Hidden Shoal News
The Caribbean to Release Remix EP Through Hidden Shoal
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce an upcoming release by American folk-pop deconstructionists The Caribbean. The band has teamed up with engineer, producer, mixologist Scott Solter (Spoon, Okkervil River, The Mountain Goats) and Hidden Shoal to bring you Scott Solter RePopulates The Caribbean, an EP of dizzying curve balls that split the difference between glistening songcraft and complete re-construction.
“You’re forced to occupy their barren pop architecture…. You don’t understand it, but, though you might not admit it, you do hope it will understand you. Or at least not destroy you…” – Pitchfork
The band is known for assembling songs and records via email and snail-mail, and although that creative model has been abandoned now the band members live in close proximity, the mind-set is locked in. It’s part of the group DNA. The idea of sending five tracks from The Caribbean’s 2007 Hometapes record Populations to Scott Solter to deconstruct, warp, and otherwise obliterate, was neither intimidating nor foreign. While Solter was busy toiling with 2” tape, textiles, liquid polymers, and computers in his North Carolina sound lab, the group became familiar with Hidden Shoal and it became clear to both group and label that the Caribbean/Solter EP was, conceptually, just the kind of project that might be perfect for Hidden Shoal to release. Once group and label began receiving rushes of Solter’s work, it became obvious that such a Caribbean-Hidden Shoal partnership would make creative sense.
Scott Solter RePopulates The Caribbean will be released on Hidden Shoal Recordings on 2nd April 2009, preceded by the single ‘Do You Believe in Dinosaurs?’ on 26th February. Read a full press release here and check The Caribbean’s artists profile for more info on the band.
Hotels "Where Hearts Go Broke" Review at KEXP Blog
Hotels stunning new album Where Hearts Go Broke continues to wow all who lay ears on it. This is no more true than for the wonderful folk at KEXP who have not only been giving the album daily rotations but who have also just written a glowing review over the KEXP Blog.
“Throughout the album, the combination of beautiful guitar and keyboard melodies, complex bass lines, and solid drumming create a very rich, full sound… Where Hearts Go Broke is an excellent album from a rising band, and I expect to see Hotels get a lot of attention this year. “ – KEXP Blog
Read the full review at the KEXP Blog or check out an excerpt in the Hotels Review section on the HSR site.
For those lucky enough to be in or near Seattle be sure to head down to the album launch this Friday 2/20 at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard. You can grab a copy of the album and hear one of the hottest and coolest live bands to come out Seattle in recent times. Everyone else can head to the HSR Store for all CD and digital album availability.
Hotels – The Heart That Hears Like A Bat Hotels – The Heart That Hears Like A Bat
Hotels' Where Hearts Go Broke Released
Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of sophomore album Where Hearts Go Broke by Seattle-based sci-fi pop band Hotels.
From the opening salvo of single ‘Hydra’ to glorious finale ‘Flight Of The Navigator’, Where Hearts Go Broke takes the listener on a thrilling musical journey through airports, streets, bars and, yes, hotels, populated with people falling in and out of love, lost in the gutter but always looking to the stars. This is the most relentlessly paced, hauntingly melodic, damn catchy pop music you’ve never heard, each song an end credit for the weary traveller or the romantic dancer; a tune you should listen to just before you die.
“The collision of new-wave and dream-pop dynamics will have the pleasure endorphins accelerating up your spine towards your brain in no time… smart, succinct, sassy and just that little bit special” – [sic]
“Hotels fuse elements of new wave, goth, and surf so seamlessly that genre tags will be the last thing on your mind when you hear their bittersweet, atmospheric pop songs.” – Time Out New York
Where Hearts Go Broke is now available on CD through n5Mailorder, the distribution arm of n5MD, and digitally from the HSR Store and all good digital music stores such as iTunes, eMusic and Amazon. Check the HSR Store for all availability and distribution information. Read the full press release here.
Seattle folk can also catch Hotels playing the 4th annual Dancing on the Valentines benefit gig on the day of the release. Check the Hotels Myspace for details.
