Slint

Slint

Slint at Pitchfork Music Festival, July 13, 2007
Background information
Origin Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Genres Math rock, post-rock, post-hardcore[1]
Years active 1986–1992,[2] 2005, 2007, 2013–present
Labels Touch and Go
Associated acts Tortoise, Papa M, Zwan, Solution Unknown, Squirrel Bait, The For Carnation, Maurice, Bush League, Dead Child, Palace Brothers, Bastro, Evergreen, The Breeders, King Kong, Crain, The Glasspack, Shipping News, Parlour, Watter
Members Brian McMahan
David Pajo
Britt Walford
Ethan Buckler
Todd Brashear

Slint is an American math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums and vocals), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland), and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). They formed in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, in 1986 and disbanded following the recording of their second album, Spiderland, in 1991.

They have reunited sporadically since 2005.[3]

History

Walford and McMahan began performing music together at an early age, forming Languid and Flaccid with Ned Oldham (later of The Anomoanoan) while still in middle school.[4][5][6] Walford and McMahan later played together in the seminal Louisville punk band Squirrel Bait, though Walford left the band following their first recording session.[7] Prior to Slint, Pajo and Walford (and, briefly, McMahan) were also in the band Maurice with future members of Kinghorse. Walford, Pajo, and Buckler played their first show together in 1985 under the name Small Tight Dirty Tufts of Hair.[8]

Slint's first album Tweez was recorded by Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989.[9] It was followed two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland,[10] released on Touch and Go Records and recorded by Brian Paulson.[11] Considered a seminal work,[12] Spiderland is an album characterized by dark, syncopated rhythms, sparse guitar lines and haunting subject matter. The record's impact was such that many fans and critics have suggested it is the first true post-rock album, helping to usher in a new wave of bands seeking a move away from the unfettered aggression of hardcore punk but not its underlying ethic. The cover of Spiderland is from a series of photos of the band taken by the Louisville actor/musician Will Oldham. Spiderland culminates in the baleful "Good Morning, Captain", perhaps their most recognized track (it would later feature on the soundtrack to the Larry Clark film Kids). Touch and Go Records reissued Tweez in 1993. Finally, in 1994 a brief untitled EP was released after the band broke up. This two-song record was actually recorded in 1989 and was originally intended to be released as a 12" single on Jennifer Hartman Records. Original copies of the Tweez LP included a flyer advertisement for the 12" as an insert. However, Slint signed to Touch & Go Records before it was sent to press and the master tapes were shelved. It contained a previously unreleased track ("Glenn") and a reinterpretation of "Rhoda" from Tweez.

Members of Slint have since appeared in a number of bands. In 2009, former guitarist David Pajo performed with Yeah Yeah Yeahs as a live back-up musician. He briefly played bass in Interpol, and performs under the moniker PAJO and occasionally with his band Papa M.[13] Pajo has also been a member of Dead Child, Tortoise, Palace, The For Carnation, and the short-lived Billy Corgan-fronted rock band Zwan. Guitarist Brian McMahan formed The For Carnation in 1994 and also played with Will Oldham in Palace. Britt Walford played drums in Evergreen, and for The Breeders under the pseudonym Shannon Doughton on the album Pod and as Mike Hunt on the Safari EP. Ethan Buckler plays in King Kong (the original line up of Slint makes up King Kong on the 1989 7" "Movie Star").

Nearly fifteen years after disbanding, three members of Slint — Brian McMahan, David Pajo, and Britt Walford — reunited to curate the 2005 All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) music festival in Camber Sands, England. Also in 2005, Slint played a number of shows in the U.S. and in Europe.[14] Though they insisted the reunion was short-term, the band regrouped once again in 2007 to perform Spiderland in its entirety in Barcelona as part of the Primavera Sound Festival, in London as part of the ATP Don't Look Back series of shows, as well as at a handful of dates in Europe, the U.S. (at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival, the Showbox in Seattle, and the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood), and Canada. In addition to performing the album and the EP Slint, they also debuted a new composition called "King's Approach",[15] which remains unrecorded.

In a September 2012 interview conducted with Northern Irish music publication AU Magazine, David Pajo hinted at more activity from the band in the coming months: "We still communicate regularly and we've got some surprises for next year that fans will be excited about. I know I am."[16]

The band reunited in December 2013 to play as one of the headliners of the final All Tomorrow's Parties holiday camp festival in Camber Sands, England.[17]

In an August 2013 interview with Vish Khanna, former producer Steve Albini revealed that the band was working on remastering their second album Spiderland with producer Bob Weston.[18] The deluxe Spiderland boxset was announced in January 2014.[19] It includes the 90-minute documentary Breadcrumb Trail, directed by Lance Bangs. The band is also scheduled to perform at the 2014 Primavera Sound music festival in Spain and Portugal and the 2014 Green Man Festival in Wales.

Members

Live members 2005, 2007

Former

Discography

Main article: Slint discography

Albums

Extended Plays

References

  1. ↑ Carew, Anthony. "Review of the Definitive Alternative Album Spiderland". About.com. Retrieved 1 November 2010. [...] But, the second album by the post-hardcore Kentuckians sure didn't 'kick' anything; its influence rather devoid of immediacy. [...]
  2. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Slint". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
  3. ↑ Murray, Robin (July 23, 2013). "Slint To Reform!". Clash. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ "SOMETHING LIKE AN ANOMOANON – Is Something Like Will Oldham – Vice Magazine". Viceland.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  5. ↑ "PopMatters Music Feature | Louisville Born, Brooklyn Based". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  6. ↑ "back". Louisvillepunk.awardspace.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  7. ↑ "Maurice – Louisville Punk/Hardcore History". History.louisvillehardcore.com. 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  8. ↑ "Invisible Histories: Slint (Part 2)". Mog.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  9. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 893–894. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  10. ↑ "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  11. ↑ Parker, Chris (2005-02-09). "Brian Paulson: Studio aethetics". The Independent Weekly.
  12. ↑ Riggs, Richard (2009-02-17). "Slowcore Week: Slint and Codeine – a shared musical language? / In Depth // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  13. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (2010-09-05). "Iggy and the Stooges at All Tomorrow's Parties". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ "Slint reunion 2005". Descendo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  15. ↑ "News | Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records". Touchandgorecords.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  16. ↑ "David Pajo". iheartau.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  17. ↑ "End Of An Era Part 2 curated by ATP & Loop - All Tomorrow's Parties". Atpfestival.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  18. ↑ "Ep. #24: Steve Albini | Kreative Kontrol". Vishkhanna.com. 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  19. ↑ "Slint's Spiderland Gets Deluxe Box Set Reissue". Pitchfork. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2014-03-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Slint.