Hidden Shoal News
[The] Caseworker at Skeleton Crew Quarterly
[The] Caseworker’s superb new album Letters From The Coast has received another lovely review, this time over at the very savvy Skeleton Crew Quarterly. Check out the review and then head to the Hidden Shoal Store to stream this beautiful thing in full and buy it after you’ve fallen deeply in love it, just as we did.
The Caseworker – ‘Boats’
Postcard CD Pre-Orders for Kramies "The European"
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the availability of CD postcard pre-orders for The European, the forthcoming EP by Colorado based Dutch-American atmos-pop artist Kramies.
Produced by Todd Tobias (Guided By Voices, Robert Pollard, Circus Devils), The European sets Kramies’ gorgeous voice and acoustic guitar within a glowing tableau, epic in scope yet delicate in detail. The EP fades into view with ‘Intro’, a simple cyclical pattern of guitar, piano and vocals gradually subsumed by drones and distortion. This leads into the majestic, glacial sway of the title track, guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Then, ‘Inventors’ is the album’s dark, shadowy heart, a ballad of subtle intensity.
Single ‘Coal Miners Executive Club’ is an emotionally resonant vortex of swooning pop built around an absolutely heartbreaking chord progression on synthesizer, carried skyward as layers and layers of instruments build and build. And the closing ‘Antiquarian Days’ is a fitting fade towards a sepia horizon, burbling loops and chiming guitars accompanying Kramies’ gentle lament.
The European EP will be available digitally as well as a numbered limited edition of 100 cd postcards with artwork by Australian designer and illustrator Stuart Medley. CD Pre-orders are available now through the Hidden Shoal Store ahead of the official release on the 22nd of November. All pre-orders come with an immediate download of the album. The first single from the EP, ‘Coal Miners Executive Club’, is also available for free download here. For more info grab the full press release here.
Kramies – ‘Coal Miners Executive Club’
Kramies – ‘Inventors’
Scott Solter's One River on The Underground of Happiness
The reissue of Scott Solter’s ambient masterpiece One River has received some loving over at the Underground of Happiness blog, where you can also watch Twins and Wives, a film by Laura and Mark Solter to accompany the album. Beautiful stuff.
[The] Caseworker Review Bonanza!
[The] Caseworker’s superb new album Letters From The Coast and its lead single ‘National Runner’ have been receiving glowing reviews left, right and centre: Rave Magazine, Groovemine, Delusions of Adequacy, Mojophenia, Listen, Dammit, Scene Point Blank, KJHK and Noise, to mention a few. Plus, there’s an interview with the band at the Underground of Happiness blog. There’ll no doubt be plenty there to convince you to shell out your record-buying dollar, so visit the Hidden Shoal Store to grab the album in CD or mp3 format.
Review Round-up for Salli Lunn Remix Album
Salli Lunn’s remix album A Frame of Reference – which includes remixes by Scott Solter, Manual, and Hidden Shoal’s very own Markus Mehr and City of Satellites – has received a lot of delicious coverage of late, including Brisbane’s Rave Magazine and 4ZZZ radio station, the Delusions of Adequacy review site, and the German blog Schallgrenzen. Head along to the Hidden Shoal Store to stream the album in full, along with the band’s debut album Heresy and Rite, which are both available in CD and mp3 format. Vinyl junkies will also be pleased to hear that Heresy and Rite is now also available on vinyl.
Umpire No Longer Active in Melbourne on 11/11/11
Sad news, Melbourne-based Umpire fans: the band have had to cancel their show at Phoenix Public House on 11/11/11. Fingers crossed for next year!
City of Satellites "Remixed" Album Out Now!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the sumptious new album Remixed by Australian/US dreamgaze trio City Of Satellites.
Remixed sees tracks from City Of Satellites’ debut EP The Spook and album Machine Is My Animal receive the remix treatment from Manual, Syntaks, Tim Koch, Slow Dancing Society, Jatun, Tin Manzano and M-13. Tin Manzano’s remix of the title track from Machine Is My Animal is a gorgeously seductive instrumental, where restraint and space are as alluring as the sounds blooming across the stereo field. Syntaks bring their trademark wavering dream-gaze to ‘Victor! Burn City Lights’, resulting in a tantalising, sticky web of melody and beats. M-13’s take on ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ bitcrushes the original to produce an incredibly addictive slice of dreamy electroclash. Slow Dancing Society’s remix of ‘Moon in the Sea’ (from The Spook EP) is as epic and mesmerising as anyone familiar with the SDS catalogue would expect. Tim Koch’s restructuring of ‘BMX’ is masterful, rebuilt from the inside out into stunning avant-pop architecture. Jatun renders ‘Control’ as a fuzzed-out shoegaze surge, before Manual (Jonas Munk) closes the album with his remix of ‘Skeletons’, blurry and sensuous as a half-remembered dream.
