Hidden Shoal Recordings

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – Dark Entries

Jamie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:25:50 +0000

Excerpt (loosely translated): “It all sounds fantastic and it does not need to be said that this music is for people who cannot get enough of Eno-esque soundscapes (although you can also hear Klaus Schulze’s influence) and others will just continue to wonder what inspired this music. It has something to do with sense of imagination, daydreaming, a moment away from here…”

Dark Entries

Rich Bennett ‘On Holiday’ – Leonard’s Lair

Jamie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:15:08 +0000

Excerpt: “Rich Bennett’s tastes seem to veer towards lounge pop as evidenced on his ‘better than it sounds on paper’ last album Music For Underwater Supermarkets, not to mention his significant retro-futurist contributions to great records by Monocle and Hotels. As the title implies, On Holiday is a concept album Bennett has created (along with singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky) about leisure time away from home and work pressures…. As with some of his previus records, Bennett appears to be in typically laid back mood on the surface. Yet after each listen, the record sounds deeper and more troubled than the last time, which indicates Bennett is a less than ideal travelling companion but at least his music offers an alternative soundtrack.”

Leonard’s Lair

Liam Singer ‘Winter Weeds’ – Guilt Free Pleasures

Jamie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:13:23 +0000

Excerpt: “Attention choir kids, former and current: I’ve got a minimalist chamber-pop track for you to swoon over. Liam Singer sends us this track from his forthcoming album Dislocatia, an album full of beguiling songs rich in the romanticism of classical counterpoint interweaved with a modern twist of minimalist indie pop. I have to say, an integration of canon with this type of modern music creates an overall sound that is unexpected and just downright interesting.”

Guilt Free Pleasures

Liam Singer is Beat’s Single of the Week

tim — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:11:32 +0000

If you’ve yet to download Liam Singer’s gorgeous single ‘Winter Weeds’, pop along to the Hidden Shoal Store and do so now. It’s ace. Melbourne’s Beat Magazine gave ‘Winter Weeds’ single of the week. Hoorah!

Dislocatia, the stunning album from which ‘Winter Weeds’ is taken, is out on 5 October.

Liam Singer ‘Winter Weeds’ – Beat Magazine’s Single of the Week

Jamie — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:41:07 +0000

Excerpt: “Portland born, Brooklyn based, Liam Singer is a trained harpsichord player with an innocent voice. ‘Winter Weeds’ features delicate vocal layers… and a lovely warm piano. It swells and blossoms, but it’s awfully sad. A song of aching beauty.”

Beat Magazine

New Slow Dancing Society Album Pre-Released

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:34:32 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings has announced the digital pre-release of the eagerly awaited fourth album by US ambient artist Slow Dancing Society.

Following on from the ebullient warmth of the critically acclaimed Priest Lake Circa ’88, Under The Sodium Lights is Drew Sullivan’s latest ambient epic. The album feels like a distillation of the three stunning releases that preceded it – and as such is Sullivan’s finest work to date. The delicate interplay between focused melodic details and blurred washes of sound draws the listener into a hypnotic state, where the waking world and the world of sleep cascade in and out of balance.

Under The Sodium Lights resonates with a rich emotional core – and the choking realisation of our own transience. The album rewards immersive listening from start to finish, to really soak in its beauty.

“a complexity of sound that allows it to stand out from traditionally ambient music… It is easy to get dissolved in this album, to let yourself fall into meditation as the music plays… Textures and timbre are executed with great precision… Even the simplest of songs allow complimentary textures to be layered upon each other to create a robust yet spacious sound… an aural delight for the listener.” – The Silent Ballet on Priest Lake Circa ’88

Under The Sodium Lights is available now as a digital pre-release followed by the official CD release on 30 September 2010 (pre-order now available via n5Mailorder). Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability details. Read a full press release here.

Slow Dancing Society – by your side Slow Dancing Society – by your side

Liam Singer ‘Winter Weeds’ – DOA

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:47:31 +0000

Excerpt: “Liam Singer harkens back to the late great Elliott Smith. The track ‘Winter Weeds’ is like a family memory album and perhaps new beginnings. It is simple and beautiful, with piano accompaniment whispering throughout. The care and love is ceaseless as Singer’s well trained hands breathe life and inspiration. I can only imagine the contrast between Singer today and his former self as co-founder of a 20 piece kazoo orchestra. Singer currently resides in Brooklyn, NY where he plays in Devil Be Gone with Rob Hampton (ex-Band Of Horses)…. Singer places himself among other artists who understand the delicate nature of human compassion. His capacity for relating such an emotion seems to come easy, making such a forgotten expression in today’s society unbelievably refreshing.“

Delusions of Adequacy

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – Tome to the Weather Machine

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:46:18 +0000

Excerpt: “Mehr builds monoliths out of buzzing, oscillating swells of metered noise cutting deep crevices across the porous surface of cooling granite-slab of the mind. Yes, it is that kind of thing. Mehr’s compositions are submerged beneath a tumultuous sea of swirling guitar tones that ride the biting edge of gorgeous and foreboding…. As the album title predicts, Lava takes its time getting to places. The off-axis drift is felt more than a steadily canter towards some sort of definable goal. In this blissful wanderlust Mehr succeeds in spades creating a completely engrossing, engaging and all together reliable album full of the most powerful ambient-drone tracks this year.”

