Stars by Lori Carson Cd 1 16 Days 2 Take Your Time 3 Breathe 4 Head In A Box 5 Caroline 6 Stars 7 Spinning World 8 Rainy Day 9 Fourth Of July 10 Treasure After her masterful acoustic-guitar-based third album, Everything I Touch Runs Wild, Lori Carson left New York City for Seattle and began work on a song cycle even more delicate than her previous confessions. Producer Layng Martine III--a cohort of Bill Laswell, for whose Golden Palominos Carson has contributed vocals--increased the ambient textures. Using keyboards, strings, and drum loops, he underpins Carson's forlorn acoustic tales with near-orchestral grandeur that suggests a strong trace of, say, filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's icy core of alienation. Carson, however, holds her own as someone who has presaged the trip-folk of Beth Orton by several years and supported the hypnotic rhapsodies of Ida and Low long before they found their respective audiences. "Breathe" and "Head in a Box" recount emotional distress and romantic obsession without flinching, while "Fourth of July" and "Treasure" close out the album on an unexpected positive note. --Rob O'Connor All used disks are professionally refurbished and test played before shipping and will play well in most machines.