Hidden Shoal News

Connected View “Energy Negative House” Out Now!

Negative Energy HouseWe’re excited to announce the release of  Negative Energy House, the new EP by US-based experimental instrumental pop outfit Connected View. The EP is available now via the Connected View Bandcamp.

As though pulled from some rarely seen and certainly forgotten, straight to VHS sci-fi cult classic soundtrack, ‘lizard’ prowls with playful impishness ducking between the narrowing corridors that divide the worlds of the Stranger Things community and Zombi, its mooching mutant funk gouging tripping imagined wastelands of dystopic future worlds.” – The Sunday Experience

Following on from their stunning Hidden Shoal debut release Chun Pop, Connected View’s Energy Negative House finds them at their playful best, weaving rugged analogue tones with playful percussion, aching synth lines and growling bass. Recorded during the course of a single inspired evening, the jumping off point for the tracks was the drum loop from Chun Pop’s ‘Energy Positive House’, which was then reworked to create opening track ‘Empty Surroundings’, effectively becoming a continuation, but shadowy inverse or negative, of the album’s sun-dappled positivity. Reminiscent of Tortoise at their most obtuse, or Dialogue-era Four Tet, Energy Negative House is simultaneously playful and malevolent – a party played out in a maze of warped mirrors.

Connected View’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.

Christopher Sky Joins The Hidden Shoal Family

Christopher SkyWe’re very excited to welcome the wonderful Christopher Sky to the Hidden Shoal family. Sky brings with him the gorgeous By The Ocean album, released early 2018 and which now forms part of the Hidden Shoal licensing catalogue. His stunning forthcoming album Vastness will see digital release through hidden Shoal and vinyl release via Aagoo Records on the 9th of November.

Christopher Sky is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Los Angeles. His first EP, Cotton Dream, featuring contributions from Paul Espinoza on guitar, was released in 2011 through his own label, Sejatski Ltd. This was followed by Audio Memory, with a stronger emphasis on guitar-based loops and sound design.

After taking some time off to focus on his Let’s Drive to Alaska project – releasing In the Fifth House in 2016 – Sky returned in 2018 with By the Ocean, his first solo work in seven years, featuring five brand new songs, plus remixes by Mirror, Jubilant Ecstasy Dream and HEARTMIND. Two-track EP Orpheus and Eurydice, an ode to the classic tale of love and loss, was released on Valentine’s Day 2018.

Christopher Sky’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.

Wonderful Interview with Liminal Drifter in X-Press

Liminal DrifterCheck out this fantastic interview with Dr Simon Order (aka Liminal Drifter) in the latest X-Press. Order digs deep into his process for latest album The Dreams, his love of the bass guitar and Daddy liminal day-care!
Liminal Drifter’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.

Liminal Drifter “The Dreams” Out Now!

The DreamsIt has landed! Liminal Drifter‘s stunning third album, The Dreams, is now available for your delectation. The album has already started charting abroad ahead of it’s official college radio campaign and Liminal Drifter is sure to be a chart fave once again when the push gets in full swing. The album is available now in digital and CD formats (featuring the absolutely luscious artwork of Stu Medley) via Bandcamp and in digital formats via the usual online suspects (Spotify, iTunes et al).

Following his acclaimed debut album, Troubled Mystic, and its remix companion, Night Train Vacancies, this new collection displays Simon Order’s ongoing mastery of melodic, transportive electronica. Befitting its title, The Dreams has a hypnotic feel, its pristine sonics rendered uncanny by subliminal details. Track titles such as ‘Beach Fair’, ‘Angels of the Sea’ and ‘Fish Don’t Have Arms or Legs’ offer suggestions of the aquatic vibe of the release, with sonar pings and synth pads washing in and out as samples of submerged voices nag at the subconscious. Whether it’s the driving bassline of ‘Stranger Things’, the dream-pop guitars and skanking piano on ‘Man is Part of Nature’, or the thick synth arpeggiation on the closing track ‘Time Lapse’, The Dreams takes great care to offer up waves of lush dreamtronica.

Liminal Drifter’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.

New Connected View Single, EP Out Soon!

Negative Energy HouseWe’re excited to present the first cut from from Negative Energy House, the forthcoming EP by US-based experimental instrumental pop outfit Connected View. ‘Lizard’ is available to stream now with the EP seeing release on the 10th of July.

Following on from their stunning Hidden Shoal debut release Chun Pop, Connected View’s Energy Negative House finds them at their playful best, weaving rugged analogue tones with playful percussion, aching synth lines and growling bass. Recorded during the course of a single inspired evening, the jumping off point for the tracks was the drum loop from Chun Pop’s ‘Energy Positive House’, which was then reworked to create opening track ‘Empty Surroundings’, effectively becoming a continuation, but shadowy inverse or negative, of the album’s sun-dappled positivity. Reminiscent of Tortoise at their most obtuse, or Dialogue-era Four Tet, Energy Negative House is simultaneously playful and malevolent – a party played out in a maze of warped mirrors.

Connected View’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.

New Slow Dancing Society Single from Forthcoming Album

GarlandWe’re excited to be able to present ‘Garland’, the first cut from The Torchlight Parade. Vol. II, 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 Torchlight Parade. Vol. II will see release on the 3rd of August. ‘Garland’ is available to stream via SoundCloud and download via Bandcamp.

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.

All Slow Dancing Society’s music is available for licensing (film, tv, web, games and beyond). More info here.