Hidden Shoal Recordings » My Majestic Star Reviews

Pelly Twins Blog

Jamie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:35:44 +0000

Excerpt: “I am always ecstatic to see new emails and records from Hidden Shoal Recordings, a Perth, Western Australia-based label who have quickly become one of my favorite experimental music outposts over the past year. They consistently release adventurous ambient/drone, shoegaze and pop that is radiant and textured and expansive and dense with incandescent ticks from around the world.”

Pelly Twins

My Majestic Star ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ – PopMatters

Jamie — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 08:35:35 +0000

Excerpt: “I Haven’t Got It in Me is a hell of a consolidation. Both Mason and Braun sing this time, and “Crampling” and “City Sleeps” are both great verse/chorus/verse songs in a way that the band has never tried before. But the band’s instrumental prowess hasn’t declined—the surging “Hi” and the eight despondently cinematic minutes of opener “Stranger” are among their strongest work. From the soaring guitar scrapes of “Mitre Park” to “Take a Walk”‘s melancholy churn, I Haven’t Got It in Me is the work of a band completely comfortable with each other and with their sound. Combining elements of dream pop, post rock, and shoegaze, and with tips of the hat to everything from noise to ambient, My Majestic Star makes beautifully blurred rock music.”

PopMatters

My Majestic Star ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’- Cyclic Defrost

Jamie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:32:59 +0000

Excerpt: “Perth-based post-shoegaze band My Majestic Star’s preceding impressive ‘Too Late, The Day’ collection saw the group evolve into a full live band for the first time…. Perhaps most immediately noticeable is that cellist Miriam Braun contributes vocals alongside Mason for the first time here, but overall there’s an increased feeling of rawness and live energy being harnessed, in comparison to their previous recorded work. ‘Stranger’ begins proceedings with a slow wash of languid live drums and ebbing organ tones before bleeding out into mournful cello tones, chiming guitars and droning feedback, in an opener that certainly hints towards The Dirty Three’s slow, relentless burn as it ascends towards its emotional crescendo…. In this case, the experience gained by My Majestic Star performing as a live act in support of their preceding collection goes a long way towards making ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ their most satisfying album to date.”

Cyclic Defrost

My Majestic Star ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ – Shallgrenzen

Jamie — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:29:28 +0000

Excerpt (translated from the German): “A majestic, long-drawn sound, swelling, soft-onset synthetic drums, a seemingly endless organ sound. I Haven’t Got It In Me begins with an 8-minute dream of clouds… Voluptuous walls of guitars, melodic and dramatic landscapes and spherical sound effects of any kind achieve the goal of harmony and well-tempered satisfaction with the listener.”

Shallgrenzen

My Majestic Star ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ – Textura

Jamie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:46:20 +0000

Excerpt: “The album delivers fifty-one minutes of reverb-drenched vocal harmonies and raw guitars that may roar but not so loudly they conceal the fundamental elegance of the band’s material (the instrumentals “Mitre Peak” and “Dry Lakes” cases in point).The group opens I Haven’t Got It In Me boldly with a dramatic, eight-minute instrumental, “Stranger,” that’s elevated by Braun’s beautiful cello playing; hearing the instrument swim through the oceanic mass generated by the guitar is a wonder to behold, and the tune’s epic quality imbues its post-rock with a rather prog-like aura.”

Textura

My Majestic Star ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ – Music Musings and Miscellany

Jamie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:33:28 +0000

Excerpt: “Their ouevre is post-shoegaze / nu-gaze or whatever you’d like to call it, with obvious nods to the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and particularly the Drop Nineteens. What stands them apart is Miriam Braun’s sympathetic cello playing. The instrument isn’t over-used, but shines when it leads the melodies rather than just being used as a background drone instrument. I Haven’t Got It In Me is a mixed bag of vocal tunes and instrumentals. It’s also a mixed bag of sonically adventurous pieces, and straightforward slowish indie-pop.

“Music Musings and Miscellany

‘A Million Square Miles’ – The Dwarf

Jamie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:32:38 +0000

Excerpt: “Turn the clock back a few years and most people were convinced there was something in the water in WA because of the sheer number of excellent acts who called that piece of Australia home. Fast forward to 2010 and it seems our short attention spans have been diverted elsewhere in the search of the source of the ‘next big thing’. A Million Square Miles is a compilation…. Drawing together 16 tracks from eight artists, it successfully navigates the folk, indie pop and rock genres….A Million Square Miles is a pleasing and mellow offering that is easy-on-the-ear and reaffirms the fact that there is something in the water out west.”

