slint -- _spiderland_: classic or dud

Brussels pix

http://www.soundslike.be/pictures/?pictureID=22

(yes, Pajo was wearing a Lamb Of God tshirt)

Put this on for the first time in a few years last night, blew me away yet again, absolute classic

Whereas I listened to this for the first time a few months ago, and was just... 'meh'.

I completely love this album, and was actually fortunate enough not to have had it played up as a total 90s indie classic (which, in any case, I really think it is, btw) before hearing it. Maybe 4 years ago, one of my older brothers (who first heard it when he was in college back in the early 90s) just put it on after I played him some Mogwai. We were talking a little bit about early 90s indie very generally, and he just kind of casually said, "oh, this is Slint, you'll probably like this." I was totally blown away.

Liked it at the time, but didn't love it. Feel the same about it now. A couple times in between, I've heard it and been blown the fuck away, but mostly it just sounds nice. Requires a specific frame of mind and kind of attention, I guess. Feel much the same way about Mogwai and Godspeed!, two of yr higher profile Slint spawn outfits.

But I totally agree w/ sundar et al about how hard it is to hear this record without experiencing a parallel rush of distaste for the huge, boring museum rock culture it seems to have generated, or at least anticipated.

i bought it because of the cover photo and the intriguing band name, and grew to really love it despite later finding that it was a CLASSIC

Tweez>>>>>>>>>>>>Spiderland to these ears.

Classic. The s/t For Carnation record is just as good, if not better.

"I MISS YOU!"

been listening to this a lot lately, its been the soundtrack to hanging out in my room and sulking lol

It is the soundtrack to a very emotional day for me here too.

Most go back to this. Not listened to it since being wildly underwhelmed by the reunion shows. But just thinking about it gives me shivers. What's the one that ends with the same chord repeated for 30 seconds? Best ending in rock.

Been thinking about "Good Morning Captain" the past couple of days. ILX is on my wavelength as usual.

i feel bad for anyone who thinks spiderland is anything but a dud, and i have to admit i hated it for a while and then i heard the ending of good morning, captain. 'nuff said, this is a top 10 album if there ever was one.

Like Spiderland okay, though it's not a personal favorite. Some amazing moments and a great command of flow, texture, dynamics, but it's all a bit too pinched and inward-looking for my taste. Not sure what the opposite of musically "generous" is (selfish doesn't seem quite right), but whatever it is, Slint have it in spades, and I'm not a fan. Plus I kinda agree with whoever way back when that it's hard to separate Slint from their million bazillion lemon-sucking "post-rock" followers -- from Tortoise to Mogwai to Pelican. I tend to prefer bands who're willing to risk looking like douchey, glitter-encrusted bozos to those who're content to glower and scour from the Corner of Eternal Darkness.

jesus christ stfu

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/NAPOLEONROFL/youlikethis.jpg

What? I don't like it. Why should I?

tbf it is kind of a willfully ignant position to not be able to tell slint from mogwai from tortoise from pelican given that they all sound completely different

I know they sound different, and I can see why the comparison seem offensive. That said, I'm not saying I can't tell one from the other. I see Slint as having kicked off a serious and lasting interest in gloomy, exploratory post-rock that's now expanded out in lots of different directions. Including Pelican probably stretches the net too far to make sense, for which I formally recant, but I often think of Tortoise, Gastr del Sol, Mogwai, GYBE! and Explosions In the Sky as the children of Slint (some more direct and others more distant). From there, it's not a huge leap to the more metallic present-day stuff -- with like Godflesh & Neurosis being at least equally influential.

"...I can see why the comparison might seem offensive."

If, on the other hand, the objection is to crap like "lemon-sucking 'post-rock' followers" and/or "glower and scour from The Corner of Eternal Darkness", well then yes: I should be shot.

classic for originality, but the record has never appealed to me to play more than maybe once. its a little boring.

I really wanted to like it and spent time trying to get through it. Then once it clicked and was a pretty emotional experience but I've never been able to go back to it. Spoke to a few people that feel the same way. Maybe once is enough.

rules

it's kinda cool that, by being the first band to talk over music, or 'beats', slint invented rap.

actually, scratch that. forgot about wham.

slint invented rap? are you insane?

anyway, classic.

no, prettylikealaindelon, i do not think that. i corrected myself. take the time to read before you rush to judging people's mental health.

wait, you think that wham invented rap? are you insane?

please take the time to educate yourself before you rush to say that a pop group from circa the mid 80s (many years after the 'invention' of rap) infact invented rap.

Roberto sometimes misspeaks - I believe he meant, and this is an uncontroversial opinion I think, that Wham perfected rap - as Roberto knows, there were others before Wham, like C.W. McCall for instance, but it was Wham who really solidified the genre musically

Wham Rap and Young Guns (Go For It) were also the the zenith of pop's attempt to fuse hard-hitting commentary on the nature of society with undeniable musical invention, thereby a) making music that appealed equally to both pop culture theorists and chart fans and b) creating a force for social change whose impetus was undeniable.

everyone knows blondie invented rap, slint invented hardcore techno

I think you'll find Blondie invented reggae, rather than rap, but it's easy to get the two confused!

Wilco invented sampling -- check out Yankee Hotel Foxtrot!!

Don woke up,
And looked at the night before
He knew what he had to do
He was responsible
In the mirror,
He saw his friend
Niggaaaa

I see what you're getting at, Roberto - that makes a pretty good case for Wu-Tang ripping more or less their entire catalogue from Slint. Good spot!

daaaamn brother, check all dem hoes names on tweez they done banged!

Don woke up,
And looked at the night before
He knew what he had to do
He was responsible
In the mirror,
He saw his friend
Niggaaaa

loooooooooool

gaaaaaaahhhh ahahahah

it was an exciting time for music. just months before this album's release, MBV had opened new doors for rock music by incorporating elements of dance music in "Soon," from the Glider EP.

And in late 1990, the Soup Dragons built on the pioneering work of Blondie a decade or so before and popularised reggae around the world with the "toasting" section of I'm Free.

And in late 1990, the Soup Dragons built on the pioneering work of the Monkees two decades before and popularized downtempo big-beat trip-hop around the world with "Softly".

daaaamn brother, check all dem hoes names on tweez they done banged!

Don't know about the rest of you cats, but I clicked SB like a motherfucker.

http://i54.tinypic.com/k2ela1.png

x-post And "Convoy" was written with Chip Davis, so if C.W. McCall invented rap (and I believe he did) then surely that laid the groundwork for Chip Davis subsequently inventing ambient/chill out/chillwave music.

I always thought ambient/chillout/chillwave music was invented when Duran Duran become the first pop group to use the synthesiser in 1985. But it sounds like I'm wrong on that.

Nah. You're getting things mixed up. You're thinking of Chip Taylor, of Duran Duran, who invented the synthesizer (and wrote "Wild Thing"/"Angel in the Morning").

Chip Davis invented the preset.