Första singeln från kommande albumet The Golden Archipelago har nu släppts. Det är dramatiskt som vanligt men jag tycker att de, som de nästan alltid gör, landar på rätt sida av vad som är sunt.

Castaway

Jag har bloggat om Shearwater tidigare, här.

Matador bjussar på gratis nedladdning i antingen 256kbps eller FLAC format samt omslag etc här.

The Golden Archipelago, the third album Shearwater will release via Matador and is scheduled to be released on Feb 23rd in the US and a week earlier (the 15th) in the rest of the world. We’ll have more information about the record (and its companion piece, the ‘Golden Dossier’) up here soon, but in the meantime, here’s a ‘trailer’ :

Golden Archipelago is Shearwater’s follow up to Rook, (2008). The people over at Matador recordsd describe the album as a reflection of Jonathan Meiburg’s “attention to life on islands – a world of lushness and austerity, silence and sudden cataclysms. From rising sea levels to displaced populations, Meiburg travels from the Falklands to Madgascar, from the Bikini Atoll to the Tierra Del Fuego.

here’s a live performance from Rook, we are so excited to hear this new album and will be looking for tour dates in NA whenever they are announced!

Quite a few songs pass over my desk each day and it’s becoming less and less often that one causes me to sit back, take pause and let every note sink in. That’s what Shearwater’s “Castaways” has done to me this afternoon. It’s ambitious, lush and just shy of epic. Simply put it’s just a beautiful track. Jonathan Meiburg’s voice is a feature and fits in somewhere between operatic and baroque.

Along with the music the album will include a 50 page bound book with pictures and details about Meiburg’s trips from the Falklands to Madagascar and the Bikini Atoll to the Tierra Del Fuego.

“Castaways” is featured on the upcoming LP The Golden Archipelago, out February 23rd via Matador Records. From now until the street date you can pre-order the album and receive a 15% discount here.

The weekend I have planned is going to be the death of me.

Friday, heading down to Shearwater with Nic and Ben to meet up with some crazy ladies.

Then, coming home Saturday and going to go set up for my gig.

(I is a DJ yah see!)

Seedy Sunday will be spent with some good mates.

Then on Monday, will head down to the middle of no where to dance on roofs.

ILOVECOLLEGE!

I used to think of Shearwater as only the band that had a strong connection to one of my favorite groups, Okkervil River.  Giving a listen to the song “Castaways”, which will be included on their upcoming album, The Golden Archipelago, I’m totally revisiting that flawed theory.

Go to the Matador blog, and listen to it.

Shearwater’s “Castaways,” from The Golden Archipelago, not yet released.

I was just wondering this morning when Shearwater would come out with a new album, and today I get my answer.

The band has released details about their third album The Golden Archipelago on Matador Records February 23. Check out the first song below, via Pitchfork.

01 Meridian
02 Black Eyes
03 Landscape at Speed
04 Hidden Lakes
05 Corridors
06 God Made Me
07 Runners of the Sun
♫ Castaways
09 An Insular Life
10 Uniforms
11 Missing Islands

*********************************************

It seems like all I’ve been reporting lately are new albums! There is a TON of stuff coming out next year that I am so excited for! There isn’t much else new stuff coming out right now, but I will be putting up my favorite songs from 2009 and then my favorite albums, so be on the look-out.

Whoaaaaaa! What’s happened? Where has bandspam gone, I hear all you London/Mancunian musos (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, thanks for the love) looking for yourselves here say?

Well, bandspam has been occupied with things other than music this year. In fact, bandspam’s year could conceivably support Eastenders with storylines for about….a year. Let’s not get into that. Instead, let me lead your eyes to the sweetest sounds you could be gracing your ears with right now.

But first, what was the copyright infringement thing going on?!?! You know what I’m talking about. Bandspam has been in existence since late ‘08. I’d be the first to be cocky about it’s cool sounding name. Course I would – it’s my blog. So what’s with the BANDSLAM film name?!?!! Don’t copy me and then not credit me! That is blatant copyright  infringement and we’re both writing about music. Don’t think you can just get all corporate on me because I write this blog for nobler causes than dollar bills. Don’t think just because your story (fictional, I might add) is set in the States, and I run a serious report on the state of music in London town. YOU RELEASED THE FILM OVER HERE TOO, YOU STOMPED ON MY MARKET!!!

Phew. Well, now that is off my chest, onto more musical issues.

