XXXXXXXX (HIDDEN) FORTRESS XXXXXXXX

Liquid Dreams

2011-12-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

KEEP ON TRUCKIN

2011-05-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

HF may be comatose at the moment, but HF affiliated artists are still kicking down doors all across the known universe. Check out the shit tons of new Sky Stadium material here or grab some free Eagle Chalice toonz to zone out to while the world burns. FTWFTW.

SLEEP OF THE DEAD

2011-04-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Looks like the whole HFT gig is out of commission, at least temporarily. Sucks but sometimes life is like that!

It's been great, and thanks to everybody. Don't ever stop taping.

FIELD RECORDINGS FROM THE ENERGY VORTEX

2011-02-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am super excited, because we are in the final stages of production for two new tapes of awesome synthy goo music, now available for pre-order. You can get them here.

SKY STADIUM - THE LODGE
mp3 sample
"Stunningly beautiful synth drones, capable of freezing and even reversing the flow of time"

EAGLE CHALICE - HOT GLUE
mp3 sample
"Traverse the astral planes in a rocket ship fuel by synth and latex adhesive
in this series of audio meditations from Hidden Fortress's in-house spirit seeker."

VIDZ

2011-02-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

From the tape "Infinite Altitude" released by Digitalis, Ltd.

NEW STUFFFF

2011-01-20T10:16:00.001-08:00

New happenings at the Fortress… We've got a couple of exciting tapes coming up next month, and right now we're celebrating the inauguration of the new 'distro' section of our store, featuring awesome tapes from HF-affiliated and allied entities the world over.

In the distro…

Eagle Chalice - Infinite Altitude (Digitalis Ltd.)
Sterile Garden / Somalia - Split (Agharta)
Universal Studios Florida - Ocean Sunbirds (Animal Image Search)
Coppertone - Best of the First Six Months (Night People)
…and more

Bring the Noise

2010-12-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

MP3: High Society - I Fed The Dog

What we're jamming

2010-11-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

Eliminator

2010-10-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, thanks for making this last batch the fastest sell-out in HF history! Seriously, like bam, they're gone. Totally eliminated. (Maybe we should think about making more copies next time.)

Right now we're planning releases for the Winter 2010/2011 season, and it's looking a little more industrial-ish and noisy with new long-format tapes from Eyescraper and the previously unrecorded Lava Tubes. It'll be a harsh season, so get ready!

PS: If you've got demos that you think are in line with the HF 'aesthetic' (whatever that is) send us some mp3s!

=> hiddenfortresstapes at gmail dot com

PPS: Actually if you're still looking for copies of the Eagle Chalice tape, maybe try Tomentosa in a week or two -- they're one of the last people we mailed out tapes to, and they should maybe have a few copies.

Personal Flotation Device

2010-08-19T13:53:00.001-07:00

We've got hella new tapes, which you can peruse in the updated online store.

New epic tek jamz from KW, loner basement pop from Fake Teeth, and rad summer zoners from Eagle Chalice. I'm feeling totally psyched, are you?

Digital Vanguard

2010-08-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Kid Wizard's official gone digital. You can now get promo MP3s for the new cassette along with downloadable versions of previous tracks from bandcamp.

Into the cosmos we go!

SUMMER JAMZ

2010-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Eagle Chalice - Let's Float

Kid Wizard - Slow Motion

These may or may not be the final version that are going on the tapes...

Stuff We Like

2010-07-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

EMA - "Little Sketches On Tape" C32 (Night People, NP102)

This one has really been rocking my walkman recently. EMA is Erika Anderson (formerly of Gowns and Amps for Christ) recording folky songs about cartoon cowboys and runaway boyfriends into a severely broken (or at least highly questionable) tape recorder. What could have been a bunch of half-assed song sketches or formalist exercises in obsolescence instead comes across as something very personal and (to my ears) sad, the sounds of the tape recorder emphasizing the loneliness that's only half-present in her songs. The automatic voice-onset detector goes haywire during certain parts, causing notes to zoom in and out of focus in a manic way that completely transforms Emma's quiet, soft-spoken singing. Sort of riding an Alvin Lucier vibe in the way that technology obliterates human imperfections, etc. etc. Anyway, it's pretty awesome, my favorite thing to come out on N.P. so far.

