Hidden Shoal artist profile: Elisa Luu

Elisa Luu

Rome-based electronica artist Elisa Luu has an enviably light and precise touch. Though digitally crafted, her music is warm, inviting and uniquely human, betraying a vulnerability and sensitivity that is rarely found in the male-dominated sphere of electronica. With its sighing, lilting qualities, Elisa Luu’s music reawakens a sense of childlike wonder and adventure with every sprawling and sparkling track. It is ideally suited to visuals that portray moments of contemplation, transformation and redemption.

'Slow Bass Flute', taken from Elisa Luu's stunning debut album Chromatic Sigh, is part of my compilation of atmospheric/ambient tracks from the Hidden Shoal catalogue on Soundcloud:



Similarly dreamy is 'R3Son8':



Both these tracks are beatless, but when Elisa integrates electronic rhythms into her compositions, such as on 'Pixie Space Rock' and the following track 'Slowbeat', the results are equally beautiful:



Elisa Luu's new album will be released on Hidden Shoal later in the year, preceded by the single 'Se Fosse Per Me'.

If you're interested in licensing Elisa Luu's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com

Hidden Shoal artist profile: City of Satellites

City of Satellites

Imagine a Venn diagram with one circle that says 'dream pop' and another that says 'shoegaze rock'. The area where they overlap is a wonderful place. That place is City of Satellites. It's all about synthesis - between electronic beats and live drums; between shimmering keyboards and breathy vocals; between post-rock guitar sounds and rich basswork. The result is dizzyingly beautiful and futuristic music that is perfectly suited to a range of visuals - and has already been heard in episodes of Australian drama Offspring.

The band have released a stunningly expansive EP called The Spook and debut album Machine Is My Animal, from which the single 'BMX' is taken:



The title track of their debut album is included as part of my alt.pop/rock compilation on Soundcloud:



If you're interested in licensing City of Satellites' music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com

Hidden Shoal artist profile: [The] Caseworker

[The] Caseworker

[The] Caseworker are a continent-spanning trio whose music has the feel of a shoegazing Velvet Underground reared by the Flying Nun label – the perfect balance of drone and chime. Their hazy, melodic pop songs have irresistible momentum, but a momentum that's infused with ambiguity and doubt. In my head, [The] Caseworker's songs best suit those funny, downbeat indie movies in which every song on the soundtrack is good, conveying that the director has impeccable music taste!

'National Runner', the addictive opening track on their latest album Letters For Coast, also opens my compilation of Hidden Shoal alt.pop/rock:



There's also a video for the track on my YouTube channel if you want to witness the song as a soundtrack to the athletic prowess of incredible Ethiopian long-distance runner Miruts Yifter:



If you're interested in licensing [The] Caseworker's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com

Hidden Shoal artist profile: Boxharp

Boxharp

American duo Boxharp create magical, ethereal pop music, expertly weaving electronic textures amid timeless, emotionally resonant songcraft. Vocalist Wendy Allen's pure and beautiful tone evokes Celtic hymns, while Scott Solter's glistening musical beds alternate between intimate and disorientating. Boxharp's songs are so wonderfully varied in style and tone that they could accompany a range of visuals - but perhaps best suit windswept, natural scenes.

To date, Boxharp have released the eclectic Loam Arcane EP and album The Green, both of which have received widespread critical acclaim.

The title track from The Green is included as part of my Hidden Shoal alt.pop/rock mix on Soundcloud:



A video for 'Rainbirds' is featured on my YouTube channel:



If you're interested in licensing Boxharp's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com

Hidden Shoal artist profile: Wes Willenbring

Wes Willenbring

My initial intention was to run through the Hidden Shoal catalogue alphabetically, but a new single by Wes Willenbring has just been released, so I'm jumping ahead. Wes creates the kind of immersive, atmospheric music that bleeds masterfully between moments of sweet repose and queasy melancholy. The closer attention you pay to it, the more layers of meaning it reveals. As such, I can imagine his music providing the perfect soundtrack to slow-moving, reflective visuals.

Wes’s songs revolve around the primary elements of guitar and piano, the sounds expertly disassembled, reconstructed and manipulated to create minimalist atmospheres that draw equally from the sounds and moods of Leonard Cohen, Erik Satie, Earth, Brian Eno, Coil, and others. Across three albums, his attention has shifted gradually from more focus upon piano on his debut album Somewhere Someone Else through more varied pieces on his second album Close, But Not Too Close, to longform works on his forthcoming third album Weapons Reference Manual, which features new single 'The Consequences of Reckless':



I've included 'The Burrow' from Close, But Not Too Close on my compilation of atmospheric/ambient tracks from the Hidden Shoal catalogue featured on Soundcloud:



Plus, you can follow Wes on Soundcloud to sample tracks from across his excellent discography:



If you're interested in licensing Wes Willenbring's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com

Hidden Shoal artist profile: Apricot Rail

Apricot Rail

Perth-based instrumental pop band Apricot Rail create the kind of gleaming, melodic music to perfectly soundtrack moments of wide-eyed discovery, blue-skied revelation and intimate tenderness. Woodwinds, glockenspiels and trumpet weave amid chiming guitars to create music that is as moving as it is playful. The band released their self-titled debut album, produced by Umpire's Simon Struthers, in 2009. It features beautiful single 'Pouring Milk Out The Window':



In 2011 the band released their latest single 'Surry Hills', the first to include newest member Justin Manzano:



If you're interested in licensing Apricot Rail's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com