Hidden Shoal News
Hotels Single Reviewed on [sic]
The new Hotels single ‘Hydra‘ has just received a glowing review on the excellent music site [sic]. Visit [sic] to read the review in full, or visit Hotels’ reviews section for an excerpt.
‘Hydra’ is available for free download until the release of the stunning album Where Hearts Go Broke on Valentine’s Day.
Hotels Hydra Hotels – Hydra
New HC-B Single Released, Free Download Available
Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of ‘Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square’ by Italian instrumental band HC-B, the first single to be taken from their forthcoming debut album for Hidden Shoal, Soundcheck For A Missing Movie.
Lurching forward from a spray of electric noise, the cantering rhythms that underpin ‘Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square’ propel the song with irresistible momentum. Free jazz horns squabble and blare like a swarm of bees before the main theme shines through like an exultant fanfare, supported by a thundering bassline. This triumphant single simultaneously deconstructs and embraces fist-in-the-air anthemic rock in enviable style, and announces the imminent arrival of a formidable new album release from these Italian masters.
“From krautrock to the Canterbury school, from science-fiction films to Godspeed You Black Emperor!, the Sicilian band metabolize everything with sensitivity and personality… HC-B will be on everyone’s lips for some time to come” – Freak Out
‘Hot Afternoon In The Bulls’ Square’ is now available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store until the release of the album Soundcheck For A Missing Movie on March 3rd, 2009. The album was recorded and mixed by Sacha Tilotta and Alfredo Musumeci at Dream Factory in Catania, and mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac) in Chicago.
Read a full press release here.
HC-B – Hot Afternoon in the Bulls’ Square HC-B – Hot Afternoon in the Bulls’ Square
RL/VL in Perfect Sound Forever's Best of 2008
RL/VL’s lo-fi ambient epic Chagrin is one of Perfect Sound Forever’s best albums of 2008. Visit the PSF site and scroll down to Dan Weiss’ top 20 to find Chagrin alongside other excellent albums from last year by Portishead, Stereolab and Blitzen Trapper.
RL/VL Kweens RL/VL – Kweens
The Underground of Happiness Irish Radio
For all our Irish fans, in particular those living in or near Cork, be sure to tune in to the super fine radio show The Underground of Happiness on Cork Campus Radio 98.3FM. The show airs from 11am to 12pm local time on Tuesdays. This weeks show features the delights of our very own Rich Bennett amongst delicious offerings from the likes of Amadou & Mariam, Isaac Hayes, Susumu Yokota, My Brightest Diamond, Bat for Lashes and David Bowie. If your not in radio range of Cork or you believe the FM band is the work of satan him or herself then you can always utilise interweb technology and stream the show live here – http://www.ucc.ie/ccr
Tune in each week to hear come fabulous music including more gems from the HSR catalogue.
Hidden Shoal Recordings Announces Sleeping Me Signing
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the signing of American ambient guitarist Sleeping Me.
Textural and meticulously composed, the emotive ambience of Sleeping Me is a quiet reminder of all the beauty and personal strife that is experienced in solitude. Tidal currents of delayed guitar carry the listener across an ocean of reverb, cast adrift beneath a brooding sky. Each track hands an elusive secret to the next, hinted at but never revealed.
Sleeping Me’s debut release Cradlesongs is an homage to the bittersweet rise and fall of fortune, the discovery and evasiveness of identity and truth, and the acceptance of distance, disappointment, and the poignancy of an ever-elusive yet omnipresent love. Elegant, engaging and always beautiful, these melancholic symphonies truly live up to their collective description as Cradlesongs, lulling and comforting in their amniotic haze.
Cradlesongs will be released on Hidden Shoal Recordings on 26th May 2009, preceded by a single in April.
Read a full press release about the signing here.
City Of Satellites Single Of The Week In Drum Media
City Of Satellites’ debut EP The Spook has been awarded Single Of The Week in Drum Media Perth, and received a glowing review in Drum Media Sydney. Visit the City Of Satellites reviews section to read the reviews in full.
City Of Satellites Sleeping Disgrace City Of Satellites – Sleeping Disgrace
Jumpel's Deuxième Bureau Digital Pre-Release
Hidden Shoal Recordings have announced the digital pre-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.
“Jumpel brings a wealth of musical and life experience to this meticulously crafted debut album… intimate despite its broad spectrum of instrumental colour and occasional cinematic ambiance” – Textura on SJLOTB
Deuxième Bureau is now available digitally from the HSR Store and all good digital music stores such as iTunes, eMusic and Amazon. The album will see its official CD release mid-February. 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.
Jumepel – Clay State Jumpel – Clay State
Hotels Live
Pay attention Hotels fans. OK, that’s everyone – good. With the recent release of single ‘Hydra‘ and the forthcoming release of their stunning sophomore album Where Hearts Go Broke on Valentine’s Day, the band has announced a tour along the west coast of the US between January and March. Some of the venues are still to be confirmed, but for now you can check whether you’ll have the unparalleled pleasure of witnessing this very special band tear it up on stage in your local metropolis:
29 January – The High Dive, Seattle, WA
14 February – Dancing On The Valentine Benefit, Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
20 February – CD Release Party, The Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA
6 March – Bob’s Java Jive, Tacoma, WA
7 March – TBA, Portland, OR
8 March – BBG Showroom – Roseburg, OR
10 March – TBA – Sacramento, CA
11 March – The Rockit Room – San Francisco, CA
12 March – TBA, Los Angeles, CA
13 March – TBA, San Diego, CA
Meanwhile, visit the Hotels MySpace blog for all the Hotels news in full. And don’t forget that ‘Hydra‘ is currently available for free download from the HSR Store until the release of the album on 14 February.
Hotels Hydra Hotels – Hydra
New Toby Richardson EP Coming Soon!
Lo-fi rock magician Toby Richardson is currently working on a new EP entitled The Stones & The Rabbits, due for release on Hidden Shoal later this year. Pop along to Toby’s MySpace page to read the blog post, and visit the HSR Store to stream tracks from his debut EP Golden Days and album Evergreen.
Toby Richardson Booragoon Lagoon Toby Richardson – Booragoon Lagoon
New Hotels Single Released, Free Download Available
Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of ‘Hydra’ by Seattle-based sci-fi pop band Hotels, the first single taken from their forthcoming sophomore album Where Hearts Go Broke.
‘Hydra’ is the winning opening salvo on an album crammed with impossibly catchy pop music, and the perfect introduction to Hotels’ addictive sound. Crisp, propulsive drumming and beautifully melodic bass playing are buoyed up by sizzling synths and chiming guitars, with Blake Madden’s vocal lines the icing on this delicious, hook-heavy cake.
With inimitable charm, the song tells of a doomed romance on a Greek isle, pulled off with the kind of verve and panache that only a band like Hotels could muster. Sophisticated yet 
accessible, ‘Hydra’ whets the appetite for Where Hearts Go Broke’s endlessly replayable pop genius.
“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
‘Hydra’ is available for free download from the HSR Store until the release of Hotels’ new album, Where Hearts Go Broke, on Valentine’s Day 2009. Read a full press release here.
Hotels – Hydra Hotels – Hydra
Hidden Shoal MixTape
