Hidden Shoal News
Markus Mehr MixTape!
We recently asked Markus Mehr if he’d be so kind as to make a mixtape for us of his favourite tunes. What we got was a wonderfully eclectic mix below that has been on high rotation in the Hidden Shoal office since it arrived. There’s something incredibly satisfying hearing Taylor Deupree, The Beach Boys, Philip Jeck and Andy Williams share the sound stage. If only this could happen live!
Check it all out over at the Hidden Shoal blog then head to the Hidden Shoal Store to stream Mehr’s stunning releases Lava, In and On .
Gilded "Terrane" CD Pre-Orders and Music Video
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the availability of CD pre-orders for Terrane, the debut album by Australian experimental/ambient duo Gilded. All CD pre-orders come with an immediate download in FLAC or Mp3 format and will ship on the official release date of 8th October. To co-incide with this we are also excited to present the beautiful music video for the Gilded track ‘Road Movie’, produced by Hidden Shoal’s Cam Merton.
Gilded brings together the similar but distinct musical directions of West Australian experimental musicians Matt Rösner and Adam Trainer, forging a new approach to composition and sound creation that is based as much around rhythm and repetition as it is around drone and abstraction. The pair have released work seperately on labels such as 12K, Room40, hellosQuare, New Weird Australia, and Feral Media.
“There are worlds in here, in this record. Microscopic examinations of simple figures and patterns, that could fill whole sides; a focus and determination that wraps everything up in 45 minutes. Beautiful, simple, deep, Terrane is simply one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. Highly recommended!” – Fluid Radio on Terrane
Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all CD pre-order details, to stream the album in full and to download the first single from the album ‘Cluttered Room’. The music video for ‘Road Movie’ is available for streaming and embedding on YouTube and Vimeo. You can read a full press release for the album release here.
Gilded Press & Reviews
Gilded‘s sublime debut album Terrane has been getting some glowing press leading up to its release. Check out this lovely write up on the single ‘Cluttered Room’ at Mess & Noise and then read this beautiful review of the album at The Thousands.
“Terrane studies closely the absorbing power of such immersive, tactile textures, but the melodies are as striking, more akin to incidental forces of nature breaking through natural ambience than mere musical phrases. Anyway, enough words, there’s nothing that sounds quite like Gilded.” – The Thousands
Don’t forget to download the free single ‘Cluttered Room’ and check back to the Hidden Shoal Store on the 25th of September to pre-order your copy of the limited edition CD (including an immediate download of the album). Check this post for the upcoming Perth launch and East Coast tour details.
Slow Dancing Society "Laterna Magica" Official Release
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the official release of the new Slow Dancing Society album Laterna Magica. The album is available for immediate purchase on CD and in digital formats from the Hidden Shoal Store and all good online stores such as iTunes, eMusic and Amazon. CD orders through Hidden Shoal include an immediate digital download of the album in MP3 or FLAC formats.
Slow Dancing Society’s fifth album Laterna Magica demonstrates another key progression in the Slow Dancing Society discography, which is becoming one of the essential bodies of work in contemporary ambient music. The tracks are underpinned by gorgeous guitar drift and warm synth wash, sparingly propelled by throbbing electronic undercurrents. From the soft-focus exhalation of ‘A Few Moments’, via the gleaming musical universe of recently released single ‘I’ll Leave A Light On’, through to the hypnotic pulse and drifting melancholic piano of finale ‘Tomorrow’s Another Day’, Laterna Magica is a definitive Slow Dancing Society release.
“Like the glow of sunlight filtered through the slowly undulating waves of blue crystalline water, Under The Sodium Lights is less an auditory adventure and more a rich and imaginative musical daydream.” – Delusions of Adequacy on Under The Sodium Lights
“a complexity of sound that allows it to stand out from traditionally ambient music… It is easy to get dissolved in this album, to let yourself fall into meditation as the music plays… an aural delight” – The Silent Ballet on Priest Lake Circa ’88
Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all release details and a free track download.
