Hidden Shoal News
The Underground of Happiness Helps Celebrate Our 5th Birthday!
Ever-wonderful blog The Underground of Happiness, home to the musings of Conor, the presenter of the Cork radio show of the same name, has recently featured an article about our 5th birthday celebrations. Conor chats about some of his favourite HSR releases, provides links to recent interviews with Antonymes and Hotels from his show, and generally says nice things about us. Thanks Conor! We love you too!
2009: A Million Square Miles
As part of our 5th birthday celebrations, 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 30% discount. Flavoursome!
In 2009, Hidden Shoal continued to release stunning music from around the world, including debut Hidden Shoal albums from Hotels, HC-B, Tarcutta, Sleeping Me, City Of Satellites and Elisa Luu, sophomore albums from Jumpel and Wes Willenbring, a third album from Sankt Otten, and EPs from Stray Ghost and Down Review (a new collaboration between Arc Lab’s Medard Fischer and Near The Parenthesis’ Tim Arndt).
2009 was also notable for the release of our compilation album A Million Square Miles, a project endeavouring to showcase Western Australian talent to the US (the titular million square miles). After more than three years of sharing independent music far and wide, A Million Square Miles represented a key facet of the Hidden Shoal Recordings story. The album brings together a pair of tracks from each of the then eight WA-based artists on the Hidden Shoal roster: Mukaizake, Apricot Rail, Fall Electric, Glassacre, Toby Richardson, My Majestic Star, The Slow Beings and Tangled Star.
2009 also saw Hidden Shoal join forces with The Caribbean and Scott Solter in a single EP. This not only began a special relationship with the wonderful The Caribbean and created an ongoing avenue for them to release some of their more experimental offerings, but it also began the label’s relationship with Scott Solter, which eventually led us to Boxharp (Scott Solter and Wendy Allen).
HSR046: Jumpel Deuxieme Bureau
HSR047: Hotels Where Hearts Go Broke
HSR048: HC-B Soundcheck For A Missing Movie
HSR049: The Caribbean Scott Solter Re-Populates The Caribbean EP
HSR050: Sleeping Me Cradlesongs
HSR051: Tarcutta Tarcutta
HSR052: Tangled Star That Time EP
HSR053: Apricot Rail Apricot Rail
HSR054: Down Review From Here, For Anyone EP
HSR055: Sankt Otten Morgen Wieder Lustig
HSR056: Elisa Luu Chromatic Sigh
HSR057: Various artists A Million Square Miles
HSR058: Wes Willenbring Close, But Not Too Close
HSR059: Stray Ghost Each Paradise Is A Lost Paradise EP
HSR060: Mukaizake Unknown Knowns
HSR061: City Of Satellites Machine Is My Animal
Umpire's "Now We're Active" Australian Release
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the Australian release of debut album Now We’re Active by Perth’s widescreen indie-rock craftsmen Umpire ahead of its international release on July 14th.
On Now We’re Active, Umpire combine sprawling indie-rock sounds with reflective melancholy, expertly wielding massive sun-drenched melodies, serpentine guitar parts and soaring vocals to spectacular effect. From lead single ‘Green Light District’ through the chiming guitar surge of ‘The Canyon’ to gorgeous finale ‘Cyclones Into Sunshowers’, Now We’re Active is a stunning release, as expansive as it is propulsive, as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming.
Immaculately produced by bassist Simon Struthers at Forensic Audio, the album’s ten tracks bring progressive rock influences, indie-pop sensibilities and shades of math-rock into explosive collision, then shape them into songs that are at once epic and intimate. After the last song fades you’re left with a lump in your throat and admiration of how Umpire’s songcraft and sonics are so consistently elegant, melodic and widescreen. Now We’re Active is much more than a collection of tracks – it’s an album that blossoms beautifully on repeat plays.
