Hidden Shoal News
Slow Burn Power Pop from Western Australia's Tangled Star – Free Download!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is excited to announce the release of ‘Head In The Sand’ by Craig Hallsworth-led West Australian outfit Tangled Star. The track is the first single to be taken from their forthcoming album Let’s Adjourn To The Garden (18th June 2013). The track is available now for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store.
‘Head In The Sand’ streamlines Tangled Star’s inimitable hooks and melodic turns into an immediately addictive and electric slice of slow burn power-pop. The glowing roar of overdriven guitars combined with the song’s endearingly ramshackle sway evokes wide-open roads and cracked sunglasses, with potholes and detours along the way. Craig Hallsworth’s unmistakable vocals and lyrical playfulness, and the incongruous but strangely heartbreaking piano outro, make for classic Tangled Star.
“The rich, gentle roil of sound evidenced on Our Man in Eden Hill, the band’s third overall release, has the same surging, warmly anthemic sound of stellar forebears galore, each sonically different — the Triffids, Died Pretty, perhaps most inevitably the Go-Betweens — but which altogether seem to capture a sense and a style more than might be guessed, something detailed, mournful, and a little crushing even at its strongest…” – All Music Guide on Our Man In Eden Hill
Distilling elements of indie-rock with Craig Hallsworth’s wonderful dust-and-liquor-coated vocals and twisting lyrics, Tangled Star weave their own magic place. Through the music’s exultant shifts and wandering detours the band manages to make once familiar territory foreign and offset. Their wonderfully titled new collection Let’s Adjourn To The Garden is, in typically contrarian fashion, their least bucolic offering yet, blending more driving power-pop flavours into their distinctive soup of song. For the uninitiated, Hallsworth has been a mainstay of the Perth indie scene, fronting seminal Australian 80s swamp rockers The Bamboos and going on to front bands such as The Healers, Outstation, The Slow Beings and now Tangled Star.
"I Razor" Soundtrack – Todd Tobias, Robert Pollard, Circus Devils – CD Pre-Orders!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of I Razor, the soundtrack to the no-budget experimental feature film of the same name directed by Todd Tobias. The album comprises challenging, playful, twisted, murky and downright beautiful pieces of music by Todd Tobias and Circus Devils, featuring vocals from Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) as well as instrumental versions of some of the Devil’s existing songs. The album is a cinematic feast within itself, uncompromising, redemptive and always engaging. It weaves lo-fi keyboards through shimmering guitar textures, scatters unsettling rhythms across ethereal synthscapes, and unveils kaleidoscopic new treasures among its 30+ tracks with each listen.
“Wistful, pretty, and melancholy, Pollard lets loose a truly affecting melody with a wonderfully natural delivery. It’s been said over and over again that he makes it look easy — and even after years and years of songwriting, tracks like ‘You First’ indicate that he’s far from reaching a brick wall.” – Pitchfork on Circus Devils Ringworm Interiors
“Call an album Medicine Show and some music buffs might expect something very different to this 16 track exercise in edgy atmospherics and controlled noise, but it’s tribute to Todd Tobias’s skill as a producer and arranger that the pace never slackens and that he’s quite effectively produced the audio equivalent of a graphic novel, one that will keep you listening right up until its cataclysmic final moments.” – DOA on Todd Tobias Medicine Show
The album is available for for CD pre-order through Hidden Shoal. The CD version of the album comes as a limited edition custom package and includes an immediate digital download of the album in FLAC or MP3 format. The I Razor film is also available for order on DVD (including a DVD+CD deal). Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all the details.
Check out the album and film trailer below to get a taste of the wondrous and challenging sonic and visual feast that is I Razor.
I Razor – Album & Movie Teaser from Hidden Shoal Recordings on Vimeo.
Apricot Rail Charts at Number 4 on the Radio 1190 Top 30!
Apricot Rail’s utterly beautiful sophomore album Quarrels has been starting to stir up some US radio love of late, recently featuring in a number of college radio Top 30’s. The album’s most recent chart entry at Radio 1190 in Denver saw it hold the number 4 spot! Yet another example of independent radio understanding music outside of the obvious and constrained.
If you’ve not yet given your ears and mind the treasures that Quarrels holds then here’s a path to happiness for you – download the free single ‘Basket Press’, stream the album trailer below, then grab the album for yourself on CD or digital (FLAC + MP3).
Markus Mehr Reverie & New Reviews
Markus Mehr‘s Off may be his most accomplished to date. And if you sense any hesitation it is only because of the bewildering talent and depth he displays across all 4 of his releases. If we take a different tact then we could say that Off is a beautiful and haunting distillation of all that went before it. All the grandeur, all the subtleties, all the melodic immersion and all carefully constructed and conducted noise. Off is 42 minutes of uninterrupted (literally) sonic and melodic immersion and engagement. It gives as much as it asks of its listeners and then some. And we’re not the only ones that have such thoughts! Check out this fantastic review of Off over at the always excellent Textura and then step over to DOA for this excellent review by the equally excellent Jon Gordon.
Off is available now in digital formats and as a limited edition custom package CD through the Hidden Shoal Store. CD stock is limited so if you are interested the sooner option is better than the later option.
