Sophomore studio album from Austin's Stars Of The Lid. Gravitational Pull Vs The Desire For An Aquatic Life was originally released in 1996 and found the duo of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie moving on from the rough sound of their debut. The heat and humidity of a Texas summer hits you from the first glance at the record's cover; vague shapes of trees and houses are visible through the grid of a screen door. It's a fitting image for the dense ambient drone that lies within. The music unfolds with such lethargy that you feel as if you are underwater or in a sensory deprivation tank. The album's opening side feels dark and swampy, almost claustrophobic. But things open up with "Lactate's Moment" as e-bowed guitars, strings and alien sine waves call out to you from the ether. This is the sound that would become Stars Of The Lid's modus operandi for the next two decades. Originally released on a troubled and noisy white vinyl pressing, Gravitational Pull Vs The Desire For An Aquatic Life gets a much needed vinyl reissue more than two decades since its release. Four tracks in all. Released by Kranky on black vinyl housed in a full color replica sleeve.

• black vinyl pressing
• music label: Kranky 2018

reviewed by Mo Squito 05/2018