SUFJAN AND MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND ON RED HOT BENEFIT COMPILATION
February 8th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On February 16th, record label 4AD will release Dark Was The Night, a compilation produced by The National‘s Aaron and Bryce Dessner. Sales of the album benefit Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness. The compilation’s artists read like a Who’s Who of Pretty Good Music These Days, including Andrew Bird, Beirut, Dirty Projectors, Feist, Iron and Wine, The New Pornographers, Spoon, and even our own Sufjan Stevens and My Brightest Diamond.
You may have heard Sufjan’s contribution, "You are the Blood," which floated around on the interwaves the other day (including Stereogum). And, if you’ve been listening for a while, you may have heard it before: on Cathedral, the 2004 debut of Castanets. It just so happens we’ve been featuring a three-CD Castanets collection that includes Cathedral, as well as First Lights Freeze (2006), and In the Vines (2007) for just $15. You can buy it by clicking here, until Friday of this week.
But before you do that, preorder Dark Was The Night (digital, double-cd, triple-vinyl) on the compilation’s website here.
CHRIS SCHLARB: FREE STREAM TODAY, NYC TOMORROW, VIDEO GAME LATER
February 6th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
If you are in New York City tomorrow tonight (Saturday), then you already have plans. We made them for you, you’re welcome. Chris Schlarb and an entire crew (including members of various groups such as the Philip Glass Ensemble, Vanishing Voice, and Iron and Wine) are recreating his Twilight and Ghost Stories album live. Show up at the already legendary The Stone with $15 by 8pm or 10pm. Bring a friend, it’s all ages.
If you can’t make it, we are streaming the entire composition for free this weekend. Click here and scroll down a bit. The player is on the right. If you prefer your music streamless, you can buy the CD for $10 (+S&H) by clicking here.
Schlarb is notoriously busy, a veritable octopus with appendages in every form of musical involvement. That includes video games. In his "spare" time, Schlarb scored Night Game, an independent video game designed by Nifflas. While still unreleased, apparently someone has played it and decided it might just be the best independent video game of the year. IGN, the Pitchfork of video game websites, interviews Schlarb about the music and game here.
NEW DM STITH SINGLE AND VIDEO
February 2nd, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Today: a very welcome barrage of DM Stith content. Immediately above you will see a video of "Pity Dance," from Stith’s forthcoming Heavy Ghost, directed by the accomplished Ryan Jeffrey. Though an installation artist by trade, Jeffrey is no stranger to video, especially having won Microcinema’s Independent Exposure 08. Try watching it in crisp HD right here.
No wait, before you go, there’s more. Stith passed through the Daytrotter doors a few weeks ago and we now have proof in digital form. A writeup by Sean Moeller, illustration by Jonnie Cluney, sound engineering by Mike Gentry, and four downloadable mp3s makes for a worthwhile exploration of the sound that is Stith through the lens of Daytrotter. It’s all here.
Heavy Ghost appears March 10th (on LP early April), but you can preorder the CD right now, right here.
CRYPTACIZE: SO MUSICAL THEY ARE IN A MUSICAL
January 31st, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Of course you know that Cryptacize are releasing their second album, Mythomania, soon. But what you may not know is that Chris Cohen and Nedelle Torrisi (that’s 66.66666% of Cryptacize!) are performing in a rock’n’roll musical!
FOL CHEN BELIEVES IN RECORD RELEASE SHOWS
January 29th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Saturday, February 7. Perhspace. With Karin Tatoyan and Avi Buffalo. $5. All ages.
WELCOME TO VINYL, WELCOME TO THE WELCOME WAGON
January 27th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
If you’re one of the record-player-owning-types (like ourselves), and you enjoy approachable gospel duets (like we do), you should know that The Welcome Wagon’s debut album, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon is now available on vinyl for $12.99. Buy it here.
Sufjan Stevens, who produced the album and helped a little here and there, is providing a track-by-track written documentary on our newly relaunched Sidebar. Read it here.
And finally, if the virtual and vinyl don’t quite do it for you, you can catch The Welcome Wagon in Brooklyn at Southpaw, supporting Andy Friedman & The Other Failures at their release party on Thursday, January 29th.
