like to hear more from this formation, as "sings reign rebuilder" doesn't feel like the complete release I'd wanted so badly to hear.
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Although this release came out first in 1999 through Origin in Sweden, it has only been picked up by Apollo (an R&S sub-label) earlier this year. Graham Lewis (Wire/Dome/He Said) and Andreas Karperyd (Omala) have teamed up again, but not as He Said Omala this time. While I have been a Wire fan for nearly two decades, the Graham Lewis material can always be hit or miss, yet when he's paired up with a good collaborator, the results can be incredible. Fortunately, the collection of ten songs deftly combines the strengths of the Karperyd's undeniably hypnotic electronics and the super sexy voice of Lewis.The musical bonds have grown stronger between the two after experience working together as He Said Omala, and the proof is in the songs. Luscious head-bobbing instrumental triumphs like "Rekalm Reclaim" sit side-by-side with catchy proto-pop vocal tracks like "Spring." While the album's opener, "Knot" throws the fan a curve-ball with its instrumental abrasiveness and atypical Lewis vocals, the album's closer, "7f's" echoes back to the electronic repetition of classic 1980s Wire tracks like "Over Theirs," and "Illuminated." As the Wire Mail Order service has been closing down, I thought it best to try to grab a hold of one of these CDs before they're impossible to find. Unfortunately they're all gone from the Chicago-based location and stores in North America have found it unnecessary to stock the item. If all avenues fail you to find this disc, try
 
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Anita Lane first came to music circa the late '70s via the Nick Cave-led posse The Birthday Party and later as a founding member of his solo band The Bad Seeds. Since the mid-'80s she has recorded some singles and the solo album Dirty Pearl and has collaborated with Die Haut, Bad Seed Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson, Einstüzende Neubauten and Gudrun Gut. In particular, Harvey is her longtime musical guru and is once again responsible for production and much of the instrumentation for this 10 song album.
Everything about Lane oozes sexuality, from the packaging photos to the girlish yet 'been there, done that' voice and words. Unsurprisingly, a Bad Seeds and Serge Gainesbourg shadow is cast over much of the album (even going as far as to borrow tape loops of mid '90s Bad Seeds jams for a few songs) plus string arrangements are provided by Bertrand Burgalat. A handful of songs - "Do That Thing", "Like Caesar Needs a Brutus" and "Do the Kamasutra" - are a bit too much, a bit too goofy or garish lyrically, approaching porn movie soundtrack musically. The rest find a better balance between sex appeal and song writing. Three impressive covers include Gil Scott-Heron's tell it like it is tale "Home is Where the Hatred Is" and the traditional "Bella Ciao". "The Next Man That I See" is the single and rightfully so, Anita invitingly cooing "and I think that I'll just make love to the next man that I see". In "A Light Possession" horns, keys and strings copulate under the sheets of a sweaty bass groove. I could go on but, well, you get the idea. This is Lane's most fully realized solo work to date, about half of which is really good.
 
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