Personnel: Brian McMahan (vocals, electric guitar); David Pajo (guitar); Britt Walford (drums).

Recording information: 08/1990-10/1990.

Photographers: Noel Saltzman; Will Oldham.

More known for its frequent name-checks than its actual music, Spiderland remains one of the most essential and chilling releases in the mumbling post-rock arena. Even casual listeners will be able to witness an experimental power-base that the American underground has come to treasure. Indeed, the lumbering quiet-loud motif has been lifted by everybody from Lou Barlow to Mogwai, the album's emotional gelidity has done more to move away from prog-rock mistakes than almost any of the band's subsequent disciples, and it's easy to hear how the term "Slint dynamics" has become an indie categorization of its own. Most interestingly, however, is how even a seething angularity to songs like "Nosferatu Man" (disquieting, vampirish stop-starts) or "Good Morning, Captain" (a murmuring nod to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner") certainly signaled the beginning of the end for the band. Recording was intense, traumatic, and one more piece of evidence supporting the theory that band members had to be periodically institutionalized during the completion of the album. Spiderland remains, though, not quite the insurmountable masterpiece its reputation may suggest. Brian McMahan softly speaks/screams his way through the asphyxiated music and too often evokes strangled pity instead of outright empathy. Which probably speaks more about the potential dangers of pretentious post-rock than the frigid musical climate of the album itself. Surely, years later, Spiderland is still a strong, slightly overrated, compelling piece of investigational despair that is a worthy asset to most any experimentalist's record collection. ~ Dean Carlson

Beloved of critics, ignored by the record-buying public, Slint stretched six tracks over 40 minutes and left an indelible impression on almost everyone. The songs on SPIDERLAND evolve of their own accord, without reference to narrative structure. What at first glance appears meandering and prosaic ("For Dinner ...") becomes, on second and subsequent listenings, hypnotic, beatific and pan-dimensional. If Brian McMahon has a peer as alternative rock's most innovative guitarist it would have to be Steve Albini, who just happens to be the producer on SPIDERLAND. The back of the CD features the legend: "This recording is meant to be listened to on vinyl", as if to ram home its left-field credentials. Whatever format you choose, SPIDERLAND will not disappoint.