Hotels – Near The Desert, Near The City Hotels – Near The Desert, Near The City
Jumpel's Deuxième Bureau Official CD Release
Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the official CD release of Deuxième Bureau, the sophomore album by German minimal electro maestro Jumpel.
Deuxième Bureau is a further refinement of the Jumpel sound so wonderfully displayed on debut album Samuel Jason Lies On The Beach. Like perfectly fabricated ecosystems, each track is a luscious miniature environment complete with its own microclimate and prismatic inhabitants. The attention to detail in the music is consistently astonishing, rewarding close listening with a good pair of headphones. Deuxième Bureau is a fabric of intimate moments – some parts woven tightly, others open to the air – and an enticing invitation to explore Jumpel’s delicate and immersive ambient micro-pop.
“The elegance of Deuxième Bureau is stunning… ambient music with heart and soul” – Luna Kafe
Deuxième Bureau is now available on CD through n5Mailorder, the distribution arm of n5MD, and digitally from the HSR Store and all good digital music stores such as iTunes, eMusic and Amazon. Jumpel’s first album, Samuel Jason Lies On The Beach, is also available in digital format through Hidden Shoal Recordings. Check the HSR Store for all availability and distribution information.
A full press release is available here.
Jumpel – The Sea/Friends Jumpel – The Sea/Friends
HC-B #1 Track on RTRfm
HC-B’s thunderous new single ‘Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square‘ was #1 Track on Tuesday’s Out To Lunch show on Perth’s stonking RTRfm. Tune into 92.1FM or stream online to hear HC-B and many other Hidden Shoal artists, including Jumpel, whose Deuxieme Bureau is Out To Lunch’s Album Of The Week.
‘Hot Afternoon…’ is available for free download from the HSR Store until the release of Souncheck For A Missing Movie on 3rd March.
HC-B Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square HC-B – Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square
HC-B, Hotels and Jumpel Reviewed on Luna Kafe
HC-B’s single ‘Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square‘, Hotels’ single ‘Hydra‘ and Jumpel’s new album Deuxième Bureau have all received glowing reviews in the new edition of the Norwegian music zine Luna Kafe. Visit the February Kafe to read the reviews in full, or visit the respective artist sections to read excerpts.
Hotels Hydra Hotels – Hydra
Fall Electric Album Reviewed on The Dwarf
Fall Electric’s cracking debut album Measure And Step has just been reviewed on Australian music site The Dwarf. Visit The Dwarf to read the review in full, or check out Fall Electric’s reviews section for an excerpt.
Fall Electric 3am Fall Electric – 3am
Colour Kane Video at IFCT in LA
The video for Colour Kane’s ‘Broken‘, from their wonderful album A Taste Of, has just been screened as part of the International Festival of Cinema & Technology (IFCT) in LA.
The video is available to purchase as an MP4 from the HSR Store.
Colour Kane Broken Colour Kane – Broken
Hotels Album, Shows and Radio Play
Hotels’ sophomore album Where Hearts Go Broke sees its long-awaited release this Saturday, Valentine’s Day. That night, the band plays Dancing On The Valentine IV, a Factory Records tribute night to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The show is at Chop Suey in Seattle, $10 entry, doors 8pm.
Fantastic Seattle station KEXP is currently spinning tracks from the album on 90.3 FM and streaming via their website. With the amount of airplay these guys are getting on KEXP you’ll be hard-pressed to miss them if you tune in. You can request tracks using the KEXP DJ request form.
Following the release this weekend, the Hotels CD release party is on Friday 20th February at the Sunset Tavern, Seattle. Tickets are available now from Ticketweb. And finally, don’t forget that until the release of Where Hearts Go Broke on Saturday, you can download barnstorming single ‘Hydra‘ for free from the HSR Store.
Hotels Hydra Hotels – Hydra
Jumpel Feature Album on RTRfm
Jumpel’s stunning new album Deuxième Bureau is feature album all next week on the Out To Lunch show on Perth’s RTRfm. If you’re in the Perth area, tune into 92.1 FM, or stream online via their website.
Jumpel Rag Magnetic Flag Jumpel – Rag Magnetic Flag
Hidden Shoal MixTape
