Editing Slint (section)

=== 1991: ''Spiderland'' and dissolution ===
Paulson and Slint met over a weekend to record ''[[Spiderland]]'' in Chicago. It was recorded live, with vocals overdubbed in no more than two takes and with little to no rehearsal on the part of McMahan.<ref name="Simpson, 2014" /> The group used two different microphones to record vocals: one for softer, spoken voices, and one for louder, sung voices. During mixdown, Paulson and the group tried adding different effects, but all these were rejected, resulting in a very pared-down production sound.<ref name="Bangs, 2014" /> The day after ''Spiderland''{{'}}s recording session ended, McMahan checked himself into a mental hospital where he was diagnosed with depression, and left the band a few months later.<ref name="Simpson, 2014" /> 

[[Will Oldham]], a longtime friend of the band, took numerous photos of the group as potential album covers. Some were taken in a nearby [[quarry]] and one was chosen with Slint's four members' heads bobbing above the surface of the [[water]].<ref name="D, Minds, 2014">{{cite web|last=Schneider|first=Martin|date=December 18, 2014|title=Slint and Will Oldham discuss that famous 'Spiderland' album cover|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/slint_and_will_oldham|access-date=January 7, 2017|website=Dangerous Minds}}</ref> Touch and Go released ''Spiderland'' in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|date=November 17, 2003|title=Top 100 Albums of the 1990s|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/?page=9|access-date=November 20, 2010|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Parker|first=Chris|date=February 9, 2005|title=Brian Paulson: Studio aethetics|url=http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A23657|journal=[[Indy Week]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330130145/https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/brian-paulson/Content?oid=1194172|archive-date=March 30, 2018|access-date=July 17, 2007}}</ref> The album was unlike anything else that the label had released to date. Slint was to have gone on a European tour after its release, but with the band no longer together, there were no tours, interviews, [[photo]] or video shoots to promote the album.<ref name="Bangs, 2014" /> Despite this, the album's repute grew and it continued to sell several thousand copies annually in the years following its release--a considerable feat for an indie record by a defunct group--and a mystique around the record, and the artists who made it, began to grow.<ref name="Bangs, 2014" />

''Spiderland'' is considered a seminal work,<ref>{{cite web|last=Riggs|first=Richard|date=February 17, 2009|title=Slowcore Week: Slint and Codeine - a shared musical language?|url=https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136138|access-date=November 20, 2010|website=[[Drowned in Sound]]|archive-date=February 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220233646/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136138|url-status=dead}}</ref> characterized by dark, [[Syncopation|syncopated]] rhythms, sparse guitar lines and haunting subject matter. The record's impact was such that many fans and critics have come to consider it a foundational post-rock album.<ref name="D, Minds, 2014" /> ''Spiderland'' included an address seeking a female vocalist; the English songwriter [[PJ Harvey]] was among the applicants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferrier |first=Aimee |date=2024-02-05 |title=When PJ Harvey tried to join Slint |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/pj-harvey-tried-to-join-slint/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=[[Far Out (magazine)|Far Out]] |language=en-US}}</ref>