View source for Per Aspera Ad Astra (album)

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{{One source|date=March 2012}}
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{{Infobox album
| name       = Per Aspera Ad Astra
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Stars of the Lid]]
| cover      = Per_Aspera_Ad_Astra.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = November 18, 1998<ref name=bandcamp>{{cite web|url=https://starsofthelid.bandcamp.com/album/per-aspera-ad-astra|title=Per Aspera Ad Astra|website=[[Bandcamp]]|accessdate=13 April 2021}}</ref>
| recorded   = 1998
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Ambient music|Ambient]], [[Drone music|drone]], [[Minimal music|minimalist]]
| length     = 40:47
| label      = [[Kranky (record label)|Kranky]]
| producer   = [[Stars of the Lid]]
| prev_title = Maneuvering the Nocturnal Hum
| prev_year  = 1998
| next_title = [[Avec Laudenum]]
| next_year  = 1999
}}
'''''Per Aspera Ad Astra''''' is the fourth studio [[long play|LP]] by [[Stars of the Lid]], made in collaboration with [[artist]] [[Jon McCafferty]] and released on [[Kranky (record label)|Kranky]] in 1998. 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]].<ref name="AMG"/>  The title is a common [[Per aspera ad astra|Latin phrase]] translatable as "through hardships, to the stars."
==Liner notes==
Stars of the Lid elaborated on the album's reasoning on its inner sleeve.
{{cquote|The merging of color and sound is something we've thought about quite often. Why should the visual artist be confined to the packaging while the "musician" is in charge of the rest - especially when both dimensions may reflect back onto each other.  We wanted to craft a sound environment that is both true to Jon's painting as well as the larger New York context which envelopes {{sic}} his work.}}
==Critical reception==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}} <ref name="AMG">{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r378498}}</ref>
| rev2 = [[Pitchfork Media]]
| rev2Score = (8.8/10.0) <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010128020700/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/stars-of-the-lid/per-aspera-ad-astra.shtml Stars of the Lid and Jon McCafferty: Per Aspera Ad Astra]</ref>
}}
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 (musician)|Brian McBride]]
*S. Nelson
*B. Anderton
*C. McCaffrey
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Stars of the Lid}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1998 albums]]
[[Category:Stars of the Lid albums]]
[[Category:Kranky (record label) albums]]
[[Category:1990s instrumental albums]]