Hidden Shoal News
Liminal Drifter Interview on Echoes This Tuesday
Be sure to tune in to the wonderful Echoes Radio this Tuesday night to hear an interview with Dr Simon Order (aka Liminal Drifter). Hear Simon talk with John Diliberto about his new album The Dreams and more. Head to the Echoes website to check all the ways you can listen in (terrestrial radio, online etc).
“Amialluma” in CFUV Top 30
Todd Tobias & Chloe March‘s stunning new opus Amialluma has just landed in the CFUV top 30 and is also sitting pretty at 8 on their electronic chart! The album sees release on the 4th of September with the first single ‘Lallulow’ available to stream via SoundCloud.
New Kramies Track Premiered at Culture Collide
The first taste from Kramies sublime forthcoming EP has been premiered by the wonderful Culture Collide. ‘The Hill Dweller’ is a window view into Kramies’ sweepingly-nostalgic new EP, Of All The Places Been & Everything The End. A wistful and picturesque landscape, ‘The Hill Dweller’, which was written and partially recorded while Kramies resided in an old Irish castle, was produced by and features the brilliant Jerry Becker (Train).
Of All The Places Been & Everything The End, also produced by and featuring Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) and Todd Tobias (Guided By Voices), will see release on October 19th via Hidden Shoal.
Isophene Joins the Hidden Shoal Family, Debut Album Out in October
We’re super excited to welcome Melbourne based electronic artist Isophene to the Hidden Shoal family. Isophene is the moniker of producer Brad Buenen, who creates music from his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges, set amongst towering Mountain Ash rainforests. His debut album, Reverbatory, will see release through Hidden Shoal on 29th October with the first single out in September.
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. On debut album Reverbatory, Isophene draws inspiration from the natural beauty of his mountainside studio to craft tracks that are as timeless as the landscapes they were born from.
While you wait for the first taste of Reverbatory, be sure to check out Isophene’s gorgeous remix of Summon The Birds‘ new single ‘Cloud Cars‘.
Isophene’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Liminal Drifter Riding the US Radio Charts!
Liminal Drifter‘s The Dreams is riding up the NACC Electronic chart! The album is now sitting at number 6!
Alpha Hall ‘Rains’ Single & Video
Hidden Shoal is excited to present ‘Rains’ is the aching first single from Omens, the debut album by Australian band Alpha Hall.The track is available via SoundCloud and Bandcamp and the accompanying music video can be streamed via YouTube. Omens drops on the 12th of October 2018.
A plea for love in the face of fear, ‘Rains’ exerts a devastating emotional pull. Layers of guitar and violin interweave beautifully, while the rhythm section ratchets up the tension and Baz Petrovski’s weathered vocal tone deepens the atmosphere of weary resilience.
“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 on Alpha Hall, The Big Issue
Alpha Hall traverse a unique sonic landscape, somewhere between The National’s brooding songcraft and Dirty Three’s violin-streaked majesty. Their cinematic debut album, 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’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Slow Dancing Society “The Torchlight Parade Vol. II” Out Now!
We’re excited to announce the official release of the second and final part of Slow Dancing Society’s The Torchlight Parade. Vol. II represents the tenth album in the US-based ambient artist’s expanding discography, which began with The Sound of Lights When Dim (2006), now considered one of the classics of modern ambient. The album is available now via Bandcamp and all good 3rd party stores including Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.
“To a secret and hidden place where the past and present merge in a luminous cascade of sights and sounds which few can discern. How far can one artist and their craft pull you out of your own life? Listen to this album and decide that for yourself, only don’t do it hastily and don’t expect it all to hit you at once. This individual clearly revels in the sublime, no note is out of place, no hint of beauty given up rashly. Everything is conceived and composed to hit all those sweet spots in your head which you thought no one else could. It’s divine here, think I’ll stay a while.” – Santa Sangre on The Cogent Sea
Volume II of Slow Dancing Society’s (Drew Sullivan) The Torchlight Parade continues the artist’s immersive nocturnal sonic tapestries. While Vol. I was marked by a sense of exploration and tension, Vol. II arrives at a place of reflection and resolution. Much like its predecessor, where each track title references a specific place in Sullivan’s home town of Spokane, Washington, Vol. II also creates its own distinct geography – both external and internal. From the graceful melancholy of single ‘Garland’ to the smoky radiance of ‘Shadle Park’, Vol. II is a deeply evocative ambient experience. Sullivan’s ability to work within the ambient format, yet create such complex and engaging narratives is a special thing indeed. Following in the footsteps of Eno, these works are soundtracks to films yet made.
