slint -- _spiderland_: classic or dud

great stuff.

i can't stop thinking about this! reading that ^^ and now knowing how difficult it was for brian to record the vocals for spiderland makes me rabid with curiosity about the reunion shows
how do they generally comport themselves on stage? they're playing here in a week or so but the show is sold out. now i kinda wanna go just to observe them.

the shows back in '05 and '07 seemed churchy, the one i saw on tuesday was pretty relaxed by comparison. the spend a lot of time tuning still. brian does the vocals off to the side of the stage and doesn't play guitar on almost all the vocal songs. he tends to stick out his chest like he's trying to project and his renderings (like the rest of the band and their parts) are extremely faithful.

I've only seen 2 of the reunion shows but both times Brian and David were very still and silent, not a lot of movement or action, I don't even think Brian is playing much guitar anymore (his brother does his parts). Britt is pretty animated and a little bit more extroverted but not much, he'll probably come up front to play/sing "Don, Aman" and he sing/speaks the verses of "Nosferatu Man" while playing that crazy drum rhythm.

yeah i loled when he strapped on the headset mic for that one.

new guy on 2nd guitar for this tour also i think.

those are quality details
does anyone seem uncomfortable?
do they talk at all? where do they direct their eyes?

sorry
these are really irritating questions
i'd rather see for myself tbh but i doubt a ticket will materialize for me out of thin air

seeing them tonight for the first time. really excited. they sound great in the live footage i've seen.

Yeah, let me qualify that both of these shows were 7-9 years ago, things probably have changed.

Not a lot of talking at the shows. I think Brian said "Thank you" when they were done.

I was at an event recently that Brian was a guest at and while he was very nice, he just doesn't talk very much. Not uncomfortably either, just brief answers.

You should get a ticket LL.

Also relevant to the Spiderland renaissance is the Alan Licht book on/with Will Oldham. There's quite a bit of pre-Slint ("Tight Little Dirty Tufts of Hair"-era) talk in it, specifically Britt visiting Will on-set of Matewan to convince Will to join and Will's like "I don't know how to play guitar or sing", and he stalled and then that's how Brian joined the band. It's also a great book.

i might try to rustle up a ticket
i would really like to see them

can someone remind me how harmony korine fits into this picture?

Good Morning, Captain was on the KIDS soundtrack. Is there something deeper?

Dislike that article. Slint leading to Mogawi or Sigur ros => lets pack it in.

Eh? Not really an outrageous claim. Also, what is that, one sentence? I appreciated that the article dug deeper into what was going on with Brian. Feel like they just skimmed the surface of that stuff in the doc.

those are quality details
does anyone seem uncomfortable?
do they talk at all? where do they direct their eyes?

― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, May 2, 2014 1:48 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not uncomfortable, no. brian said a couple little goofy one or two word things between songs on tuesday. someone in the crowd yelled ten fucking stars and i'm pretty sure he said "thanks, pitchfork" (in reference to the box set getting a 10.0 i guess). he said thank you quickly after the last song.

pajo looks at his guitar, stays very still, very much technician at work (and he's that way in all the bands he's in i'm pretty sure).

not much eye contact needed between them but occasionally it seems like they'll watch britt for a cue. britt is very much in charge from a musical standpoint.

xp - Yeah I know it was on the sdtk (I remember being like WHOA! when i saw it in the theater) -- I mean personally. Korine grew up in Nashville and seems to have come out of the gate with the same sort of enfant terrible thing in his favor iirc. Also Xenia (where Gummo is set) is just a few miles down the road from Yellow Springs, home of Antioch College (a bastion of freewheeling artsiness in -- let's be honest -- a really depressed area) where my BFF went to college, and they all seem to share an aesthetic sensibility but maybe that's just my hindsight 90s glasses. I dunno.

also thanks for the deets CAD! it's about like i expected. also smh @ the dork who shouted ten fucking stars. my god.

soooo much dorky crowd shouting, it was terrible. the '05 shows were in much bigger rooms, but this time they were in a small club which i guess invites that bullshit.

oh also LL as you are a budding drummer i would say try to go if for no other reason than to watch britt, he is amazing

the "ten fucking stars" call out's a reference to Albini's review in Melody Maker. more jokey than worshipful i would think.

yes, i know, it's still lame

it's like congratulating an actor for their movie grossing boffo box office
it's embarrassing for everyone

even in jest

re KIDS: Lou Barlow put "Good Morning Captain" on the soundtrack, but it does not play during the film.

man i am so confused.

i would like to have a conversation with britt about drumming pretty badly but i'm sort of amazed at a base level by how intimidated i still am by these dudes. how stupid. and yet so real!
maybe it's best if i just sit back and wonder to myself instead of trying to figure all of this out. i need a muzzle.

also seeing them for the first time tonight

you guys let us know how the ball-murrr show went tonight…

La Lechera: maybe he's changed, but in my experience, BW was not terribly articulate about what he did. Like, I think one time I told him that he was unlike any drummer to have ever walked the Earth, but he was uninterested in the topic. Show, not tell…etc etc…

The Baltimore show was so great. I spent the last half of it on the side of the stage behind an Australian dude who was losing it like it was a hardcore show. Almost got kicked in the face several times. Pajo was hanging outside smoking afterwards and I talked to him for a bit. Sweetest guy. Caught Britt and Brian briefly too. Such an awesome time all around.

fuckin circle pit at the slint show wtf

it was cool. i dont know their music well at all. it was heavy. don aman with pajo and the other guy facing each other. other guy was shirtless via hot ass stage lights

intense as hell

I filmed the entirety of Don Aman on my phone from pretty close. Shirtless Britt facing me, Pajo with his back to me. Always been my favorite Slint song. Might upload later. It looks gnarly. Bathed in red light.

