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Most albums try to grab you. Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline does the opposite. It waits. Across more than two hours, slow swells of strings, horns, piano and processed guitar rise and fall like weather, and the effect is closer to watching light move across a room than listening to songs. For many listeners it is the high point of modern ambient music.
What is And Their Refinement of the Decline
Released on April 2, 2007 by the Chicago label kranky, it was the label's 100th release and the duo's most ambitious work. It arrived as a double compact disc (CD) and a triple vinyl set, and it was recorded over about five years. That long gestation shows. Every piece feels patient and finished, with nothing wasted and nothing rushed.
The music sits somewhere between ambient, drone and modern classical. Guitar tones are stretched until they lose their attack, orchestral instruments are layered into slow chords, and silence is used as carefully as sound. There are no beats and almost no melody in the usual sense, but the record is full of emotion.
Key tracks to start with
- Dungtitled (in A major). The opener sets the tone with rich, glowing chords that seem to hover.
- Articulate Silences. A gentle, close to classical piece that shows how much the duo learned from chamber music.
- The Evil That Never Arrived. Dark, warm and slowly building, with one of the album's best titles.
- Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage. Wistful and spacious, with a sly nod to a London football ground.
- Even If You're Never Awake. Tender and sad, one of the most affecting moments on the record.
- Tippy's Demise. A short, poignant piece that shows the band's humor and heart in the titles as well as the sound.
Other highlights include Don't Bother They're Here and The Daughters of Quiet Mind, but the best way to hear it is as a whole, one side or disc at a time.
Who are Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid are Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride, who started the project in Austin, Texas, on Christmas Day in 1992. Their debut album followed in 1995, and over the next decade they refined their sound on records such as The Tired Sounds Of Stars of the Lid in 2001. Wiltzie later co founded A Winged Victory for the Sullen and has worked on film scores, while McBride has released solo work, but And Their Refinement of the Decline remains their best known statement. The band's official Bandcamp page carries the catalogue.
How to listen
This is music that rewards a quiet room and a decent pair of speakers or headphones. It works brilliantly late at night, on long journeys, while reading or as a calm backdrop to work. Many people use it to fall asleep. Turn the volume up a little higher than you think you need, because the details sit low in the mix, and resist skipping. The slow pace is the point.
If you enjoy it, the natural companions are other kranky records, which our kranky starter guide covers, and the foundations of the genre, which you will find in our ambient music starter guide. For the record that first framed ambient as music for a space, try Brian Eno's Music for Airports.
Vinyl or CD
The triple vinyl edition spreads the music over six sides, which forces you to get up and turn the record every twenty minutes or so. Some people love that ritual and find it suits the music's slowness. Others prefer the double CD for uninterrupted listening, especially at bedtime. Either way, a physical copy is worth owning. The artwork and packaging are understated and beautiful, and the music feels more like an object to live with than a stream to dip into.
Why it matters
And Their Refinement of the Decline proved that ambient music could be monumental without being loud. Its influence runs through modern neoclassical, film scoring and drone, and it still introduces new listeners to the idea that music can be a space to inhabit. More than fifteen years on, it sounds just as fresh and just as moving.
Stars of the Lid on Bandcamp
kranky
And Their Refinement of the Decline on vinyl
And Their Refinement of the Decline on CD
Find more slow, beautiful records in our ambient hub.
