Hidden Shoal News
Free YouTube Music Licensing
Hidden Shoal is very excited to announce our free YouTube music licensing initiative. Tracks from the Hidden Shoal Publishing catalogue are now available for free use within personal YouTube videos. We openly encourage you to utilise our wonderful catalogue in your YouTube works, whether it be your latest experimental short film, an audio only video/playlist or god forbid, a cat video. We’ve got a page that covers the details and also provides a small sample of downloadable tracks to get you started. So what are you waiting for?
And as always if you’re looking for music for film, tv and commercial/budgeted web projects then be sure to contact us so we can help you sync some beautiful tracks to your beautiful moving image works.
Hidden Shoal is Luna Kafe’s 2nd Favourite Label of 2014!
Hidden Shoal has just been honoured at the wonderful Norwegian zine Luna Kafé. The label has scooped the number 2 spot on Luna Kafé’s list of top 10 indie labels of 2014! Thanks to Håvard Oppøyen and the lovely Luna Kafé team for their ongoing support of great independent music. Here’s the list so you can see the esteemed company we’re ruffling feathers with,
01. Dead Oceans (US)
02. Hidden Shoal Recordings (AU)
03. Jagjaguwar (US)
04. Domino Recording Company (UK)
05. Matador Records (US)
06. Merge Records (US)
07. HUBROmusic! (NO)
08. Kvitnu (UA)
09. Jansen Plateproduksjon (NO)
10. Karaoke Kalk (DE)
Bubbling under: Secretly Canadian (US), Propeller Recordings (NO), Nexsound (UA), Drag City Records (US), FatCat Records (UK), WOODSIST RECORDS (US).
Debut Umpire and Mukaizake Releases Join the Hidden Shoal Catalogue
We’re very excited to announce that the stunning debut releases by Perth bands Mukaizake and Umpire – originally released in 2003 and 2009 respectively – have now joined our publishing catalogue. Umpire’s self-titled EP and Mukaizake’s Mapping the Static are each such accomplished debuts – and round out both outfits’ discographies for Hidden Shoal. Fans of both bands will know of the shared membership, and having all four releases by the two outfits together sets up wonderful trajectories and crossovers between them. These releases are mathy, rocky, languid and melodically rich.
Check out Umpire’s debut EP and album here, and do the same for both Mukaizake albums here. The tracks from all four releases are available for licensing (master & sync cleared) for film, tv, web, games and more. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any licensing enquiries.
Antonymes CD & Digital Sale
Time to fill in the missing blanks of your Antonymes discography people! There is a CD & Digital sale on now across his entire catalogue over at Bandcamp. There is limited CD stock for a number of releases so it’s first come, first served.
In case you missed other recent Antonymes news, his entire back catalogue recently joined the Hidden Shoal publishing catalogue for film, tv and other licensing. His track ‘301210’ was also recently included in Spotify’s official “Most Beautiful Songs In The World” playlist which also featured artists such as Camera Obscura, Fennesz, Goldfrapp, Bon Iver, Talk Talk, A Winged Victory For The Sullen.
New Slow Dancing Society EP – “The Dusk Recital”
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the new EP The Dusk Recital by US ambient artist Slow Dancing Society. The Dusk Recital was borne out of the sessions for Slow Dancing Society’s beautiful last album The Cogent Sea and is, in part, an instrumental homage to the mainstream dream-pop of the 90s. Cavernous drums, minimal guitar licks a la Roxy Music, and smooth saxophone lines feature prominently across these six tracks, all enveloped in the unmistakable Slow Dancing Society sound and feel. This is Drew Sullivan at his most playful, offering us a glimpse into some of the guilty pleasures he acknowledges as influences, while also delivering a deliciously smooth and immersive listening experience.
“a strong sense of connection to and continuity from the previous Slow Dancing Society releases yet also offers subtle modifications in the project’s enticing sound. That he’s been able to effect such a change in such an organic manner on this latest effort suggests there’s still room for other advances in the future, too” – Textura on The Cogent Sea
Stream and purchase the digital only EP at Bandcamp and check out the Slow Dancing Society discography, music videos and more here.