Speaking of Warren Ellis, more avid readers of bandspam will remember he graciously accepted a cherry ripe bar from bandspam’s mate at an after party gig last year. Well, either the adulation or the sugar seems to have seriously messed up Mr Ellis, but, I have to say, in a good way. Dirty Three were my highlight from 2009’s most excellent Green Man festival, due to Warren Ellis being wasted onstage, inviting the audience to write new material for them, and also arguing with his bandmates when he thought he was off-mic about his inebriated state. The man is a genius. The music was amazing, the light show played through the rain and people released paper fire lanterns into the night sky. I would pay good money again and again to see Dirty Three if they were half as good every time. I urge everybody everywhere to get hold of an album from their label, Hope and Anchor.

I haven’t seen any smaller gigs round London town…this year it’s been all big hitters, Beirut and Shearwater in May, Final Fantasy, the entire previously mentioned Green Man festival…still, who knows what will happen in 2010? Here’s to the little gig.

Music @ Videos

Yee to the haw, it doth be Friday once more. A propos of nothing, I have just finished watching the HBO mini-series on the invasion of Iraq Generation Kill. As an offering, it is a bit of a mixed bag, but there are still some great characters featured in it and it seems like a genuine attempt to represent the thoughts and feelings of the men on the front-line. Do expect much more sitting around in camp and driving about in Humvees than all-out action though! Also, give the Iceman his own spin-off series!

Moving on to the music, Shearwater are meant to be back in early 2010 with their latest album. They really are a marvellous band and you can get a taster for what they have in mind below. Why?’s Eskimo Snow may not have made the same impact this year as Alopecia did last year. However, I really love the song These Hands and the video below is the perfect accompaniment to it.

Also featuring are (new-to-me) Headlights and Prairie Cat, the well-established Califone, and a song from Simian Mobile Disco that features Beth Ditto on vocals.

Bon weekend tout le monde!

Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago

oooOOOooo

Headlights – Love Song for Buddy

oooOOOooo

Why? – These Hands / January Twenty Something

oooOOOooo

Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions

oooOOOooo

Califone – Funeral Singers

oooOOOooo

Prairie Cat – Just Cuz

Watch Shearwater deliver a beautiful live performance of “The Snow Leopard,” originally released on their 2008 LP Rook.

Also head to their home page for a preview of their forthcoming LP The Golden Archipelago, set to release February 23. Now this is how you preview an album (we’re looking at you, Evangelicals). Set your calendars.

shearwater : castaways

Νέοι Shearwater το Φεβρουάριο. Μετά το Palo Santo και το Rook ακολουθεί το The Golden Archipelago. Jonathan Meiburg ! Μιλάμε για απίστευτη φωνή. Άσε που κάποτε ήταν και ορνιθολόγος. Εξ ου και το όνομα.

Άκου το Palo Santo εδώ και video εδώ

Shearwater has a new album entitled The Golden Archipelago due out  February 23rd on Matador Records.  You can watch a teaser trailer here – Link

Here is Shearwater playing a song off of the new album:

Es víspera de año nuevo en L.A., y dos corazones desamparados buscan encontrarse para sellar con un beso el peor año de sus vidas. In Search of a Midnight Kiss es una comedia romántica Indie filmada enteramente en blanco y negro, de diálogos hilarantes,  situaciones caóticas  y personajes conmovedores. Creo que lo que más me ha gustado de este film es su realismo y autenticidad, sin pretenciones ni posturas, refrescante realmente y con un soundtrack muy interesante con bandas como Shearwater (4 cortes todas de “Winget Life”) y Okkervil River – aunque podemos decir que éstas dos son “casi” lo mismo-, además de temas de Sybil (nunca había escuchado de ellos en realidad, presentan un cover bastante curioso de “Wind of Change”)  y The Mendoza Line.

Mi único reclamo es que está disponible sólo en formato digital (en iTunes Store o Amazon.com).

Los dejo con mis dos temas favoritos y el trailer.

The Kind – Shearwater (Winged Life, 2004)

A Hush – Shearwater (Winged Life, 2004)

michelangelo antonioni-caetano veloso-2001

must be the moon-!!!-myth takes-2007

the music lovers-destroyer-your blues-2004

mirador-efterklang-parades-2007

mothertongue pt1 -archive-nico muhly-2008

the one you love-rufus wainwright-want two-2004

over and over-hot chip-the warning-2006

painter in your pocket-destroyer’s rubies-2006

peacock tail-boards of canada-the campfire headphase-2005

palo santo-shearwater-palo santo-2006

the rip-portishead-third-2008

Oh, and birds. Possibly even music…and a band named Shearwater

Well… After a couple of months of waiting my copy of Winged Life by Shearwater finally arrived today. (It was, in fact, the second copy that I had to buy, and actually arrived quite quickly, but I waited five weeks for the first one. Thankfully my money for the original purchase was refunded, and due to a stronger Aussie dollar the second purchase worked out to be significantly cheaper – which was nice).