Tome to the Weather Machine

Salli Lunn – European Tour Dates!

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:44:47 +0000

Dear Salli Lunn fans in the vicinity of Europe, you are in for a treat! Below are their tour dates for the next two months:

19-Aug-10 5:00 PM INSTOREGIG: STEREO STUDIO KØBMAGERGADE København, Sjælland, DENMARK Find Tickets

21-Aug-10 9:00 PM FAIR FÆLLED FESTIVAL I FÆLLEDPARKEN Copenhagen, Sjælland, DENMARK Find Tickets

8-Sep-10 10:00 PM FESTIVAL OF ENDLESS GRATITUDE – TBA Copenhagen, Danmark, DENMARK Find Tickets

9-Sep-10 10:00 PM OFF THE HOOK THURSDAY – DET INTERNATIONALE HUS W/ DORIAS BARACCA & THE SICK BOY METHOD Odense C, Danmark, DENMARK Find Tickets

19-Sep-10 9:00 PM HUSET I MAGSTRÆDE København, Danmark, DENMARK Find Tickets

23-Sep-10 9:00 PM MUSIKCAFEEN W/TBA Århus, Jylland, DENMARK Find Tickets

Aren’t we kind? And we’ll throw in a song, too:

Salli Lunn – The First Cause Salli Lunn – The First Cause

Rich Bennett ‘On Holiday’ – Purple Revolver

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:36:15 +0000

Excerpt: “New York’s maestro of shadowy lounge tinged pop Rich Bennett is back with a follow up to his stunning 2008 album Music for Underwater Supermarkets entitled On Holiday… Bennett’s latest work is brimming with subtly dark, breezy melodies and the buoyant vocals of both Bennett and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky. From the gorgeous single ‘Misty Valley’ to the delicious minor key melancholy of ‘Night Part 2′, On Holiday is as intoxicating as it is playful.”

Purple Revolver

Boxharp ‘The Green’ – Beat

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:35:03 +0000

Excerpt: “Allen provides the vocals while multi-instrumentalist Solter provides the production side of the pair’s craft, together creating shimmering dream-pop and an intoxicating blend of prosaic folk influences with modern electronic techniques… The Green isn’t an album you’ll be humming in your head or singing along with, it doesn’t rely on hooks or big singles to make an impression… It manages to maintain the sensibilities of pop… without forgoing its more ethereal tendencies.”

Beat

Boxharp reviewed in Beat Magazine

Jamie — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:34:14 +0000

As an Australian label, we’re always tickled pink when an Australian rag picks up one of our artist’s albums and gets a kick out of it. This week is one of those moments. Our dreampop duo Boxharp gained the attention of Melbourne’s Beat magazine with their album The Green. Have a read of the review here.

Boxharp – Cloy Boxharp – Cloy

New Salli Lunn Single Released – Free Download

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:30:21 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings has announced the release of ‘The First Cause’, the second freely downloadable single taken from Heresy and Rite, the debut album by Danish spectral noise-rock quartet Salli Lunn.

‘The First Cause’ is a true epic in scope and execution, and a superb demonstration of Salli Lunn’s mastery of light and shade. Across its eight-minute runtime, it packs a true sonic and emotional punch, layering guitars into surging waves, upon which Lasse Skjold Bertelsen’s vocals ride with aplomb. ‘The First Cause’ proves a devastating follow-up to acclaimed first single ‘Parachutes Forever’ – and a fittingly awesome finale to Heresy and Rite.

“… ‘The First Cause’ floats between a dream-pop musing and an indie ballad – and then turns into a frenetic juggernaut that completely defies contemporary taxonomy.” – No Ripcord

“a debut that is alive with creative individuality. Chiming guitars over the ever shifting, twisting, pulsing, and impressive drumming… help create a maze of possible directions which prove impossible to second guess.” – BlogCritics

‘The First Cause’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. Album Heresy and Rite is available worldwide in CD and digital formats through Hidden Shoal Recordings. Check out the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability details.

