''Music for

Nitrous Oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has ...

'' is the first studio album released by

Stars of the Lid 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, st ...

on Sedimental Records in 1995. The album features minimal, droning compositions of varying length. The press release from Sedimental Records read: “Sedimental announces the first CD from Austin drone stars Stars of the Lid, an amazing 4-track recording that is created in the spirit of Eno,

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

and

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of " ...

. Produced without keyboards, this lo-fi ambient journey employs predominately ic

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, avoiding typical rock elements while still possessing the ‘home’ recorded feel of so much independent music.” In 2009 Sedimental Records released a remastered version featuring updated artwork by Craig McCaffrey. Adamord features an excerpt of a letter written by Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder

Lois W. Lois Wilson (née Burnham; March 4, 1891 – October 5, 1988), also known as Lois W., was the co-founder of Al-Anon Family Groups, a 12-Step fellowship for the friends and family of alcoholics. She was the wife of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) co- ...

, addressed to her husband. Track four features an audio clip of

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for ...

from the seventh season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Force of Nature". Spiner's character Data is shown attempting to train his cat Spot not to jump onto his keyboard while he is working. Track four also contains a snippet of Chopin's Prelude Op.28, No.7. Track five features a clip from the film

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...

during which Frederic Forrest's character Jay 'Chef' Hicks suffers a nervous breakdown aboard a boat after encountering a tiger in the Cambodian jungle. This clip is interspersed with one of an unknown sci-fi program discussing extraterrestrials. Track seven features an audio clip of C.H. Evans who played ''Jack in Hap's Diner'', in David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Evans' line is: "Now, her name is Irene and it is night. Don't take it any further than that. There's nothin' good about it."

Recording

Most of the album was recorded on a

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

MT120 4-Track cassette recorder. However, track nine was recorded on a

Revox ReVox (on-logo styling REVOX) is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Swiss audio equipment. History The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox recorders, a new ...

A77 2-track reel-to-reel recorder, and track 6 was recorded to DAT tape from their first live performance in Spring of 1994.

Track listing

#“Before Top Dead Center” – 5:25 #“Adamord” – 11:51 #“Madison” – 9:24 #“Down” – 6:34 #“Lagging” – 3:58 #“(Live) Lid” – 9:48 #“Tape Hiss Makes Me Happy” – 13:05 #“The Swell Song” – 9:24 #“Goodnight” – 7:02

References

External links

Dusted Review 2009

Baltimore City Paper 2009 Review
{{Authority control 1995 debut albums Stars of the Lid albums Instrumental albums