Hidden Shoal News
Antonymes and Gilded on the New Cafe del Mar Album!
Hot on the heels of Markus Mehr‘s inclusion in Cafe del Mar‘s Sunscapes, we’re excited to announce another two Hidden Shoal artists will feature in the new Cafe del Mar compilation Piano Works. The new album features the Gilded track ‘Tyne’ from their album Terrane along with Antonymes‘ ‘A Feeling of Being Closer’, the re-working of the Slow Dancing Society track ‘By Your Side’, taken from the EP We Don’t Look Back For Very Long.
Piano Works will see release on the 31st of November 2015 and can be purchased via iTunes and the usual digital outlets. The album trailer is also available for streaming now on YouTube.
“Long Range Transmissions” – Free Hidden Shoal Compilation
We’re excited to announce the release of Long Range Transmissions, the first in a new series of themed, freely downloadable compilations. Long Range Transmissions showcases the ambient and neo-classical side of the Hidden Shoal catalogue, bringing together beautiful tracks from artists as diverse as Robert Pollard collaborator Todd Tobias, British chamber-pop songwriter Chloe March, and American ambient nostalgist Slow Dancing Society. From the delicate piano of Antonymes, Kryshe, Gilded and Medard Fischer, and the celestial experimentalism of Elisa Luu, Markus Mehr and Cheekbone, to the expansive guitarscapes of My Majestic Star, Erik Nilsson and Sleeping Me, Long Range Transmissions is an essential introduction to just one of the many facets of the Hidden Shoal label and licensing catalogue.
The albums is freely downloadable via BandCamp and can also be streamed at SoundCloud and MixCloud. The album also features gorgeous artwork by Gabrielle Harcourt, with the Bandcamp download coming with a bundled PDF booklet.
Erik Nilsson Track in “The Trail Beyond” Doco Trailer
Check out the new trailer for the wonderful in-production documentary The Trail Beyond, featuring the Erik Nilsson track ‘On and Onward’. The film, which will see release in 2016, documents the innovative Trail Beyond program which is aimed at inspiring and empowering women to achieve their goals and strive for more than they thought possible. Directed by the wonderful Cassie De Colling (founder of Natureel) the documentary will feature a soundtrack comprised of a range of Hidden Shoal artists and tracks. Check out the preview below.
The Trail Beyond – Shinetsu 5 Mountain, Japan from Natureel on Vimeo.
“Music is Color for Life” A Battlestations Mixtape
Taking some time out after the release of their sublime new album The Extent of Damage, Battlestations sat down and crafted a delicious mixtape for our collective delectation. Not as dark as one might expect but every bit melodic, the mix moves from the likes of Craig Armstrong and New Order to Ulver and Goblin to name but a few. Here’s some thoughts from Battlestations to get you in the mood,
“Music is color for life. Like a painting, it’s sometimes big, brutal brush strokes that leaves a thick black stain in the soul, at other times feather-light, embracing and soothing tiny pecks of color melting within the soul. In either case, magic. Let these sound canvasses paint your soul.” – Battlestations
“Music is Color for Life” A Mixtape by Battlestations by Hidden Shoal on Mixcloud
Todd Tobias Interview at Tape Op
Check out this wonderful interview with the venerable Todd Tobias over at Tape Op. Todd talks about his role as Guided by Voices and Robert Pollard producer, his process as a producer and engineer and also his expansive solo work and collaborations as part of Brother Earth and Circus Devils.
Don’t forget to check out his latest solo masterpiece Tristes Tropiques and it’s accompanying EP Moorea.
Kramies New Free Live EP Out Now
On a spring evening in 2015, the setting sun cast deep shadows over The Grand Théâtre in Angers, France, where Kramies was due to play to a sold-out crowd. As the 700 ticket-holders took to their seats and the theatre dimmed to a single amber light, Kramies walked on stage to perform his haunting, romantic songs. forêts antiques is a recording of that night.
forêts antiques features recordings of tracks from Kramies acclaimed EPs along with a previously unreleased song and is available for free download via Bandcamp. Don’t forget to check out Kramies other wonderful releases here.
Markus Mehr “In the Palm of Your Hand – The Remix EP”
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of Markus Mehr‘s In the Palm of Your Hand – The Remix EP, which brings together four unique remixes of the track ‘In the Palm of Your Hand’, lifted from Mehr’s latest album, Binary Rooms. Stream and download the EP via Bandcamp.
The original album mix of ‘In the Palm of Your Hand’ maps out the dichotomy at the heart of Binary Rooms. While plaintive piano chords suggest openness and possibility, they’re perpetually hemmed in by a claustrophobic industrial throb, creating a tension that aches to be resolved. The first remix, by Hamburg duo incite/, ramps up the tension by slicing and dicing the ambient throb into a glitchy tapestry and smothering the piano in sonic gauze. Conga Fever dials back the ambience and juxtaposes the piano against a sun-dappled beatscape. Hidden Shoal labelmate Erik Nilsson makes the piano the focus, bringing in field recordings to create the feeling of a beautiful jazz improvisation taking place on a demolition site. And finally, David Kochs’ remix filters the haze of the original into sharp yet dreamy minimal techno.
Gorgeous New Single from The October Solution
We’re excited to share the gorgeous new single from Australia via US dream-pop duo The October Solution, taken from their debut album Axis Swim Scar. ‘Stolen’ distills Disintegration-era Cure and 80s pop romanticism into a slice of languid, escapist dream-pop. What’s most striking about this track is its restraint, able to hold the listener rapt, even when it strips back to just the soaring guitar of Drew Sullivan (Slow Dancing Society) and the ethereal vocals of Jarrod Manuel (City of Satellites). The October Solution work within and move beyond familiar tropes to present a defiantly futuristic and progressive vision. Axis Swim Scar resonates with deftly woven pop melodies, melding the incandescent ambient sounds of Slow Dancing Society within the propulsive songcraft of City of Satellites.
Download the song for free via the band’s Bandcamp and be sure to check out Axis Swim Scar while you’re there. ‘Stolen’ is also available for streaming via SoundCloud.
AWMA’s Brilliant Debut EP Out Now!
We’re super excited to announce the official release of the debut self-titled EP from atmospheric rock trio AWMA. The band dynamic that Conor and Eimer Devlin ([the] caseworker) and Jason Lakis (The Red Thread, Mist and Mast) have cultivated over the years of touring and playing together as Half Film has been elegantly renewed on their debut EP. This melodically charged music, akin to the early pastoral side of Pink Floyd, exudes intensity and emotional resonance. What else would you expect from such heritage.
The AWMA EP features the single ‘Broadcast History’, which prowls relentlessly around a circular guitar refrain, gradually building in intensity as Jason Lakis’s expansive guitar effects and Conor Devlin’s incantatory vocal colour the stereo field with portent. AWMA take the space, weight and atmosphere of Half Film, and inject instrumental details and a gentle shift in tempo from their slowcore origins.
Get yourself a copy of the EP via AMWA’s BandCamp. The EP will also be available via iTunes, Amazon and Spotify et al later next week. Expect a vinyl release early 2016.
Liminal Drifter Full RTRFM Interview Stream
We have the wonderful interview with Liminal Drifter (aka Dr Simon Order) by Fred Sims (Artificial Intelligence on RTRFM) to share with you. This is the full length version which aired last month and includes songs from the debut Liminal Drifter album Troubled Mystic. Many thanks to Fred and RTRFM for allowing us to repost this. It really is a great listen – enjoy!
In related Liminal Drifter radio news, Troubled Mystic just landed at number 8 in the CJSW electronic charts! Nice.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
