Hidden Shoal News
Moonchy & Tobias s/t Debut Out Now!
The time has come to release the beast! Moonchy & Tobias, an electrifying collaboration between Italian vocalist Pat Moonchy (Faust, Sothiac) and American instrumentalist Todd Tobias (Circus Devils, Robert Pollard), is out now. The album sees release through Hidden Shoal and Tiny Room Records and is available via Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and the other usual suspects. Be sure to also check out the wild new video by Budano Lino for the album track ‘Vertigo Trail’. More on Moonchy & Tobias here.
Brace yourself when entering the disorienting world of Moonchy & Tobias, where churning rock textures created by Todd Tobias are the landscape within which vocalist Pat Moonchy runs riot, warping her voice into every recess and shape available. Skirting the boundary between fairytale and nightmare, the angular architecture of the music is softened and stretched at every juncture. Whether the pounding bass of ‘Juu Ichi’, the bubbling submarine atmospheres of ‘Vertigo Trail’, or the percussion and fuzz carnival of single ‘Une Saison En Enfer’, Moonchy and Tobias create a transformative musical experience in which giddy tangents abound.
Moonchy & Tobias pairs Italian vocalist Pat Moonchy with American instrumentalist Todd Tobias. Moonchy is one-half of the experimental band Sothiac, in duos alongside trombonist Angelo Contini and jazz drummer Lino Liguori, in the Tai-No Orchestra, and with German krautrock pioneers Faust. Ohio native Tobias is a long-time collaborator with Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices), and provided the musical backing to Pollard’s vocals in the freak-rock trio Circus Devils. Tobias has also released a series of themed instrumental albums under his own name.
All tracks from Moonchy & Tobias are available for licensing across film, tv, web, games and beyond. Hit us up for more details.
RL/VL “Chagrin” 10th Anniversary Re-Release Out Now!
We’re very excited to announce the official availability of the 10th anniversary re-release of the seminal ambient album Chagrin by Belfast-based electronic composer RL/VL, aka Jack Hamill. Long term Hidden Shoal fans will remember the album’s original release back in 2008 and those new to the RL/VL moniker may know of Hamill’s work as Space Dimension Controller, releasing music via Dekmantel, Ninja Tune and R&S Records. Chagrin is reissued alongside the rest of his sublime catalogue with all releases available now via Bandcamp and soon to be streamable at Spotify and downloadable via iTunes et al. Listen in to the stunning first cut from the album, ‘Kweens’ via SoundCloud.
“… whenever his small, melodic textures threaten to disappear they always return calmly, in themes and droves and memorable parts… imagination too wild and unrefined to sleep” – Resident Advisor on Chagrin
Presenting an impeccably crafted minimalism and focus married to an ineffable sense of human frailty, Chagrin unfolds like the stories of ageless artefacts buried in the earth, still covered in the dirt that was once their home, brimming with micro-histories and rootless memories. Painstakingly layered from a vast array of analogue synths, tape machines, old cassettes and toys, Chagrin’s beauty lies in the fact that no sound is too small, no detail too elusive. This is ambient electronica of staggering emotive power.
RL/VL’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
Isophene “Reverbatory” Out Now!
We’re proud to announce the official release of Reverbatory, the stunning the new album by Melbourne-based electronica artist Isophene. The album is available now in CD and digital formats via Bandcamp and to stream and download via Spotify, iTunes and all other good online stores. Isophene’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games web and beyond via Hidden Shoal. Contact us for more info.
Using ’80s synths, piano, guitar, field recordings and an intricate mix of programmed and live drums, Isophene’s cinematic downtempo music is as lush as it is melodic. Drawing from a similarly vibrant musical palette as Boards of Canada, Helios and Tycho, Isophene immerses the listener in sun-drenched waves of emotive sound. From the languid melancholia of first single ‘Dandelion Drive’ to the widescreen twilight drive of ‘Echo Point’, Reverbatory plays out like a lucid dream.
Isophene is the moniker of Melbourne producer Brad Buenen, who creates music from his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges, set amongst towering Mountain Ash rainforests. Reverbatory was lovingly crafted over the course of nearly six years, assisted by producer Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones) and mastered by Taylor Deupree.
New REW<< Remix EP Out Now!
