Hidden Shoal News
New Medard Fischer Track Stream
We’re excited to be able to present ‘Five Years Almost to the Day’, the first taste of the forthcoming Medard Fischer EP Four Songs for the City of New York. Reflective piano chords are suspended amid glowing tones, rendering these three minutes utterly transportive. Neo-classical ambient has a new and essential voice.
The song is available for streaming via SoundCloud ahead of the release of Four Songs for the City of New York on the 3rd of September 2015.
Erik Nilsson “Hearing Things” Out Now!
We know you’ve been loving Erik Nilsson‘s sumptuous new track ‘On and Onward‘ and waiting for his second album to drop (we have cameras in your house). Well quit your waiting and start your listening as the beautiful sophomore release from Nilsson, Hearing Things, has just landed. Drawing on folk, classical and electronica, Erik Nilsson blends acoustic instruments with field recordings and computer-generated sounds, crafting music akin to early Four Tet, Tortoise at their most minimal, and fellow Scandinavian soundscapers The Gentleman Losers. His Hidden Shoal debut Hearing Things advances the compositional strategy Nilsson first explored on his acclaimed debut Recollage: simple rhythmic and melodic elements are manipulated and recontextualised into richly textured, emotive pieces.
Erik’s previous work includes the album Recollage, released by Luxus-Artica Records, and the score for Ahmed – Almost 13, a Norwegian documentary screened at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam. His music can be heard in Project Power, which chronicles civic resistance to privatisation in New Brunswick, Canada, and in Are You Still There?, finalist in the 2011 edition of the short film competition The 24 Hour Film Race. Erik is a regular contributor to the Disquiet Junto Project, an online collective exploring the creative potential of constraints. He is also singer and guitarist of folk-rock trio Otinget, whose debut album will be released in 2015.
Check out the opening track ‘Ex Nihilo’ below or via SoundCloud and stream and purchase the album here.
Three Questions With Liminal Drifter
Dr. Simon Order, aka Liminal Drifter, wears many hats – academic, marathon runner and of course musician. Whilst it’s the latter we’re most interested in Order’s other two areas of activity inform his music in many key ways. The often wistful, open spaces of his work as Liminal Drifter feel like the perfect accompaniment to a runners high – internalised, slightly out of body and always moving forward. His debut album Troubled Mystic, featuring a number of collaborations with Chloe March, presents dreamy, evocative slices of ambient electronica sitting alongside some brooding downtempo gems. Check out the title track here ahead of the album release on the 19th of August 2015.
But that’s enough from us for now. Let’s hand it over to the good doctor as he pulls three questions out of the bag.
What kind of activity is your music made for?
Running, cycling, body action, movement in time, just breathing, washed in sonic waves, a back and forth, an up and down, a vibration, a passage of time. Time allows music. No time, no music, no movement. Resonance is all we have. I’m drawn to the resonance.
Why make music?
The human psyche; an almost unbearable number of excitable notions trying to break into the world, visceral and cerebral, stuff to be expressed and articulated. I think that’s where music comes in, tapping into that flow, reimagining, a crafting of emotions into sonic resonances that hopefully mean something to a listener. I’m drawn to that reimagining.
What’s your most treasured item of musical gear?
My bass guitar stands proudly in the corner reminding me there’s always a groove; the low, guttural, trouser-flapping power of music.
REW<< Album Release & New Music Video
It’s a day of double joy for us, not only do we finally get to present the absolutely brilliant new album from REW<< to you in it’s its glory, we also have a beautiful new video for the album track ‘Swan’s Melody’ to excite your eyes and ears.
On Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs, the eclectic songcraft of REW<< (Ryan E. Weber) is refracted through the lens of a laptop, conveying the open-endedness, excitement and disconnection of post-modern living while maintaining the immediacy of pop. From the grand to the intimate, REW<<’s many shades blend beautifully within the one canvas thanks to Weber’s skilled hand. His compositional dexterity manages to invest the album’s dreaminess with a sense of drama. From shimmering, widescreen electronic pop to haunting, minimal ballads, REW<< traverses dizzyingly varied terrain across the album’s 30 minutes, crafting a vivid journey that demands repeat visits.
The new music video for album track ‘Swan’s Melody’ is a perfect visual analogue of the song’s bittersweet charms. As the elegant movements of trapeze artists are mirrored and warped as if viewed through a kaleidoscope, the gravity-defying beauty of the song’s piano lines and Ryan Weber’s aching vocals are deepened in pathos.
Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs is available now via BandCamp and the usual raft of digital online stores. Don’t forget to check out the video for ‘Swan’s Melody’ at YouTube or Vimeo.
Liminal Drifter ‘Troubled Mystic (feat. Chloe March)’
Good times my friends! We finally get to lay the title track on you from Liminal Drifter‘s forthcoming debut album (19/8/15). A collaboration with English dream-pop artist Chloe March, ‘Troubled Mystic’ is the perfect introduction to the measured, spacious beauty of Liminal Drifter. Drawing on the seminal sounds of trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack and early Warp electronic acts such as Black Dog, ‘Troubled Mystic’ punctuates a bright, shuffling groove with golden swells of brass and March’s aching vocal.
Stream the song over at SoundCloud, download it via BandCamp and find our more about Liminal Drifter here.
