Apr 07, 2008:

On Monday, May 5th and Thursday, May 29th, Shearwater will premiere Rook in special concerts at the beautiful Florence Gould Concert Hall at Manhattan's French Institute and The Parish in Austin, Texas. For both shows, we will be joined by a string quartet, woodwinds, trumpets, and a harpist, and will play our new album in its entirety, along with a set of older songs.

We are especially proud to announce that the New York show will begin with a rare solo performance by the legendary Michael Gira (Swans, Angels of Light), and will also feature projections by Kahn & Selesnick, the team behind Rook’s cover art.

Tickets to these shows are limited. For New York (May 5), they are available from Other Music and from TicketMaster, starting Friday, April 11th at 10am.
Tickets for the Austin show are available from Front Gate.

In addition, a limited vinyl 7″ of “Rooks” b/w “The Rainbow” (a previously unreleased live Talk Talk cover — not featured on the Rook LP/CD) will be available for purchase at both shows.

NYC show address:

Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th Street
Between Park & Madison avenues
New York, NY 10022

Doors at 7pm. Show begins promptly at 7:30pm.

Apr 06, 2008:

Last year, Soundcheck magazine lured me into an interview by promising that I could meet writer Emily Strong’s pet Eclectus parrot, Zoe. Eclectus parrots are bright and beautiful, and males and females are so different in appearance that they were once thought to be different species. They are also increasingly uncommon on their home turf in and around Irian Jaya (New Guinea), where they live in (alas) mature tropical forests. Like most large parrots, they can live a really long time, 40-50 years or more.

I was thrilled to meet Zoe, and she was very obliging. She perched calmly on my hand and my head, chewed my hair thoughtfully, and let me stroke her pretty red flanks. The camera loved her, too:

I saw Emily a few days ago, and she told me that Zoe recently died - an accident, not Emily's fault. It’s a dangerous world for animals, wild and domestic (and all the shades between). I’ll always fondly remember this serene, lovely lady and the dainty but determined way she gripped my fingers. Photo by Randy Cremean. (JM)

Apr 06, 2008:

Bill Callahan’s “Mouth of the South” tour of the southeastern and southwestern US finally came to an end - after a two-week sabbatical - last Saturday with a spur-of-the-moment show at the Mohawk in Austin. As on the rest of the tour, Jonathan opened the evening solo and then, along with Thor, backed Bill for his set. It was a lovely tour - great crowds, interesting drives, warm weather, and a dialogue with a pair of ravens over pita bread in Arizona.

Mar 10, 2008:

It's that time again. Multiple SW appearances this year, in which we'll be previewing several songs from 'Rook'. We're honored to be joined by our longtime friends Scott Brackett (trumpet/etc) and Elaine Barber (harp), both of whom are also featured on the new album.

See you there!

Shows:

Wed 12th:

4pm Mohawk - Austinist/Gothamist day party (free)
1am Club DeVille - Official SXSW Showcase spons. by Brooklyn Vegan

Fri 14th:

6pm French Legation - Other Music day party (free)

Sat 15th:

1:30pm Waterloo Park - Stage 2 - Mess w/Texas party (feat. Black Mountain, Breeders, Islands, Janeane Garofalo, others) (free)

Mar 02, 2008:

From Matablog:

After Matador’s ‘07 reissue of the critically acclaimed ‘Palo Santo’, we’ve been waiting & wondering about the next Shearwater full-length. We’re happy to report the resulting LP/CD ‘Rook’, not only lives up to the ridiculously high standards set by its predecessor, but should well stand as an early album of the year candidate. Produced by Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg and recorded by Matthew Barnhart at Denton’s Echo Lab this past November and December, ‘Rook’ is an extraordinarily original work ; only on a handful of occasions have we heard an album this powerful and so rich in detail, both musically and lyrically. Shearwater’s knack for the epic is already well documented, but with all due respect to their prior efforts, the broad sweep of ‘Rook’’s 10 songs is like nothing else you’re likely to experience in 2008.

“Rooks” (mp3)

We’ll have more details about ‘Rook’ in the weeks ahead, but in the meantime, Shearwater have confirmed the following US dates in support of Clinic.

FRI 5/9 BOSTON, MA Paradise
SAT 5/10 MONTREAL, QC La Sala Rosa
SUN 5/11 TORONTO, ON Lee’s
MON 5/12 CHICAGO, IL Empty Bottle
TUE 5/13 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 7th Street Entry
FRI 5/16 SEATTLE, WA Neumos
SAT 5/17 VANCOUVER, BC Richards
SUN 5/18 PORTLAND, OR Doug Fir
MON 5/19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Independent
TUE 5/20 LOS ANGELES, CA Troubadour

Dec 17, 2007:

It's all over but the shouting for Shearwater's new album, Rook. We recorded it in November at the Echo Lab in Argyle, Texas, among barred owls, pet donkeys, coyotes, and the ominous sounds of gas wells being drilled across the railroad tracks; rural north Texas retreats as Dallas approaches.

After a break for the holidays, we'll be mixing and mastering in early 08, with extensive touring on the horizon. To see some photos we took during the sessions, click the dendroglyph above.

Nov 05, 2007:

Just to be clear (unlike the picture above), the upcoming Cactus Cafe show this week is for UT students only. We just found that out, so spread the word amongst the un-enrolled (like us).

This UT event listing says doors are at 7:30 PM; we start at 8:00. Directions at the UT site.

Sep 28, 2007:

Improved by a factor of kitten X 5, this is the new Shearwater website. If you find any holes in the boat, or the seats are uncomfortable, please tell us.

If you have a newsreader, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of this content so you never have to look at the splash pictures again.

Expect more news, more often, and more coffee to give that half-and-half some flavor.

Aug 06, 2007:

PURRFECT PITCH?

Jun 14, 2007:

Big news: We are signing to Matador Records.

They're re-releasing Palo Santo in an expanded, partly re-recorded, fully remastered, breathtakingly repackaged, and just totally superior edition on April 10th. This was our idea, not theirs, and we're proud to say that this is Palo Santo as we always hoped it would be. It also comes with a bonus disc of outtakes, intakes, demos, and covers. There's a double-vinyl version,too, which has a special extra track.

And then there's touring. We're playing in Dallas, then twice at SXSW, and then embarking on a brief east-coast tour with the awesome Xiu Xiu and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. The dates and times are here, and on the shows page.

More touring will follow on the heels of these dates, probably in June, including our long-promised return to the west coast. In addition to songs from Palo Santo, expect us to be playing new songs you haven't heard before, as we're already working on the next full-length.

See you soon!

More release info, full tracklisting, etc. is available from Pitchfork.