Stars of the Lid

that was truly one of the best performances i've ever seen. here's way too much about it:

the music was predictably very, very good. the sound was excellent and massive and full. hearing the trademark SotL drone bass for an hour+ on massive speakers was transcendent. their set included requiem for dying mothers parts 1 and 2, december hunting for vegetarian fuckface, and a couple shorter pieces that seemed familiar but that i couldn't pinpoint.

it was really interesting to watch them perform with a string quartet. the string players were a living organism of sorts, their movements and phrasing breathing in and out with the music. (this is a good, short clip that illustrates the breathing and also the intensity of the performance: https://instagram.com/p/79VB0wypQ-/) i could only see adam wiltzie and the strings, (brian mcbride was hidden behind a giant speaker from my angle on the side), but it was a treat to see how he seems to function as the leader of the performance. he did the (minimal) talking between songs, and also conducted certain sections with the the neck of his guitar, slowly drawing it downward with each new drone entrance to provide waypoints for the strings.

i didn't expect that the live performance would be able to surpass the recorded versions, but at certain points they truly did. when i listen to SotL, i typically imagine synths making the noises. it comes across as programmed, at least to me. but live, you realize that it's the sound of a guitar run through many, many effect pedals. i took a picture of mcbride's setup after the show:

http://i.imgur.com/Y5RtyUN.jpg

in a live context there's more room for small variations and little mistakes to bleed through. they also changed the arrangements of certain sections. in particular, i remember requiem for dying mothers pt 2, which contains my favorite SotL moment - the part halfway through where everything fades out except for the strings and it sounds like water splashing up against cold rocks, and then the bass comes in at an ULTRA LOW AND DEEP frequency. anticipating this blissful moment, i have to admit i was a bit disappointed when they changed the arrangement to a long, repetitive buildup of cycling and overlapping strings, culminating with the ultra low/deep frequency payoff. it was still good, and it was totally stars of the lidsy, but for me it was like watching jurassic park and waiting for the "Hold On To Your Butts" part, but then samuel jackson unexpectedly launches into a short dramatic monologue about the things in your life that are worth holding onto the most, climaxing with "...so hold onto your butts!" - still cool, just different.

but the projections were the icing on the cake. for reference, this is what the space normally looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/eTfFFZO.jpg

from my vantage point on the far o left side of the stage. the relief at the front was especially, uh, relieved, which affected how the projected images appeared. For opener Christina Vantzou's set, the effect was ultimately frustrating for me. the visuals for her set were projected from the stage, onto part of the backdrop (maybe 20 feet high or so). but since the imagery often used concrete images (humans, body parts, objects) and the relief was so extreme that everything appeared disjointed and broken. i guess it was just frustrating because it looked like someone had put a lot of energy into the visuals, but no one took the space it was going to be projected onto into account. (the 2 people i was with liked it, fwiw)

where the projections for Vantzou were warped by the shape of the room, the projections for Stars of the Lid warped the room itself. first of all, they came from the back of the church, and a much larger portion of the space - the entire front area behind the performers, much of the side space that i was closer to, and also parts of the ceiling. the imagery they used was also much more appropriate for the space - more abstract, repeated patterns that absolutely came to life on the reliefs that were all over the church. there were very few flat spaces in the building, so it made sense to let abstract patterns dance around them and warp and slither down the walls and spiritual icons.

one last thing. BEST MOMENT: i believe it was during vegetarian fuckface. dynamically it was the peak of the evening. mcbride and wiltzie were in full on drone wildness, and the strings were boiling over as loudly as possible trying to keep up. it was just punishingly loud and awesome, and sustained. then the visuals gradually began incorporating flames, overlayed with some strobe-like circular hex patterns. the flames were rotating and bleeding all over the varying reliefs in the room, but at one point they focused on the front and central area where the main catholic iconography was. and for a moment, it all came together: flames spreading across the cross and jesus and mary and the rest of the crew, the devastating drone still in full effect and somehow getting even louder, the strobe overlay. in that moment, it was PURE METAL. i heard someone a few pews back loudly whisper "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON??".

sorry this is so long. go see SotL if you ever get a chance.

oof sounds amazing. thanks for the report.

holy fuck

i know it was cheesy but during the metaldrone/flame/strobe i couldn't help but make the Hail Satan sign

http://i.imgur.com/BRiUo4q.jpg

also the lady in front of me laid down lengthwise on the pew early on in their set. she sat up before they finished and from her body language appeared to have transcended into other planes of existence during her time away

we have signal!!

― Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Wednesday, September 23, 2015 1:10 AM (17 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i couldn't get the stream to work :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

it looks like it's still up:

https://boilerroom.tv/session/stars-of-the-lid/

but it's weird because i think it's just on an endless loop, but it's mid-performance right now and i don't think there's a way to skip forward or ahead?

oh wait, i'm wrong. it starts from the beginning. you can't skip around, but it's all good anyway.

rad

I laid down for a bit to let it wash all over me, but I loved walking around - there were terrific resonate nodes around the church where the sound was booming.

oh man that sounds amazing, thanks for the report

Wish I was there. Goddamnit. On the list to see ASAP

had no idea they were doing a mini-tour. last date is tonight, in LA, sold out.

Not sold out - I just bought a ticket at the door.

