RFBX: ‘It’s Genius, I Swear’ Special – Bombay Bicycle Club on Slint’s ‘Spiderland’
Slint’s second album, Spiderland, has been one of the most influential albums of the last twenty years, spawning the post rock movement, and generating and inspiring hundreds of bands over the years including some of my all time favourites, Explosions in the Sky, Dinosaur Jr and P J Harvey.
Spiderland is Slint’s second album. It is far more accomplished and coherent than the first album, Tweez (produced by Steve Albini). It was recorded in an incredible two days, and was the result of six months’ dedicated rehearsing by the band. The recordings are all live takes and focus on the band interacting and playing with one another. Producer Brian Paulson used a very basic mic set up and when he came to mix the album he did not add any effects or tweak the tracks. It is almost like listening to the band play a straight up no frills show. I find it gives the impression of immediacy and intimacy with the band and helps me focus entirely on the band’s performance. The bass and drum playing on the final track of this album 'Good Morning Captain' is some of the best I have ever heard, and has been a huge influence on my own playing. The untreated natural sound of the drums and bass sounds incredible together.
The vocals on Spiderland mainly consist of spoken word. Each song tells a separate story but with similar themes of isolation. The first track ‘Breadcrumb Trail’ tells an eerie story of a fortune teller at a carnival. These stories merge amazingly with the instrumentation to create an overall dark mood throughout.
Spiderland also provides a good introduction to the guitar playing of David Pajo, who in my opinion is one of the most influential and inventive players of the decade. It is interesting to see how his guitar playing develops and evolves into his later work with Tortoise. He uses unconventional time signatures and dissonant chords to great effect throughout the album.
I came across this album after getting into post rock bands. I was really excited when I listened to it and realised how much other bands have taken from it. I would class it as one of my all time favourite albums, and hope other people enjoy listening to it as much as I do.
Artists in this article: Slint, Bombay Bicycle Club