slint -- _spiderland_: classic or dud

The photo of the hand on the inside of Umber is over a cassette copy of Tweez.

to answer bob snoom's question: bitch magnet were contemporaries of slint, the bulk of their output (2 LPs, 2 EPs) was released (i bleieve) prior to the release of spiderland (at which time, sooyoung and lexi started seam).

As for Talk Talk, alas I still have never heard them. They are on a mental list of mine with groups like Seefeel, Bark Psychosis, Derutti Column, A Certain Ratio, The Sound, Kitchens of Distinction, Comsat Angels and other UK arty guitar groups I haven't heard, but would check out if I came across their records.

I've got a pretty good sized stash of lps/cds, but I am the first to admit, I haven't heard everything.

Around the same time I posted that comment, I really wasn't listening to that much guitar rock, especially from the 90s, that has changed in the past few months.

I don't know about the "shouty" parts being embarressing, at least for me part of the problem with much of the music of this type is that it never explodes, it kind of stays in one mood. I think in the lust for being taken "seriously" people banished the rock, which to me is a sad thing.

Beyond the dynamics of the music, the way that Slint arranged the guitars were was very lyrical and with quite a bit of harmonizing between the two players. I know that a couple of bands (Ativan & Pencil) playing from Bloomington in Spiderlands wake definitely built from the way the guitars were orchestrated.

Now I know you're insane, gygax!

Somewhere in my parents' house is a tape of the Diablo Guapo demos with Britt on drums.

The Shannon Doughton name is actually from someone Britt went to school with.

While you're at it, is Sooyoung up to anything these days?

I always found the echo whisper part in "Good Morning, My Captain" to be embarassingly bad

How would you say this compares with Ozzy on "Black Sabbath" singing "No NO! Please God Help me!!"? I find them both neither moving nor embarassing. They're both just really effective performances in the context of the songs.

Anyway, the Slint album is a definite classic. All the imitators are duds. The thing is as great is Slint were, there is no real point to all the regurgitation. That album was delivered at the perfect time, and they themselves had the good sense to stop.

(ok, maybe when I was a kid I got goosebumps w/ Ozzy, but I'm talking about now)

:)

I find this shocking and disturbing.

the for carnation - search:

how i beat the devil
get and stay march
on the swing [note: became my favorite song for a week about two years ago]
i wear the gold
winter lair
salo
preparing to receive you
alfredo's welcome

the touch and go album is really good. he (they) played a secret show a month before it was released at bruno's in SF which was incredible.

Did you know that one of the people who replied to the advert for female vocalists was one Polly Jean Harvey? Now there's a pretty cool thought... PJ singing for Slint...

As for Spiderland itself, basically what Jess said, although the proper (2000's) For Carnation album is still one of the most fundamentally *moving* records I own. A great deal of the stuff that followed it was only really impressive on a very superficial level, although I haven't been disappointed by very much of Dave Pajo's stuff.

um yes

No save it till your in you’re 80’s, consuming all music post1960’s in existence beforehand so that you can properly appreciate britt’s drumming on good morning captain (all the talk of the documentary pales in comparison to the shots of a 16yo looking Britt playing the track in a crusty basement)

So very very glad David Pajo is still around and working after his sadly public suicide attempt. I couldn’t believe that Slint was where he started knowing him from Tortoise and Papa M first. What a career, spiderland to millions now living to Royal trux to zwan, while playing live with interpol, the yeah yeah yeahs and now hang of four. Is there any career in rock music that mirrors the broad + influential + not super well known (from my impression) he has?

Jim O'Rourke maybe? Pajo's Zwan bandmate Matt Sweeney is also kinda a rough analogue

This thread has been a great read, thanks all. And I have to read your 33 1/3 book, pgwp.

Thanks so much for the posts, yes. Veronica was so lucky to see them at that time. And for the impression to linger after all these years. We all hope to catch art at the highest levels while it's on the make and people aren't quite sure. People usually get to it when you are already told it's good by some.

"So very very glad David Pajo is still around and working after his sadly public suicide attempt."

Very sad about it when I saw this on his wiki yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7wh270Oc9c

yeah so I finally did it, what do you guys think?

https://i.imgur.com/Yh3rMqR.jpg

shouldn't have gone with comic sans

33 years old! Ashamed to say I've never heard the remaster... until today, I will report back what new things I hear.

My book came out just ahead of its 20th anniversary. Wow.

I couldn't tell you when I bought it or why, I don't recall really ever listening to it, it just seemed like it was always there, I was never as deeply obsessed with it as some people I knew were, like I can never remember what the names of the songs are, I was kind of bored with it by the early aughts when it was touch point for like everything, then the reunion...

But there are times, like this morning when I listen to it and it's like meeting with an younger version of myself, I know everything about it and am instantly transported to my parent's basement or my first apartment or this shitty car I had, the clothes, the smells, the sensations, the details are all right there encoded in the music.

What a weird ass record.

Good post. Similar for me. Those intro guitar harmonics take me right back to the bedroom I first heard it. I can remember my state of confusion first hearing the abrasive guitar in Nosferatu Man. Really an album that captures people, holds them where they are. A drumming student of mine, completely obsessed with hip-hop and funk, couldn't get him to care about any other music no matter how hard I tried, became obsessed with this album of all albums (I mean the drumming is pretty incredible), and I could see it hit his 16yo brain the same way it hit my brain at 16yo. Sorta one of those undeniable works that transcends taste and preference if it is given a listening ear.

Also everyone should read pgwp's book. It is the best.

Aw thanks HP!

Some news: https://store.touchandgorecords.com/products/slint-tweez-35th-anniversary-edition-white-2xlp

I've never gotten into Tweez because of how it sounds. I'm hoping this alternative mix helps!

Chairman Mao Zedong swimming in the Yangtze river in Wuhan, China, 1966.

©Qian Sijie钱嗣杰 pic.twitter.com/yNgk218Na0

— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) October 17, 2025

Looool

<3

made me smile :)

https://www.courier-journal.com/obituaries/psbn1440856

late to this but RIP

geoblocked outside the US but managed to read it using a vpn. RIP Britt's dad.

with apologies to our global partners:

https://i.ibb.co/HLHF2zxM/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-10-17-04-AM.png

encouraged his son to play piano, guitar, sing (and drums) from a very young age
let all his son's bands practice in their basement
would sometimes join in via piano upstairs to various tweez tracks
eponymous opening salvo on tweez ("the book" on tweethan)
owner of the home addressed on the back of spiderland

https://i.ibb.co/sG3yCXT/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-10-12-30-AM.png

legendary appearance in the documentary saying “slint songs” in quite the southern accent.

seems like he did a lot of good in his professional life too.