The Dwarf

My Majestic Star “I Haven’t Got it in Me” – Leonard’s Lair

Thea Porter — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:00:05 +0000

Excerpt: “Formed around the talents of multi-instrumentalist Chris Mason, ‘I Haven’t Got It In Me’ is an often brilliant record which delivers on both an emotional and melodic level… Beginning with organ swell and percussion, ‘Stranger’ is a perfect way to introduce fifty minutes of warm melancholia. A rich beast in itself, the same track ends in beautiful layers of shoegaze effects and Miriam Braun’s mournful cello. Better still is ‘City Sleeps’, which is spine tingling as soon as Braun’s cello kicks in and the goose bumps are maintained when she teams up with Mason again on vocal duties. It’s a truly perfect song. [The record is] superbly produced and varied enough to keep fans of old and new dreampop very satisfied indeed.”

Leonard’s Lair

My Majestic Star “I Haven’t Got it in Me” – The Dwarf

Thea Porter — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:11:37 +0000

Excerpt: “The album opens with eerie keyboards, reminiscent of a church organ, as the atmospheric grooves of Stranger begin, and the beautiful sounds of the cello waft through the speakers…It climbs hills, and traverses valleys as it takes you by the hand and leads you on a lazy meander through ten diverse yet musically polished numbers that embrace the senses. The hauntingly beautiful sounds of the cello mark the beginning of City Sleeps. I love the sound of the cello; the mood it creates is perfectly at ease with this style of music. This is music to daydream to…”

thedwarf.com

“A Million Square Miles” – Adequacy.net

Thea Porter — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:38:46 +0000

Excerpt: “This is the rare exhibition of musical aptitude that delights from start to finish, with nary a disappointment to be found. Being tagged by some as Australia’s answer to the British label 4AD, Hidden Shoal (HSR) does indeed specialize in a brand of music that places atmosphere, ambience, and texture high on the priority list. With an onslaught of reverb and delay effects that would put the Edge to shame, this album features eight acts that run the gamut from quirky playfulness (Toby Richardson) to hypnotic melodrama (My Majestic Star). Hidden Shoals’ impressive roster on A Million Square Miles is bound to shore up some buzz, and deservedly so: it’s an exhilarating listen from beginning to end.”
Adequacy.net

My Majestic Star “Crampling” – Drum Media

Thea Porter — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:57:13 +0000

Excerpt: “Crampling is a deliciously dreamy slice of tender post-shoegaze. Chris Mason’s signature reverb-soaked vocals sit perfectly with Miriam Braun’s delicate tones, creating a lush, thoroughly satisfying soundscape… they represent some of the best music [Perth] offers at the moment”

Drum Media

My Majestic Star Live @ Velvet Lounge – Faster Louder

tim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:49:40 +0000

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

My Majestic Star “Too Late, The Day” – Beat Magazine (Melbourne)

tim — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:11:28 +0000

Excerpt: “an undeniably affecting record, poignantly igniting that inkling for extremely layered and manipulated sounds… much thought-provoking and righteous music to enjoy… Quite unfathomable, but there is something curiously magical afoot here.”

Beat Magazine (Melbourne)

My Majestic Star “Too Late, The Day” – Leonard’s Lair

tim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:35:56 +0000

Excerpt: “Australian Chris Mason has divided time on recent musical projects as one half of Glassacre and with his solo excursions as My Majestic Star. Whilst the former released the rather brilliant Engineers-meets-Avrocar Slow Attack EP, Mason’s solo venture is also well worth anyone’s time and comes particularly recommended for those who enjoy the ambient end of post-rock… I have occasionally been bored with the sheer amount of post-rock acts who seem to be treading the well-worn path of quiet/loud dynamics. Too Late, The Day is an album that restores my faith in the genre thanks to its sense of adventure and original melodic structures. Yet another success for the Hidden Shoal Recordings label.”