Anyway, the point… if I have one… I guess I should mention that I came at Shearwater a little backwards. I bought Rook first, though I had been predominantly listening to tracks from Palo Santo, purely because it was the only album of theirs available in Australia. Rook pretty much made me go ok, now I have to get every other song this band has recorded… Which is pretty much what I do whenever I listen to something that is immediately affecting (it can take me a while – my post about Pillars and Tongues was several months ago, and I only just last week received my copy of the album Protection… but I do always get there in the end XD). Plus there’s the thing I have for birds and music with bird themes…so I guess Shearwater get double – perhaps even triple – bonus points for that; so says a ninja-owl, anyways.

But back to the point. Which I can’t remember. Right, so I bought the expanded edition of Palo Santo after that, then the original version. I’m actually really glad I bought the expanded edition first, it’s quite easy to hear why they wanted to re-record the songs. Not that the original version is terrible to listen to by comparison, but the expanded edition takes what was a good album and clearly re-defines it, making it a great album.

So, on to Winged Life… I’m towards the end of my second listen, which means I’m still getting to know the album – but, wow. Really. For the most part it’s considerably more delicate than Rook, musically if not lyrically, and that’s pretty much what I love about it. Shearwater have a style and sound which I have always descibed as majestic, and sometimes majesty is beautifully gentle yet no less powerful. (That there would be the point, I guess…)

Yay for me and my ears.

S4E

The Leisure Society on The Garden Stage

Well, it has been over a week since I got back from the End of The Road Festival, and the delay in writing is down to a busy schedule and wondering how on earth I could do justice to such an amazing weekend in a blog post (or few). I had such an incredible time I could probably waffle on for weeks, but instead I’ll try and capture my thoughts as efficiently as possible.

In a sentence:
“Had an amazing time at the End of The Road: 3 days, 24 bands, gorgeous setting, fab weather, great food, lots of laughs and very good company. I’ve found my festival!” [as I posted to Facebook immediately on my return]

In a paragraph:

A really welcoming, well organised festival that is clearly run and staffed by people who love music, and very good music at that.  The setting is unique and wonderful and the line-up was really excellent – that 24 band tally could have easily been 30 if it weren’t for scheduling clashes and not being able to be in two places at once. Got to see some bands I love play live for the first time, and discovered many more great bands and artists. Great weather helped, but the atmosphere was lovely and friendly, all facilities and refreshments were far better than expected and it all added up to a wonderful experience I’ll never forget. A cracking choice for my festival debut!

The top ten

So, who were the best? In order to build suspense slightly, I’ll cover my top ten favourites from the weekend in reverse order:

10.  Fleet Foxes (Garden Stage, Saturday 9.30-11.00pm)

They were good, but not as good as expected. Headlining on Saturday night was always going to be difficult for a band with only one album’s worth of material. Long gaps between songs, constant needless retuning of guitars and one awful cover version (‘Go your own way’ by Fleetwood Mac? Why cover a band/song that’s far worse than your own material?) used up the time, but detracted from the spectacle. As did the moronic wailing of a drunken idiot in our vicinity trying to ’sing’ along. Why would someone do that when listening to a band famed for their wonderful harmonising? Because he was an absolute ………  However, it’s hard to think of a better band to listen to in this setting – surrounded by a forest under a clear star-filled sky. Best songs: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, White Winter Hymnal.

9. Neko Case (Garden Stage, Sunday 7.45 -8.45pm)

One of many very nice surprises over the weekend, Miss Case and her band delivered a very lively, varied set with great energy and enthusiasm. Good songs, great co-singer and amusing banter made for a very pleasant warm-up for The Hold Steady immediately afterwards. Best songs: Some People Gotta Lot of Nerve, Middle Cyclone, Don’t Forget Me.

The Acorn: two drummers, fine tunes

8. The Acorn (Garden Stage, Saturday 4.45 -5.45pm)

Another pleasant surprise. We’d decided to stay in the Garden Stage area after The Broken Family Band because it was such a gorgeous sunny afternoon. Had never heard of The Acorn before, but the programme write-up sounded promising, and so it proved. Folk rock with a world music tinge, two drummers and a very smiley and amiable lead singer combined with some chilled out, dreamy songs matched the weather and the mid-afternoon mood perfectly. Best songs: Crooked Legs, Hold Your Breath.