Salli Lunn – The First Cause Salli Lunn – The First Cause

The Caribbean Collaborate on Art Installation

tim — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:52:35 +0000

Everyone’s favourite folk-pop deconstructionists The Caribbean have collaborated on an installation with Matt Hollis as part of Pittsburgh’s Arts on N Street Festival. Their 21-minute work entitled ‘Curtains Drawn’ soundtracks Hollis’s ‘Incubator’ installation. This piece is likely to feature on a forthcoming Caribbean release on Hidden Shoal of more abstract, sample-based music. Meanwhile, their new album Discontinued Perfume is soon to be released on the excellent Hometapes label.

Salli Lunn Reviewed on No Ripcord and BlogCritics

tim — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:52:13 +0000

Mighty Danish spectral-rock quartet Salli Lunn have been receiving some love from review sites No Ripcord and BlogCritics. Hear what the fuss is all about by popping along to the HSR Store to stream the album in full.

Salli Lunn ‘Heresy and Rite’ – Blog Critics

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:42:48 +0000

Excerpt: “… a debut that is alive with creative individuality. There is a deceptive precision to this work which is further enhanced by Jonas Munk’s expert production. Heresy & Rite unravels a web of creative ideas… Its complexity challenges definition with tracks that are often built on a simple, yet compelling platform, upon which is added building blocks of texture and unexpected twists and turns to deliver a totally intriguing end result. Chiming guitars over the ever shifting, twisting, pulsing, and impressive drumming of Line Gronbech help create a maze of possible directions which prove impossible to second guess. Some simple yet memorable pop-fuelled melody gives way, in wanton acts of deconstruction, to dark layers, unsettling atmosphere, and a myriad of alternatives.”

BlogCritics

Salli Lunn ‘Heresy & Rite’ – No Ripcord

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:40:16 +0000

Exceprt: “Salli Lunn has generated some formidable buzz in the blogosphere… Heresy & Rite is a damn good listen. What Salli Lunn attempt on this record is to redefine the entire meaning of post-rock. Instead of a well-rehearsed, concise and cohesive album, Salli Lunn persistently avoid any repetition or similar themes – and take every opportunity to push their music into new territories and expand on their own musicianship. This is a highly risky approach and one that could have easily turned the record into just another failed attempt at experimentalism. But on Heresy & Rite, this act of innovation and unpredictability delivers with extreme accuracy… With a startling lack of predictability… Heresy & Rite puts a new name on the Danish music map: Salli Lunn. Remember this name, for this Danish quartet is here to stay.”

No Ripcord

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – No Ripcord

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:37:18 +0000

Excerpt: “German-based technician Markus Mehr does allow his compositions to move, but ever so slightly – incorporating deep, monolithic washes of gurgling synthesizer that move across the listener like tectonic plates… Like a lot of ambient artists, Markus Mehr is at his best when he’s his most spacey…. They’re ‘big’ compositions, the sheer scale of the sonic work is rather awe inspiring, but they never sound antagonistic or uncomfortable… it sounds like the ebb and flow of space itself – individual snippets of a grand, repeating, organic process that keeps the universe in balance. You’ll never hear anything that tangibly relates machinery or human intervention; this is an album that sounds as old and neutral as the cosmos itself… Markus Mehr has created a bold, stouthearted work that deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as other current ambient champions like Emeralds or Oneohtrix Point Never.”

No Ripcord

Is Markus Mehr’s Lava Album of the Year?

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:34:38 +0000

Markus Mehr’s debut album Lava is turning heads all over the blogosphere, receiving attention from the likes of Furthernoise, Pellytwins, Music Musings and Miscellany and No Ripcord. It’s perhaps a little early to proclaim it album of the year, but have a read of the plaudits being piled at its cosmic doorstep, or do one better and have a listen below.

Markus Mehr – Hubble Markus Mehr - Hubble

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – Furthernoise

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:32:12 +0000

Excerpt: “Brian Eno once said of his aesthetic for composing ambient music, ‘that it should be as ignorable as it is interesting’. While not necessarily adhering to this doctrine, Markus Mehr does succeed in one of these categories, which is composing music that is for the most part interesting, but rarely ignorable… Lava is an album as the title suggests, full of textural and timbral contrasts, which take unexpected dynamic and tonal paths. Fluid in its musicality and enveloping in its sonic reach… Mehr is clearly a composer that defies any one genre association, but within the framework of non-percussive, textural soundscapes, this falls into a number of these subsets and will be of interest to anyone of this listening persuasion.”

