slint -- _spiderland_: classic or dud

haha. i just realized i went track by track and have nothing moreto say.

I was thinking about why I don't mind the mumbles in Calla or even Sonic Youth so much (though MacMahon is lamer to begin with). I think in a lot of cases those guys seem to have instrumental tracks that feel more complete to me (especially when Calla uses electronics -> more going on sonically or maybe just sounds I find more interesting) and the voice is more of an additional texture filling out space. With Slint, it still feels like the tracks are bare enough that they sound like accompaniment to a song that needs a strong voice to give it a centre maybe? I always found the instrumental to be totally pointless. I don't know if that's the only reason I didn't really get into this.

Wow. That's pretty fucked. But still...it was an essential and fitting end to the soundtrack. As for Slint...I REALLY REAALLYYY hate the endlessly annoying vocals, but I can let it pass on Good Morning Captain, it being so undoubtedly classic. Spiderland would be Classic for me, were it not for this particular problem. Therefore, I'm gonna have to say mostly DUD. I'll try to follow Clarke's advice if I gather up the interest.

That and the fact that Billy "I Called Nick Cave English) Corgan is a big fan of Slint, if I remember correctly.

SHAME on your Ned. For sooth! How could YOU of all people not appreciate Spiderland?

How could YOU of all people not appreciate Spiderland?

Like I said a few posts back, "I think seeing this thread revived was the first time I'd even thought about Slint for a couple of years." -- trust me, this is not something that weighs heavily on my mind!

anyway. Spiderland is alright -- and the best by Slint, to my ears at least. Overall, though, they just don't climb into the all time classics for me and I think post-Slint the members have created more than their share of utter shite. a very overrated band who influence on other bands is probably more of a negative for me than a positive.

Damn right!
*jumping on bandwagon*

Not that Ian and Francis have no right to have that opinion. Of COURSE they should. And I agree that this style of vocals coming from a very recent band would most likely sound cheesy, now that it has become an over-rehearsed vocal template for many "jazzy" Radiohead/Slint influenced alterna-emo rock bands, etc... but I can't think of the vocals as "cheesy" or "bad" in the context of Spiderland alone, because at the time, (I feel) they certainly were not.

Also, while I'd certainly cringe if I heard very non-subtle Quincy episode punk rock style vocals coming earnestly from punk bands breaking out today, they don't sound cringeworthy from the bands at the time, from Los Angeles area, for example.. Black Flag, The Screamers, etc.

Is it just a sense of history that allows me to separate the context of similar vocals between bands of different time periods? Or do I just have selectively cheesy taste in vocals?

I actually do like Ancient Mariner tune. Spooky. Whats it called??

sub-SY guitar <> moss icon.

thank you.

can I just say that Tom is just incredibly wrong with the '90s thing'. I mean, I really dislike plenty of 'post-rock' but there is actually a lot to it, one of them being the quiet-loud dynamics: that's the one thing that this band could've been a precursor to, its the way that they would play a in one end of the volume and then switch and catch you unawares, maybe the stop-start stuff.

Also lots of 'tugboat', very fluid, type riffing on here too. Just lovely and pleasant straight note playing on much of it: but then the switch on 'washer' was just perfection, and when it gets 'harsh', they can do that too.

The vocals on this are pretty much incredible: Brian just had a style and went with it: I'd say he tried to sing in the way the band sounded, lots of talking through, creepy wispers, then the kind of Bob Mould hardcore screamins, but lots of very nervous vocals too (reminds of the singing on meat puppets 'II')...overall he's very attentive to the whole atmosphere that the record is projecting.

I got this record back in prob 1999. having actually heard quite a bit from '91, I'd say they were just out of their time.

And as far as indie rock goes I don't like much of it but I really love every note of this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1592&item=4068088080&rd=1

a quick note about eBay:

recently i've noticed a lot of slint "live" cds being sold on ebay. the most common of them is a show at dreamerz in chicago that features both "good morning, captain" and a cover of neil young's "cortez the killer". while a good show, it's hardly worth the twenty dollar price that i see people bidding. this show is readily available in mp3 form elsewhere on the internet (like at this site), and the people that sell these "live" cds are cheating you. a blank cd costs one dollar, so an average auction yields about a 2000% profit. slint was a great band, and it's not cool that some guy with a cd burner is making money off of their hard work. David Pajo, in response to the Live Songs LP, summed it up best, "Somebody is rolling in some cash right now, low overhead and a big price tag. And they didn't have to play a note, they didn't have to pay for gas to drive to New Jersey, they didn't practice 5 nights a week trying to hone the songs down".

Please don't buy these "live" cds. They do nothing to help Slint and only fatten some guy's wallet.

But "Pam" is a great (fast!) crypto-metal number with the whole band, and esp. Britt Walford, on really top form.

Right. Going to see them play the album tomorrow in Brussels. (setlist in Amsterdam yesterday was: album + two song EP + new 20 minute track) Excited!

(oh, and classic, but not for listening to very often)

Slint kill me. I love "Good morning captain" but oh god is it heartbreaking.

classic, duh

"Good Morning Captain" goes straight to the back of my skull. "Washer" too, but in a more hypnotic, subtle way - "the sombre geometry of the repeating guitar riff" is a really fucking awesome and OTM description. "Washer" is one of the few songs on which I'll forgive the trembly emo-tenor singing. It just fucking works.

Saw them at ATP last weekend, they weren't helped by the cavernous venue in which they played. Still good though.

That was one of the few good things in this month's OMM; ex-Arsenal star Ian Wright reveals his secret love for "Good Morning Captain."

Wait, you're not kidding.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2080706,00.html
"Surprisingly, he felt much the same way about Slint, not least because of the track's X-rated scream: 'That's how it should be, letting yourself go, to the extent that he's fucking screaming.'"

Well I never!

Isn't that song about the fractious relationship between an estranged father and son?

*shivers*

What's most mesmerizing about "Good Morning, Captain" is how the lyrics are like two almost-disjoint sets, the deadpan narrative vs. achingly personal emo whisper that comes flying out of nowhere. Fucking brutal.

And the guitars/drums/bass actually sound seasick, which is awesome.

Well, they were VERY good (album + 2 track EP + new song (not 20 minutes like in Amsterdam - other track?) ), but I'm still having trouble with the whole concept of playing full albums. Anyway, yay!

i nominate this thread for some of the worst writing on ILM. no wonder these people no longer write about music.

hi steve!

who's that on bass? it isn't todd cook.

according to (Dutch mag) Oor, it is indeed Todd Cook:

( http://www.oor.nl/deruit_concertverslagen_details.asp?id=513 )

Britt Walford: drums/vocals/guitar
Brian McMahan: vocals/guitar
David Pajo: guitar
Michael McMahan: guitar (yes, his brother)
Todd Cook: bass

(according to that same article, that is)