We’re excited to present the official release of Cupid’s Empty House (The Remixes), the new EP by REW<<. The EP is now available via Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and all other good third party stores. Liminal Drifter‘s wonderful re-working of the REW<< original is also available now to stream on SoundCloud.
Cupid’s Empty House features reworkings by Markus Mehr, Liminal Drifter, Ethan Kavanagh, Twilla and Rachel Harrup, plus the sublime original, taken from REW<<’s 2015 album Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs. There’s plenty to work with in the original’s delicate music box melodies and swooning synth strings, which evoke The Flaming Lips’ masterpiece The Soft Bulletin.
“REW<<’s Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs is a fantastically varied, moving, and imaginative opus, and it deserves to be celebrated.” – The Big Takeover
Hidden Shoal labelmates Markus Mehr and Liminal Drifter reimagine the original as a celestial exhalation and a burbling submarine delight, respectively. Ethan Kavanaugh sends snatches of voice snaking around glimmers of synth and drums, while Twilla juxtaposes pitch-shifted voice and thick bass against a stumbling drum loop. Finally, Rachel Harrup skilfully emphasises the delicious syncopation of the original.
REW<<‘s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
Kramies “Of All The Places Been & Everything The End” Out Now!
After an incredible lead up with a mountain of press, interviews and a beautiful music video, the day has finally come. Kramies sublime new EP, Of All The Places Been & Everything The End, is now officially available. Head to Kramies Bandcamp or stream and download from the usual suspects (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon et al).
“The result is a gorgeously cinematic collection of songs that pull directly from the vast landscapes and ancient stories of Ireland. The latest single “The Hill Dweller” feels like an extended coda, as was its original purpose. But deciding to make it a fully fledged tune brings something quite extraordinary to the EP’s ending. Arcing continuously upwards, the song is less the push and pull of the standard verse / chorus structure and more a story churning towards a crescendo. Employing lush string arrangements, horns and a myriad of found sounds, the tune is truly transporting.” – Culture Collide
Created in collaboration with Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Todd Tobias (Guided by Voices) and Jerry Becker (Train), Kramies’ epic new EP, Of All The Places Been & Everything The End, transports the listener through an enchanted forest of the imagination. Profoundly coloured by Kramies’ time staying at an ancient castle in Ireland, the music is steeped in fables, myths and eerie reflections, resulting in his most vividly realised release to date.
A prog and folk-influenced mini opus akin to Mercury Rev’s classic Deserter’s Songs, the EP covers more ground across its 23-minute run-time than many albums double its length. Given it was the site of the music’s gestation, it’s fitting that the eight-minute epic ‘Ireland’ is the EP’s swaying centrepiece. Single ‘Everything The End’ is an enchanting, unearthly tale of time and loss, coloured by melancholic optimism. And ‘The Hill Dweller’ brings the EP to a goosebump-raising conclusion with its sleigh bells and strings, as Kramies intones, “Now I’m home…”
Kramies music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
New Alpha Hall Single and Music Video
We’re excited to present ‘Filament’, the latest single from Omens, the stunning debut album by Australian band Alpha Hall. The gorgeous music video for the track by A.J Roberts is available to watch on YouTube and the track can be streamed via SoundCloud. Omens is available in digital and CD formats via Bandcamp and digitally via all good 3rd party stores (iTunes, Spotify Amazon etc).
Omens conveys many shades of light and dark, veering from delicate and introspective to unnerving and expansive. It captures a band able to convey not only the rugged beauty of their surroundings in regional Australia, but also the complex nature of our tempestuous, globalised times. Alpha Hall tap into a lineage of Australian artists such as Roland S. Howard, Died Pretty and The Triffids, whose gritty approach and lack of concern for contemporary trends creates a time-ravaged feel.
“mesmerising, with dusky vocals, purring violin, and a rich melodic and rhythmic interplay that erupts into emotional climaxes that ambush and satisfy in equal measures” – Doug Wallen, The Big Issue
Album opener ‘Find’ immediately establishes Alpha Hall’s sound, as raw vocals and overdriven acoustic guitar are chased by soaring violin lines. Aching first single ‘Rains’, a love song for the lost, exerts a devastating emotional pull, while the driving ‘Filament’ immediately feels like an indie-rock classic, its chorus bursting out of the gates and laying waste to everything in its path. Heartbreaking finale ‘Trees’ brings the album to a fittingly atmospheric close with its restrained vocals and haunting violin. Regardless of where Omens ventures, Alpha Hall are consistently in command of their songcraft.