“Once again we’re blessed with another amazing band brought to us by Hidden Shoal Recordings… the single is upbeat and poppy with a chorus that wails, featuring a guitar line mid-way through the song that would make Sonic Youth bow their heads. If this track is in any way a sign of things to come, then rest assured that when the album hits, it’ll leave fans mesmerized.” – DOA on ‘Green Light District’
Availability
Now We’re Active is available now on CD in Australia and digitally everywhere. The album sees its international CD release on 14 July. Head to the Hidden Shoal Store for all availability details. The Australian album launch will take place in Perth at the Rosemount on 4 June. Umpire will be touring Australia during July and August. Read a full press release here and be sure to check out the fantastic music video for single ‘Green Light District’.
Umpire Album Launch This Saturday Night!
For anyone lucky enough to be in Perth this Saturday night, head on down to the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth for the launch of Umpire’s stupendous debut album Now We’re Active, which is now streaming in its entirety on Bandcamp. Tomorrow sees the Australian CD release and international digital release, with the international CD release to follow on 14 July. Visit the HSR Store to snap up some of the action.
In further Umpire news, Now We’re Active is feature album all this week on the Breakfast with Barr show on RTRfm. Tune in all this week to hear songs from the album, plus on Friday the band will be in the studio for a chat.
And finally, Umpire’s official website is now up and running, so pop along there to immerse yourself in all things Umpire. It’s a beautiful thing.
Umpire "Now We're Active" – Final Track!
Day 10 and finally we arrive at the end of Umpire‘s brilliant and imminent full length Now We’re Active. I could squander words describing track 10 but it’s title sums it up better than I ever could. Without further ado we introduce to you the absolutely stunning album closer, ‘Cyclones Into Sunshowers’.
You can follow the link below to grab the track and embed it on your Facebook page, website, wherever. Even better the album is out tomorrow (June 2) on CD in Australia and digitally everywhere!
Umpire Featured at Der Digitale Flaneur
Another awesome write up at the superfine German blog Der Digitale Flaneur. This time for Umpire’s ‘Green Light District‘ single. You’ll have to do some Google translating if you’re not a German speaker but trust us, its worth it!
Antonymes and Slow Dancing Society Charting at WNYU!
Hot on the heels of the KZSU chart news, we now find Antonymes and Slow Dancing Society charting very strongly over at the wonderful WNYU. Antonymes The Licence To Interpret Dreams is sitting pretty at number 12 on the top 30 chart and the reissue of Slow Dancing Society’s The Sound of Lights When Dim is holding down the number 17 spot on the same chart!
Slow Dancing Society and Antonymes Charting at KZSU
The mighty KZSU continues its Hidden Shoal love fest. And how could it not with releases from Slow Dancing Society and Antonymes sparkling like diamonds in their music library? Our reissue of Slow Dancing Society’s The Sound Of Lights When Dim is Number 9 on the main airplay chart and number 1 on the Classical/Experimental chart while Antonymes The Licence To Interpret Dreams is sitting at number 9 on the Classical/Experimental chart. Check out the charts here.
Just wait until we unleash the upcoming Slow Dancing Society remixes by Antonymes! More details on that soon.
Umpire "Now We're Active" – Track 9
Time to reveal the second last track from Umpire‘s imminent full length Now We’re Active. ‘Spotlights’ sees Umpire stripped back and introspective with just guitar, voice and atmospherics. Geoff Symons takes the lead here and if you listen closely you can actually hear the rest of the band banging on the locked studio door. This is stunning minimal, guitar based melancholia.
You can follow the link below to grab the track and embed it on your Facebook page, website, wherever. Tune in here tomorrow for the final track!
Hotels Supporting Glasvegas This Saturday Night
Fresh from their awesome performance in the Billboard Battle of the Bands final in Las Vegas, Hotels are prepping to play with Glasvegas at Neumos in Seattle this Saturday night, 4 June. If you’re in Seattle you have no excuse to not catch these guys do their thing, playing tracks from their Hidden Shoal releases On The Casino Floor and Where Hearts Go Broke. Advance tickets are now available from etix.com.