NO NEED TO WAIT FOR DENISON?S NEW ALBUM, OUT TODAY
March 6th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
We welcomed Denison Witmer to the AK Family just a couple of months ago. We’ve been listening to his latest record, The Ones Who Wait, for a while now, and we’re honored that we get to release to the wide world – which means you!
This record is really something special. You can read the whole story here, but suffice to say that The Ones Who Wait represents the culmination of several significant life experiences, ones that we all go through at some point. And this is what Denison has always done best: he writes and sings songs that are markedly intimate, yet appeal to all of us. They are human events, captured on tape for all of us to share.
You can buy the album on Bandcamp here or on iTunes here, or order the CD from our shop here.
Denison is touring with William Fitz Simmons – tourdates here – but he’s also touring via Skype (yes, Skype!). You can win a Skype tourdate on My Old Kentucky Blog right here.
NEW EP FROM HELADO NEGRO
February 28th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Photo by Angel Ceballos
Roberto Lange of Helado Negro loves to explore. And it is his intrinsic sense of discovery that transforms the traditional structures of pop music into a celestial playground. Because his energy and enthusiasm is hard to restrain within the recommended release schedule, we have decided to forgo with conventional wisdom and follow Helado Negro through the extensive galactic archipelago, losing ourselves amongst the many islands that orbit the brain of Lange and his many collaborators.
Today we are excited to be releasing Island Universe Story One, the first in what he promises as an infinite series of chapters in this musical journey. The result of experimentation with a Scully 280 ¼” tape machine and the Teenage Engineering OP-1, the first island is a collection of tape loops and edits. It is a deep breakfast buffet of star paste and quabbernautic brunchings. Listen and take part by purchasing below, or read more here.
The music is visually represented by the micro-maximalist art of Kristi Sword and succinct design of Mexico City’s NRML.
And don’t miss Helado Negro at the Bowery this Friday night, when he plays with Matthew Dear and Blondes. Buy tickets here.
PEPE DELUXÉ UPDATE, AMAZING REVIEW
February 17th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
We have a rule around here about posting news items about reviews – it’s a bit gratuitous don’t you think? Too meta for meta? – but rules are made to be broken. And if there’s an example of rules being broken, that example is Pepe Deluxé’s genre-tesseracting fourth album Queen of the Wave. So let’s break some rules, shall we?
Vancouver music writer Alan Ranta, who writes for PopMatters, just penned what is less review, more director’s fan’s commentary of Pepe’s new album. Pepe Deluxé shrouds itself in mystery, but Alan cuts through the fantasy and finds a reality that is just as amazing and weird.
How does one take six years to make an album? How does one make a record that sounds like samples, but doesn’t contain a single one? How does one coordinate an army of multi-national musicians? And what is up with Zailm and his 500,000 volt Tesla Coil anyway?
Consider Alan’s review your guide to the universe of Queen of the Wave – and oh what a universe it is. Sit down, grab a coffee (or Dr. Pepper), and proceed with your reading right…here.
Speaking of firsts, Pepe Deluxé is officially now the first AK band to have released an iPad app! You can download (for free!) here.
And as for the album, you can be listening to it in just a few minutes after you buy it from iTunes here.
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND ON KCRW MORNING BECOMES ECLECTIC!
February 15th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
NEW ALBUM COMING FROM SHANNON STEPHENS, FREE MP3 ON POPMATTERS
February 14th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
You know Shannon Stephens. Or maybe you think you did. This album, this third one, is a little different.
Say hello to Pull It Together.
This record represents a real leap in confidence and songcraft for Shannon. Greater maturity has brought a both a looser, louder style and a more sharply focused worldview. Call this new sound pragmatic pop: optimism balanced with the sharp-edged reality of life in 2012, as much butter as it is knife. Cold Seattle winds and recessionary times have tempered and transformed the soft singer-songwriter folk of her previous two albums. With Pull It Together, Shannon pulls more the lexicon of blues rock than anything else. Think Neil Young, born a woman in 1975.
The first single from Pull It Together is "What Love Looks Like."
Sings Shannon, "I'd like to take you home and turn off the telephone, 'cause that's what love looks like, love looks like / I'd like to pay the bills and set out your vitamin pills— this is what love looks like, love looks like.” Oh wow, it’s Valentine’s Day. How appropriate.
Thanks to PopMatters for hosting the track today! Have a listen/download the track on their site here or listen below:
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND ON PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
February 11th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond is appearing on A Prairie Home Companion (With Garrison Keillor) Saturday February 11th. The show will be live from the beautiful Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. No doubt news from Lake Wobegan will also be available on the show.
EDIT: Listen to the segment here.
NEW FREE MP3 FROM DENISON WITMER
February 7th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
As you may know, Denison joined our AK family last month, which is splendid news for everyone. And somewhere between then and there, Denison and his wife birthed a brandnew son (see here for cute proof)!
But now it’s time to get down to the work of releasing music. And so we begin with “Brooklyn With Your Highest Wall,” a sublime and perfectly lovely track from the forthcoming record, The Ones Who Wait.
Listen. Download. Think about walking down the dusky streets of Brooklyn. Enjoy!
WHO IS PEPE DELUXÉ?
February 1st, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Perhaps, after yesterday’s rambunctious release of Queen Of The Wave, it’s time to step back, take a breather, and ask ourselves: “Just who is Pepe Deluxé?”
Unfortunately, the answer does not come easily. Listen, even briefly, to Queen Of The Wave and you hear what seems like an army of musicians and vocalists. The core of Pepe Deluxé, Jari Solo (aka James Spectrum) and Paul Malmström, adhere to a rule when collaborating, simple in inception but complex in execution: “always try to get better at what you do by working with those who know more than you do.” The result of such a manifesto is a massive multi-national ad-hoc organization, diverse in talent and origin but bound together by the pursuit of good, great music. How to keep track!
Thankfully, Pepe Deluxé has provided yet a third album companion to guide us, this time listing several of the major contributors to the record. View and download it by clicking here.
If you haven’t purchased the album, you can do so by clicking here.
QUEEN OF THE WAVE FROM PEPE DELUXÉ HAS ARRIVED
January 31st, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
It is time. Queen of the Wave, the fourth record from Pepe Deluxé, has reached the digital shores of North America.
You may have questions. What is Queen of the Wave? Where are the airships going to? Who is Frederick S. Oliver? And who are the Earth Dwellers?
Listen to the album to hear your questions answered. A point of reference may also be a handy companion, which you can read on your electronic viewing device. Click here to download.
Purchase Queen of the Wave on iTunes by clicking here, or via Amazon by clicking here.
Jari and Paul, aka Pepe Deluxé, are donating all the profits from the sales of the album to John Nurminen Foundation to be used in the Clean Baltic Sea project. The aim of the project is to protect and achieve a visible improvement in the condition of the Baltic Sea, one of the most endangered and polluted seas in the world.
QUEEN OF THE WAVE OUT TOMORROW
January 30th, 2012 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Tomorrow we have the high honor of releasing Pepe Deluxé's Queen of the Wave. We'll be posting all kinds of juicy Pepe content this week, starting today with this first Album Companion.
Have you heard of the Great Stalacpipe Organ? Watch the video above – it's only the world's largest instrument. And it's on Queen of the Wave.
More information is always helpful. View it by clicking more, or download for your own records by clicking here.