The Star Department “The Pea Green Boat” Out Now!
We’re excited to announce that The Star Department‘s gorgeous debut album is finally out. At its core, The Pea Green Boat is irrepressibly melodic and always inventive, never relying on predictable forms to deliver its charms. Each song is crafted around a playful, deftly composed structure, with a delicate yet potent mix of lo-fi guitars, horns, organ and off-kilter rhythm section. Given the album’s wonderful mix of indie pop and art-rock it comes as no surprise to learn that production credits for the album include David Brewis of Field Music, and Tom McFall (Bloc Party, REM, Stars, Weezer).
‘Art rock with a nice, romantic/melodic edge’ – The Guardian
The first single from The Pea Green Boat, ‘This Ship Won’t Sail’, provides the perfect introduction to the album with its inventive take on expansive down-tempo indie pop. The song’s organ-driven twists and turns evoke the dark charm of Psychedelic Fur’s ‘Sister Europe’, Deerhunter’s more pop-leaning moments, and the chiming guitar work of seminal Flying Nun outfits. Never self-indulgent yet never predictable, this is hypnotic, emotive stuff. Second single ‘Stitches and Sleeves’ is bound together by a heartbreaking guitar line, a silvery waltz-time figure that sends shivers up the spine. Combined with shuffling drums, a muted yet ominous horn section, and Justin Commins’ vulnerable, almost defeated vocal, the song radiates melancholic pop magic.
Stream and buy The Pea Green Boat via Bandcamp as well as the usual digital outlets.
Medard Fischer Joins Hidden Shoal, New EP Announced
We’ve been holding this under our hat for a little while now so we’re excited to finally be able to an announce the signing of Medard Fischer to the Hidden Shoal family. Best known for his solo work as Arc Lab and Tyyson, and as half of Hidden Shoal’s electronic duo Down Review with Tim Arndt (Near The Parenthesis), Medard Fischer’s eponymous solo work distills the warm ambience and impressionistic piano work of his previous releases into cohesive new forms. These thematically driven compositions orbit the intersection of modern classical music, textured ambient soundscapes and music for film, creating undeniably moving instrumental works.
Fischer’s moving debut solo work Four Songs for Peter Fechter is available now and his forthcoming EP Four Songs for the City of New York will see release on the 3rd of September this year with a track preceding it in August. Both EPs are available now for licensing (master & sync cleared) for film, tv, web, games, compilations and more. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any licensing enquiries.
Read more about Medard Fischer here.
HC-B’s Epic New Album “Rough” Released
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of Rough, the epic new album by serpentine instrumental rock band HC-B, which includes slow-burning single ‘Deux’.
On Rough, HC-B’s dexterous handling of dynamics and structure recalls fellow artisans of epic such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and This Will Destroy You. The album’s five long pieces complement and play off each other beautifully. On single ‘Deux’, a masterclass in slow-burning restraint, guitar and bass melodies snake around each other in dizzying patterns. The song’s cumulative power – and that of the album as a whole – comes from the tenacity with which the band explore every shade of the music’s melodic colours.
Stream and buy the album via BandCamp or head to iTunes, Amazon or your favourite online store and grab yourself a copy. In the meanwhile check out the music video for ‘Deux’ below.
Doomed Love & Sea Monsters – New Music Video from The October Solution
The new video and single from The October Solution is here! Last month we shared some exciting production stills from the shoot of ‘Lost’, and now the video is ready to blow your mind.
Produced by CINEMÂCHÉ (Daniel Principe of Studio Sunkie), the video “tells the tale of a sea monster’s doomed love affair with a woman who abruptly disappears. During his obsession-driven search for her he not only comes to re-examine the darker aspects of their relationship, but also to question the very nature of everything he once believed.” Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
The track itself brings to bear the duo’s redoubtable talents, melding the incandescent ambient sounds of Slow Dancing Society within the propulsive songcraft of City of Satellites. This is dream-pop of the highest order, with its transportive visual accompaniment the icing on the cake.
‘Lost’ is taken from The October Solution’s recently released debut album Axis Swim Scar. Watch the music video at YouTube or Vimeo, download the track at BandCamp and stream it at SoundCloud.
Erik Nilsson ‘On and Onward’ – Stream & Download
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of the stunning new track ‘On and Onward’ by Erik Nilsson, the first single from his forthcoming album Hearing Things (30th July 2015). The track is available for streaming via SoundCloud and download at BandCamp.
The direct emotive power of ‘On and Onward’ comes from the simple accumulation of pristine instrumental elements: shimmering chimes, resonant piano chords, a driving kick drum, and a glitchy, echoing hook. The elements build and play off each other with clarity and precision, resulting in a track of deceptive power and resonance.
Erik’s previous work includes the album Recollage, originally released by Luxus-Artica Records, and the score for Ahmed – Almost 13, a Norwegian documentary screened at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam. His music can be heard in Project Power, which chronicles civic resistance to privatisation in New Brunswick, Canada, and in Are You Still There?, finalist in the 2011 edition of the short film competition The 24 Hour Film Race. Erik is a regular contributor to the Disquiet Junto Project, an online collective exploring the creative potential of constraints. He is also singer and guitarist in folk-rock trio Otinget, whose debut album will be released in 2015.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
