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      imAGE  
         
 
Recording:
  Eleven Fugues for Sodium Pentothal  
 
Artist:
  Adam Wiltzie
 
 
Label:
  Kranky
 
 
Release Date:
  5.April.2024  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

Stars of the Lid is one of those bands that people either really like or think are too weird. Their music started off as strange drones on the guitar (like Sunn O))) but not as oppressively heavy), and slowly transmorphed into something that walks the border of classical music.

Will philharmonic orchestras in a hundred years perform ...And Their Refinement of the Decline live in concert halls? I admit that might be interesting to see, and the thought of all those people in tuxedos performing a song called December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface fills me with delight, giggling at the dichotomy of the seriousness this music normally projects and the flippant names SotL gave their songs.

I say all of that here because Adam Wiltzie is one half of SotL. In fact, he is the surviving half -- other member Brian McBride passed away in August of 2023. So it's been a busy year in SotL fandom. After reeling from McBride's death, we have a new album from Wiltize, a solo work as opposed to his pongoing work with A Winged Victory For the Sullen.

The record starts with dark noodling of synths and guitar, but strings some in slowly. The drone is really nice here on Buried At Westwood Memorial Park, In An Unmarked Grave, To The Left Of Walter Matthau. The way that the song kind of flattens in the middle with an organ drone reminds me of Stem by DJ Shadow, the music just kind of parting for a minute into a vast space, before the sounds come crashing back in. This song is eight and a half minutes long, so it has a lot of room to grow.

Wiltzie takes things back to the beginning on Tissue Of Lies as he strums the guitar, slowly, each note reverberating into a synth and string done. Very lovely, and it flows into Pelagic Swells, which is all sawing strings, like an orchestra waking up.

Stock Horror builds into a massive drone, the bass rumbling so low underneath that you feel it in your sternum more than your ears, as the guitar wavers. The overall effect is eerie, and unsettling, as befits a song that references the horror genre in its title.

The tune is childlike and fun,. It's called Dim Hopes and has a tinkling keyboard bouncing along happily. Wiltzie adds in some strings for As Above Perhaps So Below, and this one reminds me of a nature documentary, the strings droning as the camera pans over vast wildlife shots.

The done pauses, and then rebuilds with a sort of air flowing sound, like bellows pumped This song bears the appropriately gassy name Mexican Helium. The gaseous theme continues with We Were Vaporised, with deep sawing strings and rumbling bass.

The final track is called (Don't Go Back To) Boogerville, a short flurry of strings, loud and in front. The name is childish, but Wiltzie's final act of humor is that this is the ninth and last track on an album whose title promised eleven tracks!

And I find the record has ended too soon. I always want to hear more when it is over, and that, to me, is a sign of a good record. Wiltzie continues to impress.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

https://adamwiltzie.bandcamp.com/album/11ffsp
https://www.facebook.com/adam.wiltzie/
https://adamwiltzie.com/
Also on EvilSponge:
   Album: A Winged Victory for the Sullen

 
         

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