Slint's Spiderland (33 1/3) [Paperback]

Having read approx a dozen of these little books from the 333series, this is the first time I have felt compelled to provide a review. This is not to say the other books were bad. There are two or three where I felt the writer had managed in capturing the album, the band and the bands philosophy re. their own music (whether spoken or not) and merge that into a tight unit that structured the writing on that ideal.

This book has been written by Scott Tennent, who also incidentally has a blog called Pretty goes with Pretty. I mention this as it will give you a good idea on his writing. I bought the book regardless, but reading some of his thoughts on music you can quickly appreciate he writes in a solid manner, can appreciate the poetry of music, without sounding esoteric you lose interest.

If you are a fan of Slint, this book will no doubt fill in blanks, perhaps the detail that the writer goes into with the recording of Spiderland, perhaps the detail with the history that led up to the start of Slint. The influence and support of Steve Albini to help Slint be heard by a wider group of people.
Overall the writer appreciates the historical factors that run up to Spiderland and discusses this in enough detail so you don't feel you have just jumped into a great big hole with no context.

Most importantly for me, Tennent weaves and unfolds the slight and tender story of Slint so much that even if you know everything about Slint it will still grab you. It unfolds in such a way that you almost feel and hear the music in the reading. It sucks you into Spiderland and keeps you there for the duration of the book. It lets you appreciate what is going on with the music. It lets you see the precision and control and compositional talent these guys manifested with Spiderland. The care and attention they lavished and also the sadness of the split.
When the writer knows his/her subject, then that writing enhances what is being written about and this is certainly the case with Spiderland. Even if you have heard it 100 times you still take something else, something new from the music experience.

Tennent doesn't fall into hero worship, at times he sees flaws and misgivings with Slint, Spiderland and Tweez. However, this doesn't hinder him on seeing what lies within - that the flaws and the weakness still reveal greatness.

If you are not a fan of Slint, or have not heard the music, this offers you a great chance to find something not only new, but something that will last as a companion to the music and this is music to last.

If you're a fan of Slint, this book will enrich your appriciation of them tenfold. Written not just about Spiderland, but of their entire (short) life, it covers everything you'd want to know about this important band.

It's not ALL great and the author sometimes slips into too much fan service (the in depth descriptions of song structure are sometimes a bit too much - despite that sounding fascinating!). A fantastic read though, and my first 33 1/3 book.

bought for son in law for xmas. he loved it. but it WAS what he wanted.not my cup of tea but each to their own. i dont read thois sort of thing myself so not a good review. if you like this sort of book then you will probably like this one. he did