Reddit reviews Slint's Spiderland (33 1/3)

The Live experience is invaluable however .. compositional magic made by the tinkering of instruments in unison and pace ..

Take the band Slint for example, who had spent some 4 to 5 months, each day, hammering out their songs together .. virtually 6 hour gruell fests .. turning a practice space into live shows mostly no one got to see .. every day like that for months .. but the commitment was visceral .. which came through brilliantly on their Spiderland album which was laid down in total during a few short days .. less than one weeks time .. their precision and skill was referenced in connotation to a 'fine tuned machine'. Quoting 33 1/3 series "For four months, five days a week, eight hours a day, Slint more or less worked on just four songs. Absolutely every facet of Spiderland - every off-note, every snare hit, every whisper and shout, was deliberate. The band had become a machine." Scott Tennent

A similar experience was documented in europe by the Beatles no less ... who worked such a gruelling live schedule around europe, mostly Germany that they satirized it in song, "8 Days a Week". And people all over the world came to love their recorded output, which showcased skills honed over many nights and many months.

If a band hasn't committed itself to perfecting its art .. the live experience will be bloody uninspiring and virtually a waste of time .. whether the audience is the best possible audience or not .. though I agree an unsuitable arena and an obnoxious audience is a real mood killer irrespective of the quality of sounds on display.

Touring and being on the road is a hard, hard deal to engage in .. but the bands that persevere the trial and tribulations almost universally lay down better albums .. when many artists combine to join forces and collaborate .. the overall result is kinetic - moving. When that energy is honed after months of extensive, exhaustive recitation of compiled works .. quality reaches maximum heights, especially in the recording studio.

Being half-hearted in approach or unwilling to rely on a diversity of views, skills, sounds ultimately utilized in a cooperative creative fashion and interaction.. will ultimately diminish the final product in subjective ways .. some multi-instrumentalists do a decent job in the studio by themselves I suppose, but I seriously doubt anyone would legitimately hold up such works as classic, epic, groundbreaking when compared to works created by a cadre of like minded yet individually unique artists working toward a singular goal of creating master works like The Concept Album .. or The Statement Album .. or the Master Thesis Album .. or the What-Have-You album that just plain kills, cause you can feel it in your bones .. an education in sound .. etc. ... in the Computer Software world the idea is referenced this way - Having Many Eyes on the Problem Leads to quicker, better and more reliable solutions.

The Live Show is critical and quintessential .. but it is not something that can be experienced on a routine basis without the experience becoming routine. And imagine how hard it must be for the band, even geniuses are not genius at everything, and bad days happen, we all have had them, shit goes wrong .. you know what I mean. To be perfect all the time is an impossibility. I am amazed that their is any success at all .. but there is and man is it rewarding for all involved.

My favorite live experiences were shows that took place in big venues .. outside the dive bar circuit .. but I have deep love for the dive bars that play host to young upstarts who learn invaluable lessons that when utilized effectively, launch bands to ever bigger and better venues later on.

I am not young anymore .. when I was young I loved the wild, the exotic, the daring and different .. and was very willing to put up with discomfort .. because it seemed then that was all I ever knew. So there were no such things as bad shows back then though logistically that is an impossibility .. it's just that my indifference to formality and civility reaped zero negative ramifications.

Now older .. I like a more refined presentation of art .. I like wide eyed scope .. kindness, politeness, and courtesy. I want to sit down among civilized people and openly drink a simple mixed drink or two (rum and coke), while I experience music played live .. and a shared elation between the audience and band is always a welcome relief.

What bands provides this most excellent of situations with their live music you may be wondering .. to close out this rather long winded and tangential discussion, I will present a brief list - Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, Nordic Giants. In fact Nordic Giants is my go to band for how shows and post rock should be done. Since thankfully they have done it though, others should take lessons then hopefully make their own unique identity. As for Outside the Scope of Music, Cirque du Soleil 'O' is pure genius. - thanks for reading.

I'd also recommend Spiderland by Scott Tennett which will take you further down the rabbit hole...

I would heavily recommend Scott Tennent's book on Spiderland from the 33 1/3 series. The series varies wildly in quality, but of those that I've read, this is easily the best. It's a history of the band from its member's high school music groups all the way up through its dissolution.