Sunday, December 12, 2010

Slint

No time for LP Sunday, so I'm compromising, doing one of those weird 10" records instead.

This showed up in stores long after Slint was dead, as these tracks, recorded before the amazing Spiderland, were left unreleased by their previous label when they signed to Touch & Go. T&G got their hands on these and shipped this out in 1994, some three years after they had all gone their separate ways. I'm pretty sure I spotted this at Main St. and bought it immediately.

Slint's landmark Spiderland album is moody and sparse, and it takes you on a winding journey. Each song itself has a series of highs and lows. The ending is well worth the trip. It's perfect to listen to at 3:00 AM. If you've never heard it, go find it. As for this recording, the band is in transition from being the Big Black wannabe band they were on their debut album Tweez, to finding some kind of collective brilliance that created Spiderland (their second and final album, at least until this showed up), and you can tell. These are both 6 minute long instrumentals. "Glenn" has Spiderland's dark, empty, spacious quality to it. "Rhoda" has their sound from Tweez, but with some of the complex song structure you'll find on Spiderland.

Octopus side: Glenn
Triangle side: Rhoda
Enjoy!

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