Hidden Shoal News
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.
Featured Track – Hotels ‘The Heart That Hears Like A Bat’
‘The Heart That Hears Like A Bat‘ is a song as wonderful as its title, a gorgeously shadowy piece of film noir Bond pop. Tremolo guitars and vibraphone shimmer over the inimitable Hotels rhythm section like moonlight on a swimming pool, while Blake Madden intones a pulpy tale of young girls crying and young lovers dying . It s beautiful, effortlessly cool, and once again proves Hotels as kings of pop melody and mood. The track is lifted from Hotels brilliant sophomore album Where Hearts Go Broke.
Kramies Live at the Grand Theatre in Angers, France (Video Trailer)
We have a wonderful video trailer to share with you taken from Kramies‘ performance at the Grand Theatre in Angers, France in April. The full show with Kramies and wonderful french outfit A Singer Must Die was filmed by French producer Jerome Cassou and screens on French television this month. Get a taste below.
KRAMIES EN CONCERT EXCEPTIONNEL from jerome cassou on Vimeo.
Zealous Chang Signs To Hidden Shoal
We’re very excited to be able to welcome the wonderful Zealous Chang to the Hidden Shoal family! Zealous Chang, led by James Utting-Webb (aka Jimmy Chang), has been pouring sonic pleasure over Perth and Melbourne audiences during the last couple of years supporting acts such as Doctopus, Leure, Felicity Groom, Apricot Rail and Runner. The band’s debut EP, the brilliant ZC (December 2014), is an intoxicating and mesmerising mix of motorik rhythms, washed-out vocals and glassy, atmospheric guitars and synths. Think of breakneck rhythmic explorers Maserati or Cave, shot through with the emotive vocal harmonies of classic Ride, and you’re someway towards imagining Zealous Chang’s potency and promise.
Utting-Webb is currently putting the finishing touches on a new album which will see the light of day in the second half of 2015. The ZC EP will also be given a deluxe re-release later in the year, featuring a raft of remixes from artists such as Markus Mehr, Arvo Tanty (Michael Dolan from Hidden Shoal’s perth) and Melbourne’s Rudolph C, with more to be announced soon.
Zealous Chang’s music is available 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 Zealous Change here.
Todd Tobias “Tristes Tropiques” Album Now Available
We’ve been itching for this day to come and now we stand within it, bathing in it’s wonder. Of course we’re talking about the release of Tristes Tropiques, the new album by prolific multi-instrumentalist and producer Todd Tobias (Circus Devils, Ricked Wicky, Robert Pollard). Hypnotic and melancholy-soaked, Tristes Tropiques draws comparisons to the eerie, transportive work of The Fun Years, The Gentleman Losers and Ian William Craig. Within his consistently excellent solo discography, Tristes Tropiques may prove to be Todd Tobias’s best work to date, sustaining its immersive atmosphere throughout its 45-minute run-time.
The album takes its title from the book by French anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss, which literally translates as “sad tropics”. Tobias sought to evoke far-flung places where indigenous cultures have either vanished or are in the process of being swallowed up by an ever-expanding global civilization. Sinister yet alluring, these musical environments throb with sensuality, danger and promise.
Tristes Tropiques is available now through Hidden Shoal and Tiny Room Records and comes bundled with the gorgeous companion EP Moorea. Head to Todd Tobias’s BandCamp to buy on CD and digital or check out your favourite online music store to nab yourself a copy.
Erik Nilsson Signs to Hidden Shoal
Hidden Shoal is excited to welcome Swedish soundscaper Erik Nilsson to its roster of artists. 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 Scandinavians The Gentleman Losers. His forthcoming 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.
Hearing Things will see release on 30th July with the first cut from the album out mid-June. Nilsson’s music is now available 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 Erik Nilsson here.
New Todd Tobias Album Pre-Release Stream at 3Voor12
Ahead of its official release next week, Todd Tobias‘s new album Tristes Tropiques is streaming in full at 3Voor12’s Luisterpaal. For our non-Dutch fans, Luisterpaal is the primary place for Dutch and Belgium music lovers to discover and stream the best new music as curated by the 3Voor12 team. This is the perfect opportunity to hear why we think this is Todd’s best work to date and such a wonderful and engaging album. Amazing stuff.
Kramies Interview and Live Songs on France Inter
Photo by Jérôme Sevrette
Before Kramies left France in his wake, following his whirlwind tour, he slipped in an interview with the big French radio station France Inter. Even better the piece features three live tracks from his performance at the Grand Theatre in Angers supporting the wonderful French outfit A Singer Must Die.
Stream the interview here and check out more music from Kramies here.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
