Album Review: "Jet Plane and Oxbow" by Shearwater

Jet Plane and Oxbow

I have been into watching Science Fiction for as long as I can remember I suppose.

The first movie I can say for certain that I saw in the theater was Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I also recall seeing E.T. in the cinema thrice.

Space travel, alien beings, robots, and the like. These things greatly appealed to me.

I suppose we're always looking forward and wondering what lies ahead.

One concept that always really stuck with me though was the cyborg. Kryten in Back To Reality, Arnold in The Terminator, and countless others in film and comic books. This idea thrilled me to no end.

Shearwater

I've always been against the idea of electronic, or robotic, music. It's been my preference to listen to music that was played by human hands in order to give it that tremor of reality.

Shearwater is an interesting band because there's a melding of the human and the computer into another kind of entity, a cyborg if you will.

The wet drums have a human feel to them, even though they are largely unchanging during each song.

There are synthetic tones being played. Instead of just bouncy pieces, we are treated to full scale arpeggios. This computer music has somehow fused with a human brain,. It's a lot like hearing Data's mother playing the violin.

Guitar and bass tracks color underneath and on top, once or twice you'll hear a pretty guitar solo. Is the human soul fighting the computer's madness?

You'll have to decide for yourself when you pick this up.

Release: 1/22/16
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Sub Pop
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