Furthernoise

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – Music Musings and Miscellany

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:31:16 +0000

Except “Great cover with the sky bubbling like magma. Markus Mehr was originally a rock guitarist who now makes more ambient and electronic music, but the inner guitar hero isn’t entirely absent. Lava is quite an eclectic album, and a little oddly paced. There’s some definite sturm und drang about the first track. ‘Agenda’ is well titled because it sets one for the rest of the record to follow. It starts out hazily ambient, almost casually by rote, but builds into something altogether dirtier and nastier… If the standard of the first three tracks had been consistently maintained, I’d honestly put it down as a contender for album of the year (and to my mind 2010 has been a really strong year).”

Music Musings and Miscellany

Elisa Luu ‘Come’ – Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:30:11 +0000

Excerpt: “Another beautiful instrumental from the Roman electro-ambient artist, from her upcoming new album. Warm harpsichord and vibes tones wrap around slow droning guitar sustains, with space-static swells arriving from the wings. A gorgeous journey, laden with emotion. Backed with the cosmic ‘Pixie Space Rock’ from last year’s wonderful Chromatic Sigh album.”

Underground of Happiness

Rich Bennett ‘On Holiday’ – Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:29:22 +0000

Excerpt: “Beautiful summery album from the New York composer and multi-instrumentalist. The first surprise is that Mr Bennett has an appealingly reedy voice (sometimes reminiscient of Bob Mould, to my ears), for someone whose last album was wholly instrumental. Like that album, the Beach Boys’ trademark left-right keyboard alternations are evident here, along with some pleasantly disorientating slide guitar. There’s the wonderful wooziness of ‘EPO’, with its whistled main melody and dreamy high-register synths, recalling Angelo Badalamenti soundtracks (indeed, the instrumental coda, ‘Green Memories’, with its ominous, shifting keyboard patterns, would be right at home in a David Lynch film.) The samba shuffle of ‘Night Part 1′ also stands out, with a beautiful vibes arrangement, capped with an ecstatic double saxophone solo over church organ. The overall mood though, despite the uplifting textures, is something like displacement, which after all is one effect of being on holiday. Highly recommended.”

Underground of Happiness

Hotels ‘The Heart That Hears Like A Bat’ – Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:27:49 +0000

Excerpt: “New single from Seattle band on the excellent Perth-based label, taken from last year’s wonderful Where Hearts Go Broke album. Shades of ‘70’s-era Pink Floyd, but as fed through a Stereolab filter – ends up sounding like a noir-ish lounge from the near-future. It’s great.”

Underground of Happiness

Markus Mehr ‘Lava’ – Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:25:06 +0000

Excerpt: “Ambient drone loveliness from the German, with plenty of heartwrenching drama among the pulses and drifts. ‘Hubble’ is the most gorgeous synth orchestration I’ve heard in ages, a 1000-yard low drone gathering sparkles of melody as it rolls. ‘Cousteau’, fittingly, rumbles and creaks with deep-sea atmospheres. For fans of kosmische (isn’t that everyone?). Soak in it like a hot bath. On the never-less-than-excellent Perth-based label.”

Underground of Happiness

Boxharp ‘The Green’ – Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:23:51 +0000

Excerpt: “Elements of folk music (of a Celtic flavour, quite often) meeting digital studio techniques, giving dreamy and celestial results. The sublime ‘Cloy’ features a treated piano and a plaintive vocal gradually submerged by a waspish synth line, with deep sea rumblings and mysterious rattlings providing the supporting cast. Nods to Harmonia’s brand of kosmische are to be found on ‘The moon’s the north wind’s cookie’. Enigmatic, pastoral and beautiful.”

Underground of Happiness

Apricot Rail’s Ambrose Nock on Delusions of Adequacy

Jamie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:22:18 +0000

Here’s one from the backwaters of last month. Ambrose Nock (Apricot Rail) was called upon to review one of the forgotten gems in his music library (Sandpit’s On Second Thought) as part of Delusion of Adequacy’s Artist’s on Albums series. His insightful review can be found here.

Tarcutta Live This Saturday Evening!

tim — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 10:42:37 +0000

Melbourne-based instrumental trio Tarcutta are performing live at Loop Bar in the city this Saturday evening, supporting Zac Keiller. Doors are at 5.15, with the first act, Great Earthquake, kicking off at 5.30. Tarcutta are up next, then the Zac Keiller Band headline the night, to launch Zac’s new album Start Burning. Promises to be an exceptional show, so if you’re in town, head on out.

First Single From Liam Singer’s Dislocatia Released

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:41:22 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of the new single ‘Winter Weeds’ by Brooklyn-based chamber-pop experimentalist Liam Singer.

‘Winter Weeds’ contains all the ingredients that make Liam Singer’s music so utterly beautiful and unique. With its striking minimalism and melancholic romanticism, the track swoons and sways. Singer’s piano and vocal interweave with the heavenly backing vocals of Boxharp’s Wendy Allen, all topped off with Scott Solter’s masterful production.

