Hidden Shoal News
Kryshe and Involved Featured on Fade To Yellow
The wonderful Fade To Yellow radio show hosted by Tam Laird on Koop 91.7FM has just featured new music from Kryshe and Involved on its latest episode along with beautiful new tunes from Anjou, This Will Destroy You and Dryft. Head to the show’s Mixcloud to stream the show in full.
Kryshe’s “In Between” Out Now!
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of the stunning new EP In Between by German artist Kryshe. The EP is available now via Kryshe’s Bandcamp along with the freely downloadable track ‘Africa’. In Between is also now part of the Hidden Shoal licensing catalogue.
As its name suggests, In Between lives and breathes in the spaces around each carefully played note. This exquisitely subtle and detailed five-track EP resonates with chilly grandeur and heartening warmth. Across spacious vistas reminiscent of the collaborative work of Brian Eno and Harold Budd, delicate yet assured melodies unfurl before being subjected to delicate manipulation. This is enveloping, minimal music with a fragility that belies its emotional potency.
Opening with the shimmering piano melodies and tape-chewed ambience of the majestic title track, with detours via the angelic music-box miniature ‘Iceland’ and the glitch-scarred sustain-scapes of ‘Africa’, and concluding with the achingly melancholic ‘Lullaby’, In Between is a perfectly formed release that announces an understated new ambient craftsman.
“Pressed with the poise and steeled with the atmospheric tenderness of Antonymes and softly coaxed by the delicately yearn of Vini Reilly this gem provides one of those rare occasional moments which once veered into earshot has jaws dropped agape and clocks literally frozen still.” – The Sunday Experience
Be sure to get your ears in front of this as it really is something special.
Glowing Reviews for Involved’s “Revolving Maze”
Involved’s stunning debut album Revolving Maze has scooped some equally beautiful reviews since its release. The album has recently been covered by Igloo Mag, the Italian Blog Music Will Not Save You, the French zine Indie Rock Mag and The Sunday Experience. Here’s a little taste,
“The whole ensemble goes beyond the mere sum of its sounds, as if something of an almost shamanic nature emanated out of it. There are clearly more ideas in one Involved title then in certain whole discographies from largely overestimated artists from that genre. No matter, we’ll delight ourselves with Revolving Maze, an album that will clearly require many listen sessions to perceive its richness and subtlety. A masterpiece, right from the first album.” – Indie Rock Mag
“Dorsey and Enoignor have created a multilayered and vigorous debut album full of luminosity and liquid elasticity.” – Igloo Mag
“an alluring and dare I say beguiling slice of porcelain primed future visions that blends together a panoramic precision with a statuesque soundtrack velour whilst splicing together the cold wave dystopia of Vangelis’ ‘blade runner’ with the silken symphonia of the ‘adjustment bureau’ soundtrack to sumptuously morph from kosmiche chill to spectral romance in one trick of the ear apparition like movement.” – The Sunday Experience
Head to Involved’s Bandcamp to stream the album in full and grab yourself a copy.
New Todd Tobias Single – Free Download & Stream
Good times people! Ahead of the release of Todd Tobias‘s latest slice of experimental rock wonder Impossible Cities we have the first single for your delectation. ‘Kur’ is at once playful, brooding and psychedelic – everything we’ve come to expect from Tobias’s solo work and more. Grab it now via Bandcamp or stream it at SoundCloud.
Impossible Cities is the latest visionary chapter in Todd Tobias’s ongoing exploration of rock’s darkest and most hypnotic realms. Inspired by the Ital Calvino book Invisible Cities, each track is named after an imaginary city, from the glistening exoticism of ‘Lamura’ via the seething murk of ‘Gorgum Reeth’ and ‘Smazbaal’ to the eerie, shimmering grandeur of ‘Akrova’, Tobias’s latest musical universe is vividly rendered, scary, beautiful and utterly immersive. The album comes with the companion mini-album Impossible Cities 2, which comprises 10 haunting vignettes.
Impossible Cities drops on the 28th of October and will see worldwide digital and CD release in USA and Canada through Hidden Shoal and Todd Tobias. Tiny Room Records will release the CD in Europe and all other territories.
Involved’s “Revolving Maze” Out Now!
We’re super excited to announce the release of Revolving Maze, the debut album by electronic duo Involved. We’ve been spinning this album non-stop since we first got sent the demos so it’s wonderful to finally be able to share it. The album also joins the Hidden Shoal licensing catalogue, available for film, tv, web and games productions.
The album fuses the psychedelic sounds of ’70s kosmische with ’80s electronic and more modern ambient styles, creating evocative, cinematic music. However, rather than being revisionist, Involved curate fresh sounds from a musical palette that spans 40 years. Lush synth tones are deployed with an innate sense of melody, leading the listener through widescreen narratives of enviable scope. With Revolving Maze, the title says it all: this is complex, engrossing music that transforms with each spin.
“Through solid musicianship, on both the parts of Dorsey and Enoignor, Involved has breached new ground. Their skilled playing and production paired with an immensely imaginative vision translated into fifty minutes of music that seems designed to find that beautiful put into each of us.” – Lady Obscure
Head to Involved’s Bandcamp to scoop yourself a copy of this stunning album right now. The album will also be available via iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and the other usual outlets in a few weeks.
