Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the signing of electronica duo Down Review to its roster of artists.

Acclaimed electronic producers Medard Fischer (Arc Lab) and Tim Arndt (Near The Parenthesis) have never been in the same room nor even spoken. But from their online musical collaboration comes Down Review, melding their unique sensibilities to create a delicious hybrid – warm, human electronica for alienating times.

Down Review’s initial collaboration was featured on Near the Parenthesis’ album Of Soft Construction (n5MD, 2007). Their work on the track ‘Sitting in a Room’ was clearly a departure from the typical NTP aesthetic, situating Medard’s drum-programming wizardry and signature basslines beneath Arndt’s more ethereal creations. The result was arguably the album’s stand-out track, which “rather anomalously adds bass-heavy funkiness to the sparkling flow” (Textura).

Down Review’s debut EP From Here, For Anyone is to be released by Hidden Shoal on 11th August, preceded by the single ‘Anything is Everything’ on 9th July.

Read a full press release here and listen to a sneak preview of the upcoming single ‘Anything is Everything’ on Down Review’s Myspace page.

Sankt Otten guitarist extraordinaire Oliver Klemm is joining Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub as their live guitarist, and will make his live debut this October. Phillip Boa has  been a mainstay on the German indie scene for the last 20 years, and his Voodooclub are playing live shows with legendary Can drummer Jaki Liebzeit.

In more exciting Sankt Otten news, their stunning new album is finished and ready for release on Hidden Shoal on August 27th, preceded by a free single at the end of July. HOT!

Sankt Otten Depressive Elite Sankt Otten – Depressive Elite

Excerpt: “Having impressed at this year’s RTR In the Pines mini-festival, four-piece shoegaze outfit My Majestic Star drew a healthy audience… a carefully crafted soundscape that grew so slowly that, like a bad parent, you barely noticed the growth until it was too late. By the set’s end it was as if a completely different band was playing; pulsing bass had replaced keyboard, heavy stick drumming had replaced light brush beats, and effect-drenched guitar soaked the atmosphere like the heavy rain outside… My Majestic Star showed enough set-building panache to satisfy the members of their steadily growing fan-base.”

Faster Louder

Excerpt: “A hush fell upon the room as guitarist Jack Quirk laid down a twinkling riff, which his fellow band members proceeded to unwrap carefully by sending layer after complementary layer into the crowd. Clarity descended upon the room – the kind of clarity that only clean, pure sound can bring – as the audience nodded appreciatively to the strolling-in-the-sunshine beat… Hopeful as summer sunrise, yet laced with a sense of childhood nostalgia, the charming music of Apricot Rail soon had the audience spellbound… Whilst its music triggers immediate comparisons to post-rock giants such as Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, Apricot Rail brings a distinct quaintness to this increasingly popular and diverse genre… this is a band who may soon be taking the express route to high esteem.”

Faster Louder