"I Tried..." which I first heard on a compilation somewhere iirc, which made me buy this odd and beautiful album.
― Future Debts Collector (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 11 April 2011 09:21 (twelve years ago) link
i cant remember how i first heard of palce brothers. Think it was a friend who liked them or something.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 11 April 2011 14:20 (twelve years ago) link
I was heavily into alt.country at the time & a friend who was living in NC suggested I give this a try. I'd not yet heard of Slint. I confess that this album wasn't really what I was looking for; I'd wanted something more like Neil Young tbh, or at least something not quite so morbid. I probably ought to go back & give it another shot, though morbid's not really my thing. I voted for the first song, the one that stuck with me the most.
― Euler, Monday, 11 April 2011 14:39 (twelve years ago) link
I remember buying this as an advertised "Slint side-project"... lol
Yeah, me too! Thank god it turned out better than the King Kong albums I bought for the same reason.
― ridic beau (NickB), Monday, 11 April 2011 14:55 (twelve years ago) link
Anyway: Riding
1. O Lord Are You in Need?2. The Cellar Song3. Riding4. Idle Hands Are the Devil's Playthings
― nicky lo-fi, Monday, 11 April 2011 15:57 (twelve years ago) link
i can't really separate "idle hands" from the thrill of hearing them for the first time, and how ancient and strange it sounded to me then. and it's a great song.
― free karl kani (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 11 April 2011 16:59 (twelve years ago) link
O Lord are you in need
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 11 April 2011 17:01 (twelve years ago) link
I had never heard of Slint when I got this. I think my brother told me about it. By the time Hope and Viva Las Blues came out I was pretty well sold.
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 11 April 2011 17:03 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i hadn't heard slint either. They were just a band i'd seen mentioned but never actually heard.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 11 April 2011 18:37 (twelve years ago) link
After Twin Infinitives and Perfect Sound Forever lots of people were paying attention to what else Drag City had up their sleeves... let me see where it came chronologically...
― City of Jorts (Steve Shasta), Monday, 11 April 2011 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
I still haven't heard Slint lol
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 11 April 2011 18:48 (twelve years ago) link
DC001 Royal Trux Hero Zero / Love Is... (7") 1989DC002 Pavement Demolition Plot J-7 (7", EP) 1990DC003 Royal Trux Twin Infinitives (Album) ◄ (2 versions) 1990DC004 Pavement Perfect Sound Forever (10", EP) 1990DC005 Royal Trux Royal Trux (CD, Album) 1993DC006 Smog Floating EP (7", EP) 1991DC008 Various I Hear The Devil Calling Me (7") 1991DC009 Pavement Summer Babe (7", EP) 1991DC010 Royal Trux Untitled (LP) 1992DC011 Mantis (2) Who Wants To Be A Camel? (7") 1992DC012 Burnout Lounge (7") 1991DC013 Smog Forgotten Foundation (Album) ◄ (2 versions) 1992DC014 Pavement Westing (By Musket And Sextant) (LP, Comp) 1993DC015 Vocokesh Still Standing In The Same Garden (12", S/Sided, Single, Etch) 1992DC018 Silver Jews Dime Map Of The Reef (7") 1992DC19CD Big Flame Rigour 1983-1986 (CD, Comp) 1996DC020 Various Hey Drag City (2xLP) 1994DC020CD Various Hey Drag City (CD) 1994DC021 Royal Trux Red Tiger (7") 1992DC024 Various Making Losers Happy (Xpressway NZ Singles 1988-91) (CD, Comp) 1992DC025 Palace Brothers* Ohio River Boat Song / Drinking Woman (7") 1992DC026 Various X Way Vision (VHS, NTSC) 1992DC027 Mantis Druler (7", Sin) DC028 Silver Jews The Arizona Record (12", EP) 1993DC029 Burnout Multiple Attackers (12") 1993DC30 Nig-Heist Nig-Heist (Vinyl, RE, LP ) 1998DC31 Smog Julius Caesar (LP, Album) 1993DC032 Royal Trux Cats And Dogs ◄ (2 versions) 1993DC33 King Kong (3) Funny Farm ◄ (2 versions) 1993DC34 Palace Brothers* There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You (Album) ◄ (2 versions) 1993
― City of Jorts (Steve Shasta), Monday, 11 April 2011 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
Have to rep for the title track. It always sounded so bleak and delicious even though I could only pick out half the lyrics...
