Hidden Shoal News
New Christopher Sky Single, Album in November
We’re excited to present ‘End of an Era’, the first single lifted from Christopher Sky‘s stunning forthcoming album Vastness. The track is available to stream now via SoundCloud and is also available as a free download via Bandcamp. Vastness will see release release on the 9th of November 2018 via Hidden Shoal and Aagoo Records. Christopher Sky’s music is also available for licensing through Hidden Shoal across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Employing guitar, rhodes piano, electronics and loops, Christopher Sky crafts soundscapes that feel boundless and expansive. Constantly evolving, each piece adopts nuanced textural and rhythmic motifs as both narrative devices and atmospheric signifiers. Sky’s deft handling of space and scale delivers some truly beatific vistas that are both inviting and transportive.
Perfectly placed incidental sounds are mapped out across the album’s duration. Rather than serving as instrumental adornments, they become musical signposts. As with William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops, the act of listening becomes an exploration of the details while being gently guided by the ambience. Whether employing glitchy rhodes tones, crackling static or eerie reverberating percussion, Sky masterfully creates and sustains an atmosphere, then transforms it subtly, carrying the listener effortlessly through and between tracks with finesse.
New Markus Mehr Track and Video, Album in October
We’re very excited to present ‘Rank‘, the first taste of Markus Mehr‘s sublime new album Liquid Empires. The track is accompanied by another amazing video work from German artist Stefanie Sixt which can be streamed via YouTube and Vimeo. Liquid Empires will see release on the 15th of October and is now available for pre-order on cassette and digital from Markus Mehr’s Bandcamp.
Liquid Empires is a sonic exploration of the centrality of water to life on Earth. As Mehr explains, “We are water. Water is everything. It is life-giving and deadly, it is progress and comfort, it is central to our economy, energy, transport, food, warmth, cooling and manufacturing. At the same time, water means purity, beauty and mysticism. We spend the first nine months in it. We waste it and we contaminate it…”
Over the course of more than two years, Mehr recorded the sound of rivers, lakes and oceans, then set about transforming these sonic source materials in the digital domain using spectral analysis and time manipulation software. The result is some of Mehr’s most mesmerising compositions to date, teasing out harmonic patterns and microscopic textures that are beautiful as they are mystifying.
Markus Mehr’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Todd Tobias & Chloe March “Amialluma” Out Now!
We’re proud to announce the official release of Amialluma, the stunning new collaboration between Todd Tobias and Chloe March. The album is available now via both the Todd Tobias and Chloe March Bandcamp pages, Tiny Room Records as well as all good 3rd party stores (iTunes, Spotify et al). This music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
After a number of track collaborations on Todd Tobias’s 2015 album Gila Man, Chloe March and Todd Tobias have joined forces on their new full-length, Amialluma. Dwelling in a mysterious hinterland somewhere between Cocteau Twins’ seminal Victorialand and The Caretaker’s Persistent Repetition of Phrases, Amialluma dances between the earthly and heavenly. Chloe March’s celestial voice shines a light through Todd Tobias’s dark, fantastical soundscapes, resulting in a sublime, uncanny experience that enraptures and unsettles in equal measure. Through a process of improvisation sparked by the emotive power of Tobias’s music, March developed a lyrical world of word-invention sung into archaic lullabies and tales. The lyrics centre around a child’s journey from the safety of its mother’s arms through an ancient, shadowy world. Overcoming fear and meeting with otherworldly guides, the child finds independence and reveals a deep connection with nature.
Liminal Drifter Interview on Echoes This Tuesday
Be sure to tune in to the wonderful Echoes Radio this Tuesday night to hear an interview with Dr Simon Order (aka Liminal Drifter). Hear Simon talk with John Diliberto about his new album The Dreams and more. Head to the Echoes website to check all the ways you can listen in (terrestrial radio, online etc).
“Amialluma” in CFUV Top 30
Todd Tobias & Chloe March‘s stunning new opus Amialluma has just landed in the CFUV top 30 and is also sitting pretty at 8 on their electronic chart! The album sees release on the 4th of September with the first single ‘Lallulow’ available to stream via SoundCloud.
New Kramies Track Premiered at Culture Collide
The first taste from Kramies sublime forthcoming EP has been premiered by the wonderful Culture Collide. ‘The Hill Dweller’ is a window view into Kramies’ sweepingly-nostalgic new EP, Of All The Places Been & Everything The End. A wistful and picturesque landscape, ‘The Hill Dweller’, which was written and partially recorded while Kramies resided in an old Irish castle, was produced by and features the brilliant Jerry Becker (Train).
