This shared live show was a long time coming, thanks mostly to a backlog of other bands and those huge Touch & Goposts I recently finished up. But I've been on a severe Shearwater kick lately, and I owe it to time spent with this excellent set, which they performed while opening for Bottomless Pit and the Magnolia Electric Co. last September at the Middle East Downstairs here in Cambridge, MA. Touring on their fourth full-length, the gorgeously dynamic "Palo Santo", the quartet used sparse upward spotlighting to add to the already eerie, evocative mood their songs created. Frontman/guitarist/banjo-twiddler Jonathan Meiburg (who also spends time in the excellent Okkervil River) has a voice that is at one moment forceful, the next fragile, but always mesmerizing. As beautiful as the recordings can sound, they don't hold a candle to hearing the man sing in person. After their set, even with two great bands to follow, I'd felt that my night out could have ended there and still been worth it.
More Mp3s: Check out the Shearwater Sounds page at Jound for many more mp3s, including demos and tracks from their previous releases.
YouTube: The video for "Mistakes", off their 2002 "Everybody Makes Mistakes" album. Find some live clips through a Shearwater search.
Hang with other Shearwater fans over at Jound's Shearwater forum.
Remember, you can easily listen to all the music shared on the Almanac through the Hype Machine.
the ever-loving fine print... If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (contact info in the 'nac faq). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Tracks are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.
