Bring the Noise

MP3: High Society - I Fed The Dog

What we're jamming

Eliminator

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

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

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

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

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 ////

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

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

Two new tapes!

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

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

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.