7.  Darren Hayman (Garden Stage, Saturday 1.00 – 1.45pm)

Biggest and best surprise of the weekend. Neither I nor my mate Jon had heard of Darren Hayman, but we were in such a great mood after the wonderful opening set from the Leisure Society that we stayed put on our comfortable chairs and gave him a chance. Very glad we did. Turns out he used to be the singer in Hefner, a semi-popular indie band of the mid to late 90’s and he is still in possession of an ear for a good tune and some of the funniest lyrics I’ve ever heard. He clearly loves this festival, and his enthusiasm, great humour and sunny disposition create a really convivial atmosphere in marked contrast to his arch songs of suburban tedium. Best songs: Pram Town, Rachel and Amy.

6.  Dirty Projectors (Garden Stage, Friday 7.45 – 8.45pm)

Immediately preceded by a great Festival moment – sitting down to give our legs a much needed rest, a couple of parrots flew just over our heads as the sun started setting. That moment of tranquility was soon shattered by the experiments in noise being conducted by Dirty Projectors. Three girls, three guys, some occasional screeching vocals, and frenetic guitar sequences produced a barrage of sound that was sometimes challenging but also very fresh and interesting. Their boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm combined with some impressive songs to create a very memorable set which would have been worthy of the headline slot they just missed out on. Best songs: No Intention, Two Doves, Stillness Is The Move, Remade Horizon, Knotty Pine.

The Broken Family Band: It's All Over - literally

5.  The Broken Family Band (Garden Stage, Saturday 3.30 -4.15pm)

In the three months between seeing the ads for the festival line-up and actually attending, I’d discovered the many delights of The Broken Family Band’s back catalogue and was greatly looking forward to seeing them. Even more so as they’d announced a couple of weeks before the End of The Road that they are splitting up in October, so this would possibly be my first and last chance to see them. They didn’t disappoint exactly, and produced a very enjoyable set, but because they didn’t include many of my favourite songs I was left a little underwhelmed, probably hampered by sky-high expectations. There were still some great moments, including great versions of ‘It’s All Over’ and ‘John Belushi’, but the understated set was perhaps  best summed up by the singer’s intro to their last song: “It’s not one of our best songs, but it’s in A”.

4.  The Leisure Society (Garden Stage, Saturday 12.00 – 12.30pm)

I knew very little indeed about this Brighton-based band before they opened Saturday on the Garden Stage, but they provided probably the nicest surprise of the weekend. They were only on stage for half an hour but made a very big impression, their intelligent, beautifully played indie-pop songs providing the perfect backdrop to a sunny Saturday lunchtime. In particular their female flute player and the two guys on violin and cello who’d travelled overnight from France to get here really shone. Another highlight was the very witty banter from the singer/keyboardist, which greatly amused us but seemed to pass over the heads of most of the assembled throng. The songs were more than enough on their own though, and ensured that I downloaded their debut album ‘The Sleeper’ on my return home. It’s since become a firm favourite and I’d love to see them play live again soon now I’m familiar with the songs. Best songs: Matter of Time, A Fighting Chance, The Last of The Melting Snow, Save It For Someone Who Cares.

3.  The Duke & The King (Big Top, Friday 6.00 – 6.45pm)

Friday’s highlight was a fantastic performance from The Duke & The King which really lifted the festival to another level. I’d been enjoying their first album recently and was looking forward to seeing them here, but wasn’t prepared for how good they’d be live.  Simon Felice (from the band the Felice Brothers) made an early bid for front man of the festival with a mesmirising display – shy he ain’t! In fact all four band members gave energetic performances full of soul that transformed many of their songs into really moving, uplifting experiences. They all enjoyed their moment in the limelight too: the female violinist and the bassist taking centre stage for a fantastic rendition of ‘Suzanne’, and the drummer pretty much stealing the show with his spine-tingling vocal contributions. Best songs: If You Ever Get Famous, Suzanne, Union Street.

2.  The Hold Steady (Garden Stage, Sunday 9.30 – 11.00pm)

They’ve been one of my favourite bands for a couple of years now, and this was the first time I was going to see them live. Given the fact that they were virtually closing the festival, in Sunday’s headline slot, I was a bit worried that my expectations would be too great and I’d be disappointed. Not so.

