Hidden Shoal News
2007: Onward, Upward, Outward
As part of our 5th birthday celebrations, during the month of May we’ll be looking back at the history of Hidden Shoal, year by year, casting some light on artists and releases that may have been overlooked. For one week, all releases covered below will be available from the Hidden Shoal Store with a 40% discount. Flavoursome!
In 2007, Hidden Shoal pushed onward with a ridiculously full release schedule and tons of new signings. The label continued its expansion internationally with 2007 seeing releases from a diverse and beautiful spectrum of artists based in Germany (Sankt Otten and Jumpel), France (Beautiful Lunar Landscape), the US (Slow Dancing Society, The Hero Cycle, Iretsu, Wes Willenbring, Monocle), Belgium (Colour Kane) and Japan (Cheekbone, The Retail Sectors).
Locally, 2007 saw releases from ambient duo Moongoat, a new album from Chris Mason and an EP under his My Majestic Star moniker, plus an EP from Melbourne instrumental quartet Bury The Sound (with HSR’s Tim Clarke on guitar).
In May 2007 we were proud to celebrate our first birthday with the release of the second volume in our free download compilation series, The Garden of Forking Paths. And if that wasn’t enough, we saw out the end of the year with the release of a third compilation, Limit of Maps, rounding up tracks from the second half of 2007 and also featuring a sneak preview of a few 2008 releases, too.
However, perhaps the crowning achievement of a busy year was being named one of Textura’s 10 favourite labels of 2007. The feeling’s mutual – Textura is easily one of our favourite music sites. To be just one year in and be acknowledged like that felt like quite an honour.
HSR013: Moongoat Moongoat EP
HSR014: My Majestic Star Fining EP
HSR015: Sankt Otten Wir Koennen Ja Freunde Bleiben
HSR016: The Hero Cycle Lakes and Ponds EP
HSR017: Colour Kane A Taste Of
HSR018: Wes Willenbring Somewhere Someone Else
HSR019: Various artists The Garden of Forking Paths
HSR020: Bury The Sound Autumn Magnets EP
HSR021: Chris Mason Restless
HSR022: Jumpel Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach
HSR023: Cheekbone Yesterday EP
HSR024: Beautiful Lunar Landscape Alone in this Dark Romantic Night EP
HSR025: Iretsu The Moon and Stars Remain in the Morning Sky
HSR026: Slow Dancing Society The Slow and Steady Winter
HSR027: Monocle Outer Sunset
HSR028: The Retail Sectors Foregone Conclusion
HSR029: Sankt Otten Wunder Gibt Es Immer Wieder
HSR030: Various artists Limit of Maps
Slow Dancing Society Interview on 4ZZZ Radio – Stream
Coinciding with the reissue of the first three Slow Dancing Society albums we invite you to stream a wonderful interview with Drew Sullivan (aka Slow Dancing Society) on the awesome 4ZZZ radio show War Is Peace. Many thanks to Sky, who presents the War Is Peace show, for making the interview happen.
Slow Dancing Society Reissues – Out Now!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the CD re-issues of Slow Dancing Society’s first three albums.
Drew Sullivan’s first three releases as Slow Dancing Society comprise a peerless ambient trilogy. Debut album The Sound of Lights When Dim is a sumptuous unfolding ride towards a fading horizon. As with Brian Eno’s finest moments and David Sylvian’s ambient explorations, the album manages to dissolve its temporal markers and speak about moments removed from time. It talks to the delicious flaws of memory and feeling, never sullying itself with literality or simple documentation.
From the outset, sophomore album The Slow and Steady Winter sets itself up to be an epic. Clocking in at over an hour, the album paints its majestic landscapes with both measure and purpose, moving from immersive ambient evocations to beatific bliss rock. A gorgeously choreographed chronicle of a Spokane winter, the album serves as a wonderful progression from Slow Dancing Society’s previous work both in sound and mood.