Alpha Hall’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
Markus Mehr’s “Liquid Empires” Out Now (Cassette & Digital)
Finally the day has come for German experimentalist Markus Mehr‘s sublime new work, Liquid Empires, to grace the world with it’s immense presence. The album is available in cassette and digital formats via Bandcamp and digitally via all good 3rd party stores (iTunes, Spotify Amazon etc). Also don’t forget to check out Stefanie Sixt‘s wonderful music video for the album’s first single ‘Rank’.
Liquid Empires is a sonic exploration of the centrality of water to life on Earth. As Mehr explains, “We are water. Water is everything. It is life-giving and deadly, it is progress and comfort, it is central to our economy, energy, transport, food, warmth, cooling and manufacturing. At the same time, water means purity, beauty and mysticism. We spend the first nine months in it. We waste it and we contaminate it…”
Over the course of more than two years, Mehr recorded the sound of rivers, lakes and oceans, then set about transforming these sonic source materials in the digital domain using spectral analysis and time manipulation software. The result is some of Mehr’s most mesmerising compositions to date, teasing out harmonic patterns and microscopic textures that are beautiful as they are mystifying.
Markus Mehr’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
Alpha Hall “Omens” Out Now!
We’re very excited to announce the official release of Omens, the stunning debut album by Australian band Alpha Hall. Omens is available in digital and CD formats via Bandcamp and digitally via all good 3rd party stores (iTunes, Spotify Amazon etc). Keep tuned next week for the music video for 2nd single ‘Filaments’.
Omens conveys many shades of light and dark, veering from delicate and introspective to unnerving and expansive. It captures a band able to convey not only the rugged beauty of their surroundings in regional Australia, but also the complex nature of our tempestuous times. Alpha Hall tap into a lineage of Australian artists such as Roland S. Howard, Died Pretty and The Triffids, whose gritty approach and lack of concern for contemporary trends creates a time-ravaged feel.
“mesmerising, with dusky vocals, purring violin, and a rich melodic and rhythmic interplay that erupts into emotional climaxes that ambush and satisfy in equal measures” – Doug Wallen, The Big Issue
Album opener ‘Find’ immediately establishes Alpha Hall’s sound, as raw vocals and overdriven acoustic guitar are chased by soaring violin lines. Aching first single ‘Rains’, a love song for the lost, exerts a devastating emotional pull, while the driving ‘Filament’ immediately feels like an indie-rock classic, its chorus bursting out of the gates and laying waste to everything in its path. Heartbreaking finale ‘Trees’ brings the album to a fittingly atmospheric close with its restrained vocals and haunting violin. Regardless of where Omens ventures, Alpha Hall are consistently in command of their songcraft.
Alpha Hall’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
New REW<< Single Out Now, Remix EP Coming Soon
We’re excited to present the first taste of Cupid’s Empty House (The Remixes), the new EP by REW<<. Liminal Drifter‘s wonderful re-working of the REW<< original is available now to stream on SoundCloud with the EP seeing release on the 26th of October.
Cupid’s Empty House features reworkings by Markus Mehr, Liminal Drifter, Ethan Kavanagh, Twilla and Rachel Harrup, plus the sublime original, taken from REW<<’s 2015 album Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs. There’s plenty to work with in the original’s delicate music box melodies and swooning synth strings, which evoke The Flaming Lips’ masterpiece The Soft Bulletin.
“REW<<’s Olive Skinned, Silver Tongued Sirens Sing Swan Songs is a fantastically varied, moving, and imaginative opus, and it deserves to be celebrated.” – The Big Takeover
Hidden Shoal labelmates Markus Mehr and Liminal Drifter reimagine the original as a celestial exhalation and a burbling submarine delight, respectively. Ethan Kavanaugh sends snatches of voice snaking around glimmers of synth and drums, while Twilla juxtaposes pitch-shifted voice and thick bass against a stumbling drum loop. Finally, Rachel Harrup skilfully emphasises the delicious syncopation of the original.
REW<<‘s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Read more about Hidden Shoal licensing here and contact us for more info.
Interview with Chloe March at Textura
Check out this wonderful interview with the eternally talented Chloe March in the excellent Textura mag. March discusses her solo work along with her sublime collaboration with Todd Tobias, Amialluma, which is also glowingly reviewed in the same edition of Textura.