By the time they came on stage I was very excited, and it was just great to be able to hear so many songs I like given a new lease of life by a band on the top of their form. Well, eventually. It took a little while for them to get into their stride and the sound engineers took about 5 songs to get Craig Finn’s microphone right, which is a bit of a disadvantage when you miss all the lyrical nuances because the singer’s not properly in the mix.  They got better and better as the set went on, the whole band growing in confidence and enthusiasm. Franz Nicolay on keyboard was coolness personified – playing incredibly whilst appearing to be making no effort whatsoever, and as Craig Finn careered round the stage, yelling and jumping up and down he carried off a perfect impression of a man who loves his job. A great end to a fantastic weekend.  Best songs: Stuck Between Stations, Chips Ahoy!, Massive Nights, Your Little Hoodrat Friend.

1.  Joe Gideon & The Shark (Big Top, Sunday 3.00 – 3.45pm)

And the best performance of the weekend? An absolute belter, quite out of the blue, from this London-based brother and sister duo who have more than a whiff of The White Stripes about them. Except they have better songs. I’d checked them out on Spotify a week before the festival and was impressed enough to suggest to Jon that we should make sure we saw them. So glad I did! After a slightly unsure start, playing two of their weakest songs, Jon showed signs of wanting to do a runner, as we had on a couple of occasions already on Sunday. Thankfully we stayed put and were rewarded as from somewhere, something quite magical started to happen.  The Shark, on drums and sampler keyboards, started playing out of her skin and was mesmirising to watch. Her confidence seemed to rub off on her sibling, who discovered an unforeseen swagger and started wielding his guitar like a weapon.

A four song sequence at the end of the set was worth the admission price for the weekend alone: After the amusing and raucous ‘Hide And Seek’, came the wonderful ‘Kathy Ray’ gently unfolding the tale of a backing singer reliving past glories. By this stage there was a real emotional bond between band and audience and the next song took everything to another level. ‘Anything You Love That Much … You Will See Again’ is a really beautiful, moving yet uplifting song that just came to life in the Big Top here in a way you couldn’t replicate on record. Hit by wave after wave of raw emotion, I suddenly understood why bands play live. It was a spine-tingling, jaw-dropping moment, and the best song of the festival for me. I couldn’t believe they didn’t finish there, with the entire tent in their palms. As it was, the bold move of playing ‘Civilisation’ as their closing song paid off and left me buzzing and breathless. What a show!

Best of the rest

Suspense is not as important with these, so I’ll keep to numerical order:

11.  She Keeps Bees (The Local, Sunday)

An American boy/girl duo sounding a bit like Mazzy Star and The White Stripes – deserved a better stage and time slot than very last band on in the claustrophobic Local marquee.

12. Explosions in the Sky (Garden Stage, Friday)

Huge sweeping instrumental tracks with orchestral scope produced by three guitarists and a drummer. Headlined on Friday and were best enjoyed with your eyes closed so you couldn’t see their onstage gurning and hystrionics.

13.  Vetiver (Big Top, Friday)

Would have been great on the Garden Stage on Saturday instead of Alela Diane, but performed well enough in the Big Top without wowing anyone. Felt they were playing within themselves and could have been even better if they’d been a bit less laid back. One or two really good songs though. The only set I actually had a lie down for … it seemed oddly appropriate.

14.  Stars of Sunday League (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Missed the start of this short but sweet set, and caught most of it from the back of the tiny Tipi Tent, but was worth the squeeze. Well written,  beautifully sung indie folk songs from a young bearded gentleman with a lovely Dundee accent and a young lady on a violin. One to watch out for.

15.  Bob Log III (Garden Stage, Sunday)

A man alone on the centre of the huge Garden Stage, dressed in a tight-fitting gold lame suit with flared trousers, and a motorcycle helmet with a microphone inside it, shrieking along to his incredibly fast slide guitar antics. Produced the best ending to any set, walking down into the audience playing guitar and then walking back up, across the stage and off, still playing with his back to the audience. In his own little world, and maybe it’s for the best.

16.  Alela Diane (Garden Stage, Saturday)

The ‘future star of Americana’ according to critics. ‘Sweet but dull’ according to me. Maybe it was because I was flagging after so many hours standing up and feeling hungry, but this set of pleasant-ish folk songs kind of floated over me without leaving any real impression. I can’t remember how any of them went, but I do recall with fondness the over-enthusiastic bassist called on for one or two songs towards the end and behaving like a hyper-active bearded toddler.