‘Winter Weeds’ is a delicious taster of the magic that lies within Liam Singer’s forthcoming album, Dislocatia, a beguiling song cycle, rich in wondrous, resonant details. Full of fantastical song-stories, the album carries the listener skyward like a clockwork cloud. In Liam Singer’s music, the prosaic and the magical are two sides of the same dusty coin.

“His hushed, high-pitched whisper recalls the tunefulness and wounded qualities of Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens at their most emotive…Our Secret Lies Beneath the Creek is hardly the blissful piano pop album that past songs like “One Day” hinted at, but by venturing farther into the mysterious, Singer has crafted something far more intriguing. And with this kind of talent, he’s plainly making a conscious choice.” - Cokemachineglow on Singer’s previous release Our Secret Lies Beneath The Creek.

‘Winter Weeds’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store until the release of the album Dislocatia on 5th October 2010. Read a full press release here.

Liam Singer – ‘Winter Weeds’ Liam Singer – ‘Winter Weeds’

4zzz Radiothon

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:17:49 +0000

Awesome Brisbane radio station 4zzz is celebrating 35 years of being on the air this year. As with all community stations every year it calls upon its faithful to donate and help keep the station on the air for another year. Yes its radiothon time! This year Hidden Shoal is helping out the good folks at 4zzz by sponsoring their first ever international subscriber prize. Yes in this great age of interwebbery and streamifying, wonderful Australian radio stations such as 4zzz often have a sizable international listnership. As it should be.

The 4zzz Radiothon runs from August 14 to 20 – check out all the details on their website. Also for non Brissie folks be sure to stream the station here.

Markus Mehr “Lava” CD Release

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:10:36 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the CD release of the album Lava by German experimental ambient artist Markus Mehr.

Lava holds true to its title – blending the dense surge of Tim Hecker with the radiant luminosity of Mountains, making new paths as it pushes through the landscape. But, after any destructive force there is new growth. Green shoots of melody arc out of the surface and populate the terrain as new possibilities emerge. A new master of heartbreaking ambient drone has arrived. These tracks evoke time spent transfixed, gazing through a giant looking glass, waiting wide-eyed as new discoveries are revealed in the album’s textured contours.

On epic opener ‘Agenda’, layers of gorgeous synth gradually accumulate into a gloriously massive chord. On single ‘Hubble’, a bedrock of fuzzed drone is decorated with glistening counter-melodies, tracing shards of light across the coal-black skies. ‘Softwar’ builds and then falls away, only to return with a spine-tingling theme that crumbles under its own majesty.

“…there’s something so fresh about Lava… The German musician/composer simply sounds liberated, despite the familiar vocabulary and nods to his various influences… Lava explores a wealth of approaches and destinations without getting in its own way. It’s wonderfully slow, enriching going.” – Cyclic Defrost

“Hubble is the most gorgeous synth orchestration I’ve heard in ages, a 1000-yard low drone gathering sparkles of melody as it rolls.” – The Underground of Happiness

The CD version of the album comes in a custom amaray case with gorgeous widescreen artwork. It is distributed through n5Mailorder where it is also available for online order. Lava is also available in all digital formats through Hidden Shoal Recordings and all good digital stores. Buy the album here and read a full press release here.

Markus Mehr – Softwar Markus Mehr – Softwar

Salli Lunn Reviewed on Delusions of Adequacy

tim — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:18:21 +0000

Salli Lunn’s awesome Heresy and Rite has just received a glowing review on the Delusions of Adequacy music review site. Pop along to DoA to read the review, and you can stream the album in full at the HSR Store.

Salli Lunn “Heresy and Rite” – Delusions of Adequacy

tim — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:04:16 +0000

Excerpt: “There is a lot going on here, with Salli Lunn doing everything they can to twist their material beyond its original forms, and while this can mean shedding the actual song at a point where a lot of bands would add another verse and two choruses, it also leads into studio jamming of near stroboscopic intensities. Predictable it isn’t, and while it might seem that the band threaten to overstretch their abilities when turning their songs inside out and adding cataclysmic waves of effects generated powerchords and thunderous rhythmic arpeggios, the quartet are sufficiently adept to avoid repeating themsleves at any point… Salli Lunn have gone well out of their way to produce a record that has both the noticeable hallmarks of their influences and still manages to sound an entirely original work, and in this they’ve more than achieved their aim. Anyone wanting to hear a purposeful and imaginative rock album will find very little fault with Heresy And Rite, which while it openly references any number of influential and well known bands of the last three decades also has the defining qualities of an album very much of the present moment. And it’s loud, very loud indeed.”