Links: EMA, Night People

//// RAINBOW VISIONS ////

2010-07-06T15:33:00.001-07:00

NEW TAPES SOON:
Eagle Chalice - Let's Float
Fake Teeth - S/T
Kid Wizard - Massive Rainbow Crystal Magic

...

Refer to: Kid Wizard, Eagle Chalice

That Which Does Not Kill Us Only Makes Us Stranger

2010-05-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry we didn't get back to you about that awesome demo CD that you sent, but the Hidden Fortress grand maestro got sideswiped by an SUV whilst on riding his bike through the busy streets of San Francisco last month (don't worry, he's OK!), and also decided to take up cognitive psychology as a hobby.

We're looking at some new tapes by the end of the summer including:

-Some heavy astral zones from plastic-drone shaman Eagle Chalice
-Weirdo loner-psych from a band that is maybe called Fake Teeth?
-A second edition of To the Stars by Hard Ways by Kid Wizard, and also a new long-ish tape. I think it's a concept album about hippogriffs.

Stick around and we'll see what happens!

A Long Ray's Journey into Light

2010-03-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

Two new tapes!

2010-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

EAGLE CHALICE - UNDERWATER PANTHER PARTY - C20

Magnetic, slow-motion trance music from a glue-age spirit warrior. Eagle Chalice has been rocking the Bay Area with his plasticized drones and narcoleptic beats, and according to music industry experts Eternal Tapestry, the songs on this tape have "rad vibes." The music is sort of droney and sort of shoegazey but more beautiful and minimal than either of those words make it sound.

MP3: Untitled #4

CHROME VAMPIRE - RAD ATTITUDE - C10

Chrome Vampire are some dudes that I seriously love, who seem to mostly live in a basement and only talk through MicroKorgs. They have made a 10-minute barrage of synth, drums, and vocoders that is sometimes catchy and sometimes caustic and will probably make your neighbors hate you if you play it too loud. This is pixie-stick party digipunk with an ear for beautiful noise and no attention span.

MP3: Glitchwave

get the tapes here

Kid Wizard in 20JFG

2010-01-17T20:29:00.001-08:00

The kid keeps getting good press, this time from British synth-wave tastemakers 20 Jazz Funk Greats. You can read what they have to say here.

(I don't know, I'm thinking maybe it's finally time to do a photo shoot?)

Also, we are really feeling this self-titled tape we got in the mail from Night People-affiliated band Sewn Leather right now. Lofi bad trip electronics, with what sounds like Russian Tsarlag and friends on vox. But pretty much everything on NP is rad, check it out.

Return from the Ice Planet

2010-01-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hi all, we are officially back from our winter retreat! Although actually, we just went to Hawaii for a couple of weeks.

It looks like we might have a new tape from synth-droners Eagle Chalice soon, so keep your eyes out for that.

Taking a Break

2009-12-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Hidden Fortress will be hibernating until the 15th. See you then!

NEW TAPES

2009-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holy daze, Hidden Fortress is resurrecting quite possibly the single stupidest format that music has ever been released in -- the cassingle!

Eyescraper - Blank Tattoo (C10)

Spazzy noisewave goth pop. Cool kids making songs that sound like knives. Cardstock insert, edition of 25. $2 in USA, $4 worldwide.

MP3: Eyescraper - Blank Tattoo

...and also...

High Society - I Fed the Dog (C10)

Two dudes and some drugs making wicked vocal drone music. Economy of means leads to maximal effect. Cardstock insert, edition of 25. $2 in USA, $4 worldwide.

