Fishrider Records is based in Dunedin, New Zealand.
We're not music industry. We're music arts & crafts.
Discover Fishrider Records releases on our Bandcamp page.
Find the full catalogue of Fishrider Records & Occultation Recordings releases we stock at our Storenvy Online Shop.
We're not music industry. We're music arts & crafts.
Discover Fishrider Records releases on our Bandcamp page.
Find the full catalogue of Fishrider Records & Occultation Recordings releases we stock at our Storenvy Online Shop.
Latest News!
Death And The Maiden -"Wisteria" is out now worldwide. Read what The Quietus had to say about it here.
Stef Animal (The Golden Awesome) presents her debut solo release “Top Gear” - a concept album of fifteen tracks of op-shop mysticism, each made using a different piece of obsolete or unfashionable music equipment, resulting in a collection of lo-fi epic miniatures. Available now.
The Shifting Sands have released a new 7" single and it's available now.
Remember to check out the specially-priced combo deals available via our Bandcamp 'Merch' page. Discover new music & save on postage.
DOWNLOADS - we are changing the way we deliver free downloads with LP purchases. As so few DL codes are redeemed (less than 25%) and we would like to keep the cost of LPs down we will not be printing DL cards for future LPs. If you want a DL simply e-mail us via the 'Contact' form on the tab above, let us know what you bought and where (we're curious!) and we will e-mail you a DL code back. Simple.
Death And The Maiden -"Wisteria" is out now worldwide. Read what The Quietus had to say about it here.
Stef Animal (The Golden Awesome) presents her debut solo release “Top Gear” - a concept album of fifteen tracks of op-shop mysticism, each made using a different piece of obsolete or unfashionable music equipment, resulting in a collection of lo-fi epic miniatures. Available now.
The Shifting Sands have released a new 7" single and it's available now.
Remember to check out the specially-priced combo deals available via our Bandcamp 'Merch' page. Discover new music & save on postage.
DOWNLOADS - we are changing the way we deliver free downloads with LP purchases. As so few DL codes are redeemed (less than 25%) and we would like to keep the cost of LPs down we will not be printing DL cards for future LPs. If you want a DL simply e-mail us via the 'Contact' form on the tab above, let us know what you bought and where (we're curious!) and we will e-mail you a DL code back. Simple.
NEW RELEASES
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN - Wisteria [FISH022 LP/CD/DL] iTunes UK release 11 May 2018 via Occultation Recordings
The second album from Port Chalmers, Dunedin band Death and the Maiden creates a shadowy world within a world; populated by melancholy melodic synth waves, dreamy reverb washed guitars and vocals that celebrate the excruciating beauty and crushing weight of everyday life.
The band - Lucinda King (vocals, Bass), Hope Robertson (guitar, drums, vocals) and Danny Brady (synths, programming) - create a beautiful depth of sound, nestled between the programmed beats, synth arpeggios, hypnotic guitars and a pulsing bass.
Continuing from their eponymous debut, "Wisteria" conjures dreams of love, decay. Sounding at times wispy and ethereal, "Wisteria" also has passages of driving, pulsing cacophony; breathing life into the dreams of the dead.
"This is the perfect soundtrack for the enveloping heat of a new season. Beautiful, scary and endlessly evocative." The Quietus (UK)
"a euphoric urgent post-punk sound that taps straight into a visceral need to nod and sway... "Wisteria" is more gutsy, more beat driven than their 2015 eponymous debut, and an enveloping, whole body experience." Album of the Week, The Listener (NZ)
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN - Wisteria [FISH022 LP/CD/DL] iTunes UK release 11 May 2018 via Occultation Recordings
The second album from Port Chalmers, Dunedin band Death and the Maiden creates a shadowy world within a world; populated by melancholy melodic synth waves, dreamy reverb washed guitars and vocals that celebrate the excruciating beauty and crushing weight of everyday life.
The band - Lucinda King (vocals, Bass), Hope Robertson (guitar, drums, vocals) and Danny Brady (synths, programming) - create a beautiful depth of sound, nestled between the programmed beats, synth arpeggios, hypnotic guitars and a pulsing bass.
