Stars of the Lid: Adam Bryan Wiltzie, Brian McBride (guitar, sampler); Luke Savisky (unknown instrument).

Personnel: Craig McCaffrey (unknown instrument).

Unknown Contributor Roles: Luke Savisky; Craig S. McCaffrey.

Arrangers: Adam Bryan Wiltzie; Brian McBride.

Austin dreamweavers Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride debuted on Belgium's eclectic Sub Rosa label with a work of ambient perfection. Using only guitars, tapes, and effects, the duo spins infinitely recursive soundscapes that rival the eternal-drone fabrications of La Monte Young and Phil Niblock. Far removed from formless drift or wallpaper-like ephemerality, Stars of the Lid's tonal inventions unfurl slowly but with an undeniable sense of design and purpose.

Ghost instrumentation--phantom woodwinds, massed spectral string sections--pervades the spellbinding AVEC LAUDENUM. These illusory orchestral colors, which shade and tint the three-part "Atomium" suite's patient, Fripp-like string strokings, are so well defined as to seem completely tangible. But, like the receding horizon of "Dust Breeding (1.316)+," they are merely mirages--auditory illusions conjured invoked through musical sleight of hand. The closing "I Will Surround You" is even more extraordinary, a single perfect note folded into a gorgeous, wordless expression of love, longing, and desire.