MP3: High Society - Astral Vodka

...and finally, a much-awaited second tape from Kid Wizard, full of new songs from outer space.

Kid Wizard - On the Edge of Forever (C30)

Computer-age scifi music, edition of 50, color cardstock insert. $5 in USA, $7 worldwide.

MP3: Kid Wizard - On the Edge of Forever

Get them all here.

O.O.P. Tape Share #2

2009-11-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

Dolphin Wizard - Prehistoric Animal Sanctuary
(Hidden Fortress, 2009)

SIDE A
SIDE B

On this classic C30, members of Kid Wizard teamed up with John Lilly and Dr. Raja Merk Dove to elucidate the underwater sounds of prehistoric oceans, as communicated by Atlantean glyphs using telepathic wave energy. Radical regressive mindscape sounds sucked straight out of the Triassic.

A Reason to Believe

2009-11-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

New tapes are almost ready! New singles from Eyescraper and High Society, new epics from Kid Wizard, and maybe even some zines. Stay tuned.

O.O.P. Tape Share

2009-10-21T20:07:00.001-07:00

Kid Wizard - To the Stars By Hard Ways
(Hidden Fortress, 2009)

SIDE A:
1. Wastelands
2. She Lay Silent, in a Field, in a Dream
3. To the Stars by Hard Ways
4. In the Garden of Forking Paths

SIDE B:
1. From Within Thin Cities
2. Kosmograd
3. Labyrinth of the Hibiscus Minotaur
4. False Memories

Epic synth music that takes cues from outer space, Italo Disco, Nu Age, and Giorgio Moroder's contributions to The Neverending Story.

cover.jpg

Basement Baptism

2009-10-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

"Flaming Lips managed to be boring and super exciting at the same time. Possibly a perfect representation of the state of contemporary independent music? Are we all doomed to make boring music with insane video backing it up? Letz fight it, no more festivals, only basements, make friends, dont make VIP tents." -- Willie from The Lonely Mountain

...

2009-10-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Kid Wizard and Dolphin Wizard tapes are sold out! More soon.

EDIT: We'll post MP3s of the tapes soon for those who missed it... in the mean time, visit the Kid Wizard myspace or check out some of the other tapes we've got!

Neon Hearts

2009-10-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Kid Wizard tape got a nice write-up from some of our favorite undergroundsters over at Cassette Gods. We've still got a couple copies lying around in case yr interested, but as is often the case with cassette reviews, the object itself is pretty much gone by the time anybody sits down to write about it.

A few emails from people interested in trading tapes -- for the record, we are totally down with this. Yr money isn't worth anything anymore anyway! Just send us an email and we can set up some sort of anti-capitalist trade agreement.

The future was here, and we missed it.

2009-09-14T13:04:00.001-07:00

But don't worry, everything will be OK.

Some new music from Kid Wiz:
Kid Wizard - Infinite Planes Radiating Outward from the Brilliant Inner Orb

...

New Song from Eyescraper

2009-08-14T16:56:00.001-07:00

Kind of like goth, but even less cool.

Eyescraper - Blank Tattoo

What's baking?

2009-06-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

Currently available cassettes:

Kid Wizard - To The Stars By Hard Ways
Eyescraper - Skull Magnet
Loud Cloud / Moon Mesa - Split CS

Coming Soon:
Dolphin Wizard - S/T
Eyescraper - Strange Days
Slurpee Stains - ???

Out of Print:
Moon Mesa - Rock Formations
Stylebiter - Lazer Friends

All cassettes are C30 for the time being! Maybe we'll switch it up in the future.

It doesn't matter what kind of shoes you wear.

2009-05-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

Or what your haircut is. Everything is awesome.

Loud Cloud/Moon Mesa split CS is almost out of the chute. To celebrate we're releasing the entire Moon Mesa B-side, which is a single 15-minute long polymorphic noise decomposition, as a crappy 128kb MP3! For a better (or really, different) quality recording you'll just have to check the tape when it comes out.