Continuing from their eponymous debut, "Wisteria" conjures dreams of love, decay. Sounding at times wispy and ethereal, "Wisteria" also has passages of driving, pulsing cacophony; breathing life into the dreams of the dead.
"This is the perfect soundtrack for the enveloping heat of a new season. Beautiful, scary and endlessly evocative." The Quietus (UK)
"a euphoric urgent post-punk sound that taps straight into a visceral need to nod and sway... "Wisteria" is more gutsy, more beat driven than their 2015 eponymous debut, and an enveloping, whole body experience." Album of the Week, The Listener (NZ)
STEF ANIMAL Top Gear [FISH025 CD/DL/ iTunes] UK release May 2018 via Occultation Recordings
Stef Animal (The Golden Awesome) presents her debut solo release “Top Gear” - a concept album of fifteen tracks, each conceived and recorded in one session, each track made using a different piece of obsolete or unfashionable music equipment. The result is a collection of lo-fi epic miniatures. Even if you didn’t grow up with Atari video games, have no idea what Acorn and Commodore computers are or what acronyms like PCM and MIDI mean, you’ll still find the intricate universe of sound represented on “Top Gear” to be full of adventure, wonder, human emotion and melancholic weight. [NZ Release February 2018/ UK release May 2018]
" The fifteen-song collection is a journey through electronic dream-pop and lo-tech cinematic synthscapes, with Stef Animal's ethereal vocals drawing listeners deep into her finely composed universe of sound." Under the Radar NZ
"a glorious collision of fantasy game soundtrack and Enya style baroque ambiance where retro sounds meet high art, but in a listenable and enchanting form. If lo-fi epics weren’t a thing before, they are now!" Electronic North UK
" It’s creepy and soothing, calm and disjointed, measured and wild – somewhere these pieces seem to occupy several sonic spaces at once: relaxed and meditative, tranquil – but somehow mildly abrasive. I love that." Off The Tracks NZ
Stef Animal (The Golden Awesome) presents her debut solo release “Top Gear” - a concept album of fifteen tracks, each conceived and recorded in one session, each track made using a different piece of obsolete or unfashionable music equipment. The result is a collection of lo-fi epic miniatures. Even if you didn’t grow up with Atari video games, have no idea what Acorn and Commodore computers are or what acronyms like PCM and MIDI mean, you’ll still find the intricate universe of sound represented on “Top Gear” to be full of adventure, wonder, human emotion and melancholic weight. [NZ Release February 2018/ UK release May 2018]
" The fifteen-song collection is a journey through electronic dream-pop and lo-tech cinematic synthscapes, with Stef Animal's ethereal vocals drawing listeners deep into her finely composed universe of sound." Under the Radar NZ
"a glorious collision of fantasy game soundtrack and Enya style baroque ambiance where retro sounds meet high art, but in a listenable and enchanting form. If lo-fi epics weren’t a thing before, they are now!" Electronic North UK
" It’s creepy and soothing, calm and disjointed, measured and wild – somewhere these pieces seem to occupy several sonic spaces at once: relaxed and meditative, tranquil – but somehow mildly abrasive. I love that." Off The Tracks NZ
THE SHIFTING SANDS - Zoe/ Run [FISH021 7" single/ DL] UK release via Occultation Recordings
Recorded in Manny’s Estudio International in East Los Angeles by The Shifting Sands after the band toured the West Coast of the USA supporting David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights, this 7" single continues on from the saturated guitar rock of their Cosmic Radio Station album. Joining the Shifting Sands for the sessions was guest guitarist Steven Schayer – an LA-based musician with NZ connections, having played in The Chills during the early 90’s US-based “Soft Bomb” album era. Steven and studio owner/ recording engineer Manny Nieto brought a different flavour to complement the independent DIY No. 8 wire approach of The Shifting Sands.
