Pisces Iscariot is a compilation album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1994 through Virgin Records, consisting of B-sides and outtakes. Reaching number 4 in the US upon its 1994 release, Pisces Iscariot was certified platinum by the RIAA on November 23, 1994. The album was initially to be called Neptulius.
Kranky is an American independent record label in Chicago, Illinois. It was started in 1993 by Bruce Adams and Joel Leoschke. It houses predominantly experimental music artists, often branching into or inspired by ambient, rock, electronic or psychedelic music. Their first release was Labradford's 1993 debut album Prazision. Adams left the label in 2006, after which Leoschke continued running it, with the help of Brian Foote of Kranky band Nudge.
Stars of the Lid is an American ambient music duo consisting of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas in 1993. They have been acclaimed for their music incorporating droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, strings, and horns, described as "divine, classical drone without the tedious intrusion of drums or vocals."
This Is Not A Dream is an album by New Zealand band Dadamah. It was originally released on vinyl by the Majora label in 1992, and later re-released on CD by Kranky label in 1995. The CD compiles the material they recorded for Majora; the original 6-track LP and two 7"s.
Star Wars is the soundtrack album to the 1977 film Star Wars, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Williams' score for Star Wars was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was orchestrated by Williams, Herbert W. Spencer, Alexander Courage, Angela Morley, Arthur Morton and Albert Woodbury. Spencer orchestrated the scores for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The score was recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by Star Wars director George Lucas and supervised by Lionel Newman, head of 20th Century Fox's music department.
Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie is a composer and sound engineer based in Brussels, Belgium.
Song X is a collaborative studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It is a free jazz record that was produced in a three-day recording session in 1985. The album was released in June 1986 by Geffen Records.
Brian Edward McBride is a musician best known as one half of the duo Stars of the Lid. He has also released two solo albums, When The Detail Lost Its Freedom and The Effective Disconnect on Kranky using his own name. McBride moved to Austin, Texas in 1990 where he met Adam Wiltzie, forming Stars of the Lid in the early 1990s. He also worked with the now defunct Pilot Ships.
And Their Refinement of the Decline is the seventh and most recent studio album by Stars of the Lid, which was released by Kranky in April 2007. The album was Kranky's 100th release, and was issued as a double CD and as a triple vinyl LP set. And Their Refinement of the Decline features minimal, droning compositions of varied length created from treated guitar, horn, piano, and other classical instruments.
Avec Laudenum is the fifth studio LP released by Stars of the Lid. It was originally released on Sub Rosa in 1999 and then re-released on Chicago indie Kranky in late 2002. The title translates as "With Laudanum", laudanum being an opiate. The first three tracks are three sections of one long piece but, while within the minimalist vein, they have some variation and movement. The final two, individual tracks are more minimalist than the former and create a "floating bliss" atmosphere. By the time of this recording, band members Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride were residing in Brussels, Belgium, and Los Angeles, California, respectively. It is reported that a vast proportion of this album was recorded through mail, with ideas being sent back and forth between the duo.
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 in 1998. Widely known in music circles as the artist behind the cover of R.E.M.'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. The title is a common Latin phrase translatable as "through hardships, to the stars."
Dustin O'Halloran is an American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen.
Mingus at the Bohemia is a live album by Charles Mingus that was recorded at Café Bohemia in New York City on December 23, 1955. It was released in August 1956. Max Roach makes a guest appearance on one track. Other recordings from the same performance were released in 1964 under the title The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach.
Gravitational Pull vs. the Desire for an Aquatic Life is the second studio album by ambient drone music group Stars of the Lid. It was recorded on four track and released as an LP on Sedimental in 1996. The album features short, medium and long minimal, droning compositions created from heavily treated guitar, horn, piano and other classical instruments.
Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie is the eighth full-length album released by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was initially released on Alternative Tentacles in 1998 as a 10-track CD and 12-track double LP. The band's own label Wrong Records, along with distributors Southern Records, re-released the 12-track version of the album in 2007, 2010, and 2014 with modified track order and art.
The Dead Texan was an audio-visual musical duo comprising Adam Wiltzie and Christina Vantzou. Wiltzie is better known as one half of the ambient project Stars of the Lid. Vantzou has since released a series of solo albums of ambient music composed for strings and synthesizers.
From All Sides is a collaboration between pianist Vince Guaraldi and guitarist Bola Sete released in February 1965 by Fantasy Records. It was Guaraldi's seventh studio album and the second of three collaborations with Sete.
A Winged Victory for the Sullen is the eponymous debut studio album by the ambient music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen. It was released on 8 September 2011 on Erased Tapes Records and Kranky. Recorded over a two-year period at six studios throughout Europe, A Winged Victory for the Sullen features extensive use of natural reverb and combines classical instrumentation with soundscapes and drones. In addition to members Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie, the album features several prominent collaborators, including Hildur Guðnadóttir and Nils Frahm.
Ben Wa was an American electronic band from Oakland, California comprising Anthony "House" Chaba and Eric Ware, who had worked together before in bands such as Limbomaniacs, Big Janitor, and MCM & the Monster.
The Undivided Five is the third studio album by the ambient music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen. It was released on 1 November 2019 on Ninja Tune.
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