Slow Dancing Society’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Summon the Birds ‘Cloud Cars’ Single & Isophene Remix
We’re very excited to present ‘Cloud Cars’, the new single by Melbourne band Summon the Birds, along with a remix of the track by electronica producer Isophene. The tracks are available via SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Spotify and all good 3rd party digital stores.
‘Cloud Cars’ is the soaring instrumental centrepiece of side B of Blood Love, Summon the Birds’ acclaimed second album. Its chiming guitar arpeggios are swaddled in hazy organs, lulling the listener into a waking dream, only to be woken by the left turns the track takes on its way to a beatific waltz-time climax. It’s an immersive, open-ended example of the deft musical narrative at play across Blood Love as a whole.
“The opening refrain puts me in mind of Go Betweens, but the piece itself heads off in a gentle Talk Talk direction. It’s probably the keys that do it, but I have to say the guitars on ‘Cloud Cars’ are really beautiful” – [sic] Magazine on ‘Cloud Cars’
In the hands of electronica producer Isophene, ‘Cloud Cars’ becomes even more dream-like and transportive. The main theme is stripped away, leaving the focus upon the middle eight and the interplay between guitar and drums, with the spaces between filled by aching synth and washes of reverb. It’s a perfect intro to Isophene’s talents, which will be on full display on his debut album, Reverbatory, due for release later in the year.
Isophene is the moniker of Melbourne producer Brad Buenen, who creates music from his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges. Using ’80s synths, piano, guitar, field recordings and an intricate mix of programmed and live drums, Isophene’s downtempo music is lush and melodic with cinematic cues.
Summon the Birds’ music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
New Medard Fischer Single & Music Video – ‘Fundamentals’
Medard Fischer’s new single ‘Fundamentals’ is an ominous cloud of generative piano strikes, swelling amid a bed of strings and drones. The track draws on the stochastic processes that form the spine of Fischer’s latest album Lucky You. In the accompanying video, monochrome fractals trace the pulse of the song’s sparse melodic fragments, mirroring the track’s hypnotic evolution.
On Lucky You, Medard Fischer’s creative process was influenced by his father’s struggle with cancer and tragic passing. While coming to terms with his loss, Fischer was intrigued by recent studies suggesting that more than two-thirds of cancerous mutations may be caused by random replication errors, and was inspired to explore how the implications of chance shape lives in both ordinary and profound ways.
Taking its cues from generative music and sound collage, stochastic processes are central throughout Lucky You; they define timbres, melodies and entire song structures. Elements pop in and out like sparks, driven by random number generators, multi-tiered probability gates and feedback loops cycling through old electronics. Yet, despite its conceptual underpinning, Lucky You has immediate emotional resonance, befitting the circumstances that inspired it. Pieces shift from playful to contemplative and from hopeful to haunting – tracing contours of moments lived in the shadow of chance, by turns beautiful and tragic.
Medard Fischer’s music is available for licensing across film, tv, web, games and beyond. Contact us for more information.
Alpha Hall Sign to Hidden Shoal, Debut Album Coming September
We’re very excited to announce the signing of Australian band Alpha Hall to the Hidden Shoal family. Their stunning debut album Omens will see release in September with the first single out in a few weeks. Watch this space!
“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
Alpha Hall traverse a unique sonic landscape, somewhere between The National’s brooding songcraft and Dirty Three’s violin-streaked majesty. Their cinematic debut album, 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.
Formed in 2016 by Bozhin Petrovski (vox, guitars) and Adam Menegazzo (violin), with Sy Young (drums) and Perry Lane (bass), Alpha Hall have created a formidable sound in a short time. Based in regional Victoria, Alpha Hall take their name from an early gold rush cinema – apt for a band seeking to bridge the past with the present. Written and recorded in Talbot during late 2017 and completed in early 2018 with friend Heath McCurdy (Epicure, Mark With The Sea) in Ballarat, their debut album, Omens, captures something purposeful and persuasive, far from the city lights and hipster sprawl of Melbourne’s musical hub.