Recorded in Manny’s Estudio International in East Los Angeles by The Shifting Sands after the band toured the West Coast of the USA supporting David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights, this 7" single continues on from the saturated guitar rock of their Cosmic Radio Station album. Joining the Shifting Sands for the sessions was guest guitarist Steven Schayer – an LA-based musician with NZ connections, having played in The Chills during the early 90’s US-based “Soft Bomb” album era. Steven and studio owner/ recording engineer Manny Nieto brought a different flavour to complement the independent DIY No. 8 wire approach of The Shifting Sands.
ÈLAN VITAL Shadow Self [FISH018 LP/CD/DL/ iTunes] UK release via Occultation Recordings
Èlan Vital formed in Dunedin’s None Gallery, an artist-run creative community in a former pharmaceutical factory near the city centre. Their sound takes contemporary European cold-wave synth-pop dance music layered on analogue drum machines, then blends in the warm psychedelic organ sounds of 1960s garage rock. Distorted, overdriven bass guitar adds a further element of chaos into the mix.
The expression Èlan Vital describes the vital force or impulse of life. The music on “Shadow Self” represents that life impulse in an ambiguous zone between machine and human worlds. A dense claustrophobic swirl of dark dance-tempo synth-pop blooms from gloomy cold industrial dance music with vocoder vocals into uplifting melodic dream-pop catharsis about memory, longing, and obsession
Èlan Vital formed in Dunedin’s None Gallery, an artist-run creative community in a former pharmaceutical factory near the city centre. Their sound takes contemporary European cold-wave synth-pop dance music layered on analogue drum machines, then blends in the warm psychedelic organ sounds of 1960s garage rock. Distorted, overdriven bass guitar adds a further element of chaos into the mix.
The expression Èlan Vital describes the vital force or impulse of life. The music on “Shadow Self” represents that life impulse in an ambiguous zone between machine and human worlds. A dense claustrophobic swirl of dark dance-tempo synth-pop blooms from gloomy cold industrial dance music with vocoder vocals into uplifting melodic dream-pop catharsis about memory, longing, and obsession
THE DISTRACTIONS Kindly leave the stage [FISH019 LP/CD/DL] UK release via Occultation Recordings
The third Distractions album, "Kindly Leave The Stage", will be released less than 5 years after the critically-acclaimed "The End of the Pier". That second album took over 30 years to appear following their 1980 Island Records debut "Nobody’s Perfect", which came out a year after their Factory Records single "Time Goes By So Slow" in 1979. Fishrider Records is co-releasing this album with our UK partners Occultation Recordings. Distractions songwriter Steve Perrin now lives in Auckland, New Zealand and the drummer on this album is Fishrider Records' & The Puddle's Ian Henderson, so it has a strong local NZ and Dunedin connection.
Fabulous third and final album from the Distractions which surpasses even their classic 1980 debut ‘Nobody’s Perfect...‘Kindly Leave The Stage’ is their finest moment, but they’ve left a musical legacy that few bands will ever match." Pennyblack Music
The third Distractions album, "Kindly Leave The Stage", will be released less than 5 years after the critically-acclaimed "The End of the Pier". That second album took over 30 years to appear following their 1980 Island Records debut "Nobody’s Perfect", which came out a year after their Factory Records single "Time Goes By So Slow" in 1979. Fishrider Records is co-releasing this album with our UK partners Occultation Recordings. Distractions songwriter Steve Perrin now lives in Auckland, New Zealand and the drummer on this album is Fishrider Records' & The Puddle's Ian Henderson, so it has a strong local NZ and Dunedin connection.
Fabulous third and final album from the Distractions which surpasses even their classic 1980 debut ‘Nobody’s Perfect...‘Kindly Leave The Stage’ is their finest moment, but they’ve left a musical legacy that few bands will ever match." Pennyblack Music
THE GRANITE SHORE Suspended Second [FISH022 LP/CD/DL] UK release via Occultation Recordings
The second album by UK band The Granite Shore, formed by Occultation Recordings owner Nick Halliwell and featuring Phil Wilson and Arash Torabi from The June Brides is an epic and majestic classic rock-pop album reflecting on anxiety and 'Brexit'. "Abba and Shakespeare are cornerstones, beacons in my cultural clutter" says Nick, citing influences on the album's sound and lyrics, and The Quietus praised the work as "perhaps the most affecting pop album since ABC's The Lexicon Of Love." The album also features Auckland based songwriter and guitarist for The Distractions, Steve Perrin, and The Puddle's Ian Henderson from Dunedin, so it has a strong local New Zealand connection.