Leonard’s Lair

My Majestic Star “Too Late, The Day” – Cyclic Defrost

tim — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:16:58 +0000

Excerpt: “Most impressive is when Mason really stretches out – on every single instrument. The epic ‘On Afternoons’ has the kind of instrumental interplay one would normally expect from a tight group, not from overdubs all played by a single person. There’s two separate drum tracks, one left and one right, to underpin the distorted guitar angelsong and slow moving melodicism. It’s 10 minutes are over too soon… There’s quite a resurgence of guitar based, atmospheric droning noise/beauty across the globe at the moment. My Majestic Star has produced one of the stronger examples I’ve heard so far across a consistent, layered and considered album.”

Cyclic Defrost

My Majestic Star “Too Late, The Day” – Racket Scan

tim — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:04:32 +0000

Excerpt: “My Majestic Star exudes warmth in its instrumentation where others deliver only frigidity… a graceful collection of delicate melodies that move at a natural pace—seemingly no faster than the pace of a flower growing, or the sun moving across the sky. A wonderful find for all fans of post-rock, shoegaze, or beautiful music.”

Racket Scan

My Majestic Star “Too Late, The Day” Luna Kafe

tim — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:34:29 +0000

Excerpt: “Too Late, The Day is the Australian ambient/shoegazing/post-rock band My Majestic Star’s second album. It opens with the light, dreamy title track which floats directly into ‘on afternoons’, the album’s without doubt best piece. A ten-minute long droning paradise…”

Luna Kafe

My Majestic Star “Ideas Are The Answer” – Hypnagogue

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:10:03 +0000

Excerpt – “Ideas… is a genre-straddling, guitar-based pleasure…..When Mason is in full-out ambient mode, his manner of combining airy guitar washes with more tangible melodies is superb. The highlight of this CD is “Half Measures,” where a poppy melody begins to dissolve beneath a rising tide of echo-laden conversation like the sound of a musician striving to be heard in a crowded bar. There’s an odd sense of the voices adding to the rhythm…..Another superb offering from the folks at Hidden Shoal Recordings.”

Hypnagogue

My Majestic Star “Ideas Are The Answer” – Stylus

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:12:11 +0000

Excerpt – “What’s most striking, as those descriptions indicate, is the lack of aggression. My Majestic Star’s songs (as gauzy and atmospheric as Ideas Are the Answer gets these are still definitely songs) reach for the sky like all the best post-rock but you never get the sense he’s trying to blow your face off, even on the relatively high gear “Keep the Keys from Me.” Tellingly, that song is followed with the garbled monologue of “You Greet Me with Night Laughter,” where Mason’s penchant for obscuring the human voice again evokes more than it provokes. There’s a story in there somewhere, but it’s not really our story, and knowing it’s being told winds up being more important than eavesdropping.

“Carry the Breeze” evokes some of the gentler remixes on Mogwai’s Kicking a Dead Pig, but mostly Mason steers well clear of obvious influences. He manages to make music from relative isolation that like a lot of absolutely solo work tends towards the quiet and wounded, but Ideas Are the Answer is optimistic from the title on down; this a record that respects and honors our melancholy without ever falling for the fallacy that it’s a permanent state of affairs.”

My Majestic Star “Fining” – Music Emissions

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:32:59 +0000

Excerpt – “The lovely melodies and sweeping crescendos found in their latest work Fining will have even the hardest shoegaze rocker swimming in a pool of shimmery landscape-filled emerald tunes. “The Letter F” and “Fining” are wonderfully ambient tracks that also achieve a bit of mainstream pop-ability, which lets the listener get gobbled up by My Majestic Star faster than most shoegazers. Fining is a relaxing and exciting release all at once.”

Music Emissions

My Majestic Star “Ideas Are The Answer” – Luna Kafe (Top Ten Albums of 2006)

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:25:35 +0000

Excerpt – “In a year that’s been woefully bereft of decent instrumental guitar music, including the disappointing Mr Beast, it’s Western Australia’s Chris Mason who shines the brightest, with a collection of beautifully melodic and lovingly constructed pieces that reward repeat listens.”

Luna Kafe

My Majestic Star “Ideas Are The Answer” – Luna Kafe

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 08:47:44 +0000

Excerpt - “One half of the majestic Glassacre and a great solo artist in his own right, Chris Mason also records under the My Majestic Star moniker, producing excellent instrumental guitar music in the style of Papa M’s masterpiece Live From A Shark Cage……….These nine songs are spacious, melodic, and achingly affecting…”

Luna Kafe