Slow Dancing Society – ‘There’s A Place For Us’
Slow Dancing Society Radio Interview on Fade To Yellow
The excellent Fade To Yellow radio show hosted by Tam Laird on Koop 91.7FM will be featuring an interview with Drew Sullivan (aka Slow Dancing Society) this Tuesday night (18th Sept). The show airs 9-10pm Central time (USA) and if you miss it live you can catch up on the interview at the Fade To Yellow blog.
Slow Dancing Society’s stunning 5th album Laterna Magica drops officially today!
Elisa Luu Rocking The US College Radio Charts!
Elisa Luu’s stunning new album Un Giorno Sospeso continues to impress in the US as it takes its place in the Top 30 and specialty charts at a range of US college radio stations. Here’s a sample from the last few weeks – 9 on the WCBN Top 30 chart, 4 on the CJSW Experimental Chart, 3 on the Ashville FM Experimental chart and 25 on their Top30, 27 on the KDVS Top 30 charts, 10 on the CFRU Electronic chart, 8 on the CHUO Electronic chart. We’ll post more as we hunt them down!
Un Giorno Sospeso is available now as a limited edition CD (with immediate FLAC or MP3 download) as well in most digital formats including lossless. Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all details including the freely downloadable single ‘Se fosse per me…‘.
New Single From Slowcore Marvels Half Film – Free Download
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of free single ‘Machines, Hawks and the Perfect Equation’ by San Franciscan slowcore trio Half Film. The track is lifted from their soon to be reissued sophomore album of 2000, The Road to the Crater. Hidden Shoal is lovingly reissuing Half Film’s two acclaimed albums – East of Monument (1998) and The Road to the Crater (2000) – as a double CD package on 31 October 2012.
‘Machines…’ distills the Half Film aesthetic into four minutes of shadowy, see-sawing guitar splendour. The song’s slowburn never yields an easy payoff, the tension becoming its own reward, as the insistent, nagging riff roils beautifully, occasionally flaring into strummed chords before coiling back inside its brittle shell.
“Low-key underground guitar atmos that’s very moody indeed… Stark like Joy Division and darkly melodic like Neil Young” – Melody Maker on Half Film’s second album, The Road to the Crater
The history of Half Film began in 1995 when guitarist/vocalist Conor Devlin and bassist Eimer Devlin (now of [The] Caseworker) moved to San Francisco from the UK, based on their love of two bands from that city: Swell and American Music Club. There they were introduced to Jason Lakis. The trio recorded a demo in 1997, which was picked up by Buzz Records in Chicago. East of Monument, their debut album, was recorded in San Francisco over a weekend and released in spring 1998. Second album The Road to the Crater was laid to tape with Jim Putnam (of the Radar Bros) in LA, followed by a six-week European tour with Swell. After Conor and Eimer took a three-month break in Spain in February 2000, all three members decided to call it a day. And that was that.
‘Machines, Hawks and the Perfect Equation’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. East of Monument and The Road to the Crater are released as a double CD and in digital formats on 31 October, with CD pre-orders available on 18 October.
Hidden Shoal to Reissue Albums by Half Film
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the forthcoming reissue of the two acclaimed studio albums by Half Film – the slowcore trio fronted by [The] Caseworker’s Conor and Eimer Devlin – who made dark waves in the US indie circuit in the latter part of the ’90s. East of Monument and The Road to the Crater are released on 18 October, preceded by the release of single ‘Machines, Hawks and the Perfect Equation’ on 6 September.
“Low-key underground guitar atmos that’s very moody indeed… Stark like Joy Division and darkly melodic like Neil Young” – Melody Maker on Half Film’s second album, The Road to the Crater
The history of Half Film began in 1995 when guitarist/vocalist Conor Devlin and bassist Eimer Devlin moved to San Francisco from the UK, based on their love of two bands from that city: Swell and American Music Club. There they were introduced to Jason Lakis. All three members of the band learned how to play their respective instruments together, with Half Film’s sound and songs developing from that inexperience.