The second album by UK band The Granite Shore, formed by Occultation Recordings owner Nick Halliwell and featuring Phil Wilson and Arash Torabi from The June Brides is an epic and majestic classic rock-pop album reflecting on anxiety and 'Brexit'. "Abba and Shakespeare are cornerstones, beacons in my cultural clutter" says Nick, citing influences on the album's sound and lyrics, and The Quietus praised the work as "perhaps the most affecting pop album since ABC's The Lexicon Of Love." The album also features Auckland based songwriter and guitarist for The Distractions, Steve Perrin, and The Puddle's Ian Henderson from Dunedin, so it has a strong local New Zealand connection.
Recent Releases
THE PROPHET HENS - The Wonderful Shapes of Back Door Keys [FISH016 LP/CD/DL/iTunes] UK release via Occultation Recordings
The Prophet Hens‘ 2nd album “The Wonderful Shapes of Back Door Keys” is out on 18 August 2016 on Fishrider Records and, in the UK/ Europe on Occultation Recordings. It's an album of melodic jangling guitars, swirling Casio keyboards & the voices of Penelope Esplin and Karl Bray singing uplifting melancholic songs about hope & despair, joy & regret, ambition & reality, coming together & drifting apart.
Also, “Popular People Do Popular People” – the 1st album - is being (re-)issued on LP at the same time as their new album comes out.
The 1st album made its mark all over the world, praised as “psychédélisme plaintif” by French music weekly Les Inrockuptibles, given 10/10 in reviews by UK mailorder specialists Norman Records’ staff and customers and featured on BBC 6Music shows by Marc Riley and Gideon Coe.
THE PROPHET HENS - The Wonderful Shapes of Back Door Keys [FISH016 LP/CD/DL/iTunes] UK release via Occultation Recordings
The Prophet Hens‘ 2nd album “The Wonderful Shapes of Back Door Keys” is out on 18 August 2016 on Fishrider Records and, in the UK/ Europe on Occultation Recordings. It's an album of melodic jangling guitars, swirling Casio keyboards & the voices of Penelope Esplin and Karl Bray singing uplifting melancholic songs about hope & despair, joy & regret, ambition & reality, coming together & drifting apart.
Also, “Popular People Do Popular People” – the 1st album - is being (re-)issued on LP at the same time as their new album comes out.
The 1st album made its mark all over the world, praised as “psychédélisme plaintif” by French music weekly Les Inrockuptibles, given 10/10 in reviews by UK mailorder specialists Norman Records’ staff and customers and featured on BBC 6Music shows by Marc Riley and Gideon Coe.
THE SHIFTING SANDS - Cosmic Radio Station [FISH015 LP/CD/ iTunes] UK release via Occultation Recordings
Beamed into the Pacific ether from a woolshed and a tumbledown house perched on the hills above Port Chalmers during a period of heightened solar flare and aurora activity, this is an album dripping sundazed melody through a shifting haze of fuzzy, chiming guitars, shimmering strings, and vocal harmonies. The cosmic radio station is on air. Tune in… turn on… pop out.