Delusions of Adequacy

Markus Mehr’s “Lava” RTRFM Feature Album

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:32:07 +0000

Lava, the stunning debut from Germany’s Markus Mehr, will be the RTRFM Feature album all next week (starting the 2nd August, 2010). The album will be featured across a whole range of shows on RTR and there’ll be a bunch of chances for RTRFM subscribers (or those willing to become one) to win the album. There will also be an interview featured with Markus on Adam Trainers Out To Lunch show on Monday (12pm to 3pm Perth, Western Australia time). If you’re not in Perth or can’t get near a radio you can stream the station live or listen to re-streams of all RTRFM shows after they’ve aired. Head to their website for all the details.

Markus Mehr – Cousteau Markus Mehr – Cousteau

Rich Bennett “On Holiday” Official CD Release

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:27:28 +0000

New York’s maestro of shadowy lounge tinged pop Rich Bennett is back with a follow up to his stunning 2008 album Music for Underwater Supermarkets. Influenced by the classic exotica of Martin Denny, the aching folk-pop of Fleet Foxes, and the conceptual sweep of The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, Bennett’s latest work On Holiday is brimming with subtly dark, breezy melodies and the buoyant vocals of both Bennett and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky. From the gorgeous “ride on top a pop cloud” single ‘Misty Valley’ to the delicious minor key melancholy of ‘Night Part 2’, On Holiday is as intoxicating as it is playful.

“…what we have here is much darker in tone bearing more resemblance to an amalgam of left of centre troubadours like Baltimore’s The Agrarians and the Mamas and the Papas. The screwed up uncomfortableness of ‘Wild Ride’ is a good example of this… A dramatic, in the theatrical sense, right turn takes place with ‘The Peak’ taking us off in to a lo-fi journey into ambient electronica before ‘Night Pt1′ and ‘Night Pt2′ heads off into the arena of a soundtrack to a really cool sixties European movie… Much of the pleasure derived from it comes from the vocal interplay between the downbeat Mr Bennett and the civilised Rebecca Pronsky, but the lasting value comes from the almost wilful obscurity of it all. I can’t supply scientific proof but, trust me, it just works.” – Bluesbunny

On Holiday is available digitally from all good online stores and on CD, distributed through n5Mailorder. Check the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability info and to stream the album in full. You can also grab the free download of the single ‘Misty Valley’ from the Hidden Shoal Store.

Read a full press release here.

Rich Bennett – Night Part 2 Rich Bennett – Night Part 2

Boxharp – MOKB

Jamie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:30:57 +0000

Excerpt: “I’ll admit it. If an artist happens to mention in their press release that David Bowie has singled them out as one of his favorite current acts, I’ll give it a listen. If memory serves, the erstwhile Thin White Duke once paid a similar compliment to Arcade Fire, and that seems to have worked out pretty well for those kids… Fans of Faun Fables, Joanna Newsom, Bjork and their ilk are likely going to find the dreampop offerings on the duo’s new record… I’ll just say that The Green is a fascinating and absorbing listen that should sneak onto more than a few year end Best Of lists, even without the assistance of Mr. Bowie. Check out lead single and ‘Leatherwing Bat’, which recalls Richard and Linda Thompson after a few psilocybin smoothies.”

MOKB

Boxharp Reviewed on MOKB and Rave Magazine

Jamie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:29:22 +0000

Boxharp (Wendy Allen and Scott Solter) are turning more heads with their intoxicating dream-pop, receiving reviews from MOKB and Rave Magazine. Have a read and a listen; you can thank Wendy and Scott later.

Boxharp – Rainbirds Boxharp – Rainbirds

Boxharp – Rave Magazine

Jamie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:27:14 +0000

Excerpt: “Gentle gramophone crackling between echoing drumbeats and atmospheric synth make ‘Wooden Music’ stand as a soundscape all on its own. In ‘Leatherwing Bat’ and ‘Hicks’ Farewell’, however, the sparse instrumentation serves as a vessel for Allen’s voice, which soars like a Celtic hymn. More conventionally structured, the title track is a gentle folk-pop offering that sees a keyboard part exploring the upper registers while Allen self-harmonises and a simple drum machine line keeps time. Conversely, ‘Cloy’ sees the percussion stripped away and a mournful note bleeding into the vocals. The album’s elegance lies in the minimalist arrangement, which allows Allen’s porcelain-fragile voice to draw the focus and give each little hiss, string-strike and echo purpose and space to resonate.”

