Rook

Shearwater | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Label: Matador
• Copyright: 2008 Matador Records
• Total Length: 47:59
• Genres:
• ASIN: B001A6444G
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,567 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Stunner From Shearwater, June 3, 2008

By 

Shamus Macgillicuddy (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rook (Audio CD)

The folks in Shearwater continue to play by their own rules, with songs that inhabit evocative, complex arrangements--painfully beautiful, haunting even. Jonathan Meiburg's words have the same sense of deepening mystery that the band crafts so elegantly into their music, and his singing is stunning, swelling from a gentle falsetto into a resonant shout in a flash.

Although the lineup includes familiar instruments like the hammer dulcimer and the banjo, this band breaks beyond the confines of "roots music"--here, old sounds create something entirely new, using traditional music in novel and unexpected ways. There's a feeling of alchemy to it. The music grows and changes as you listen, like a shifting image, a kaleidscope. It strongly recalls Talk Talk and Mark Hollis, as well as Thomas Newman's film scores.

I had the opportunity to see Shearwater perform ROOK live in its entirety last month, and there was awe in the audience at all the talent up there--the members of this band are brilliant instrumentalists, and Meiburg is a truly riveting performer. I was thrilled to find that same energy captured so effectively on this CD. It's a treasure.

This is hands-down one of the albums of 2008. There's simply nothing else out there like it. If you have not explored Shearwater yet, get started. You'll be richly rewarded.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Felt and Deeply Beautiful, April 23, 2010

By 

Sherri Priestman "sclark39" (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rook (Audio CD)

What I love most about Shearwater is that the music is sincere, deeply felt, and serious--I for one am completely over the ironic urban hipster motif that has dominated the indie scene for too long. This was the first cd I listened to of theirs, and I played it over and over, each time transported to the world it created. It truly is an album and deserves to be played in its entirety, not just a collection of singles. I've heard Shearwater referred to as prog folk, and this seems as apt as any genre assignment I've heard.

For me, Leviathan, Bound is one of the most haunting and eerily beautiful songs ever written or sung, but Snow Leopard, Home Life, and Rooks also stand out. There's not a bad song on this. If you want to rock out, or you prefer lyrics of the sardonic and detached variety, then probably Shearwater isn't for you. If you hate falsetto or find it tiresome, you'll no doubt find too much of it on Rook. Otherwise, you should give Rook a try. You might find yourself captivated, as I have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, February 19, 2010

By 

Stephanie O. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rook (Audio CD)

Isn't it a pleasure to find oneself mesmerized by an album? Shearwater's beautiful and masterful disc, "Rook," has soul. It's a 2008 release, but the record is one of my top picks of 2009-better late than never! Anyway, this art-rock album is rich with musical dichotomies, at once quiet, but cloaked with a buoyant passion. I've hardly heard anything like it. Honestly, how many albums have you seen endorsed by Scientific American?! The primary composer and vocalist, Jonathan Meiburg, happens to be an ornithologist, and you may recognize the natural world in his musical reflections. Meiburg's haunting falsetto is at times reminiscent of Tim Buckley, Thom Yorke and Nina Simone, but Shearwater is a unique bird. One of the stellar journeys on the album, "The Snow Leopard, " unfolds from plaintive piano melodies performed by Meiburg, accompanied by rhythm guitar, cello, a bit of brass, and rocked by a minimalist, kick-heavy power drummer. Check it out.