Shearwater - Palo Santo

So, Rook. Pretty great, right?

I just got it yesterday - my first experience of the band. I think musically it's fantastic but I'm still coming around on the vocals. Technically they're outstanding but I also find them occasionally offputting. Second and third listen didn't bother me as much as first listen, though.

it's fantastic.

definitely a grower...agree that the vocals take a few listens to sink in...

Never heard of these dudes before but Matador sent me the 12" apros of nothing, with a download card, and I'm just on my first listen now - I must say I can see why they sent it me; I'm loving it so far and can only see my affection for it growing.

Man, were they right to send it to me.

i still think the talk talk comparisons are off but rook is really amazing nonetheless

There IS a big Talk Talk (or, more likely, Mark Hollis solo) influence, but it's totally overplayed, yes.

have you heard their cover of "the rainbow," nick?

I haven't; I gather it's on the b-side of the Rooks single? I'll try and pick the single up. Tiny Mixtapes said it was "laughably faithful" or something, but they also gave the album 2/5.

Album of the year.

Liking this very much indeed; ta for the tip on the Fleet Foxes thread, Nick. Vocals still sound a bit like Richard Thompson in places.

they are touring with coldplay in the states, so weird

Here's that cover:
http://stereogum.com/archives/tour-dates/shearwater-cover-talk-talk-jonathan-meiburg-leaves_009819.html

I never really got how people thought they sounded like Talk Talk, and I was having a discussion at work about how Pitchfork was crazy for comparing them to Talk Talk, and this kid comes up with the CD and I said, "man I was just talking about this album," to which he responds, "Yeah, it sounds exactly like Talk Talk." I tried not to laugh.

I should tell this story more often.

There's a Talk Talk influence but I get Scott Walker meets Final Fantasy meets Kate Bush meets... something else, before Talk Talk.

Definitely Final Fantasy.
I think I like this band more than Okkervil River.

The reissue of Palo Santo was entirely re-recorded, right? The remakes I've heard sounded great. Another take on (and track from) the current one: http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=1532

yeah "too much bbcode" if I try to post more than one link per post, so here's another PTW review of another Shearwater track:
http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=1676

Five trakcs of Palo Santo were re-recorded on the second disc, I understand - the first disc is the same mixes but mastered differently, I think. I've not heard the original so I'm just going off reviews here, though.

I don't really hear Final Fantasy, but I do think that "The Snow Leopard" sounds like a take on "Pyramid Song."

Yes, I think of "Pyramid Song" every time that one comes on.

Has Louis heard this yet? Awesome record.

Album of the year.

Wait, what? THIS SHEARWATER DISC IS ALBUM OF THE YEAR?

For me, aye - this, followed by Elbow, The Do, Portishead, Fleet Foxes, Yothmovies, Spiritualized, the Four Tet EP. I love this. Reminds me of Wind In The Wires by Patrick Wolf.

Rook has succeeded in haunting me with his charms

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