Kryshe and DrAlienSmith Reviews
Two equally lovely reviews have just flown in for Kryshe and DrAlienSmith. Kryshe‘s track ‘Africa’ from his forthcoming EP In Between (25th Sept) has scooped an amazing write up at The Sunday Experience and DrAlienSmith‘s EP Under Songs kicked a written and numerical goal with a 4.5/5 review at The Music. Here’s a taste,
“This heavy, atmospheric piece of instrumental work takes the best elements from doom, shoegaze, sludge and post-rock and morphs it all together with thick guitar riffs, distorted bass and haunting synths. Opener, Underslung builds towards a plateau of triumphant sounds in classic post-rock fashion, while closer, Endo Turn is thick with imagery – the incessant drone and synth making for an incredibly eerie vibe. There’s a real density in the ambience of these four tracks, similar in some ways to the likes of Tim Hecker’s Ravedeath, 1972, and as such, certainly deserves to be heard.” – The Music
“Is this not something else. New via the ever adored Hidden Shoal imprint – purveyors of sublime sonics – this is taken from a new EP entitled ‘in between’ by Kryshe… ‘Africa’ is as near to heavenly perfection you’re going to get this missive out. Pressed with the poise and steeled with the atmospheric tenderness of Antonymes and softly coaxed by the delicately yearn of Vini Reilly this gem provides one of those rare occasional moments which once veered into earshot has jaws dropped agape and clocks literally frozen still.” – The Sunday Experience
For more streams, downloads and more info check out Kryshe’s profile here and DrAlienSmith’s here.
Brother Earth “Positive Haywires” Out Now!
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of Positive Haywires by American duo Brother Earth. To coincide with the release we also have another treat for you in the form of a new music video for the fantastic album track ‘Planet Wednesday‘. Positive Haywires is also now part of the Hidden Shoal licensing catalogue and is available for all film, tv, web and games projects.
Brother Earth brings together the formidable talents of multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias (Circus Devils) and vocalist Steve Five (The Library is on Fire). On this their debut album for Hidden Shoal Brother Earth’s 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. The album features the previously released singles ‘Out Like a Lion‘ and ‘City of Gold‘.
“It’s surprising and experimental, and quite beautiful.” – Backseat Mafia on ‘Out Like a Lion’
The album is available now on CD, limited edition cassette and digital formats via Brother Earth’s Bandcamp page.
Kramies Interview Launches New Features Section
Two good bits of news in one. Firstly we finally get to launch our new Features section on the site. We’ll be presenting interviews with Hidden Shoal artists and other folk we call our friends, waxing lyrical about our favourite tracks, throwing artist and label curated mixtapes at you and a host of other things we haven’t even dreamed up yet. We’ll be posting new material regularly so be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed or check back regularly.
Now for some icing on this cake – our first feature slot goes to an interview with the inimitable Kramies where he talks about Neil Diamond, Ghost Hunters and Jason Lytle (amongst other things). Head to the Features section and check it out now.
Markus Mehr ‘Gymnasium/Swarms’ – New Video from Forthcoming Album
Ahead of the release of Markus Mehr‘s incredible new album Binary Rooms on 15th October, we have something very special to share with you. Experimental filmmaker and Markus Mehr collaborator Stefanie Sixt has created a stunning new video work for the album track ‘Gymnasium/Swarms’. View the full video at Vimeo, stream the track at SoundCloudand download it at Bandcamp.
Binary Rooms is Mehr’s fifth studio album and his most challenging and engaging to date. Mehr’s music has always possessed a keen sense of and negotiation with scale, and on Binary Rooms he challenges notions of personal space, juxtaposing the human against the industrial, the gentle and intimate against the jolting and harsh. Mehr acts as a fragment hunter, meshing machine-like tones with the discarded elements of humanity; narrative with anti-narrative. On Binary Rooms he manages to create a spatial remix – a striking re-design of aural reality filled with a living, digital biology.
“Off is unquestionably the most satisfying part of the trilogy… opens in a manner characteristic of the genre but subsequently distinguishes itself as something far more than a standard ambient work… a wholly immersive experience that you will likely want to re-experience many times over” – Textura
“In this blissful wanderlust Mehr succeeds in spades creating a completely engrossing, engaging and all together reliable album full of the most powerful ambient-drone tracks this year” – Tome to the Weather Machine
Check out Markus Mehr’s discography and read more about the artist here.
First Taste of Forthcoming Todd Tobias Album
In advance of the release of Todd Tobias‘s new album Impossible Cities, the eagerly awaited follow-up to Medicine Show, we’re excited to present a video for the track ‘Saz’. With its fire-scorched visuals, the new video evokes the fuzzy, tribal lurch of the track itself, carving a voodoo groove that’s deeply satisfying.
Impossible Cities drops on the 28th of October and will include the bonus EP Impossible Cities 2. The album is being released on CD in Europe by the wonderful Tiny Room Records and by Todd Tobias & Hidden Shoal everywhere else. Keep your ears out for the first official single which lands on the 22nd of September.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