Of All The Places Been & Everything The End, also produced by and featuring Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) and Todd Tobias (Guided By Voices), will see release on October 19th via Hidden Shoal.
Isophene Joins the Hidden Shoal Family, Debut Album Out in October
We’re super excited to welcome Melbourne based electronic artist Isophene to the Hidden Shoal family. Isophene is the moniker of producer Brad Buenen, who creates music from his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges, set amongst towering Mountain Ash rainforests. His debut album, Reverbatory, will see release through Hidden Shoal on 29th October with the first single out in September.
Using ’80s synths, piano, guitar, field recordings and an intricate mix of programmed and live drums, Isophene’s cinematic downtempo music is as lush as it is melodic. Drawing from a similarly vibrant musical palette as Boards of Canada, Helios and Tycho, Isophene immerses the listener in sun-drenched waves of emotive sound. On debut album Reverbatory, Isophene draws inspiration from the natural beauty of his mountainside studio to craft tracks that are as timeless as the landscapes they were born from.
While you wait for the first taste of Reverbatory, be sure to check out Isophene’s gorgeous remix of Summon The Birds‘ new single ‘Cloud Cars‘.
Isophene’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Liminal Drifter Riding the US Radio Charts!
Liminal Drifter‘s The Dreams is riding up the NACC Electronic chart! The album is now sitting at number 6!
Alpha Hall ‘Rains’ Single & Video
Hidden Shoal is excited to present ‘Rains’ is the aching first single from Omens, the debut album by Australian band Alpha Hall.The track is available via SoundCloud and Bandcamp and the accompanying music video can be streamed via YouTube. Omens drops on the 12th of October 2018.
A plea for love in the face of fear, ‘Rains’ exerts a devastating emotional pull. Layers of guitar and violin interweave beautifully, while the rhythm section ratchets up the tension and Baz Petrovski’s weathered vocal tone deepens the atmosphere of weary resilience.
“mesmerising, with dusky vocals, purring violin, and a rich melodic and rhythmic interplay that erupts into emotional climaxes that ambush and satisfy in equal measures” – Doug Wallen on Alpha Hall, The Big Issue
Alpha Hall traverse a unique sonic landscape, somewhere between The National’s brooding songcraft and Dirty Three’s violin-streaked majesty. Their cinematic debut album, Omens, conveys many shades of light and dark, veering from delicate and introspective to unnerving and expansive. It captures a band able to convey not only the rugged beauty of their surroundings in regional Australia, but also the complex nature of our tempestuous times.
Alpha Hall’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Slow Dancing Society “The Torchlight Parade Vol. II” Out Now!
We’re excited to announce the official release of the second and final part of Slow Dancing Society’s The Torchlight Parade. Vol. II represents the tenth album in the US-based ambient artist’s expanding discography, which began with The Sound of Lights When Dim (2006), now considered one of the classics of modern ambient. The album is available now via Bandcamp and all good 3rd party stores including Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.
“To a secret and hidden place where the past and present merge in a luminous cascade of sights and sounds which few can discern. How far can one artist and their craft pull you out of your own life? Listen to this album and decide that for yourself, only don’t do it hastily and don’t expect it all to hit you at once. This individual clearly revels in the sublime, no note is out of place, no hint of beauty given up rashly. Everything is conceived and composed to hit all those sweet spots in your head which you thought no one else could. It’s divine here, think I’ll stay a while.” – Santa Sangre on The Cogent Sea
Volume II of Slow Dancing Society’s (Drew Sullivan) The Torchlight Parade continues the artist’s immersive nocturnal sonic tapestries. While Vol. I was marked by a sense of exploration and tension, Vol. II arrives at a place of reflection and resolution. Much like its predecessor, where each track title references a specific place in Sullivan’s home town of Spokane, Washington, Vol. II also creates its own distinct geography – both external and internal. From the graceful melancholy of single ‘Garland’ to the smoky radiance of ‘Shadle Park’, Vol. II is a deeply evocative ambient experience. Sullivan’s ability to work within the ambient format, yet create such complex and engaging narratives is a special thing indeed. Following in the footsteps of Eno, these works are soundtracks to films yet made.
Slow Dancing Society’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
