OMBRE’s Believe You Me is Out Today
August 21st, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On one hand, you have lush, verdant-voiced Julianna Barwick, whose AK-release The Magic Place garnered a slot on the BBC’s list of top 2011 albums. On the other, there’s AK artist Roberto Carlos Lange, AKA Helado Negro, the Latin-influenced kinetic sound sculptor who’s collaborated with the likes of David Ellis and Prefuse 73.
Bring the pair together and you get OMBRE, whose anticipated debut release Believe You Me is out today. The ten track album meshes Barwick’s ambient, angelic vocals with Helado Negro’s warm-hearted, urban psyche folk.
The labelmates sparked a friendship after touring together in 2010 and opted to give recording a go at Helado Negro’s studio Island Universe Space. After kicking around riffs and vocal snippets, OMBRE began laying down tracks. The result? Believe You Me, spanning from bare-boned space melodies to indulgent, infectious soundscapes. The recording is a series of connected dots carved out of seemingly contrasting musical styles resulting in something altogether fresh and new.
The BBC says of Believe You Me, “Sultry summer nights following somnolent summer days, you’ve just found your new soundtrack.” Best order a copy now – do so by clicking here. September is coming soon.
[wp_bandcamp_player type=”album” id=”418404213″ size=”venti” bg_color=”#FFFFFF” link_color=”#186D9E”]
Free Shannon Stephens EP On Noisetrade; Named Seattle’s Best Female Vocalist
August 14th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Pick Your Favorite Albums for Pitchfork’s People’s List
August 11th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Pitchfork is asking readers to choose favorite albums from the past 15 years for The People’s List. That starts the year Beck released Odelay and ends last year, when (ahem) My Brightest Diamond released All Things Will Unwind. While you can write in any Asthmatic Kitty release, Pitchfork staff picks are pre-listed to make the process simple. To vote, submit your selections before midnight on August 17.
We’re Number Two!
July 30th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Asthmatic Kitty came this close to dominating the Best of Indy 2012 poll for top local Indianapolis label. We join other venerable Hoosier-based runners-up in the annual Nuvo survey, including second best pork tenderloin, Edwards Drive-In; second best place for ‘hooking up’, the Alley Cat; and second best local pro sports team, the Pacers.
We’re already preparing to dominate next year’s readers’ poll. People of Indianapolis, brace yourselves.
Dots Will Echo’s Infectious Debut Releases Later This Month
July 11th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Nick Berry and Kurt Biroc make music prolifically while keeping day jobs. The duo that form the New Jersey-based band Dots Will Echo move back and forth between the half-lit world of kicking around ideas, dreaming up sounds, and playing riffs in a garage to the office-lit reality of finishing a project, checking a box off a to do list, and turning out the lights. Dots Will Echo’s debut release Drunk is the New Sober/Stupid is the New Dumb is available July 24th on Asthmatic Kitty. Recorded over the course of three days, the album ranges from perfectly impulsive to transcendent.
Berry and Biroc work together (Biroc is Berry’s boss) and make music as Dots Will Echo on their off hours. Berry plays everything from Andean charango to hammered dulcimer and Biroc plays drums on the album. The duo tease out irregular, tattered post punk-infused pop hooks that move between capricious and infectious. “I meant this to be a very raw recording, capturing the way we sound live,” says Berry. He describes Dots Will Echo’s sound as, “A little bit The Incredible String Band, a little bit AC/DC. A little bit Nick Drake, a little bit Cheap Trick.”
Before forming Dots Will Echo in 2004, Berry played with the power pop trio DWE Mk I, recording a single that made it to No. 4 on Sweden’s rock charts. In 2001, Berry contributed to the Will Ackerman track “Fear Not, Mary.” The song appeared on Ackerman’s Grammy nominated album Hearing Voices.
Drunk is the New Sober/Stupid is the New Dumb comes in at an epic 23 tracks. The CD was originally slated to be split into two disks. The double LP includes a code to access digital bonus track downloads.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52509971″ params=”auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=186D9E” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Raymond Byron & the White Freighter; New Band, New Album
June 28th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Going on five full-length records since 2004, Asthmatic Kitty’s Castanets has given us a wide-lens look at deconstructed Americana. Come September 4th, Castanets’ Ray Raposa will debut a new band, Raymond Byron and the White Freighter, and a brand-new full-length, Little Death Shaker.
Where the ‘Nets trafficked in improv and avant-country gone coal black, Raposa’s new stuff is pure roadhouse blues. Stripped of all noise influences and focusing on straight-up songs, Little Death Shaker is a record evocative of late nights and dusty parking lots, long drives and boozy hookups. This is the work of a dude who’s spent his youth and young manhood on tour and it comes through in both the music and the lyrics.
One of Little Death Shaker’s real charms is you can close your eyes and see these 13 tracks played live; you can see the drummer leaning over his kit with his brushes, the backup singers standing around the mic, beers in hand, eyes closed, swaying side to side, the lights crisscrossing the stage. In a world of records that bands can’t duplicate live, it’s crazy-refreshing.
Meet Raymond Byron and the White Freighters and their record Little Death Shaker. Here’s to the new.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/50085128″ params=”auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=ff7700″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Precious Remedies For Everyone; New Welcome Wagon Out Now
June 13th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, the Welcome Wagon’s second album, is out today! The follow-up full length to their 2008 debut, Presbyterian minister Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique present a brand new collection of folk-infused gospel gems.
Precious Remedies was recorded over the course of a work week in an old Brooklyn rectory. The tracks were produced by Alexander Foote and feature musical contributions from friends, including Foote and Sufjan Stevens. Spanning from sweet to transcendent, the record is the perfect summer soundtrack for lazy afternoons and back porch gatherings.
Above is a fantastically filmed video of a rehearsal of “Remedy,” a David Crowder cover. Friends of the Welcome Wagon Alex and Aaron Craig do the honors.
You can help yourself to some Precious Remedies on CD, LP, or MP3 by clicking here.
WELCOME WAGON RELEASE SHOW TUESDAY
June 4th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The Welcome Wagon are holding a release party tomorrow night at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, and Andrew Rose Gregory and his Color Red Band will open. You should go! Admission is $15.
Shannon on tour, in-store in Indy on Saturday
May 25th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sherry Loeser.jpg)
Pull It Together, the new album from Shannon Stephens, is out and about. And so is Shannon herself! Tonight she is playing in Grand Rapids at Schuler Books and Music – tomorrow she’s playing in Indianapolis at Radio Radio opening for Ben Sollee.
A little before that, Shannon will be doing a free in-store show at LUNA Music at 2pm.
Then on Sunday, catch her in Dayton. For more details click here.