“The City of Satellites ’stranger than fiction’ (hidden shoal). Last venturing these pages way back at missive 181 wherein we were sent to swoon heaven courtesy of the silken electro retro sounds found on their sumptuous three track ’the spook’ EP debut. The duo – Jarrod and Thomas – have spent the intervening year busily sculpturing an album which now completed is proudly lined up on the shelf awaiting release at the tail end of next month. The album entitled ’machine is my animal’ continues their odyssey into the realms of dream pop, ’stranger than fiction’ culled from that set to serve as a taster is equipped with hulking ice tipped chorus’ of synth chime serenades that cast out a colourfully vibrant swirling haze that’s both as demurring as it is intoxicating all the time regaling within a disarming shy eyed aspect brought to the fore by Jarrod’s softly caressing feminine like vocals and arrested by the uplifting backdrops of starry eyed dream weaves – one we suspect for admirers of OMD’s ’Souvenir’.”

Losing Today

Wes Willenbring fans will be pleased to know that his new masterpiece, Close, But Too Close, is now available for pre-order from n5Mailorder ahead of it’s official CD release on the 12th of November. If digital is your thing then be sure to check out all digital availability (including lossless) via the HSR Store.

Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the US and digital release of compilation album A Million Square Miles: A sample of Western Australian music.

After more than three years of sharing excellent independent music far and wide, A Million Square Miles represents a key facet of the Hidden Shoal Recordings story, and is a beacon for the future of Western Australian music. Bringing together a pair of stunning tracks from each of eight WA-based artists on the Hidden Shoal roster, this sampler album is an essential listen whichever way you slice it.

There’s the serpentine indie-rock of Mukaizake and the crystalline instrumental pop of Apricot Rail; the raw intensity of Fall Electric and the shimmering dreampop of Glassacre; the hook-laden squall of Toby Richardson and the lush and subtle songcraft of My Majestic Star; the skewed melodicism of The Slow Beings and the wistful alt-country complexities of Tangled Star. A Million Square Miles isn’t just great Western Australian music – it’s great music, period. The album also includes the first tastes of upcoming releases by Mukaizake, My Majestic Star and Toby Richardson.

“Hidden Shoal Recordings is on a mission. The Australian label is busy enhancing minds, widening musical consciousness, opening ears, and taking us beyond the sometimes all too comfortably familiar” – Blogcritics

“Finding Hidden Shoal Recordings could rightly claim to be in the top 10 best things that ever happened to me, such is the quality and diversity of their roster” – Boring Machine Disturbs Sleep

A Million Square Miles is now available digitally through the Hidden Shoal Store and all good third-party digital music stores (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, LaLa etc). The album is also available on CD in the US through n5Mailorder (retail and distribution). The album will see it’s Australian release on December 15th, 2009.

Hidden Shoal has also made the album available as a free, embeddable streaming radio widget and Facebook Application. For more info check out the album’s project page.

Read a full press release here.

Mukaizake – My Friend Flicker  Mukaizake – My Friend Flicker

In the wake of the digital release of his stunning sophomore album Close, But Not Too Close, Wes Willenbring has been interviewed at the wonderful Yes Yes Ya’ll. Read the interview then head to the HSR Store to pick yourself up a copy.

Wes Willenbring – Oh Most  Wes Willenbring – Oh Most