17.  Loney, Dear (Garden Stage, Friday)

First act we saw: Swedish bloke, bit mad, gibbering on with frankly baffling banter in between a couple of rather good electronic pop songs. Not very polished, but reasonably pleasant.

18.  Charlie Parr (Big Top, Friday)

Kind of a cross between Badly Drawn Boy and Giant Haystacks, he played the blues a lot, lot better than he looked. Came alive whilst playing his guitar, but lacking in stage presence. Bumped into him a couple of times that evening and he seemed quite a surly fellow with little patience for fellow artists. Looked a bit too much like an axe murderer to discuss those foibles with him though.

19.  Beth Jeans Houghton (The Local, Friday)

Could have, and should have been really rather brilliant. She’s quirky with a cute Northern accent and a set of self-written whimsical songs but her late night set in the Local was a right shambles. She took ages setting up and the sound engineers let her down badly: a catalogue of technical errors undermining a collection of interesting and sometimes beautiful songs. That, and the fact she was wearing a peacock on her head atop a huge blonde frizzy wig that kept getting in her way. When we saw her briefly again on Saturday in the Big Top she’d ditched the peacock but was wearing hotpants and looking frankly ridiculous. She doesn’t need such gimicks, the songs are enough. If she ditches the fancy dress, she might be huge one day.

20.  Herman Dune (Big Top, Friday)

Quite confused to discover later that these guys were French – seemed like a straightforward American alt-country band to me, even down to the accents. Fairly impressive, especially the drummer, though we didn’t stay too long so we could catch the above-mentioned Miss Beth Jeans Peacock. Stayed longer than Charlie Parr though, who stood in front of me for one song, grunted, and walked straight out.

The dregs

21.  The Low Anthem  (Garden Stage, Saturday)

A huge disappointment. Thought they’d be great having heard their latest album but it was a case of wrong band, wrong stage, wrong songs. Started off with three really quiet ones that bored us into submission and sent us in the direction of lunch.

T-Model Ford: What song is this again?

22.  T-Model Ford  (Big Top, Sunday)

Lovely old poppet, 80 plus years old. He can’t remember how old he is. Or the lyrics to any of his songs apparently. Helped onstage by his drummer/roadie/nurse, he looked at home playing his blues guitar, grinned happily throughout, but seemed to be playing exactly the same song eight times over. We left out of a mixture of boredom and embarrassment.

23.  Treecreeper  (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Only decided to watch this lot because we had found a space in the Tipi Tent and didn’t feel like moving. That soon changed when this very poor pub band started playing. Worthy, hard-working but very dull. I lasted a song and a half.

24.  Brakes  (Big Top, Sunday)

But compared with this bunch of reprobates, Treecreeper were U2 or Coldplay (worthy, hard-working, very dull..!). Brakes were highly praised in the programme and had appeared here every year so we were quite expectant. Oh dear. Obnoxious bald singer suffering from short man syndrome did a couple of similarly short, shouty horrible songs, and we were almost running out of the Big Top to escape. Absolute rubbish and the only totally unlistenable band of the weekend.

The ones that got away

These are the ones that I wanted to see but missed, either due to scheduling clashes, or other unforeseen circumstances:

Mumford & Sons (Garden Stage, Friday)

We arrived too late to see them kick off the festival, which was a shame.

Shearwater (Garden Stage, Friday)

We had to miss them in order to get some food – having since checked out their most recent album on Spotify, I regret that decision.

First Aid Kit (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

We tried and failed to get to in the Tipi Tent to see these Swedish sibling songstresses which was a disappointment at the time, but even more so having checked out their most recent album and their fantastic version of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by the Fleet Foxes. Should have barged our way in!

Efterklang (Big Top, Saturday)

Clashed with the Fleet Foxes. Jury’s out on whether we made the right decision, pending a Spotify investigation.

Blitzen Trapper (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

Clashed with tea time on Saturday – very good write up in the programme but will have to investigate further.

The Daily Texan, Life & Arts: 09/14/09

Along with being songwriter and vocalist behind the acclaimed indie rock of Shearwater, Jonathan Meiburg is really into birds. It was UT’s graduate program in ornithology that brought him to Austin where he first joined Okkervil River and then moved on to Shearwater full time. Currently his band is playing their music, which fluidly oscillates between the intimate and the majestic, in Europe as part of an international tour, but Meiburg took some time to tell us a little about himself.

01) What album have you listened to the most in the last week?

