Hidden Shoal News
Umpire Reviews
Love for Umpire continues to grow as more sets of ears manage to wrap themselves around the band’s glorious debut album Now We’re Active. Along with their recent chart sucess in the US the band have also been scooping a bunch of glowing new reviews. Check out the latest batch in PopMatters, Stereo Subversion, Muso’s Guide and Leonard’s Lair.
Also lovely to hear ‘Milking a Thistle’ beaming out of the breakfast show on Triple J the other day. Nice one Tom Ballard!
Apricot Rail Single Launch and RTR Interview
Apricot Rail’s spellbinding new single ‘Surry Hills‘ see’s its official live launch this Saturday night at The Bakery in Perth. Superb support comes from newly formed supergroup The Long Lost Brothers, obscure pop wonderlanders the Andrew Sinclair and The Ritual Band and exciting newcomers Runner. Check out all the details on the the Facebook event page and miss it at your peril!
Also be sure to tune in to RTRFM Friday morning (Perth time) where the band (well two of them) will be interviewed by the lovely Peter Barr ahead fo the gig. Oh and check out the sweet little review of the single in this week’s Beat magazine (Melbourne). And if you’ve not yet nabbed your free download of the single then…….come do I need to finish that. GO HERE NOW!
Umpire "Now We're Active" US Radio Charting Madness!
Umpire’s outrageously great debut album is getting lots of deserved love including some excellent charting in its early days at radio in the US and also a bunch of glowing reviews (more on the latter soon). The album has been nestled in the official CMJ Top 30 charts at KMNR, KRNU, KWVA, WHFR, WMCX, WRBC, WSHC, KRUA and KTSW. This is still early days and these are just the ones we’ve got reporting on so far. More I say!
Hotel’s Track Placement for Rip Curl Surfing Video
Hotel’s awesome track ‘The Maudlin’ has been placed in this wonderful video about the amazing Bethany Hamilton for Rip Curl. Check out that surfing!
Scott Solter Remixes Salli Lunn – New Track and Video
Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of ‘Mirror Girl (Scott Solter Remix)’, taken from the forthcoming album A Frame of Reference by Danish spectral noise-rock quartet Salli Lunn. In-demand producer, musician and remixer extraordinaire Scott Solter, well known for working with bands as diverse as Superchunk, St Vincent, Neon Indian, Pattern is Movement and Boxharp, has worked his magic with Salli Lunn’s ‘Mirror Girl’. Solter’s remix pares back the original’s spidery postpunk guitars to bring a lurching industrial rhythm section to the fore. The interplay between the clattering drums, throbbing filtered bass and Lasse Skjold Bertelsen’s vocal creates a sweaty, nocturnal atmosphere that proves alluring and addictive. The track is accompanied by a superb video by Cam Merton, Hidden Shoal label manager and experimental film-maker, which renders the dark majesty of the track as a kaleidoscopic cascade of image fragments, like some sort of psychedelic tv nightmare.
‘Mirror Girl (Scott Solter Remix)’ is taken from the forthcoming album A Frame of Reference, which includes remixes of Heresy and Rite tracks by artists such as Markus Mehr, City Of Satellites and Manual, plus all new, previously unreleased material recorded with Jonas Munk (Manual) during the Heresy and Rite sessions.
‘Mirror Girl (Scott Solter Remix)’ is available for download now from the Hidden Shoal Store and its accompanying video is available for streaming on Youtube and Vimeo. A Frame of Reference is released on 8 September 2011. Album Heresy and Rite is available worldwide in CD and digital formats through Hidden Shoal Recordings. Read a full press release here.
New Apricot Rail Single, Free Download!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the new freely downloadable single ‘Surry Hills’ by Perth-based multi-instrumental pop sextet Apricot Rail. The single follows on from their highly praised self-titled debut album of 2009.
“Imagine the ethereal pop of early Múm, the whimsy of Sigur Rós’ more optimistic moments, and (occasionally) the emotional edge of The Twilight Sad. This is consummate indie post-rock laced with Australiana, and well worth checking out.“ – Rave Magazine
‘Surry Hills’ gradually blooms from a shimmering haze of harmonics and ride cymbal into a delicious interweave of resonant guitars and woodwind melodies. The song’s restraint becomes its strength as the hairs on the back of your neck slowly rise. Inhabiting a similar sonic space to Sweden’s marvellous trio Tape, ‘Surry Hills’ is destined to garner a fresh new raft of fans for Apricot Rail’s addictive brand of melodic instrumental pop.