I discovered Palace when the second album showed up at the campus station and then found that we had the first one on vinyl. Next I heard "Come In" on CBC's Brave New Waves and totally fell in love with that song (which is probably still my favourite Palace moment). Around Arise Therefore I pretty much lost interest - the scary backwoods magic was gone.
― Kent Burt, Monday, 11 April 2011 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
Bonnie "Prince" Billy vs Palace Brothers/Songs/Music vs Will Oldham
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Monday, 11 April 2011 21:06 (twelve years ago) link
kinda has to be 'riding'
― 松 (▩ ▨ ▧ ▦ ▥ ▤ ▣) ☃ ☃ oooh ive been so good this year (Lamp), Monday, 11 April 2011 21:55 (twelve years ago) link
Riding! Didn't even have to think about it.
― International Waters, Monday, 11 April 2011 22:53 (twelve years ago) link
looks like another runaway winner
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 00:16 (twelve years ago) link
I love my sister Lisa most of all
― calstars, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 01:39 (twelve years ago) link
forgot about "Merida," love that one too.
listened to the album last night. otherworldly back poarch gothic.
― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 14:01 (twelve years ago) link
back porch gothic
― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 14:03 (twelve years ago) link
also really love that song on the 'hey drag city' comp, "for the mekons, et al"
executive branch in a nation of one,exercise our power...to veto, veto, veto...be the man of the hour
― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 14:11 (twelve years ago) link
One of my all-time favourite albums. Going for Riding, but really, all of it. In terms of how well known it was, it was the album following on from the reasonably successful 'Ohio River Boat Song' single wasn't it? At least that's why I picked it up.
By 'reasonably successful' I mean 'reasonably' according to no metric anyone would actually consider successful of course.
― GamalielRatsey, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 14:21 (twelve years ago) link
Did the critics rate it at the time?
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 15:23 (twelve years ago) link
The Bonnie 'Prince' Billy/Palace et al/Will Oldham ALBUM POLL
― Future Debts Collector (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 15:51 (twelve years ago) link
Can't really remember. I think so, yes. The Slint aspect helped it have a higher profile than it might have done otherwise I think.
― GamalielRatsey, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
I didn't really read nme or mm back then every week so i cant recall how much coverage Slint got. For some reason I knew more about Rodan (another band i took years to hear after reading about them)
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:09 (twelve years ago) link
did slint get much coverage from NME/MM?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 17:40 (twelve years ago) link
I found a single paragraph buried deep within a 1991 Spin with Prince on the cover, it calls the 2nd album "Spider/and" lol.
― it's time for the fish in the perculator (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 17:46 (twelve years ago) link
Spiderland got a bit of attention in the uk music press when it came out cos Steve Albini wrote a rave review of it in the Melody Maker.
― ridic beau (NickB), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
"“Since about 1980, America has been host to an ever-increasing parasitic infestation of rock bands of ever-dwindling originality. It seems there is no one left on the continent with an aspiration to play guitar that hasn’t formed a band and released a record. And that record sounds a little bit like Dinosaur Jr.
Trust me on this; all but maybe three of those records are pure bullshit.
My primary association with rock music is that I am a fan of it, though listening to the aforementioned nearly killed that. In its best state, rock music invigorates me, changes my mood, triggers introspection or envelopes me with sheer sound. Spiderland does all those things, simultaneously and in turns, more than any records I can think of in five years.
Spiderland is, unfortunately, Slint’s swansong, the band having succumbed to the internal pressures which eventually punctuate all bands’ biographies. It’s an amazing record though, and no one still capable of being moved by rock music should miss it. In 10 years it will be a landmark and you’ll have to scramble to buy a copy then. Beat the rush.
Slint formed in 1986 as an outlet and pastime for four friends from Louisville, Kentucky. Their music was strange, wholly their own, sparse and tight. What immediately set them apart was their economy and precision. Slint was that rare band willing to play just one or two notes at a time and sometimes nothing at all. Their only other recording, 1989’s Tweez hints at their genius, but only a couple of the tracks have anything like the staying power of Spiderland.
Spiderland is a majestic album, sublime and strange, made more brilliant by its simplicity and quiet grace. Songs evolve and expand from simple statements that are inverted and truncated in a manner that seems spontaneous, but is so precise and emphatic that it must be intuitive or orchestrated or both.
Straining to find a band to compare them with, I can only think of two, and Slint doesn’t sound anything like either of them. Structurally and in tone, they recall Television circa Marquee Moon and Crazy Horse, whose simplicity they echo and whose style they most certainly do not.
