Albums by this artist

The Tired Sounds Of... (2001)

Stars Of The Lid

The Tired Sounds Of...

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» PIERO SCARUFFI | STAFF WRITER

Stars Of The Lid The Tired Sounds Of... Kranky, 2001 RiYL: Labradford, Windsor For The Derby, Philip Glass, Klaus Schulze

Stars Of The Lid's The Tired Sounds Of... a double-disc collection of six suites in several movements each, explores melody and movement while displaying a more formal and austere posture. Minimalistic repetition in the swirling patterns of "Requiem For Dying Mothers" translates into intimate poetry that touches the heart, but relies on coldly geometric structures: the first movement borrows from Philip Glass and Nobukazu Takemura, the second from Irrlicht-period Klaus Schulze, the third from Robert Ashley's colloquial/lounge operas.

This piece highlights the pictorial (not realistic portraits, but vast impressionistic frescoes) and subliminal (of reaching for the most remote areas of the soul) qualities in SOTL's art. "Broken Harbors" picks up from there, with Schulze's cosmic wandering and from Monet's symphonies of colors. The music is subdued and relaxed, like a slowly revolving galaxy as a painter would imagine it.

The technique of floating melodic fragments is also poetically effective in lonely pieces like "Mullholland" and especially the sumptuously elegant and discreet "Piano Aquieu" (the musical equivalent of Monet's "Water Lilys"). Most of the album is inevitably soothing and hypnotic, perfect for new age relaxation or acid trips. But the floating clusters of "Austin, Texas Mental Hospital," halfway between Tibetan mantras, Gordon Mumma's apocalyptic pieces, and Diamanda Galas' musical hell, deliver a powerful emotional shock (this is the real requiem of the album) and show potential still to be fully realized.

Technically, this is music for a single instrument. Whatever the sources are, they are fused in one multi-faceted sound (a sort of cosmic wave) that acts as the only source of noise (with an otherwordly effect). There is a majesty and a grandeur to these pieces that recalls Messiaen's sacred music for organ.

The Tired Sounds Of... is a culmination of sort, as the duo veers from its psychedelic/ambient/noise (basically, rock) beginnings towards a more classical form and more classical structures.

PIERO SCARUFFI | Piero Scaruffi runs the exhaustive music database Scaruffi.com. A native of Italy, he has also been praised for his work on the General Theory of Relativity, formal theories of the mind, and artificial intelligence. And no, we aren't making that up.