Rave Magazine

Boxharp Interviewed on [sic] Magazine

Jamie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:37:20 +0000

Boxharp’s Wendy Allen was interviewed by [sic] magazine last week, discussing an array of topics, capturing in rather intimate detail Wendy’s lifestyle, musical influences and upbringing. Check it out here.

Boxharp – Leatherwing Bat Boxharp – Leatherwing Bat

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

Markus Mehr and My Majestic Star on Pelly Twins Blog

Jamie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:33:39 +0000

Hidden Shoal received a lovely mention on the Pelly Twins‘ blog this week, with a special mention of recent releases by both Markus Mehr and My Majestic Star. Put you’re feet up and have a listen below, and have a read here.

Markus Mehr – Hubble Markus Mehr – Hubble

My Majestic Star – Crampling My Majestic Star – Crampling

Markus Mehr “Lava” – Cyclic Defrost

tim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:05:36 +0000

Excerpt: “…there’s something so fresh about Lava… The German musician/composer simply sounds liberated, despite the familiar vocabulary and nods to his various influences… Lava explores a wealth of approaches and destinations without getting in its own way. It’s wonderfully slow, enriching going.”

Cyclic Defrost

Markus Mehr’s Lava Reviewed on Cyclic Defrost

tim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:02:37 +0000

Markus Mehr’s stunning ambient album Lava has received a fabulous review at Cyclic Defrost, one of the finest Australian music sites. Scoot along to CD to read the review and visit the HSR Store to stream the album in full.

Boxharp Interviewed on Underground of Happiness

Jamie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:08:22 +0000

Last week our beloved Boxharp were interviewed by our old friends at Underground of Happiness. On a slightly crackly phone line from North Carolina, the conversation ranged across early musical influences (from Bach to Burl Ives to Gong), the combination of vintage with modern in studio techniques, the meaning of “art rock”, the effect of a rural location on their music, how they hooked up with Hidden Shoal, and field recording in forests, churches and cemeteries. As Wendy commented, “we’re always looking for the music in the sounds of the world around us.”

Boxharp – The Green Boxharp – The Green

New Elisa Luu Track Released

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:12:23 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of the new single by Rome-based post-ambient composer Elisa Luu.

‘Come’ is a stunning and subtly devastating slice of ambient electronica. The brand new track is a delicious appetiser for Elisa Luu’s next full-length on Hidden Shoal. It overlays levitating guitars and droning synths in heartbreaking counterpoint. ‘Come’ re-enforces Elisa Luu’s place as one of the leading proponents of the post-ambient guard, creating work via alchemy rather than simple marriage. The track is bundled with the epic and aptly titled ‘Pixie Space Rock’, the second song to be released from debut album Chromatic Sigh. Together, these stunning tracks betray a sensitivity that is rarely found in the often male-dominated sphere of electronica. With its sighing, lilting qualities, Elisa Luu’s music creates a blissful, liminal realm where everything is rendered transformative.

“A stellar work of ambience, Chromatic Sigh refracts the sound of cool intelligence. As far as descriptions go, you can trot out the usual suspects, like shimmering and sparkling, because they apply in abundance… There’s something cyclical about the music on Chromatic Sigh, and electronically this places listeners in the wondrous open spaces that still boom quietly in our natural world. These spaces are Elisa Luu’s sonic gift to the chumps stranded in suburbia or packed away in cramped apartments.” - Delusions of Adequacy

‘Come’ along with bonus track ‘Pixie Space Rock’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. Elisa Luu’s Chromatic Sigh is also available through Hidden Shoal. Read a full press release here.

Elisa Luu – Come Elisa Luu – Come

Markus Mehr’s “Lava” Available for CD Pre-Order

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:51:13 +0000

Markus Mehr’s stunning lush drone full length Lava is now available for pre-order on CD from n5Mailorder. The album comes in a custom amaray case with the gorgeous widescreen artwork that format affords and that this artwork deserves (sorry for the mouthful!). The initial run is limited so make sure to pre-order early to get a copy. Please note that the official CD release date has been slightly shifted and the album will now be out on the 4th of August.

If digital is your thing then you can grab the album now from all good stores in all good formats. Check the HSR Store for all purchase links and info.

Markus Mehr – Hubble Markus Mehr – Hubble

Iretsu’s Fang – RTRFM Feature Album This Week

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:30:10 +0000

Iretsu’s latest full length masterpiece Fang is this week’s RTRFM Drivetime Feature album! Not only does that mean that Perth listeners get a week long radio love fest with the album but it also means that RTRFM subscribers (or those willing to become one) get chances to win the album all week long during the Drivetime show. To add cream to the delicious musical pie, an interview with Ryan Cross from Iretsu by RTRFM’s Shannon Fox will air on Monday’s Drivetime show between 5 and 7.