https://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-radio-station
“Multi-faceted guitar pop channelling New Zealand’s ‘80s Flying Nun sound… they drift seamlessly from the pulsing pop of “Waiting For The Sun”, with its distinct echoes of the Mary Chain, to the aching, Big Star-like “We All Fall Down”, while “Dreaming to Keep Awake” remodels Sonic Youth’s dissonant wall of guitars as pure pop.” 8/10 Uncut (UK)
"a psychedelic shoegaze trio whose promising second album suggests there may finally be an heir to those pioneering bands who first laid down the Dunedin Sound back 30 years ago..." Shindig! Magazine, UK (4/5 stars)
“beautifully crafted… At its heart this is indie pop – loud, proud and jubilant.” The Listener (NZ)
"gloriously under-fi drone-scuzz psyche-rock… a lovely astral psyche-dreamscape.” Elsewhere/ Time Out (NZ)
“Part past, part future, the Shifting Sands aim hits the right cosmic spot.” The Finest Kiss (USA)
“a ten-song tapestry of note perfect psychedelic pop, featuring intricately layered guitars, fuzz, feedback, melody, drone, and airy vocals.” When You Motor Away (USA)
Beamed into the Pacific ether from a woolshed and a tumbledown house perched on the hills above Port Chalmers during a period of heightened solar flare and aurora activity, this is an album dripping sundazed melody through a shifting haze of fuzzy, chiming guitars, shimmering strings, and vocal harmonies. The cosmic radio station is on air. Tune in… turn on… pop out.
https://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-radio-station
“Multi-faceted guitar pop channelling New Zealand’s ‘80s Flying Nun sound… they drift seamlessly from the pulsing pop of “Waiting For The Sun”, with its distinct echoes of the Mary Chain, to the aching, Big Star-like “We All Fall Down”, while “Dreaming to Keep Awake” remodels Sonic Youth’s dissonant wall of guitars as pure pop.” 8/10 Uncut (UK)
"a psychedelic shoegaze trio whose promising second album suggests there may finally be an heir to those pioneering bands who first laid down the Dunedin Sound back 30 years ago..." Shindig! Magazine, UK (4/5 stars)
“beautifully crafted… At its heart this is indie pop – loud, proud and jubilant.” The Listener (NZ)
"gloriously under-fi drone-scuzz psyche-rock… a lovely astral psyche-dreamscape.” Elsewhere/ Time Out (NZ)
“Part past, part future, the Shifting Sands aim hits the right cosmic spot.” The Finest Kiss (USA)
“a ten-song tapestry of note perfect psychedelic pop, featuring intricately layered guitars, fuzz, feedback, melody, drone, and airy vocals.” When You Motor Away (USA)
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN - Death and The Maiden (FISH014 LP/CD/DL/iTunes) UK release via Occultation Recordings
On their debut album, Death And The Maiden craft a shadowy sound world, filled with melancholic synth arpeggios, reverb-drenched guitars, and sighing vocal melodies. The combination is both hypnotic and devastating, exploring themes of love, loss, and decay, wrapped in tactile electro-acoustic languor. A party record for heartbroken romantics.
“an arty synth statement with emotional depth, romantic ennui and a pop sensibility. Recommended.” Elsewhere (NZ)
“the group hijack electro-pop for their own evil ends, with its murky moods and dance macabre.“ Les Inrockuptibles (France)
“This Dunedin trio’s impressive debut album recalls some sort of decelerated disco meditation music for incurable melancholics” Sunday Star Times (NZ)
“The words dreamy, drowsy, and hypnotizing come to mind… A concatenation of echoing lullabies, the album itself is an escape into a dreamworld not only marked by beauty, but also plagued by an eerie sense of decay. Smooth and rhythmic, it’s easy to lose yourself in lead singer Lucinda King’s soothing croon.” Origami Vinyl (USA)
On their debut album, Death And The Maiden craft a shadowy sound world, filled with melancholic synth arpeggios, reverb-drenched guitars, and sighing vocal melodies. The combination is both hypnotic and devastating, exploring themes of love, loss, and decay, wrapped in tactile electro-acoustic languor. A party record for heartbroken romantics.