To whom would Pere Ubu or Chrome have been compared in 1972? Forgive me, I am equally clueless.
Slint’s music has always been primarily instrumental, and Spiderland isn’t a radical departure, but the few vocals are among the most pungent of any album around. When I first heard Brian McMahan whisper the pathetic words to “Washer”, I was embarrased for him. When I listened to the song again, the content eluded me and I was staggered by the sophistication and subtle beauty of the phrasing. The third time, the story made me sad nearly to tears. Genius.
Spiderland is flawless. The dry, unembellished recording is so revealing it sometimes feels like eavesdropping. The crystalline guitar of Brian McMahan and the glassy, fluid guitar of David Pajo seem to hover in space directly past the listener’s nose. The incredibly precise-yet-instinctive drumming has the same range and wallop it would in your living room.
Only two other bands have meant as much to me as Slint in the past few years and only one of them, The Jesus Lizard, have made a record this good. We are in a time of midgets: dance music, three varieties of simple-minded hard rock genre crap, soulless-crooning, infantile slogan-studded rap and ball-less balladeering. My instincts tell me the dry spell will continue for a while - possibly until the bands Slint will inspire reach maturity. Until then, play this record and kick yourself if you never got to see them live. In ten years, you’ll lie like the cocksucker you are and say you did anyway.
Ten fucking stars.”
—Steve Albini.
― ridic beau (NickB), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
Albini doesn't like dino jr then?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:04 (twelve years ago) link
i remember everett true in mm giving single of the week to "ohio river boat song" when it was first released
― Michael B, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:12 (twelve years ago) link
didn't think everett true liked that kind of thing
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 18:27 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
Riding, though the Lost Blues version is better
― Beggar On A Beach Of Shite. (PaulTMA), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 23:34 (twelve years ago) link
Loved the first few Palace singles & albums at the time and have grown to despise the sound of Will Oldham's voice pathologically, the way some people JUST CAN'T LISTEN to Tom Waits or (and I can't personally even fathom this, but) Dylan. Every record felt less like he was tapping into some deep mysterious well and more like he was half-assing his way along. Might have been me & the times, though. Viva Last Blues for me was like his Loaded and everything else was postlogue.
Loved "Horses", "Ohio River Boat Song" and "For the Mekons Et Al" immoderately. "Riding" was it for me from this record, altho also loved "Drunk at the Pulpit" (have always been a sucker for a novelty hit)
― relentlessly ugly frat hedonist retard anthems I have loved (staggerlee), Thursday, 14 April 2011 04:50 (twelve years ago) link
Ach, forgot about "O Paul" which I should have voted for. It was going to close off my mixtape of "Paul" songs tenderly (I had an excellent friend named Paul)... but I could only find a smattering of others so that C-60 never got filled.
― relentlessly ugly frat hedonist retard anthems I have loved (staggerlee), Thursday, 14 April 2011 04:52 (twelve years ago) link
Listening to this album now for the first time in a long time... I still vote "Riding" but I totally forgot about "Long Before."
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Thursday, 14 April 2011 05:05 (twelve years ago) link
Oh man, Long Before is amazing.
― Fizzles the Chimp (GamalielRatsey), Thursday, 14 April 2011 08:14 (twelve years ago) link
yeah
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Thursday, 14 April 2011 15:12 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 14 April 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
Damn it I hate that my record player is packed away right now.
― 'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 14 April 2011 23:03 (twelve years ago) link
only 1 song didn't get a vote proves its a strong record, runaway winner but
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Friday, 15 April 2011 00:08 (twelve years ago) link
Best Song On Palace Brothers - Palace Brothers (AKA Days In The Wake)
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Friday, 15 April 2011 00:13 (twelve years ago) link
long before is a great tune, too. voted riding, but i really do think long before is top 3 from the rekkerd for me, along with idle hands.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Friday, 15 April 2011 00:21 (twelve years ago) link
this one Best Song On Palace Brothers - Palace Brothers (AKA Days In The Wake)
― Oh no! It's no good! (state of the world today), Friday, 15 April 2011 00:23 (twelve years ago) link
Man, it's the only song that didn't get any votes!! What dies that mean, it's unanimously everyone's second favorite?
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 15 April 2011 02:42 (twelve years ago) link
definitely
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Friday, 15 April 2011 23:37 (twelve years ago) link
Released 25 years ago today.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 7 June 2018 20:48 (five years ago) link