“one long trip through a colorful cosmic cloud with a dreamy, mysterious flow and a lush underbelly of celestial sounds… swirling layers of enveloping orchestral harmonies and shooting stars of guitar bursts and cymbal crashes that add brilliant flairs of vaporous and heavenly ambience” – Delusions of Adequacy on Machine Is My Animal
Remixed is available as an exclusive digital release through the Hidden Shoal Store and all good third party online stores. Also be sure to check out the gorgeous music video for Tin Manzano’s remix of ‘Machine Is My Anmimal’ on YouTube or Vimeo. City of Satellites other releases can be streamed and purchased here. Read a full press release here.
City of Satellites -‘Moon In The Sea (Slow Dancing Society Remix)’
Antonymes meets Slow Dancing Society EP – Official Release
Hidden Shoal is very excited to anounce the official release (including digital availability) of the Antonymes meets Slow Dancing Society EP We Don’t Look Back For Very Long.
We Don’t Look Back For Very Long sees Antonymes reworking a track from each of fellow Hidden Shoal artist Slow Dancing Society’s four albums, casting radiant new light on the stunning originals. Across almost 30 minutes, Antonymes marries SDS’s glistening atmospheres to his own trademark ambient neo-classical minimalism, creating a completely mesmerising hybrid.
The EP is now availble in MP3 and lossless formats as well as a limited edition CD package. There is only a handful of the CD packages left in the store after pre-orders so you’ll need to be quick to secure one if you haven’t already. The CDs come in a hand-numbered letterpress edition of 100 on beautiful 700gsm GF Smith board, custom made by Ian M. Hazeldine (AKA Antonymes) and expertly mastered by Wil Bolton. Included in the physical and digital packages is a printed copy of an essay on the release by acclaimed music writer Paul Morley. CD pre-orders also include an immediate digital download of the EP. If you missed out on the CD through Hidden Shoal there is limited stock available from Norman Records and Stashed Goods.
Head here for Digital and CD purchase as well as a full EP stream.
Antonymes meets Slow Dancing Society – ‘The Grey Sea And The Long Black Land’
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Luscious New Dream Pop from Kramies – Free Download!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of new single ‘Coal Miners Executive Club’ by Dutch-American singer-songwriter Kramies, taken from his forthcoming EP The European.
Fusing masterful songwriting with electronics and atmospherics, ‘Coal Miners Executive Club’ is an emotionally resonant vortex of swooning pop that simply demands repeat listens. Built around an absolutely heartbreaking chord progression on synthesizer, the song is carried skyward as layers and layers of instruments build and build, Kramies’ voice all the while intoning a timeless melody.
‘Coal Miners Executive Club’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. It is taken from the forthcoming EP The European, produced by Todd Tobias (Guided By Voices, Robert Pollard) and featuring guitarist David Paolucci. The EP is released on 22 November in digital format as well as a numbered limited edition of 100 CD postcards.
[The] Caseworker Reviews and Radio Charting
[The] Caseworker’s awesome new album Letters From The Coast is recieving deserved love from press and radio following its recent release. The album is charting in the top 30 at both KJHK and Bagel Radio and has started to recieve strong airplay across other US college radio. More charting news soon!
Letters From The Coast has also received a bunch of glowing reviews and press over the last few weeks in such fabulous publications and blogs as DOA, Noise, Rave Magazine, Groovemine and The Pop! Stereo.
“Without leaning too heavily on foot pedals and production, and utilising some highly defined instrumental dynamics, Letters From The Coast has as much resonance and melodic energy as any of the bands and musicians whose work [The] Caseworker draw their influence from, and it succeeds fully as a complete album. Conor Devlin’s guitar playing can stand alongside that of Frank Black and Graham Coxon, also that of Ian McCulloch in its structured and sustained composition, making every note count and blending the country rock vibes and swirling powerchordage into new and kaliedoscopic shapes. Anyone whose album colllection is incomplete without Ocean Rain, Grand Prix and Park Life will find an equally prominent space in it for this twelve track masterpiece.” – DOA
Head to the HSR Store to download the single ‘National Runner’ for free and to buy the album on CD or in digital format!
[Th]e Caseworker – ‘Boats’
Hidden Shoal MixTape
