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Written by AUGUST FORTE, photos by LYLE A. WAISMAN
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Friday, 25 March 2005 |
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With 1991’s “Spiderland,” Louisville Kentucky’s Slint captured magic in a bottle. The band’s sophomore album, largely heralded as ground zero for post-rock, a style of music that incorporates elements of Jazz, electronica, 20th century classical and world music, was created with the barest of components (voice, guitar, bass and drums), but manages to transport the listener to enchanted places with every instrumental flourish…every whispered lyric…every sudden burst of cathartic noise.
That the album is credited with spawning a movement far removed from the instrumentation that Slint utilized is testament to the contained-universe alchemy created by four young men in a small southern town.
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Slint |
 Entertainment
Art
Metro
Chicago, Ill.
March 25, 2005 |
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Earlier this year, Slint’s core members, vocalist/guitarist Brian McMahan, drummer/vocalist Britt Walford and guitarist David Pajo, were invited to reunite to curate and headline the prestigious UK festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. It was this line-up, augmented by guitarist Michael McMahan and bassist Todd Cook, that took the stage at Metro recently—the second show of a three night run in Chicago, the very city where Spiderland was recorded by Brian Paulson 15 years ago.
It is Friday night, and the house lights are dimmed as Slint takes the stage. A rapt audience is dead silent as the opening strains of “For Dinner…,” Spiderland’s lone instrumental track, fill the room. It is clear that the magic of the classic album is being summoned from vinyl grooves as Brian McMahan removes his guitar and moves to stage left. The singer rocks back and forth gently from behind a solitary microphone stand. Autumnal patterns of light partially obscure his figure as the band moves into an absolutely note-perfect rendition of Spiderland’s transcendent opener “Breadcrumb Trail.”
For the next hour, the band nurtures one intense Spiderland moment after the next: “Nosferatu Man” showcases Pajo’s sinewy guitar lines; “Don, Aman” finds Walford leaving his drum kit and joining Pajo on guitar for a powerful lead vocal turn; “Washer” sounds nothing short of heroic; a set-closing “Good Morning Captain” casts long shadows, transforming melodic threads into ghostly trickles of light.
The aforementioned material proves to be breathtaking when performed live, although cuts from Slint’s first album, the Steve Albini-engineered Tweeze, are reworked as well—often given the same dynamic treatment as the more subdued material from Spiderland. Tweeze’s jazzy fragmentation and complex noise rock are smoothed out…treated delicately. Fans unfamiliar with the record listen intently, embracing the songs with the same reverence awarded to Spiderland.
After the show, fans file out—some dazed, some absolutely giddy—and crowd the sidewalk in front of Metro. One hundred conversations fill the air. The magic that was created inside spills out into the night. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
