Hidden Shoal News
The Slow Beings at Amplifier This Friday
The Slow Beings’ fans rejoice! The boys will grace the boards again this Friday night (5th, March) at Amplifier in support of Perth’s wonderful Capital City. Also playin on the night will be Datura and Stoney Joe. Be sure to get down early to catch the musical masterminds behind We Know Why The Earth Moves – doors open at 8:30.
The Slow Beings – Nil By Rote The Slow Beings – Nil By Rote
Stray Ghost's "Nothing, But Death" Released
Hidden Shoal Recordings have announced the release of Nothing, But Death, the new album from English ambient drone architect Stray Ghost.
Nothing, But Death is the epic full-length reply to Stray Ghost’s widely acclaimed 2008 album Losthilde. On this immersive new release, Anthony Saggers mines the rich depths of melancholy and longing, crafting a slow, sad drift of distant melodies, cloaked in smoky ambience. The album signals further development in Saggers’ masterful handling of drone, minimalism, shoegaze, ambient and electro-acoustic music, leading the listener through highly emotive soundscapes, rich in cinematic sound design. This is music of almost unbearable poignancy and colossal scope that rewards deep listening.
True to its song titles, comprising ‘Part 1’ through to ‘Part 8’, including the single ‘Part 4’, Nothing, But Death is a complete yet perpetually shifting experience, taking the listener through half-remembered landscapes with slow, descending lump-in-the-throat melodies. Each rise and fall feels like a slow-motion chapter in some narcoleptic romance. And while the album is melodically rich, it never compromises its larger ideals and its over-arching sense of movement.
“Things just sort of came to a standstill when I began listening to Stray Ghost’s three-piece offering, Each Paradise Is A Lost Paradise. Anthony Staggers’ work will set you floating, relaxed and completely trusting, in the deeper waters of his slow, hushed drifts and dimly described environments…. Nothing is wasted here; every sound, musical or otherwise, is crucial and placed just so—and the attention to detail shows in how well the music stands up to a deep listen.” – Hypnagogue on the Each Paradise is a Lost Paradise EP
Nothing, But Death is available in CD and digital format through Hidden Shoal Recordings. Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all CD and digital distribution info.
Stray Ghost – Part 4 Stray Ghost – Part 4
Label Feature at Igloo Magazine
Check out the wonderful label feature at the always excellent Igloo Magazine where you’ll find Q&A’s with some very cool labels such as Ad Noiseam, Herb, Highpoint Lowlife, n5MD and of course Hidden Shoal. Read the piece in full here.
Mukaizake Feature at Mess+Noise
Head over to the excellent Australian music zine Mess+Noise and read the feature article on our very own Mukaizake. M+N’s Adam Mills caught up with Simon Struthers from the band for a bit of Q+A. Great read, great band – what else do you want? Oh yeh their latest mini album Unknown Knowns. Deprive yourself no more at the Hidden Shoal Store.
Mukaizake – Slack Bees Mukaizake – Slack Bees
Hotels 'Night of Electric Dreams' on 4th March
Hotels are performing again come 4th March for Night of Electric Dreams at The Crocodile with CMYK and Fascination Movement. You can check out the full event profile here, or purchase tickets direct here. And remember, this will be one of your last opportunities to catch Max Wood behind the Hotels drum kit.
Hotels – Hydra Hotels – Hydra
Boxharp EP Reviewed on Music Musings and Miscellanary
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
Hotels Need A Drummer!
Yes it’s true, the stick wielding genius that is Max Wood will very soon be walking off stage with Hotels for the last time. Anyone familiar with Where Hearts Go Broke will know that these are big boots to fill, yet filled they must be. If you live in the Seattle area and think you might be able to make those skins sing then check out all the details on Hotels’ Myspace blog and get in contact with the band.
In other Hotels news ‘The Heart That Hears Like A Bat’, the second single taken from Where Hearts Go Broke, will be released and available for free download on the 11th of March. The single package also features remixes of ‘Leilani’ and ‘Near The Desert, Near The City’ by Nite Club and tin Man.
Boxharp's "Loam Arcane" Released
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
Hidden Shoal Label Feature at Breakthru Radio
Check out the latest edition of the wonderful Inside The Label show at New York’s awesome Breakthru Radio (home of the mighty DJ Mojo!). The show features an hour of tracks selected from across the Hidden Shoal catalogue. Lurvly!
Mukaizake's 'Unknown Knowns' Reviewed on Mess and Noise
More praise late last week for Mukaizake on Mess and Noise. Six years they lay dormant, though they have more than managed to live up to expectations, and then some, with their new mini-album Unknown Knowns.
Mukaizake – My Friend Flicker Mukaizake – My Friend Flicker
Hidden Shoal MixTape