Non Perth folk can stream RTRFM live here and all shows can be restreamed if you miss anything live. No excuses!

Iretsu – Fang Iretsu – Fang

Sankt Otten ‘Mein Freund aus Köln’ Single – Free Download

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:12:03 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of the second freely downloadable single from the latest album by German cinematic pop duo Sankt Otten.

‘Mein Freund aus Köln’ soars slowly and elegantly across the night sky like a neon bird. The listener is carried along by hypnotic drum patterns, while majestic synth refrains and guitar drones sing sadly and beautifully. As with so much of Sankt Otten’s work there is something brooding underneath the surface of ‘Mein Freund aus Köln’, something always just out of reach. The single is accompanied by the gorgeous previously unreleased track ‘Melancholie fur Millionen’ which rounds out this wonderful package in true style, proving that everything Sankt Otten touch turns to gold.

‘Mein Freund aus Köln’ is taken from Sankt Otten’s fourth album Morgen wieder lustig which is out now through Hidden Shoal Recordings.

“Sankt Otten continue to defy the German Portishead pigeonhole, by cranking up the tempo, veering into a sort of krautrock by way of Four Tet one minute, whirling pop ambience the next, synthy sprawling blissed out prismatic new age the next, over the course of the record slipping back and forth between these various sounds, sometimes melding several at once, a gorgeous, moody sonic journey, from haunting atmospheric darkness, to sun dappled rhythmic mesmer, to spaced out psychedelic synth, to eighties sounding new wave to hushed dreamlike ambience, to creepy slowcore crawl. Awesome stuff.” – Aquarius Records on Morgen wieder lustig

‘Mein Freund aus Köln / Melancholie fur Millionen’ is available now for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store and Bandcamp. Read a full press release here.

Sankt Otten – Mein Freund aus Köln Sankt Otten – Mein Freund aus Köln

The Caribbean Tour and Forthcoming Album

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:02:12 +0000

Lovers of awesomeness take note – The Caribbean have a new album coming out in October through the wonderful Hometapes label. The band are currently touring in support of the new record, Discontinued Perfume, and are in fact about a third of the way through wowing audiences with some the new material along with their backlog of gloriously inventive pop. The band are also running a tour diary over at The Vinyl District which, as anyone who knows the band would expect, is a hoot. Last lot of dates for now include:

Jul 9 2010 8:00P
40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
(w/Venice is Sinking)

Jul 10 2010 9:00P
Drunken Unicorn
Atlanta, Georgia
(w/Venice is Sinking)

Jul 18 2010 8:00P
Galaxy Hut
Arlington, Virginia
(w/The Zookeepers)

Sep 17 2010 9:30P
U St. Music Hall
Washington, DC
(w/More Humans)

In other Caribbean news we shall finally be releasing the stunning music video for Scott Solter’s remix of ‘Populations’. The video was made by none other than the amazing Mark Solter. The video will be available via all the usual streaming sites but will also be bundled in mpeg-4 format with the Scott Solter Re-Populates The Caribbean EP. It’s been waiting in the wings far too long but it will out soon we promise!

The Caribbean – Do You Believe In Dinosaurs (Scott Solter Remix) - The Caribbean – Do You Believe In Dinosaurs (Scott Solter Remix)

Salli Lunn’s Heresy and Rite Released

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:59:50 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of Heresy and Rite, the debut album by Danish spectral noise-rock quartet Salli Lunn.

Across the expansive terrain of Heresy and Rite, produced by Jonas Munk (Manual), Salli Lunn are utterly bewitching, weaving dark magic in the bleak hinterland of guitar-driven atmospherics, stirring in equal parts pop melody and angular noise. From the tumbling drums and lurching coda of opener ‘The Frame of Reference’ to the stunning finale ‘The First Cause’, Salli Lunn walk a tightrope between bright-eyed songcraft and shadowy textures that threaten to overwhelm. Songs rise and fall in vertiginous shifts, carried by thunderous rhythms, skewed guitar patterns and the compelling vocal presence of Lasse Skjold Bertelsen, each a superb demonstration of Salli Lunn’s mastery of light and shade. Chiming guitar arpeggios highlight the hope and yearning woven throughout the album, while thick coils of bass, pounding drums and wrenching chord changes deepen the atmosphere of foreboding and menace.

“…a courageous breath of fresh air for 2010.” – Undertoner on Heresy and Rite

Heresy and Rite is available worldwide in CD and digital formats through Hidden Shoal Recordings. Check out the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability details. The album is also available on vinyl in Denmark through Duck On The Walk Records.

Read a full press release here.

Salli Lunn – The Frame of Reference Salli Lunn – The Frame of Reference