Slint’s landmark Spiderland, now 23 years old, will be reissued as a deluxe box set by Touch and Go in April.
No other band was as largely overlooked during its relatively brief lifespan as Slint, which posthumously became one of the most influential and far-reaching bands to emerge from the American underground the 1980s. The band broke up before the release of its magnum opus Spiderland, and couldn’t reap the rewards of its legacy: Innovative and iconoclastic, the group’s deft, extremist manipulations of volume, tempo and structure cast them as clear (though unwitting) progenitors of the post-rock movement that blossomed in the decades to come.
The box set includes the album, remastered from the original analog master tapes by Bob Weston and pressed on 180 gram vinyl, plus 14 previously unreleased demos, outtakes and live cuts. (The box set comes with a CD of all of the above, too.)
The box set also comes with a 104-page book replete with never-before-seen photos documenting Slint’s entire history, as well as lyrics to the songs on Spiderland and a forward by Will Oldham. (Most of Slint’s members spent at least a little time in Oldham’s Palace Music project, and Oldham took the album’s famous cover photo.) There’s also the brand-new, 90-minute documentary Breadcrumb Trail documentary about Slint and the making of Spiderland; it’s directed by Lance Bangs.
There are only 3,138 copies available, and a limited number of pre-ordered box sets will be signed by all four members of Slint. Pre-orders also include a T-shirt created from the re-discovered silk screen used to print Slint’s one and only tour shirt.
You can pre-order the box set here, and the tracklisting is below.
SIDE A
breadcrumb trail (remastered)
nosferatu man (remastered)
don, aman (remastered)
SIDE B
washer (remastered)
for dinner… (remastered)
good morning, captain (remastered)
SIDE C
Nosferatu Man (basement practice)
Washer (basement practice)
Good Morning, Captain (demo)
SIDE D
Pam (rough mix, Spiderland outtake)
Glenn (Spiderland outtake)
Todd’s Song (post-Spiderland song in progress)
SIDE E
Brian’s Song (post-Spiderland demo)
Cortez The Killer (live Chicago 1989)
SIDE F
Washer (4 track vocal demo)
Nosferatu Man (4 track vocal demo)
Pam (4 track vocal demo)
Good Morning, Captain (Evanston riff tape)
Nosferatu Man (Evanston riff tape)
Pam (Evanston riff tape)