<a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/off_MED1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6245" title="Markus Mehr &quot;Off&quot;" src="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/off_MED1.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce digital and cd availability of the new album <a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=46&amp;products_id=220"><em>Off</em></a> by German experimental ambient artist <a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/project/markus-mehr/">Markus Mehr</a>. <em>Off </em>is the third and final part of a trilogy that includes the critically acclaimed releases <a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=46&amp;products_id=193"><em>In</em></a> and <a href="http://markusmehr.bandcamp.com/album/on"><em>On</em></a>. The album is available from the Hidden Shoal Store in digital format (MP3 &amp; FLAC) and as a special limited edition CD release. The CD release is limited to an edition of 50 units.

<em>Off</em> is not only the culmination of Markus Mehr’s trilogy, but it may also be the culmination of his career’s work thus far. The single-track album begins in silence, as a thrumming loop gradually emerges. From there, a beautiful piano refrain is introduced, noise ebbs and flows, threatening to engulf the piece, while field recordings and swooningly transportive synth patterns drift into focus. During its 42-minute runtime, the piece immerses the listener in a dizzyingly beautiful soundworld that’s ever-shifting. Certain passages allude to other sequences and samples in the preceding albums, linking the three albums into a kaleidoscopic mobius strip.

<em>" It feels like emerging from a tunnel only to find that I am driving into the path of a tornado. As it builds up into a storm of guitar feedback and reverb, I have forgotten about where the piece has begun, entranced instead by a tonal shift into some kind of hellish union of choir voices and endless noise... Markus Mehr has crafted a sharply clever piece of music. It a evokes a presence that is rarely found; a balance between the ugly and the pretty where both can exist at once. I continue to be impressed by what Mehr is capable of.</em>" – <strong><a href="http://www.brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=9549:markus-mehr-qoffq&amp;catid=13:albums-and-singles&amp;Itemid=133" target="_blank">Brainwashed</a> reviewing <em>Off</em></strong>

<em>“... The single, 42 minute long form piece mixes new samples and loops with numerous textures reconizable from the preceding releases, all woven together in a concoction that is by turns dazzlingly bright, hauntingly deep and wholly engaging...There is a mind boggling breadth of ideas and moments captured in the piece, and yet no thought or melodic impulse receives less than full consideration. Indeed, it is this deep attention to detail which amazed me on my first listen to In, and which now bears full fruit in Off." – </em><a href="http://petalmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/off-markus-mehr.html" target="_blank"><strong>Petal Music</strong></a><strong> reviewing <em>Off</em></strong><a href="http://petalmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/off-markus-mehr.html" target="_blank"><strong><em>
</em></strong></a>

<em>Off</em> is available now in digital and limited edition CD formats through the <a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=46&amp;products_id=220">Hidden Shoal Store</a>.The limited edition CD release of the album features custom packaging and is limited to 50 units only.  Due to a printing issue outside of our control, CD orders will not ship until the 11th of Feb. Our apologies and thanks for your patience. Head to the <a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=46&amp;products_id=220">Hidden Shoal Store</a> for all details.

[soundcloud params="auto_play=false&amp;show_comments=true"]https://soundcloud.com/hidden_shoal/markus-mehr-off-excerpt[/soundcloud]
<strong>Markus Mehr - "Off" (Excerpt)</strong>