Eh? Not really an outrageous claim. Also, what is that, one sentence? I appreciated that the article dug deeper into what was going on with Brian. Feel like they just skimmed the surface of that stuff in the doc.

― circa1916, Friday, May 2, 2014 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It only takes one - it leaves a bad taste.

A lot of the time you can tell there is anguish in a singer's voice - not a must to know what exactly is behind that. I got the feeling that the accident did trigger a breakdown but also that he was growing-up. Those pains were there, more felt and present in Brian.

The documentary kinda makes vague reference at the origins of the Nosferatu Man lurching beat:

“One night I had been out. When I came home, Britt was hunched over his guitar and playing Rachmaninoff, a three- or four-second little clip. He’d play it, rewind it, play it, rewind it, and then he’d work on the guitar a little bit. I think he did that for hours and hours.”
-Ben Johnson, brother of Clark Johnson and Northwestern roommate of McMahan and Walford

Maybe when this goes from 6/4 to 5/4?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbbtmskCRUY&feature=player_detailpage#t=529

Tix still avialble btw
http://www.thewicknyc.com/event/540587-slint-brooklyn/

went to see them last night. some observations:

* lots of their fans are really young, like early 20s (these people were generally friendly and nice)
* some of their older fans must not get out much because wow were they super drunk and irritating. one guy wouldn't shut up about weezer and then tried to recommend that i read nick hornby :-/
* britt hid behind the drums most of the time, did not remove shirt
* they had a mystery dude in an accept tshirt on guitar when brian wasn't playing and a guy i recognized from a local band playing bass -- has this been the case elsewhere?
* doors at 11, show started at 11:45, was fully over by 1
* overall, it was alright and i'm glad i went to see for myself but i would posit that they weren't having very much fun at all. this is disappointing, but understandable.
* nosferatu man was my favorite song to hear live
* brian reminds me of brad dourif <3

also - no opening band (maybe this was the venue which is not one of my favorites tbh)

"they weren't having very much fun at all"

saw them in 2006 and it felt the same. it's just their relaxed characters i think.

they were like that in 2004 too, and in 2008, they are just not a v engaging live band once you get past the spectacle of "omg look it's slint playing slint songs on stage"

Agree. I did not feel that their hearts were in it, but Brian showed genuine effort and the bass sub was good.

isn't that kind of ~the aesthetic~ with this pre-95 style of post-rock, though - the idea that just playing the music should be enough, that there's an almost chamber-music vibe of "we are going to play these compositions"? I think when synths and Post-Rock Proper becomes a thing people start throwing a more performative aspect in but I feel like along the Chicago/L'ville axis there was a sort of "Just Play The Songs" dictum

i guess it is, and i remember it being so back then too. i guess i just don't dig this particular approach to music performance. i don't even expect a performance in that it's aimed at the audience. i just hope for a little genuine enthusiasm for playing to be visible, in a head nod or something done with just a hint of relish. as i said, it was mostly britt and pajo who seemed lackadaisical; the sub, brian, and the other guy seemed pretty into it (appropriately understated but present)

also it wasn't some huge deal, just something i noticed because i went there in part with the intention of seeing what the performance itself would be like

it was definitely worth seeing

one guy wouldn't shut up about weezer and then tried to recommend that i read nick hornby :-/
hmm that sounds like a nightmare

at least w/pajo, having seen him perform his solo stuff, he's just kind of always like that

that there's an almost chamber-music vibe of "we are going to play these compositions"?

― Now I Am Become Dracula (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, 11 May 2014 19:22 (Yesterday) Permalink

I saw them last night and it struck me, esp during "Don, Aman" how chamber music-like both the music and performance was.

I don't think you can really judge how invested in the performance a musician is or isn't based on their onstage body language. I have plenty of friends who play and barely even move onstage but I know they are deeply invested.

That said I was struck by how really strange Slint were (and are), they are truly a singular entity. The show was good. The venue in Mpls was lame. McMahan spoke basically twice, once to say "the last time we were in this town it was 1989" and the second time to name check Man-Sized Action, which always brings a smile to my face.

I saw one of the NYC shows, at the Wick in Bushwick. it was cool, definitely better than the last time around when they were in bigger rooms. unlike what LL described I didn't feel like there were many younger fans there at all but the older fans were cool and the vibe was good.

it also solidified my opinion that Breadcrumb Trail is my favorite Slint song.

some good photos here

http://www.imposemagazine.com/photos/slint-at-the-wick#1

wow, great photos! i'm glad brian got some suspenders. he had to keep hiking up his pants. also spires played with them? did they move to NYC or traveling from Chicago? i have seen them as the opening act for so many different bands, but slint takes the cake. we didn't get an opening band :(

btw if y'all have never heard implodes, i can recommend wholeheartedly -- that's the band i recognized the slint bass player from. they're great.

I didn't watch Spires much. the recordings I had heard by them were like pastoral psych but their set was a super in your face sax and drum blast. I don't know where they live, they opened all three Slint shows in New york though.