Blog: Hidden Shoal Recordings

If you happened to be watching popular comedy-drama Offspring on Channel Ten last night, you may have noticed that there was some particularly awesome music at the 1:13 mark. Well, that was Hidden Shoal's very own City of Satellites with the track 'Control', taken from their stunning debut album Machine Is My Animal . If you visit the Channel Ten website via this link you can stream the show. Keep your ears peeled for some Australian dreampop in the background.

Its that time of day (well in this timezone anyway - apologies to our International fans!). Today we present track 2 of Umpire 's forthcoming glorybox of sublimity (I looked it up, its a word ok?). Track 2 of Now We're Active is the exultant and purely addictive 'Supply Chins'. Perth folks had a sneak peak at this song over the last year via an earlier version of the track sent in to RTRFM. You can follow the link below to grab the track and embed it on your Facebook page, website, wherever. Tune in here tomorrow [...]

Head over to the wonderful Headphone Commute and check out this exclusive Hidden Shoal mix. The mix features 16 tracks lovingly curated and sequenced from the Hidden Shoal catalogue by the label's manager Cam Merton. Stream, download, enjoy !

Starting today we're going to post a streaming track a day from the forthcoming Umpire album, Now We're Active , right up until the release on the 2nd of June. Keep your eyes and ears out here on the label site and also on the Umpire and Hidden Shoal facebook pages and be prepared to work your way up to a sonic frenzy by release time! Today we're easing you in to Umpire's 10 track empire of sonic and melodic awesomeness. Track 1 of Now We're Active is indeed the stunning [...]

Check out this fanastic interview with Ian Hazeldine (aka Antonymes) at Adequacy.net . Ian talks about his latest masterpiece, The Licence To Interpret Dreams , as well as his musical past, life in Wales, and graphic design. It's a great insight into the man and his music. Thanks to the lovely Brad Tilbe for putting it together.

As part of our 5th birthday celebrations , during the month of May 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 40% discount. Flavoursome! In 2007, Hidden Shoal pushed onward with a ridiculously full release schedule and tons of new signings. The label continued its expansion internationally with 2007 seeing releases from a diverse and beautiful spectrum [...]

Coinciding with the reissue of the first three Slow Dancing Society albums we invite you to stream a wonderful interview with Drew Sullivan (aka Slow Dancing Society) on the awesome 4ZZZ radio show War Is Peace . Many thanks to Sky, who presents the War Is Peace show, for making the interview happen.

Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the CD re-issues of Slow Dancing Society's first three albums. Drew Sullivan's first three releases as Slow Dancing Society comprise a peerless ambient trilogy. Debut album The Sound of Lights When Dim is a sumptuous unfolding ride towards a fading horizon. As with Brian Eno's finest moments and David Sylvian's ambient explorations, the album manages to dissolve its temporal markers and speak about moments removed from time. It talks to the delicious flaws of memory and [...]

Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the release of 'Sexy, No?' by Portland-based avant-pop quartet Iretsu, the second single to be lifted from their latest album Fang . Iretsu know how to duck and weave like maestros, and their new single 'Sexy, No?' is a fleet-footed marvel. The track oozes funk-addled confidence as it struts forward, layering harmonised guitars with Ryan Cross's inimitable vocals, all driven by an unstoppable rhythm section. 'Sexy, No?' is one of those tracks that gets under your skin like a musical [...]

Excerpt: "Hidden amongst the major label shallowness this week, Green Light District is the one single that keeps drawing me back. The one thing that's hardest to put a finger on is the length; it's damn well the shortest four-minute song I've ever heard. Umpire's breezy wide-panned progressive rock – smothered in buttery, reverberating humbucker tone – puts you in a daze, and before you know it, the song is over. There's something very satisfying about the way the Perth outfit goes about their business here; laying about a generally relaxed vibe is a really vague wistfulness – or 'arthouse [...]