Moon Mesa - Transmission 1-4

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

2009-05-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

GET YRSELF SOME NEW TAPES

2009-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

These guys come out May 1st.

EYESCRAPER - Skull Magnet
C30, edition of 30

Eyescraper is ascetic junk noise balladeering with home-made instruments and direct-to-tape recording. Growing up weird in the Midwest before translocating to hazy locales on the West Coast, psychic dualism and the struggle to fill spiritual voids with meaningful noise. Foci are ritual therapy, gender confusion, and alienated lonerism.

Instruments: voice, Ibanez electric bass, Lyon & Healy lever harp, DR-202 Dr. Sample, IKEA-brand cookware, and Sony variable-speed tape recorder

KID WIZARD - To the Stars by Hard Ways
C30, edition of 30

Kid Wizard is the pseudonym of Will Grizzly, a Bay Area DIY synth cosmonaut who writes anachronistic soundtrack music for Soviet-era science fiction films that never existed. Themes that inspire his work include space travel, the transhuman endeavor, and the passage of time as a form of personal loss.

Instruments: fake moog synthesizer, fake mellotron, Roland drum machines, tape hiss

DAYS/DAZE

2009-04-17T14:05:00.001-07:00

Apparently I missed some good shows via Japanther and Inca Ore, but it's because I've been working on awesome stuff like this. ETA June.

Recent Show Reviews

2009-04-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

PEELANDER Z and THE PHENOMENAUTS @ The Ashkenaz

Both of these bands are hella gimmicky, with elaborate stage shows and song titles that rely heavily on cheap puns. Possibly they are intended to appeal more to teenagers than to people my age (~25), but I think that's underestimating the average teenager rockist consumer. Anyway, my friend likes this stuff and he dragged me along.

Peelander Z is three (four? five? do backup dancers and offstage guitarists count?) Japanese natives living in NYC and making trashy punk rock inspired by Godzilla and the Power Rangers. The songs are two-chord stompers that really only exist as an excuse for stage diving and wacky animal costumes. That said, it was pretty entertaining, but not really in a way that made me want to join in. I'd rather watch it on youtube, you know?

The Phenomenauts are an Oakland band which I think has played Warped Tour, and that's probably where my friend knows them from. The name and that fact alone can probably paint a better image than any description I can provide. They do a kitschy "psychobilly in outerspace" thing which never really gets campy enough to be fun, it's just some 200bpm apolitical retro hetero nonsense that I can't really feel and can't get into. The lasers looked expensive, but they didn't bother to tune their instruments, and the whole thing was just a mess.

NO AGE and TITUS ANDRONICUS @ The Rickshaw Stop

Got into this one free through an online promotion for some D.O.A. alt-indie music portal, so the crowd was a little weird, a lot of teenage "bros" and general creepsters. Can't say I loved Titus Andronicus, as the main impression I came away with was that they need to turn down the mic on the harmonica and ditch one of the guitarists. If I'm going to die of tinnitus, I don't want to be during some half-assed indie blues progression.

(Maybe the lyrics are good, I couldn't hear them.)

No Age put on a good show but it definitely wasn't the venue for them. Too much space, too much noise. They really belong in a basement. But they tried hard and brought the energy and harassed the crowd for just standing around and looking like the douchebags they were. By the end of the show everybody was moving around and having a good time.

MOUNT EERIE and WHITE FANG @ Million Fishes

There were some other bands too but I don't remember who they were/wasn't listening when they played. The show was in a basement behind the actual Million Fishes gallery, which is cool because you almost never get to go to actual basement shows in the bay.

