Hot on the heels of the release of their awesome new single ‘National Runner‘, The Caseworker now have a wonderful music video to accompany the track thanks to film maker Joe Macken. True to the theme of the track, the video features footage of the amazing Ethiopian long distance runner Miruts Yifter doing his magic. And if you think long distance running is a yawn fest then you have not seen Yifter’s final lap turbo blast – it gives me goosebumps, it honestly does! Check out the video below or in HD at Youtube and be sure to download the single for free from the Hidden Shoal Store.

Head over to the excellent Scene Point Blank for a chance to win a bunch of very cool prizes including a signed copy of Hotel’s sublime On The Casino Floor. The competition will be drawn on the 1st of November and co-incides with a wonderful upcoming interview with Hotel’s Blake Madden. Check out all the info here.

“Purveyor of a soaring brand of indie rock that radiates a sun-bathed relaxation, the Australian four-piece Umpire has put together quite a nice little debut LP here. The most appealing aspect of Umpire’s offerings is the clipped-yet-fluid mid-rangey guitar grooves (equal parts redolent of Modest Mouse and math rock) that form the bedrock for the group’s Panoramic ambitions. The band is so adept at knitting those circulating riffs that it falters in comparison on the quieter moments (largely reserved for the final tracks on the record), where things are noticeably looser and less considered. No matter, for Umpire sticks to its strong suits more often than not on Now We’re Active, resulting in a pleasant, beaming album that’s likely to ease listeners into a contented frame of mind.”

PopMatters

‘The Great Cold’, by US producer Scott Solter, is taken from the re-release of his glacial ambient masterpiece One River. Chilly, gaseous tones swell and recede, all the while shadowed by a ghostly high note. Solter creates an unforgettable atmosphere, which becomes all the more moving when experienced as part of the complete album. The track is accompanied by Mark Solter and Laura Solter’s immersive, impressionistic video, in which burnished forms simultaneously suggest the vast expanses of space and the intricate textures of cellular surfaces.

“a mixture of heavily processed guitars, field recordings, and manipulated voices (provided by Wendy Allen) comparable to Brian Eno. Seven songs run seamlessly together, each inhaling and exhaling tone after tone… landscape imagery comes to mind in every song, making listening to this record not so like hearing a story as taking a journey.” – Pitchfork on Scott Solter’s One River

As a producer, recordist and mixer, Solter has worked with numerous indie artists, including Erik Friedlander, Spoon, The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Lazarus, The Forms, Pattern is Movement, Superchunk, Okkervil River, Liam Singer, and St Vincent. He has also executed a number of remixes, including Scott Solter Re-Populates The Caribbean (Hidden Shoal, 2009), as well as remixes for Division Day, Voices Voices, and Neon Indian, plus Hidden Shoal band Salli Lunn’s track ‘Mirror Girl’. He is a member of The Balustrade Ensemble, producing 2007’s Capsules for Dynamophone Records, and Hidden Shoal’s very own Boxharp with Wendy Allen.

‘The Great Cold’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. One River is released on 29 September (CD + Digital) and will be available for CD pre-orders from 15 September from n5Mailorder. View the stunning video accompaniment on Youtube or Vimeo.