Hidden Shoal News
'The Wooden Heart' One of the Singles of the Week at Rocksucker
Kramies stunning title track plucked from his recently released EP The Wooden Heart has just scooped a single of the week pick over at Rocksucker. Check it out here and then download the single for free here.
Kramies Featured at Warmer Climes
The brilliant Warmer Climes project, run by the lovely Vlad Stoian, asks artists to create an imaginary mixtape along with descriptions of their 10 all time favourite tracks. The project includes lists and writings from such artists as Boards of Canada, Gotye, Nathan Fake, My Brightest Diamond and many, many more, including our very own Kramies! The Hidden Shoal gem who recently gave us the sublime EP The Wooden Heart (along with contribution from Jason Lytle and Todd Tobias) has presented his fantastic top ten list which you can check out now at Warmer Climes.
perth's "What's Your Utopia?" in the CJSW Top 30!
Jumpel's "Bloc4" In The Top Ten of 2013 at Nowamuzyka
We are still playing catch up with all the wonderful press that came in over the xmas break. Here is a lovely accolade for a brilliant release from a wonderful Polish zine. Lukasz Komla over at Nowamuzyka placed Jumpel’s Bloc4 at number 7 in his best of 2013 list.
Head here to read the review in Polish (you made need a Polish friend or put up with Google’s attempt at translation). Then head to the Hidden Shoal Store to stream the album in full, grab yourself a copy on CD or in digital formats and download some free singles.
KZSU Love for [The] Caseworker and Kramies
One of our favourite US radio stations KZSU has just posted two lovely DJ reviews for the latest album from [The] Caseworker and the new EP from Kramies,
“The Caseworker is a SF project led by Conor and Eímer Devlin, former members of the slowcore band Half Film. Shaped partially by Conor’s time in a hospital post-car-crash, this fourth album is immaculately crafted to create an overarching feeling of tranquil melancholy at the axis of guitar pop, slowcore, and shoegaze. Catchy and magnificent (and released by Hidden Shoal!).” – KZSU on [The] Caseworker’s Voices Out There
“New EP by this Colorado dream-pop artist (released by the great Hidden Shoal Recordings). This features Jason Lytle of Grandaddy and has the same grand, quirky melancholy as Lytle’s music. There’s a strong sense of anguish and yearning to this. Lovely.” – KZSU on Kramies’ The Wooden Heart
KZSU listeners can expect to hear lots of cuts from both these releases spinning on the radio and should be keeping their eyes on the charts as well!
More Review Love for Kramies "The Wooden Heart"
Kramies’ beguiling new EP The Wooden Heart continues to scoop wonderful press. Emerging Indie Bands recently gave the EP a glowing review and Faded Arrow poured love over Kramies latest single and music video ‘Sea Otter Cottage’.
“Dutch-American singer Kramies recently released a video for the slow-burning “Sea Otter Cottage.” It’s a murky, mesmerizing song, drenched in synth textures and cloudy bass that invoke the image of a sinister storm on the horizon. This is dream pop with definite substance. The video is equally entrancing, as a blurred Kramies fades in and out of colored light.” – Faded Arrow
"What's Your Utopia?" Reviewed at City and Sound & Best of 2013 at Who The Hell
perth’s What’s Your Utopia? magnetism continues to gather strength. The sophomore album was just included in the best of 2013 roundup over at the always excellent Who The Hell blog and has also received a lovely review at another great blog, City and Sound.
“Every part of this record coalesces together strangely, perfectly. And even among the towering, cinematic instrumentals – perth still craft a weird sense of sparseness that makes this sound like a bunch of opiate-swilling krautrock kings running down a sand dune. One of the guys seems to have just discovered a drum and bass sample. In this context anyway, I’m totally alright with that.” – Who The Hell
If you’ve heard it then you know why, if you’ve not then lose yourself in the stream below then head here to get yourself a copy.
"The Wooden Heart" Voted #1 Release of 2013 at The Colorado Sound!
Lots of lovely things have been happening for Kramies utterly beautiful new EP The Wooden Heart over the last month so expect a bunch more posts like these as we catch up. First off we head to the excellent radio show The Colorado Sound where The Wooden Heart was voted by fans as the number 1 album of 2013. Now there is a show that has listeners with taste!
Glowing Album Reviews for PERTH at DOA and Textura
perth’s stunning sophomore album What’s Your Utopia? continues to land brilliant reviews. The latest round of love comes via the excellent DOA and Textura publications. Check out an excerpt below and read the full album reviews at the DOA and Textura sites,
“… it’s worth reflecting that these are musicians that, while they work in more than one format, are somewhere at the peak of their abilities and are pushing their instrumentation very nearly to its limits. The result is a consistently listenable album that’s every bit as ingenious as the music of My Majestic Star, City Of Satellites, Gilded and some other of the albums that Hidden Shoal has released in its eight year history. Which is to say it is an accomplished and very near superb 40 or so minutes and you really should hear it.” – Jon Gordon, DOA
What’s Your Utopia? is available now in CD and digital formats from the Hidden Shoal Store.
Kramies and perth Reviews at Soundly Sounds
Here begins the xmas break reviews catch up! First up some love from the wonderful SoundlySounds blog for Kramies latest single, ‘Sea Otter Cottage‘, and perth’s sophomore album What’s Your Utopia? .There’s a taste below before checking out the full Kramies review here and the perth review here.
“And finally, ‘Sea Otter Cottage’. This one is a tad quieter and less vibrant than the previous entries, but no less amazing. Kramies bring the melancholy poetry hard and fast on their drooping miser ‘Sea Otter Cottage’. Every time you think the track’s about to fall, it is suddenly picked up by some new instrument, like macabre organ chords or vaudevillian guitar. Perhaps its the influence of Jason Lytle of Grandaddy fame that muddles and murkies their sound, but it comes off fantastically.” – SoundlySounds on Kramies ‘Sea Otter Cottage’
“From start to finish, the whole thing reeks of being amazingly talented. Fuck this Arcade Fire bullshit, if you want some indie music that’s tied down solidly with electronic pulses, listen to perth.” – SoundlySounds on perth’s What’s Your Utopia?