“an arty synth statement with emotional depth, romantic ennui and a pop sensibility. Recommended.” Elsewhere (NZ)
“the group hijack electro-pop for their own evil ends, with its murky moods and dance macabre.“ Les Inrockuptibles (France)
“This Dunedin trio’s impressive debut album recalls some sort of decelerated disco meditation music for incurable melancholics” Sunday Star Times (NZ)
“The words dreamy, drowsy, and hypnotizing come to mind… A concatenation of echoing lullabies, the album itself is an escape into a dreamworld not only marked by beauty, but also plagued by an eerie sense of decay. Smooth and rhythmic, it’s easy to lose yourself in lead singer Lucinda King’s soothing croon.” Origami Vinyl (USA)
V/A - T E M P O R A R Y – Selections from Dunedin’s Pop Underground 2011-2014 (FISH013 LP/CD/DL)
A compilation of young Dunedin bands, including new songs from Trick Mammoth, Opposite Sex, Males and The Shifting Sands and a vinyl debut for a song from The Prophet Hens' album. Listen at http://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/t-e-m-p-o-r-a-r-y
The compilation includes a ‘zine with information on each band, art, writing, posters etc. and comes as LP+zine version, a CD+ ‘zine version & a LP+CD+zine combo option. We have combined with Ba Da Bing! Records to present this compilation in the US as a local release
http://www.badabingrecords.com/store/products/pre-order-temporary-selections-from-dunedins-pop-underground-2011-2014-lp/
TEMPORARY is also available in the UK/ Europe from Occultation Recordings: http://www.occultation.co.uk
“Dunedin’s fleeting music scenes have been well documented in compilation [The Dunedin Double EP, Xpressway Pile=Up etc.]. TEMPORARY, an overview of Dunedin’s lo-fi and melodic post-punk roster, sits comfortably in this canon…Get hold of a copy and keep it safe…” The Listener (NZ)
A compilation of young Dunedin bands, including new songs from Trick Mammoth, Opposite Sex, Males and The Shifting Sands and a vinyl debut for a song from The Prophet Hens' album. Listen at http://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/t-e-m-p-o-r-a-r-y
The compilation includes a ‘zine with information on each band, art, writing, posters etc. and comes as LP+zine version, a CD+ ‘zine version & a LP+CD+zine combo option. We have combined with Ba Da Bing! Records to present this compilation in the US as a local release
http://www.badabingrecords.com/store/products/pre-order-temporary-selections-from-dunedins-pop-underground-2011-2014-lp/
TEMPORARY is also available in the UK/ Europe from Occultation Recordings: http://www.occultation.co.uk
“Dunedin’s fleeting music scenes have been well documented in compilation [The Dunedin Double EP, Xpressway Pile=Up etc.]. TEMPORARY, an overview of Dunedin’s lo-fi and melodic post-punk roster, sits comfortably in this canon…Get hold of a copy and keep it safe…” The Listener (NZ)
For more releases check the 'Releases' page or our Bandcamp
Discover more Fishrider Records releases on our Bandcamp page. Our Storenvy Online Shop has all the Fishrider Records releases & also the Occultation Recordings releases we stock.
FINDING FISHRIDER RECORDS RELEASES WORLDWIDE
Easiest way to find a release is the online shop or https://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/
Or e-mail us via the contacts form and we will give you the best local options for your country. If you are in the UK, Europe or North America - Fishrider releases are available directly from Occultation Recordings http://www.occultation.co.uk
If your local record store doesn't stock the Fishrider release you are looking for tell them about us please! Our NZ/ Australia disributor is Rhythmethod NZ and our UK/ North America distributor is Cargo Records and in Europe it is Cargo Records (Germany).
Our releases can also be obtained by mail-order from Jigsaw Records in Seattle and Forced Exposure and a few titles are available on CD from CDBaby there too.
FINDING FISHRIDER RECORDS RELEASES WORLDWIDE
Easiest way to find a release is the online shop or https://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/
Or e-mail us via the contacts form and we will give you the best local options for your country. If you are in the UK, Europe or North America - Fishrider releases are available directly from Occultation Recordings http://www.occultation.co.uk
If your local record store doesn't stock the Fishrider release you are looking for tell them about us please! Our NZ/ Australia disributor is Rhythmethod NZ and our UK/ North America distributor is Cargo Records and in Europe it is Cargo Records (Germany).
Our releases can also be obtained by mail-order from Jigsaw Records in Seattle and Forced Exposure and a few titles are available on CD from CDBaby there too.
