Per Aspera Ad Astra (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Per Aspera ad Astra
Type = studio
Artist = Stars of the Lid


Released = 1998
Recorded = 1998
Genre = Ambient, Drone
Length = 40:47
Label = Kranky
Producer = Stars of the Lid
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:abfoxqujld0e link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.8/10.0) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22022-stars-of-the-lid-and-jon-mccafferty-per-aspera-ad-astra link]
Last album = "The Ballasted Orchestra" (1997)
This album = "Per Aspera ad Astra" (1998)
Next album = "Avec Laudenum" (1999)

"Per Aspera ad Astra" is the fourth studio LP by Stars of the Lid. It was made in collaboration with artist Jon McCafferty and released on Kranky Records in 1998. Widely known in music circles as the artist behind the cover of REM's Green, McCafferty approached Stars of the Lid with a view towards collaboration after working on a series of paintings inspired by the duo's 1995 debut Music for Nitrous Oxide. [allmusic.com [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:abfoxqujld0e Review "Per Aspera Ad Astra"] ] The title is a common Latin phrase translatable as "through hardships, to the stars."

Line notes

Stars of the Lid elaborated on the album's reasoning on its inner sleeve.

Critical reaction

The album was generally received well by critics. John Bush, writing for Allmusic, stated: cquote|Per Aspera Ad Astra is an intriguing 1998 collaboration between tone-generating minimalists Stars of the Lid and line-drawing minimalist Jon McCafferty. The recording was created with plenty of McCafferty's work around for inspiration (and incorporated environmental samples of him painting), then the sleeve was prepared by McCafferty once he'd immersed himself in the album. Separated into two sides, Per Aspera Ad Astra reveals precious little of McCafferty's working habits; except for faint rustlings in the background and passing traffic, the environmental portion is whispery and thin. The concept does allow for a degree of context within Stars of the Lid's music, though, always a good thing when a recording is as ambient and ephemeral as this. Deep and warmly atmospheric, with (per usual) few nods toward traditional instrumentation, the pair focus on indie-space music except at the beginning of side two, when a string section provides a brief interruption.

Track listing

#"Low Level (Listening) Part 1" – 6:22
#"Low Level (Listening) Part 2" – 8:42
#"Low Level (Listening) Part 3" – 5:29
#"Anchor States Part 1" – 4:27
#"Anchor States Part 2" – 8:51
#"Anchor States Part 3" – 6:46

Personnel

Adam Wiltzie.
Brian McBride.
S. Nelson.
B. Anderton.
C. McCaffrey.

References