Hot on the heels of Wes Willenbring’s KZSU chart action, yet another Hidden Shoal artist is making waves on the US college radio charts. Boxharp’s irrepressible magic in the form of the Loam Arcane EP has seen them enter the WNYU chart at number 23 nestled in with the likes of Beach House, Excepter, Joanna Newsom and Richard Skelton to name a few. Check out the chart here and the Loam Arcane EP here.
Following up on their review of ‘Rainbirds’ a few months ago, Luna Kafe have again sampled the delights of Boxharp, with a review of their full EP Loam Arcane published this month. Take a moment to have a read here.
Boxharp – Rainbirds Boxharp Rainbirds
Boxharp’s Loam Arcane EP was reviewed on Music Musings and Miscellanary last week. Loam Arcane proves that music can both be experimental and pop, and has just been released. Take a read of the review here.
Boxharp – Rainbirds Boxharp – Rainbirds
Hidden Shoal Recordings have announced the release of Loam Arcane, the new EP by American ambient experimental pop duo Boxharp.
Loam Arcane is an EP of two mesmerising halves. The hallucinogenic pop of the first half springs to vivid life with opener ‘FanFin’, which ricochets with disorientating beats and refracted vocal melodies as if some sort of life-sized zoetrope. Sparkling single ‘Rainbirds’ follows, interweaving ambient textures with Wendy Allen’s pure vocals, giving way to a transcendent harmonised middle eight. The melodies return, crested by sparkling, wavering tones – and then it’s over.
In the second, more abstract and haunting, half of the EP, the stunning ‘The Postcard’ slowly dissolves the floor from under your feet. The track plays out like a consoling friend who turns into gas just as you need them most. And finale ‘Who Are Your People (South Shoal)’ is a glorious marriage of rhythmic bark, distant ghosted fauna and warm, flowing synths – slow motion tribal music for electric ghosts.
The band was recently featured on David Bowie’s official website after previously being chosen by Bowie in an article in British newspaper The Guardian as one of his current favourite artists – high and just praise indeed!
The Loam Arcane EP is an exclusive digital-only release through Hidden Shoal Recordings. The EP will be available in all digital formats (including lossless) via the Hidden Shoal Store and all good online stores such as iTunes, eMusic, LaLa, Bandcamp and Amazon. Boxharp’s forthcoming album The Green is released on 4th May 2010, preceded by a single on 25th March 2010.
Boxharp – Rainbirds Boxharp – Rainbirds