Following on from the ice-sculpted cinematics of The Slow and Steady Winter, third album Priest Lake Circa ’88 exudes restraint and repose, yet is richly melodic and full. Tracks such as the single ‘A Warm Glow’ typify the album and find Sullivan issuing forth waves of radiant synth drones and glistening guitars that ripple effortlessly across the sonic vista. Priest Lake Circa ’88 speaks of both departure and eventual return, and perhaps in its broadest sense the notion of “home”. Above all, this is music to bathe in: warm, steamy and all-encompassing.
“Music is all about moments like this. Moments when you are, unexpectedly, knocked over and stunned into submission by an album that has, quite literally, came from nowhere… deeply affecting, consistently excellent… demands repeated listening” – Boring Machines Disturb Sleep on The Sound of Lights When Dim
All three reissues are now available on CD via n5mailorder singly or as a specially priced bundle. The albums are also available digitally in compressed and lossless formats via Hidden Shoal Recordings.
Slow Dancing Society – ‘The Red Summer Sun’
2006: HSR is Born!
As part of our 5th birthday celebrations, over the coming weeks we’ll be looking back at the history of Hidden Shoal, year by year, casting some light on artists and releases that may have been overlooked. For one week, all releases from the year covered will be available from the Hidden Shoal Store with a 50% discount. Flavoursome!
Hidden Shoal Recordings began in Perth, Western Australia in May 2006. The motivation behind starting the label was to release music by Hidden Shoal’s very own Cam Merton (Glassacre), Stu Medley (Motor Eye) and Mal Riddoch (Enargeia). Friends Wayne Harriss, Chris Mason, Toby Richardson and Craig Hallsworth (Tangled Star) soon came on board, with the first swathe of Hidden Shoal releases dominated by Perth-based talent.
The first year of operation also saw the signing of our first international artists, Slow Dancing Society – who has since gone on to release four critically acclaimed albums– and Italian math-rockers Dilatazione.
HSR001: Wayne Harriss Aerospace
HSR002: My Majestic Star Ideas Are The Answer
HSR003: Motor Eye Motor Eye
HSR004: Chris Mason Up Down Up
HSR005: Glassacre Slow Attack EP
HSR006: Enargeia UFO: Stryker Force
HSR007: Toby Richardson Golden Days EP
HSR008: Various artists The Least Vestige of Land
HSR009: Enargeia Gulag! 25.9.98
HSR010: Slow Dancing Society The Sound Of Lights When Dim
HSR011: Dilatazione Too Emotional For Maths
HSR012: Tangled Star It’s Now or Later EP
Twelve releases in the first eight months? We started as we meant to continue!
Umpire's 'Green Light District' is Rave Magazine's Single of the Week!
As we approach the Australian release date of Umpire’s debut full length album Now We’re Active the first single lifted from it continues to get love. Brisbane’s Rave Magazine has just published a glowing review of the track and given it a single of the week badge. Read the review over at Rave, download the track for free at the HSR Store, love it and then be prepared to get blown away by the album.
Hidden Shoal Interview with Cam Merton at Twiceremoved
Head over to the wonderful Perth based blog Twicreremoved and check out the recent interview with Hidden Shoal’s Cam Merton.
New Hidden Shoal Compilation Album Available for Free Download!
To coincide with the label’s 5th birthday celebrations, Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of the latest installment in its free downloadable sampler album series. Hydrozoa compiles 18 singles released over the last 18 months and lovingly sequences them into an epic journey. The album is divided into two sides, each a distinct listening experience in its own right – or, if you choose to digest the album in its entirety, it’s a graduated ride from the ambient and minimal all the way through to the widescreen and guitar-fuelled. Whichever way you slice it, Hydrozoa is a compelling creature.
Featuring Antonymes, Boxharp, City of Satellites, Elisa Luu, Hotels, Iretsu, Jumpel, Liam Singer, Markus Mehr, Mukaizake, My Majestic Star, Rich Bennett, Salli Lunn, Slow Dancing Society, Stray Ghost, Toby Richardson, Umpire and Wes Willenbring, Hydrozoa touches all the bases that make the Hidden Shoal roster unique, and massages them into a broad-ranging and utterly engaging whole. The release accompanied by a pdf booklet containing stunning artwork by Hidden Shoal’s Stuart Medley.