We’ve been in the studio finishing our new album over the last week, so that’s probably the most truthful answer. Also Ege Bamyasi by Can.

02) If you could collaborate with any musician in the world, who would it be?

Roger Waters.

03) What was the best show you’ve ever played?

Maybe the Bataclan in Paris, last year.

04) What was the worst show you’ve ever played?

Cafe Mundi, solo, many years ago. No one came. I thought the kind lady behind the counter was cute, though, so maybe it wasn’t the worst. I think she felt sorry for me.

05) What is your favorite song to play live?

Hard to say. I still like “Hail Mary” a lot, and “Rooks”.  But I’m really looking forward to playing new songs.

06) When you were forming the band were there any alternate band names you didn’t pick?

I had the name in my head before the band got together.

07) Where is your favorite place to eat in Austin?

Hai Ky. And my own kitchen.

08) Do you have a day job?

No. Who would hire you when you’re on tour half the year?

09) What is your favorite website?

10000birds.com

10) What is a perfect day for you?

A day that doesn’t involve travel by car, van, or airplane.

]]> http://muziekfriek.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/shearwater-krakow-vooruit-gent-10-september-2009/ Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:54:29 +0000 muziekfriek http://muziekfriek.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/shearwater-krakow-vooruit-gent-10-september-2009/

Er zijn er ongetwijfeld die het een addertje onder het gras zouden noemen. Zelf waren we behoorlijk in de wolken toen we vernamen dat Shearwater nieuwe nummers zou ten beste geven. Ons vind je dan ook altijd bereid om als “guinea pigs” te fungeren.

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Must listen! In case you missed it on the Twitter feed, there is a great deconstruction of The Beatles’ remasters over at NPR. Host Bob Boilen has Beatles expert and historian Kevin Howlett on to discuss stereo vs. mono, fidelity, and why you should listen to Sgt. Pepper’s in mono (if not all of the albums up through The White Album!). They have great side-by-side examples that are really insightful.

On digitally cleaning The Beatles’ masters:

[The recording process] has developed so much over the years. Now you can go back to those (original recordings) and clean them up and remix the whole thing. What they’ve done, the whole amazing team at Abbey Road Studios, is gone to meticulous care and attention to clean up any blemishes that might have been on the original master tapes that you can now correct. Dropouts on the tape. Or any kind of microphone pops when people were singing too close to the mic. Just smoothing out any kind of blemishes and making it as pristine as possible, but not altering the integrity of the original mixes.

The last of the Beatles remasters reviews are up at Pitchfork: The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be, Past Masters.

On Sounds of Buzz, The Top 12 Things The Beatles Ever Said. #10 and #12 are great.

Also on Sounds of Buzz: Girl Talk interview video on favorite albums, Twilight, vampires.

Listen to all of Muse’s The Resistance here. You can read a pretty charitable first-listen review at Drowned in Sound.

Check out Lou Barlow’s “The Right.” Very enjoyable listen.

Interview with Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater. Their Rook was HeiBräu’s #1 album of 2008.

The soaring vocals towards the end of “The Snow Leopard” – were they recorded in one take? Did you pass out?!

Yes and no, I think, but my memory of a vocal session from two-and-a-half years ago isn’t too good. That’s actually not a very hard note to sing, for some reason; other, lower notes at full voice are much more difficult. On the new record I sang a note higher than that, just for fun, but I also sing lower than on the previous records. It’s always interesting to push the boundaries of your voice and see what it’ll let you get away with.

Your records, particularly Rook, have this knack of creeping up on the listener and revealing themselves more and more with time. Is this deliberate? How are they crafted? Are the intricacies deliberate?

That’s very kind of you to say. I would hope that that’s the effect. They certainly sneak up on me as I’m writing them, and they take a while to record. But when you’re the one that’s making the album, you never have the luxury of hearing it for the first time; by the time you’re done, everything feels very well-worn and familiar. All you can do is try to remember the little flashes of fun and inspiration that led you to make certain decisions, and hope that you’ve assembled the thing in a way that preserves the life of those moments and presents them to other people.

Interested in tracking Shearwater’s progress? Want to stay current on news about the high school dropout crisis, charter schools, education in St. Louis, and/or college access?

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When tugs race on Sunday, government boats will officiate.  Here are a few players.

When Liberty IV splashed into her element in 1989 at the Washburn & Doughty yard in East Boothbay, ME, she began a career that she still occupies:  to ferry Park Service employees and supplies from the “mainland” to several stops in the sixth boro archipelago, i.e.,  Liberty Island and Ellis Island.  Besides bearing a heritage relationship with such diverse vessels as Pati T. Moran, Shearwater, and Black Knight, she also carries a unique escutcheon on her stern.