“…what genre-defining bands like Explosions in the Sky take eight or nine minutes to do Apricot Rail are capable of in three and a half. This impeccable sense for the immediacy of great pop structures is arguably one of their biggest assets, and is displayed masterfully on their debut album.” – Drum Media CD of the Week
Formed in 2008, Apricot Rail is Ambrose Nock (guitar), Jack Quirk (guitar), Matthew Saville (drums), Daniel Burt (bass), Mayuka Juber (clarinet/flute) and Justin Manzano (guitar/electronics). In November 2008, the then-quintet headed into Kingdom studios under the guidance of Simon Struthers (Umpire, Adam Said Galore, Mukaizake) to record their self-titled debut album, released on Hidden Shoal in 2009. Since its release, the album has been wowing fans and critics alike, with feature album status galore across Australian radio, charting in US college radio (including a number 1!), and receiving glowing reviews left, right and centre.
‘Surry Hills’ is available now as a free download from the Hidden Shoal Store, along with Apricot Rail’s self-titled debut album. The single is launched on 6th August at The Bakery in Perth – check out the Facebook event page for more info. Their forthcoming sophomore album will be released in 2012. In the second half of 2011 the band are proud to announce prestigious support slots with the likes of Marnie Stern and Akron/Family. Stay tuned for more details.
Umpire "Now We're Active" US Release
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the US/International release of debut album Now We’re Active by Perth’s widescreen indie-rock craftsmen Umpire following on from the album’s Australian release last month.
On Now We’re Active, Umpire combine sprawling indie-rock sounds with reflective melancholy, expertly wielding massive sun-drenched melodies, serpentine guitar parts and soaring vocals to spectacular effect. From lead single ‘Green Light District’ through the chiming guitar surge of ‘The Canyon’ to gorgeous finale ‘Cyclones Into Sunshowers’, Now We’re Active is a stunning release, as expansive as it is propulsive, as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming.
Immaculately produced by bassist Simon Struthers at Forensic Audio, the album’s ten tracks bring progressive rock influences, indie-pop sensibilities and shades of math-rock into explosive collision, then shape them into songs that are at once epic and intimate. After the last song fades you’re left with a lump in your throat and admiration of how Umpire’s songcraft and sonics are so consistently elegant, melodic and widescreen. Now We’re Active is much more than a collection of tracks – it’s an album that blossoms beautifully on repeat plays.
“Now We’re Active is an album which reveals a band whose imaginations are now finally within their own grasp as musicians. Alternately full on, grandiose and brilliantly inventive, Umpire have very nearly made a prog rock masterpiece, and I say nearly only because their more ambitious ideas are continuing to develop.” – DOA
“Beautiful, chiming guitar pop with layered, soaring vocals from the Perth band’s upcoming new album. Comes on like The Shins with more gumption. “Widescreen” (always a description that gets my attention), it says here, and I concur.” – The Underground of Happiness on ‘Supply Chins‘
Now We’re Active is available now on CD and digitally worldwide, distributed through Hidden Shoal in Australia and n5mailorder in the US and internationally. Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability details. Read a full press release here and be sure to check out the fantastic music video for single ‘Green Light District‘.
‘Supply Chins’ by Umpire
Umpire Love at WLUR
Umpire’s amazing debut full length Now We’re Active has started to hit US radio ahead of this week’s US/international release. The album is one of WLUR’s “Best of the Week” rotation adds!
Stream the album in full and download the first single ‘Green Light District’ for free here. US and international folk can grab the cd from n5mailorder.
Antonymes Charting
More lovely US charting action for Hidden Shoal artists. This time Antonymes stunning new release The Licence to Interpret Dreams is holding down number 25 on Portlands KBOO CMJ Top 30 airplay chart. If you haven’t witnessed the sheer immersion of this album you can remedy all that right here.
Slow Dancing Society – More Radio Charting!
The recent Slow Dancing Society re-issues are continuing to chart in the US with both The Sound of Lights When Dim and The Slow and Steady Winter in this week’s top 30 at KZSU as well as holding the number 2 and 4 spot respectively in the Classical/Experimental top 10. Then over at New York’s WNYU The Sound of Lights When Dim is sitting at 22 in the top 30 chart.
And we will be announcing the release date of the upcoming Slow Dancing Society remix EP very soon. The release features a track from each of the 4 Slow Dancing Society albums remixed by the wonderful Antonymes.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