Download the sampler here.
Antonymes 'Lost In Waves Of Light' – Free Download
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the new track ‘Lost In Waves Of Light’ by neo-classical/minimal ambient artist Antonymes, accompanied by a stunning 12 page photographic pdf booklet.
Created from elements lifted off Antonyme’s critically acclaimed album The Licence To Interpret Dreams, ‘Lost In Waves Of Light’ is a deftly crafted sonic and melodic patchwork. The track sits as a wonderful companion piece to the album, as recognised melodies unfurl, cloaked in new guises. As a work unto itself it once again places Antonymes at the height of his game, producing some of the most emotionally and sonically engaging work being released today.
Antonymes new album The Licence To Interpret Dreams has been met with universal acclaim since its release in April. It is an album of resonant beauty, as expansive as the wilds of North Wales from which it came, yet as delicate and intimate as a loved one’s breath upon your skin. Each song deploys a modest array of instruments and textures, giving them ample space to breathe and glow.
“This album is probably the most heartbreaking set of songs I’ve heard since Bon Iver’s For Emma Forever Ago, or I Am A Bird Now by Antony And The Johnsons. It’s Brian Eno meets a dagger to the heart….a record that deserves album of the year, even four months into 2011.” – Delusions of Adequacy
“There is so much to experience and so much the music will conjure for the listener. The music on The License to Interpret Dreams can influence how one views the world, their inherent sensibilities, of knowing, and, finally, of returning.” – Fluid Radio
‘Lost In Waves Of Light’ is now available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. You can also read a full press release here. The album The Licence To Interpret Dreams is available now physically and digitally through Hidden Shoal Recordings, distributed via n5Mailorder.
Antonymes and Hotels in US Charts
Antonymes and Hotels latest respective masterpieces are both receiving love in the US college charts. This week sees Antonymes The Licence To Interpret Dreams sitting at number 8 on the KZSU charts and Hotels On The Casino Floor holding number 25 at WRSU!
Slow Dancing Society Reissues – Pre-order Available Now!
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce that pre-orders are now available for the CD re-issues of Slow Dancing Society’s first three albums ahead of their official release on 19th May, 2011.
Drew Sullivan’s first three releases as Slow Dancing Society comprise a peerless ambient trilogy. Debut album The Sound of Lights When Dim is a sumptuous unfolding ride towards a fading horizon. As with Brian Eno’s finest moments and David Sylvian’s ambient explorations, the album manages to dissolve its temporal markers and speak about moments removed from time. It talks to the delicious flaws of memory and feeling, never sullying itself with literality or simple documentation.
From the outset, sophomore album The Slow and Steady Winter sets itself up to be an epic. Clocking in at over an hour, the album paints its majestic landscapes with both measure and purpose, moving from immersive ambient evocations to beatific bliss rock. A gorgeously choreographed chronicle of a Spokane winter, the album serves as a wonderful progression from Slow Dancing Society’s previous work both in sound and mood.
Following on from the ice-sculpted cinematics of The Slow and Steady Winter, third album Priest Lake Circa ’88 exudes restraint and repose, yet is richly melodic and full. Tracks such as the single ‘A Warm Glow’ typify the album and find Sullivan issuing forth waves of radiant synth drones and glistening guitars that ripple effortlessly across the sonic vista. Priest Lake Circa ’88 speaks of both departure and eventual return, and perhaps in its broadest sense the notion of “home”. Above all, this is music to bathe in: warm, steamy and all-encompassing.
“Music is all about moments like this. Moments when you are, unexpectedly, knocked over and stunned into submission by an album that has, quite literally, came from nowhere… deeply affecting, consistently excellent… demands repeated listening” – Boring Machines Disturb Sleep on The Sound of Lights When Dim
Availability
All three reissues are now available for pre-order via n5mailorder before their official release on the 19th of May. The three releases are also available as specially priced bundle. The albums are also available now digitally in compressed and lossless formats.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
