Slint: Spiderland

For The Fan Presents

Slint: Spiderland (Review)

Artist: Slint

Album: Spiderland

Recorded: August & October of 1990.

Released: March 27, 1991.

Label: Touch & Go

Genre: Post-Rock

What it sounds like: tension, paranoia, exile, alienation

Spiderland is the sound of a feast in an inverted world, the music to an old silent horror film.
Recorded primarily in the night, much of it is like the absence of daylight.
The cover is a black and white photograph of the band members having a swim in a local quarry. Nothing harmless?The more you stare at it, the more it appears almost Mona Lisa-esque. The album and it's cover are alike in that they leave much room for interpretation. With it's drawn out song structures use of shifting dynamics, Spiderland exemplifies what would become the post-rock genre which,along with Talk Talk's "Laughing Stock", this record is considered a father to.

But perhaps it is best described by its own title.

*Breadcrumb Trail begins with an off-kilter guitar catches your attention, the sound of entering a forest at dusk. Once inside, the paranoia of being watched settles in permanently.This common thread throughout the record manifests further in the hushed deliveries,the dissociative yelling...the stream of consciousness muttering of Brain McMahan.

David Pajo's distortion lacerates the galloping rhythm of *Nosferatu Man.Harmonics bleed through the otherwise heavy, percussive playing.The next track, *Don, Aman. The slowly spiraling guitar notes unfold themselves as McMahan sets the scene for the song"like being watched from outside, by someone (without a key) .. ." the sparity and spacing of the instruments give ample space to imagine the character, the setting. *Washer opens with bright guitar picking, rumbling bass slithering behind. The sound of lips parting accompany the vocal delivery, in a hushed serenade-like tone; a departure from the spoken-word style employed on the other songs. the song culminates in a screaming guitar flurry that sends chills down your neck, the noise/notes like bats flying en masse out of a cave.

Slint put on a display of their talent with *For Dinner, an instrumental, slowly paced, sometimes sounding like a funeral march with it's sluggish tempo. Things pick up at the end, which leads into... the closing track, *Good Morning, Captain. frail gypsy sounding notes give way to a barrelling bass line, a snare hit steadily keeps the rhythm while the story of a sailor washed ashore is told. There are multiple departures from the main head of the song, and finishes with one of the most climactic endings to a song, to an album. Waves of pounding volatile textures wash as McMahan yells out "I miss you!" in absolute anguish, out of complete abandonment. The harrowing cries linger as a final guitar note ends the album. It's an examination of isolation, character studies, a collection of scenes from nightmares and dreams. Economical, haunting. it's impulsive, natural, and yet directed to a certain degree.

Slint amplify the acute with Spiderland.

Links: 

Release information: http://www.discogs.com/Slint-Spiderland/master/38099

Written by Joel Avalos