Just back from seeing them in LA and echo everything Karlnsaid about this his experience above - sounds like they did more or less the exact same set. Requiem for Dying Mothers and December Hunting were by da the standouts of the evening - truly transcendent in moments. DHfVF reached a level of chaos that I don't associate with SotL, but it worked. Requiem, especially the second half, was a gorgeous build. Adam and Brian seemed totally silent while the string quartet did all the work - and then the two guitars finally came in and the whole song went to a new level. What a show.

New old tune, and I'm seeing them on Saturday! Will be the second time I'm seeing them live.

Also, Zach, only just now read your lovely review, kudos my man.

Was that in a tiny club in Amsterdam that was full of smoke? They mentioned it, complained that the barbican was too big for the smoke machine :)

Set felt short, 4 tunes, a shade under 90 mins I think, no encore. I don't remember the guitars being so inscrutable last time I saw them - like, what are they contributing to the sound? Are they even playing them? All became clear at the tumultuous end of December Hunting though.

Impressive monumental organ drones from support act Claire M Singer.

It was actually! :-) Just before they started a smoke machine puffed some clouds into the room and my brother and I were like: lamest on-stage effect for SotL ever. But boy, did it make sense once they started! Stunning visuals because of the smoke. Will post some pics later.

It was amazing. They played four pieces, two of which were encores. The first was a half hour suite (with movements of Requiem for Dying Mothers and other pieces). They only got their first applause after that suite, and you could hear a pin drop the entire time. Rarely experienced such a quiet audience.
Oddly, after the first piece McBride said "we're going to play the last song now". That turned out to be Vegetarian Fuckface, which all in all lasted more than 30 minutes as well? I wouldn't have even minded if they'd stopped right there and then, but they came back for two more pieces cause the crowd never stopped applauding. First one was with the string quartet (perhaps it was 'Mulholland'). The last encore was just the guys on guitar and someone using that monster of a Moog on stage, droning out for 10 mins.

sounds like the same set minus the encore fakeout. yeah it was great, no complaints really. people falling over each other to leave after the last piece at the late hour of 9:45, hopefully they were keen to get to the pub, not bed.

The same happened in Amsterdam. Very odd. Lots of lonely 40+ males though, perhaps they couldna hack it any more.

i just ctrl_f's "debate" with no luck but
mcbride is a debate whiz who has done the UT-austin debate camps for high schoolers and i have half a mind to convince my school to let me take students up there so i can stalk him

i wish i could make music like this but i wouldn't even know how to start

ha, yeah, it sort of seems like it wouldn't be toooooo hard to do, but it is! i was trying to do some ambient-y kinda things recently and couldn't get a grip on it.
anyone check out this? might scratch the stars of the lid itch: https://scissortail.bandcamp.com/album/diminished-composition

i wish i could make music like this but i wouldn't even know how to start

― na (NA), Monday, November 28, 2016 4:07 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

seems to me a volume pedal + analog delay + knowledge of basic guitar chords and voila but what do I know

There's a new AWVFTS out on Erased Tapes... a film soundtrack. Haven't spent enough time with it but, perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't seem at the level of Atomos. Felt a little more generic.

Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie has the "Salero" soundtrack at Erased Tapes, while AWVFTS have the "Iris" soundtrack available at the usual electronic haunts now (look for the bonus version w/ 2 tracks from ABW's EP), as well as the cd/vinyl versions for pre-order at Erased Tapes.

New material from Brian McBride (from 25 mins in): https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/kranky-w-brian-mcbride-5th-july-2017/

jesus, it's been 10 years since the last one

stars of the lid, that is. every time this thread is revived i'm literally crossing my fingers

me too :(

https://soundcloud.com/adambryanbaumwiltzie/sotl_twin-plotkin_v2

"For fans of SOTL's earlier minimal drone era. This Lost recording from 1997 of a remix of Stars of the Lid's Twin Peaks Episide # 30 Part 1, by James Plotkin. (Commissioned for $100USD)During this particular moment, the glory days of pre-file sharing, we had been considering and gathering remixes via the post for a potential release but as many things go in the world of Lid, the idea became a bit stale. Mostly due to our own boredom. We are not sure if this thing is of any decent quality, but if you listen at low levels then the effect could possibly lead to a good nap at the very least...."

damn

every time this thread is revived i'm literally crossing my fingers

same

wait, i said that
still the same, i guess

the tired sound of this thread revival

it's kind of weird to introduce a remix by someone else with "we are not sure if this thing is of any decent quality"

i like it though!

I get the sense that SotL have a case of crippling perfectionism and truly cannot tell if anything they do is good.

Hence the self deprecating song titles :)

I'm seeing them live for the first time at the Sigur Ros thing next week.

those recent shows they did in some church in NYC looked transcendent, would love to see them :/

I saw them in LA 2.5 years ago and they were phenomenal.

how hard is it to stay awake during their sets, just curious

not hard, it's an enthralling experience.

Man, the refinement of the decline of this thread and its updates, indeed

was just clowning around tbh

:)

👊

They were great tonight in Reykjavik. Beautiful and medative. I did find my eyes closing over a few times, but didn’t fall asleep.

totally fell asleep at a Boston show ~2003, no regrets

“Atomos” will be on TV

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/dance-season?#heading-atomos

awesome!