Description:	LP on Matador
	Format:	LP (vinyl)
	Genre(s):	Indie Rock
	Label:	Matador
	Price:	£14.79
	Availability:	Sold out / currently unavailable. Sorry!

3
...according to our Brian on 11 February 2010.

Shearwater i'm unaccustomed to thus far, always thought their sleeves were quite grand in a slightly proggy, epic way, so suspected their output to be of a similar nature. They've got a very mature chest beating sound to their richly textured "big music". I'm actually reminded of Runrig crossed with Waterboys; I can't stand the guys vocals though; feel like i'm at a big Gaelic wedding or summat; the production is very deep & rich & I like some of the drums on one of the tracks but overall I feel about 20 years too young to be listening to this shit: this is music for people who drive round in classic Porsches and keep horses in their back gardens....and own private beaches on Caribbean islands. Fuck this, i'm out of my league. I need a hefty Fall injection right in my cochlea.

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Sound clips for The Golden Archipelago by Shearwater: on vinyl at Norman Records UK. LP (vinyl), Matador, OLE8611, £14.79.

What their label says...

· This new record is the third panel of a triptych that includes 2006’s
enigmatic ‘Palo Santo’ and 2008’s acclaimed ‘Rook’ albums linked by
themes of environmental and personal decay and humans’ impact on
nature. With ‘The Golden Archipelago’, Shearwater turn to a portrait
of life on islands – a world of alternating lushness and austerity, numinous
silences and sudden cataclysms, and the strange flowerings of plant,
animal, and human life that only arise in isolation.
· ‘The Golden Archipelago’ opens with the first strains of the anthem of Bikini
Atoll, sung by Bikinians in exile on the islet of Kili, where they’ve lived since
atomic tests left their home uninhabitable. It’s a fitting introduction to the
gentle, eerie ‘Meridian’, with its depiction of an air raid on an island
garrison. From there, Shearwater take us on an island-hopping journey of
spectacular contrasts, from the distant heights of ‘Landscape At Speed’
to the snowy expanses of ‘Hidden Lakes’, from the manic, shuddering
confines of ‘Corridors’ to the isolated vistas of ‘Castaways’.
· It’s an album of lofty goals and great risk, but Shearwater have never been
afraid to dream in widescreen. Like Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds Of Love’,
Husker Du’s ‘Zen Arcade’, or Pink Floyd’s polarizing opus ‘The Final
Cut’, ‘The Golden Archipelago’s beautifully and strangely-wrought musical
textures summon a majesty, drama,