Shearwater - Palo Santo

anyone seen them live? should I? I suppose it will sell out so I'd better make a decision soon

a thin line between kitschy twee and art, coldplay/b&s and talk talk/scott walker.
whatever you think about this record depends on which side you think dominates it.

Way more rewarding than Coldplay, even if vocals can be too similar--Scott Walker yeah could be, and/or Gary Puckett And The Union Gap with input from Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach, the eco-gothic themes and atmospheres somewhat like Mary Shelley's The Last Man. Maybe some Lord Of The Flies, little bit: anyway "The Lost Boys" closer to Golding than Barrie (although the narratives and themes can't be reduced too easily; that Okkevil River connection does for lit smarts)

they do open for coldplay on their current tour, and of course wayy better and intersting than coldplay, but i can see why it wont appeal to some people

This might be the indie shmindie album of the year, though probably not the regular one. It really just sounds like a dressed-up singer-songwriter record to me, and the guy can definitely sing a little.

I don't know, guys, after two spins, not feeling this one nearly as much as Palo Santo.

It's so...twee and whiny...maybe the last album was too and I was too immediately smitten to notice?

Twee and whiny are not words I recognise in relation to this record.

Twee and whiny are not words I recognise in relation to this record.

It is mannered and at times dramatique, though.

Yes but neither of those things are the same as twee or whiny.

Has Louis heard this yet? It's too short and not prog enough for him, I suspect. Has a similar atmosphere to the last 65dos record - environmental paranoia - but presented in a more... mythological way. It's Tolkein rather than Threads, allegory rather than pseudo-documentary.

Listened to this a lot as I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and they're now tied up together in my mind, not as close parallels but as vague allusions, thematic links, impressions of disaster and extreme emotion. Rook resolves itself, though; the piano chords and vocal melody on the final song, after the traumatic, too-brief-but-just-right climax of The Snow Leopard, with the horn, that blast atop the mountain,and then nothing, and then these really gentle chords and this delicate, melancholy, but uplifting melody... it's like the guitar-as-sunlight-breaking-clouds intro to New Grass, but sweeter, less desolate. The world hasn't ended and been reborn, as in Laughing Stock, but... perhaps humanity has left it, and nature has gladly taken over again?

More bollocks later.

Has anyone made the 'Ditchwater more like' gag yet?

Yeah, I think so.

you know what this album really sounds like, though? Tori Amos. in a good way.

ok OK let's pay amazon.co.uk a little visit

another vote for this (Rook). Gorgeous album.

Album of the year so far for me, that and The Brother Kite's new one.

its ok. its like a semi plugged in version of the czars with a worse singer. and a bird fixation.

sorry wrong album reference-- ive been listening to rook.

i am *finally* listening to this album

I take it you mean Rook rather than Palo Santo? Although PS is also good.

er yeah I mean Rook

no mention of Neutral Milk Hotel on this thread so far

(semi-trolling there but only semi)

Actually, I'm liking this.

"Century Eyes" is balling! Probably the most immediate track so far. And now Nick Drake has taken over the album.

Obv "Snow Leopard" is gorgeous, but y'all probably knew that already

yeah yeah ok you were right, i totally slept on this

*chalks another one up*

You got the Notwist album, right? You're aware of it's subtle, alchemical beauty, right?

The Notwist album is also on Spotify, so I'll be listening to it later, I suspect. Have a job interview in the meantime. :D

(Might give a couple of tracks a go after my 2nd listen-thru of Rook)

rook ended up being my #4 album of 08. the structure and pacing of it is pretty much flawless.

I said this elsewhere but Rook, for me, is like mushrooms--not the drugs, but the food. Sorta delicious and repellent at the same time. Sometimes I'm really drawn in by this album; other times the guy's affectations just gross me out. Often it's the same moment in a song that does both. Still, the one long song, I think it's track 3 (don't have it nearby), puts me off more than it turns me on. That's the one song that ultimately keeps me from shouting "superb! superb! superb!"

Sometimes I feel bloody proud to be a corny indie fuxxor, and "The Snow Leopard" is one such time.

"rooks" is p rad song mb the best on the whole album

btw it is maybe the second-best song idk

tht abt doing a drunken liveblog thing in memoriam display names past tbh but

which one is best? "snow leopard"?

yh obv sry

wow I just caught the direct quote from Van Morrison's "You Don't Pull No Punches..." in "Home Life". weird!

I never really investigated anything that followed, though I went back to Palo Santo and quite enjoyed that.

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/17/shearwater-rook-2008/

Ehh, none of the records that have come since are half as good.

nice writeup on rook xp