Stunning New Single & Music Video from Jumpel (feat. Chloe March)
‘Blue Ceiling’ is the new single, with accompanying music video, by German minimal ambient-electronica maestro Jumpel, taken from his forthcoming fourth album Bloc4 (June 4 2013). On ‘Blue Ceiling’, Joe Dürbeck continues his breathtaking collaboration with Chloë March(who contributed vocals to the 2010 single, ‘Edinburgh’). ‘Blue Ceiling’ has an utterly heartbreaking drift, its pellucid atmosphere like winter sunlight refracting through raindrops on a window pane.
Download ‘Blue Ceiling’ for free from the Hidden Shoal Store, stream it on SoundCloud and watch the beautiful music video for the track on Youtube or Vimeo.
”Jo Durbeck’s music is welcoming and gentle, even as it challenges. Deuxieme Bureau explores the positive sounds that are always there, even in the silence, even in sadness” – Foxy Digitalis
Jumpel’s forthcoming album Bloc4 (June 4 2013) centres around the elevated yet lonely world of a tower block, each track poetically investigating its multi-faceted elements and spaces. The songs were written throughout 2012, with ideas collated, reviewed, developed and remixed. Following the wonderful results of his collaboration with Chloë March on Europa single ‘Edinburgh’, Joe Dürbeck presented the ideas for Bloc4 to March and invited her to select tracks and develop vocal ideas. The results are stunning – and offer a perfect counterbalance to the more melancholic, spacious instrumental pieces.
Jumpel – ‘Blue Ceiling’ from Hidden Shoal Recordings on Vimeo.
Scott Solter Resets Erik Friedlander
Scott Solter’s brazen experimentalism is only equaled by his innate sense of musicality. Marry this to the genius of Erik Friedlander and we have No Compass: Solter Resets Friedlander an EP of five tracks from Erik Friedlander’s 2008 Broken Arm Trio CD completely reinvented by Solter. In his hands the acoustic cello, bass and drums trio tracks have become vertigo-inducing panoramas — kaleidoscopic recompositions. 5 striking examples of Solter’s fearless studio craft.
The release is available now as a limited edition 10″ vinyl as well as CD and digital formats. Check out availability in the Hidden Shoal Store and while you’re there, don’t forget to check out Solter’s stunning solo release One River.
Markus Mehr's "On" Hits KZSU's Top 10!
Markus Mehr’s brilliant 2012 release On is still making waves. The album is number 7 on the KZSU Main chart and number 1 on their experimental chart. That not only says a lot for what is an amazing album, but also a lot about what a truly fantastic station KZSU is. True supporters of music at its broadest definitions.
Check out all Markus Mehr releases including On and his latest, Off, at the Hidden Shoal Store.
Markus Mehr – ‘Only For a While’
Apricot Rail and Circus Devils Featured on the Ken McGuire Blog
The lovely Ken McGuire has featured two Hidden Shoal artists over the last week on his Listening Post blog. The first single taken from the forthcoming I Razor soundtrack, Circus Devils ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’, was given a lovely little write up, followed by love for the Apricot Rail track ‘Running With an Egg on a Spoon’ and their new album Quarrels.
“Piano intros always get me. So too has All The Good Ones Are Gone the latest single release from Circus Devils, led by Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard. Steeped in melancholy, this is the first track to come from the I Razor soundtrack which features works from brothers Tim and Todd Tobias (on piano and synth here) and Circus Devils.” – Ken McGuire on Circus Devils ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’
Circus Devils ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’ is available now for free download ahead of the I Razor soundtrack release on the 16th May. Apricot Rail’s stunning sophomore album Quarrels is available now in CD and digital formats and the first single ‘Basket Press’ is also available for free download.
Apricot Rail – ‘Running With An Egg On A Spoon’
Circus Devils ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’
Markus Mehr's "Off" Reviewed at Cultural Terrorism
Markus Mehr’s sublime 2013 release Off has just received another glowing review, this time over at the excellent German blog Cultural Terrorism. The review is in German however we have some translated excerpts here.
There are still a small amount of of the limited edition CD release of Off so please head to the Hidden Shoal Store to secure your copy. If digital is your thing we also have the the album available in mp3 & FLAC formats.
Markus Mehr Off (excerpt)
New Circus Devils Single Featuring Robert Pollard – Free Download!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is excited to announced the release of the new single ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’ by Robert Pollard-led Circus Devils, taken from the forthcoming I Razor soundtrack. Fans can download the track for free from the Hidden Shoal Store.
‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’ is the first official cut from the soundtrack to I Razor, the no-budget experimental feature film directed by Todd Tobias. The track finds Circus Devils at their most introspective, as Robert Pollard’s unmistakably commanding and affecting vocals and wonderful lyrical play roll out over beds of melancholic sequenced piano and synth courtesy of Todd Tobias. ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’ soundtracks the final sequence of I Razor, providing a beautifully reflective and suitably dreamy cinematic finale. This is some of Pollard and Tobias’s most nuanced work to date.
“Wistful, pretty, and melancholy, Pollard lets loose a truly affecting melody with a wonderfully natural delivery. It’s been said over and over again that he makes it look easy — and even after years and years of songwriting, tracks like ‘You First’ indicate that he’s far from reaching a brick wall.” – Pitchfork on Ringworm Interiors
The I Razor soundtrack, to be released by Hidden Shoal in May 2013, comprises work by Todd Tobias and Circus Devils, featuring vocals from Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) as well as instrumental versions of some of the band’s existing songs. The album is a cinematic feast within itself, uncompromising, redemptive and always engaging.
Circus Devils – ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’
Hidden Shoal MixTape
