STARS OF THE LID "THE BALLASTED ORCHESTRA"
Kranky, 1997
It's hard to find any fault with Stars of the Lid. The only fault I can really think of is that their songs don't go on forever. Whatver your thoughts are on drone or ambient music or how simple this whole thing may seem to you or whatever other politics might get in the way of you enjoying this music, I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that could deny the beauty of this music. It is sound in its purest form, simple tones of rising and falling notes. It's so fragile and so beautiful without being cliché, and it's also made primarily with guitar effects which I find more interesting than a lot of ambient music that is made primarily with keyboards, strings, or pianos... Dark, comforting, quiet, and infinitely listenable in any situation. You can treat it like background music or you can listen to it and pay attention to every tone. Either way, it's an amazingly enjoyable album..... A classic album!