by Nitsuh Abebe
Gravitational Pull..., the second release from Austin, TX's Stars of the Lid, quickly became a favorite among illbient DJs, leading the Kranky label to issue it on CD with an extra track. Even more so than most ambient projects, the Stars create an atmosphere that's akin to a sensory deprivation tank, reducing everything to pulsating waves of sound -- Gravitational Pull... is consistently effective at this, and is even less dense, at points, than some of the group's other releases.