Does anyone have fotos of Liberty I or II or III?  Would Liberty I be sail or steam?

John D. McKean, foto taken one sunset a few weeks back, started service in 1954, first splashing into the waters in Camden at John H. Mathis, the same yard that built Mary Whalen!

A Perth Amboy Fire boat zipped eastward in the KVK last month.  That’s K-Sea Baltic Sea in the background.

USACE Moritz, in  hurry toward Newark Bay last week. Moritz comes from Kvichak Industries, soon

disappeared round the bend at Bergen Point.

Other recent fotos of government boats include this ones entrusted to  Union County (New Jersey)  Police,

and New Jersey State Police.

Finally, certainly NOT a government boat, but a German ship that has vessels that experiment with alternative propulsion.  Foto was taken by bowsprite from her cliff last week.  Did anyone catch the name?

Finally, as of Wednesday morning writing, Flinterduin will approach the Narrows near dusk tonight and start offloading tomorrow at dawn.  And I have to be at work . . . from dusk today until dawn Friday . . .  maybe I can sneak away to do tugster’s bidding.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

There were a half-dozen of us from the Rogue Valley who travelled through the Coastal Range to reach Charleston which is on a sheltered bay along the Pacific Ocean. And the ocean birds were the attraction, though the coast itself is often breath-taking.

Over a dozen Oregon life birds for me.  For Steve Runnells who spent most of his birding life on the other side of the Rockies, or visiting tropical lands, there was a score of new birds.  Birds that he’d never seen anywhere before.

PELAGIC

The eight-hour pelagic trip out of Charleston harbor made me sick, and made me very happy.  I always get seasick.  But I do not always get so many great, new birds at close range.  The highlight was certainly the jaeger vortex that formed where our chum slicked the waves.  All four species zoomed in.  There were occasional chases among the three jaegers.  And then the ultimate ocean predator: South Polar Skua made a couple passes.  Here’s my best shot of a Pomarine Jaeger, the heftier of the three species bearing “jaeger” names:

We were about 25 miles from shore when I took this.  The breast band and heavy-chested look are typoical of the “Pommy” who is bigger than the Long-tailed and Parastici.  We had one adult Long-tailed Jaeger with the truly looooong tail feathers.  That bird was a glamorous ocean-going couknterpart of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

The biggest chum-meister was the Black-footed Albatross which breed far away on the Hawaiian island chain.

The mature birds have white on the head and base of the tail while young birds are uniformly dark soot-colored.  Here’s on albatross with three, much smaller Pink-footed Shearwaters also in the frame.  The Pink-footed has a pale belly and pale feathers on the underside of the wing.  We got some good looks at the more complex markking of the Buller’sd Shearwater as well as the smaller, dark Sootys. So the Black-footed Albatross nests north of the equator but the three shearwaters all nest in the Southern Hemisphere off New Zealand and Australia.  We also had one predatory bird down from the Arctic region, the Northern Fulmar:

They are a pale gray bird with blunt forehead and foreshortened beak to match:

I got no chance at a picture of the lone Fork-tailed Storm Petrel I clearly saw, no chance on the Rhino Auklets in the bouncing boat mismatched with the rough seas.  The Common Murres were just that, dozens of father and fledgling pairs in the Charleston Harbor.  The other alcids: two lone Pigeon Guillemots seen from shore, a few Cassin’s Auklets which I managed to NOT see, and ZERO puffins, ZERO Marbled Murrelets.

Location:     Coos County
Observation date:     8/29/09
Number of species:     29

Canada Goose     30
Black-footed Albatross     12
Northern Fulmar     6
Pink-footed Shearwater     60
Buller’s Shearwater     6
Sooty Shearwater     24
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel     2
Brown Pelican     40
Brandt’s Cormorant     2
Double-crested Cormorant     15
Pelagic Cormorant     65
Great Blue Heron     2
Great Egret     2
Turkey Vulture     2
Black Turnstone     2
Heermann’s Gull     35
Western Gull     350
California Gull     20
South Polar Skua     2
Pomarine Jaeger     12
Parasitic Jaeger     5
Long-tailed Jaeger     45
Common Murre     80
Rhinoceros Auklet     8
Belted Kingfisher     1
American Crow     12
Barn Swallow     4,   Brewer’s Blackbird     8,   House Sparrow     15