The trio recorded a demo in 1997, which was picked up by Buzz Records in Chicago. East of Monument, their debut album, was recorded in San Francisco over a weekend and released in spring 1998. Second album The Road to the Crater was laid to tape with Jim Putnam (of the Radar Bros) in LA, followed by a six-week European tour with Swell. After Conor and Eimer took a three-month break in Spain in February 2000, all three members decided to call it a day. And that was that.
Single ‘Machines, Hawks and the Perfect Equation’ is released for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store on 6 September. East of Monument and The Road to the Crater are released as a double CD and in digital formats on 31 October, with CD pre-orders available on 18 October.
Gilded Single Release – Free Download
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of ‘Cluttered Room’, the new freely downloadable single by Australian experimental/ambient duo Gilded, taken from their debut album Terrane, to be released on 8 October (CD pre-orders on 25 September). Buoyant and sun-dappled, ‘Cluttered Room’ takes a handful of gleaming musical elements – ride cymbal, banjo, bass, melodica, acoustic guitar – and builds them into a wonderfully considered and thoroughly melodic structure. Akin to the most accessible tracks by acclaimed Swedish trio Tape, Gilded’s debut single is an inviting entry point into their detailed and emotionally resonant soundworld.
The title of Gilded’s debut album Terrane comes from a geological formation that has become dislocated from its original position and sutured onto a new landscape. It retains its own distinctive form and contrasts against those around it, whilst also finding a new place, a new home. The compositions that make up this record strike at the heart of how it feels to be in a period of transition, of watching a subtle change, a shift in texture. There are moments of quietude and reflection – held together by the austere and alternately punctuated by shifts toward the uplifting and revelatory. Terrane deftly operates around the intersections of melody and texture, movement and pause.
Gilded will be supporting the release of Terrane with a national tour in October:
Perth – Sunday October 7 @ the Bird w/Benoit Pioulard, Chris and Stina & Cycle~440 + Kynan Tan
Canberra – Saturday October 20 @ The Street Theatre w/Mornings
Melbourne – Sunday October 21 @ The Gasometer w/Regional Curse & Infinite Decimals
Sydney – Friday October 26 @ 107 Projects w/Seaworthy, Pimmon & Raven
Brisbane – Saturday October 27 @ Brisbane Powerhouse for Restrung: Sounds Unbound
Grab the single from the Hidden Shoal Store and read a full press release here.
Gilded – ‘Cluttered Room’
Slow Dancing Society "Laterna Magica" CD Pre-Orders
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the availability of CD pre-orders for the new Slow Dancing Society album Laterna Magica. CD pre-orders include an immediate digital download of the album in MP3 or FLAC formats.
Slow Dancing Society’s fifth album Laterna Magica demonstrates another key progression in the Slow Dancing Society discography, which is becoming one of the essential bodies of work in contemporary ambient music. The tracks are underpinned by gorgeous guitar drift and warm synth wash, sparingly propelled by throbbing electronic undercurrents. From the soft-focus exhalation of ‘A Few Moments’, via the gleaming musical universe of recently released single ‘I’ll Leave A Light On’, through to the hypnotic pulse and drifting melancholic piano of finale ‘Tomorrow’s Another Day’, Laterna Magica is a definitive Slow Dancing Society release.
“Like the glow of sunlight filtered through the slowly undulating waves of blue crystalline water, Under The Sodium Lights is less an auditory adventure and more a rich and imaginative musical daydream.” – Delusions of Adequacy on Under The Sodium Lights
“a complexity of sound that allows it to stand out from traditionally ambient music… It is easy to get dissolved in this album, to let yourself fall into meditation as the music plays… an aural delight” – The Silent Ballet on Priest Lake Circa ’88
Laterna Magica is available now for CD pre-order (inc. immediate MP3 or FLAC download). The CD comes as a beautiful 4 panel wallet with stunning artwork by Stuart Medley. Pre-order shipping and official release (inc digital) is set for 18th September. Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all orders, release details and a free track download.
Slow Dancing Society – ‘There’s A Place For Us’