Todd Tobias “Impossible Cities” European Launch Party
The wonderful Tiny Room Records are presenting the European release party for Todd Tobias‘s brilliant new album Impossible Cities. The night includes a screening of Todd’s wildly surreal full length experimental feature film I Razor. If you are anywhere in or near the Netherlands this weekend then you know what to do! Check out all the details here.
If you’ve not yet had the pleasure of strapping your ears onto Impossible Cities and its companion EP Impossible Cities 2 then head to Todd’s artist profile to hear and read more.
Puppets, Drugs & Guns – A New Music Video from Brother Earth
We’re excited to present the third single taken from Brother Earth‘s latest album Positive Haywires. In contrast to some of the darker moments on Positive Haywires , ‘Sunny Side of the Street’ sees Brother Earth in decidedly upbeat mode. The accompanying playful music video, created by Natalie Van Den Dungen and band members Steve Five and Todd Tobias, features puppetry, guns and drugs, all set against a Brooklyn backdrop. A colourful Jim Henson-style character hits the pavement in high spirits, only to rub up against some cantankerous New Yorkers intent on souring his vibe. What’s not to like?!
Brother Earth brings together the formidable talents of multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias (Circus Devils) and vocalist Steve Five (The Library is on Fire). On their debut album for Hidden Shoal Positive Haywires, which features singles ‘Out Like A Lion’ and ‘City of Gold’, their shadowy, kaleidoscopic music vacillates between brooding textural pieces and exuberant rock-and-roll at the drop of a hat, chasing the ghosts of pop music past into a hall of cracked mirrors. The album’s wonderfully elastic aesthetics shift from dark and broken to sunny and playful in a matter of songs, while maintaining their own warped and beautiful logic.
Check out the video below, stream the single at SoundCloud and buy the album at Bandcamp (CD + Digital + Limited Edition Cassette).
Kryshe’s Debut EP Joins the Hidden Shoal Publishing Catalogue
Before his new mini-album In Between, and his previous album Growing, Christian Grothe, aka Kryshe, released his debut EP Dreamland in 2012. We’re excited to now have the two beautiful pieces that comprise Dreamland join our publishing and licensing catalogue. In contrast to the free-flowing and layered compositions of Growing and In Between, this debut release from Kryshe presents a much more grounded and densely woven sonic tableau. This two-piece set showcases Grothe’s ability to bring his delicate and affecting songcraft to new and varied musical environs.
The EP, along with In Between and Growing, are available via Kryshe’s Bandcamp with all tracks available for licensing (master & sync cleared). Don’t hesitate to contact us with any licensing enquiries.
Makee’s Debut Self-Titled EP Out Now
We’re excited to announce the official release of the brilliant debut self-titled EP by Perth-based artist Makee. You can grab the EP on CD and in digital formats here and read more about the artist here.
Makee’s bright-eyed, beat-driven tracks, as danceable as they are atmospheric, build to create a thoroughly rewarding sonic whole. His debut self-titled EP, self-described as “looped samples of atmospheric nostalgia”, stretches luxuriously across seemingly disparate genres. The fog-laden disco of ‘Bail’ is shot through with a beatific vibe; ‘Stez’ surges relentlessly on motorik rhythms; ‘Tone’ burns with ecstatic, sun-blind intensity; ‘Wake’ is infused with Caribou-esque psychedelia; and finale ‘Bord’ takes a leap into the void with the fervour of prime kosmische that’s been mollified by shoegaze.
“For one thing, the detached retro unleashed from the looped up mind of Makee will hypnotise you in double quick time with the post Eurodisco sensibilities of “Bail” easily rendering your ears spellbound even if you’ve never been to Frankfurt. “ – BluesBunny
Markus Mehr + Stefanie Sixt Featured in Venice International Video Art Exhibition
The wonderful experimental video work ‘Duck Became Swan’ by Stefanie Sixt (visuals) and Markus Mehr (sound) has been selected as part of the Venice International video art, experimental dance and performance festival. The work will screen in Venice in the “Hidden Rooms” program in November (19th-21st).
In further Markus Mehr news, the artist has also had a new work selected as part of the David Tudor Memorial 4’33” Competition. His work sits alongside a number of wonderful artists including the inimitable Phil Niblock! The works will be exhibited at Galerie Mario Mazzoli (Berlin – 16+21 November) and the Ear Up! Gallery (New York – 16 November).
Hidden Shoal MixTape
