This beautifully packaged 2CD set is composed of some
of the most beautiful, melancholic drone music ever. The secret to this
band's success is the use of melody and the choice of instruments. Much
of the sound is generated by sustained tones from piano and violin, for
example, while the presence of melody makes each piece distinct from the
rest while still retaining that dense sound that is so wonderful about
the drone genre. The rest of the sonic field is made up of gorgeously
sustained, reverberating electric tones and notes, notes that sound heavenly
and sad. Try to imagine witnessing the huge, shimmering sheets of color
of the aurora borealis while standing alone and safe on the shore of the
Arctic Ocean, and you'll get an idea of the kind of feeling this music
will instill in you.
In addition to the floating experience provided by
the soothing sounds, subtle sound clips like the little whimper of a dog
or the clinking of glasses are presented between tracks and greatly add
to the feeling of sweet melancholy. Forlorn embellishments, like what
sounds like a gently creaking porch door, provide even more layers to
the audial cake.
If you've heard and enjoyed the blissful sounds of
Black Tape for a Blue Girl's Remnants of a Deeper Purity, but could
do without the goth angle and REALLY hated the awful goth vocals, then
you're going to flip over this one. The Tired Sounds of Stars of the
Lid is aptly named, as it makes you feel almost painfully melancholic
in your exhausted lethargy, but in a way that somehow liberates you. I
can't get enough. Easily one of my favorite albums of 2001.