Excerpt: "A deceptively simple set of neo-classical instrumentals (there is spoken word on one track), featuring piano, atmospherics and heart-swelling orchestral arrangements, from north Wales' Ian Hazeldine. There's a stillness and glacial beauty about these tunes which inevitably bring existential matters to mind. The maritime pull of The siren, hopelessly lost, for example. Or The Gospel Pass, with a religious bearing brought on by a solemn church organ. The single Endlessly somehow draws a rumbling chord from a series of ineffable tones. An unexpected muted trumpet fanfare opens The door towards the dream, followed by a female soprano signalling the stars. The Reichian piano [...]

Excerpt: "... Neo-lounge composer Rich Bennett is sure to find favor with the modern yacht rock crowd, but truth be told, his stylistic lineage traces back through folks like Esquivel, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. His 2010 release,On Holiday, found plenty of favor with both critics and the martini set, and coming at this point in time, his new video for the gauzy Misty Valley almost feels like a lackadaisical afterthought. Not that I'm complaining. It's all a passing sad daydream, with found footage casting a soft focus on the breezy buttermilk sky pop. Highly recommended with cocktails and nostalgia." [...]

Excerpt: "Once again we're blessed with another amazing band brought to us by Hidden Shoal Recordings. Umpire is their newest signing and they make a fine addition to the labels already amazing, and eclectic roster. Hailing from Perth, Umpire bring their bouncy, Smiths like charm into 2011. Although their first full length, Now We're Active isn't set to be released until June 2 (July 14 in the States), "Green Light District" is available now as a free download. 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 [...]

Excerpt: "I don't remember hearing this chap before. That doesn't mean to say I've not heard him before. My memory has been reduced to a pile of rubble in recent years and I often can't remember anything unless it's happened in the last 5 minutes and that's pushing it. I blame the internet. Anyhoo Mr Antonymes is from North Wales and here's made a neo-classical droney opus which is delicately layered in micro electronics. It's really quite lovely indeed. Piano and drones with tinkles, crackles, fizzes and possibly a whoop here and there with the occasional vocal explosion from Jan [...]

Excerpt: "The latest opus from North Wales-based Ian Hazeldine under the Antonymes moniker, The Licence To Interpret Dreams is a beautiful collection regardless of whether one classifies it as electronic chamber music or ambient neo-classical. A marvel of conception and form, the album's twelve pieces are numbered on the back cover as dreams ("Dream I," "Dream II," etc.), which proves to be a fitting strategy for an album that unfurls like a graceful plume of smoke captured in slow-motion. It's music that never feels as if it's groaning under the weight of a too-cluttered arrangement; instead, Hazeldine opts for [...]

Excerpt: "Antonymes and Hidden Shoal have followed up the serious contender for album of the year ("The Licence to Interpret Dreams") with this second helping "Lost in Waves of Light" which has been constructed from elements of said album. "Lost In Waves Of Light' is a deftly crafted sonic and melodic patchwork. The track sits as a wonderful companion piece to the album, as recognised melodies unfurl, cloaked in new guises. As a work unto itself it once again places Antonymes at the height of his game, producing some of the most emotionally and sonically engaging work being released today". [...]

As part of our 5th birthday celebrations , over the coming weeks 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 from the year covered will be available from the Hidden Shoal Store with a 50% discount. Flavoursome! Hidden Shoal Recordings began in Perth, Western Australia in May 2006. The motivation behind starting the label was to release music by Hidden Shoal's very own Cam Merton (Glassacre), Stu Medley (Motor Eye) and Mal Riddoch [...]

As we approach the Australian release date of Umpire's debut full length album Now We're Active the first single lifted from it continues to get love. Brisbane's Rave Magazine has just published a glowing review of the track and given it a single of the week badge. Read the review over at Rave , download the track for free at the HSR Store , love it and then be prepared to get blown away by the album.

Head over to the wonderful Perth based blog Twicreremoved and check out the recent interview with Hidden Shoal's Cam Merton.

To coincide with the label's 5th birthday celebrations, Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of the latest installment in its free downloadable sampler album series. Hydrozoa compiles 18 singles released over the last 18 months and lovingly sequences them into an epic journey. The album is divided into two sides, each a distinct listening experience in its own right - or, if you choose to digest the album in its entirety, it's a graduated ride from the ambient and minimal all the way through to the widescreen and [...]