RAFTER ON THE TOUR
January 24th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Lest you think our artists live a rockstar lifestyle consisting of rockstaring and drinking Red Bull all day, you should know that Rafter not only runs his own studio and commercial scoring company, he also is a stay-at-home-dad. Very non-rockstar-ish. That is why it is a rare and special occasion when circumstances permit him and his band to tour, especially since Rafter always shows up with one of the best performances in the biz. But the stars have aligned in the right positions in their sky, the magnetic fields have correctly polarized, and Rafter will be setting forth on a Most Excellent Adventure from his home in San Diego all the way to Brooklyn, with stops on the way that include Phoenix, Austin, Denver, Salem, and Seattle. Seriously guys: Rafter’s show will have you rebooting your booty to keep up. Go. And don’t stop until he does. Dates are here.
PS. Enjoy improvisation? Next month, our token jazz band (as required by the Federal Jazz Requirement Statute of 1983, and by our own good taste) also embarks on a tour far from home to Brooklyn, the Midwest, and Beyond. More later, but for now…details here.
BIG DAY! NEW PRESIDENT! (AND NEW EP)
January 20th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Wow; Tuesday, January 20th, 2009. What a day! Congratulations (now, finally!) President Obama!
It also happens to be the release date of the second in a series of remix EPs reworking A Thousand Sharks Teeth, the second full-length from My Brightest Diamond. Son Lux took on Volume 2, whom you might recognize as Best Unknown Artist from NPR’s All Songs Considered. For this volume, Son Lux created four very distinct remixes, ranging from an old-school-electro mashed with New Orleans funk treatment in "Apples," to elegiac ambient-strings overtop minimalist post-rock-drumming on "The Diamond. For "Inside a Boy," Son Lux applied break-driven-cutup-rocker to "Inside A Boy," and applied the lowrider-chamber-piano chop "To Pluto’s Moon." You can read more about the EP here and buy it via iTunes here.
Check out a previously unreleased mp3 from Son Lux on his blog here, or you can also pick up our very own benefit compilation for Habitat for Humanity, which includes an exclusive Son Lux track, right here.
Also keep an eye out for appearances by My Brightest Diamond on the Dark Was the Night compilation curated by Asthmatic Kitty friendlies Aaron and Bryce Dressner of The National. Shara Worden of MBD will be appearing alongside quite an impressive list of musicians, including Sufjan Stevens (who covers Castanets’ "You Are The Blood"). Up-and-coming DM Stith also appears with rapper Serengeti on a Buck 65 remix of the aforementioned Sufjan cover of the Castanets. Shara will also be appearing prominently on the new Decemberists record, The Hazards of Love, out March 24th on Capitol Records. She will be touring as part of their live ensemble this year.
"Inside a Boy (Remixed by Son Lux)" (Download)
"To Pluto’s Moon (Remixed by Son Lux)" (Download)
HALF-HANDED CLOUD ON DAYTROTTER, YOYO
January 15th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Just when you look the other way, Half-handed Cloud floats into periphery. Led by the brave and bold John Ringhofer, HHC entered Daytrotter’s increasingly infamous studio and played four superbly recorded songs (kudos to engineer Patrick Stolley), all of which are downloadable for free. You can also read Sean Moeller’s musings on HHC, which include this little gem of insight: "Ringhofer’s songs are convergences of faith and pop, the likes of which just aren’t out there. It’s hard to tell whom he loves more – the Lord or Brian Wilson – and in all honesty, it just may be a dead heat." Read, listen, look here.
And then of course there’s yo-yo, which seems to have an innate draw to HHC; in 2006 Justin Weber performed his work set to HHC at the National Yo-Yo Championship in Chico, California (see it here). More recently, Sid Seed, a Brazillian yo-yo-er recorded this yoyo magic set to HHC:
(Oh yes: bonus interview!)
A FISH SINGS IN THE NEW FOL CHEN VIDEO
January 14th, 2009 , by Asthmatic Kitty
See for yourself in this video to "No Wedding Cake" created by Nancy Jean Tucker.
Also, the webpage Fol Chen’s upcoming Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made, is newly minted with some fresh mp3s, including remixes by Matthew David and Clifford Lidell. Click here to listen.