White Fang was the first band I saw, some teenage posi hardcore outfit from Oregon who played a 10-minute set that totally worked for me. I didn't know kids still did this kind of stuff. Mount Eerie was just Phil Elvrum with a guitar, playing by himself in the corner of the room. He's really working the loner regression metal jams right now, it's a style that I don't think anybody else can touch. The chord progressions don't make much sense and the songs end abruptly, but it all feels right for what he's singing about. The lyrics are very domestic/natural, sometimes about animals or houses or dying alone, totally engrossing and awesome.

Nu Age

2009-03-24T11:01:00.001-07:00

Give me back my Ouija board.

Welcome to Outer Space

2009-03-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Rockets - Space Rock (1978)

Space - The Magic Fly (1977)

Celebrate with Pagan Gods

2009-03-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, it's spring!

And I just ordered some tapes from Gift Tapes. Let you know what I think when they get here.

Berkeley, CA

2009-03-19T10:53:00.001-07:00

Music in our backyard seems to mostly consist of amateur guitar acousmatics and maddening thrash/ska hybrids. 924 Gilman Street we blame you. The worst music in the world seems like it could be the best thing, but then it isn't, and this is the delineation between idea and reality. If it all took place in basements I'd probably be feeling it more, but nobody has a basement around here.

Anyway we keep on pumping/dumping. Kid Wizard's C30 is almost officially done (promos ship next week, or as soon as we get the cassette labels printed). But go ahead and pre-order if you can feel the outer space vibes pulsing in your location. Eyescraper's "Skull Magnet" is recorded and just waiting for the dubbing and final tracklist, and after that comes Stylebiter and then Slurpee Stains and then probably something else.

MP3x:
Kid Wizard - Waste Lands

Do Not Understand

2009-03-04T16:54:00.001-08:00

Is that the point?

I want to explode in one thousand different ways into different organisms and mindstates/colors, the flavors of artificially colored high fructose corn syrup, buying groceries on an astral plane, neck and neck with stasis. Is there anything more boring maybe not. People regress to the mean and the only thing worth doing is solipsism, not socialism. There is no such thing as a transcendental humanist.

Living in a hippie commune in a bubble-wrapped timewarp where everyone is a teenager in love. Truth ends at age twenty-two, fear begins. How to fight/how to fall. In public and in private.

(Ambiguous stimuli.)

Leave the rest for the dust mites.

BAD DAYS

2009-03-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Aren't they all? But there's some cool stuff over at Cassette Gods, don't feel so down.

Also visit:
- Dead Angel
- 20JFG
- Mudd Up
- MonkeyAbout

Free Fridays: The Slurpee Stains

2009-02-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

The Slurpee Stains can't tell the difference between feeling good and feeling bad. They play fuzzy pop songs that are convulsive and propellant and sometimes tragic, with a sort of a dayglo New Wave anxiety-core aesthetic, but buried in waves of comforting/terrifying noise. They currently have a split cassette with bit-rockers Microcosmos in the works, more news as things progress.

MP3s:
1. For The Grave
2. Spunk Lessons
3. Orange Sun
4. Land Waltz

Punks are scary but we wish we were them.

2009-02-25T14:26:00.001-08:00

-HF-

Heartlands

2009-02-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Someone (I think it was Blastitude) called the Replacements "Heartland Rock" recently, and I super don't get that. What is a heartland anyway? Doesn't a word like that imply conservatism, family values, and an overdeveloped sense of nostalgia? I guess the Replacements did get pretty sappy and nostalgic as they grew up. But for a couple albums at the beginning of their run they were the messiest of beer-punk teensploitationists.

The Replacements - Customer (1981)

-HF-

Totally Irrelevant

2009-02-24T15:23:00.001-08:00

I'm really into being really into things. Sometimes it's unavoidable.

Sonic Youth - Youth Against Fascism (1992)

-HF-

Welcome to the Hidden Fortress

2009-02-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Welcome to the Hidden Fortress Tapes Super-Hidden Blog of Tapes and Things. We'll be posting MP3s and news about cassettes and stuff.

Awesome.

See you again soon,
-HF-