MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND LOOKS DOWN
October 25th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Rooftop concerts have a long and celebrated history in rock and roll, and so it’s no surprise that the recently launched (and very watchable) Pitchfork.tv brought the rooftop concert to the living room laptop with their Don’t Look Down series of video.
For the show’s newest installment, Don’t Look Down convinces My Brightest Diamond, in string quartet formation, to haul their instruments and equipment all the way up to a brickly rooftop in New York City. Once there, they play four perfect rooftop selections: "Golden Star," "Apples," "From the Top of the World" (from the recently released EP), and "Black & Costaud."
And boy, does My Brightest Diamond really ring it out. Even if you’re afraid of heights, we think you’ll enjoy hearing Shara Worden’s voice ring out across the skyline. Part one is here, and part two is right here. (You don’t see it on tape, but we bet MBD broke the rule and looked down. Shame!)
WE CHOOSE WINNERS
October 23rd, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Last year, we sent out a call for submissions for Independent Exposure, a yearly film festival presented by Microcinema (and presented in some strange places, including Mount Everest!).
We carefully guest-curated a DVD with the Best of 2008 submissions and are proud to announce the winners. It wasn’t easy; apparently there were more submissions this year than ever, and the quality was exceptionally high. But someone has to do it. And we did.
DAYTROTTER, TOUR CREAK OPEN THE CRYPTIC CRYPT OF CRYPTACIZE
October 20th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
"It’s an easy thing to remain calm, cool and collected throughout the listening of these songs," writes Sean Moeller, "but there comes a time when the reflections start to happen and you see what Cryptacize has just done to you and you’ve being given an opportunity to cast off into some serpentine waters."
Not only does Daytrotter write and illustrate about Cryptacize, but somehow they coerced four unreleased songs out of Cryptacize’s goody bag. One’s about a witch! Go, listen, read, look here!
We all know though that MP3s do not convey the entirety of good music. That’s why Cryptacize is beginning a "tour," something like an MP3, but live, as in, in real life. And they’re performing this magic of de-digitiziation with the very Masters of The De-digital: Danielson. See tourdates here.
SWEATY RECAP
October 14th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
A couple of weeks ago, we released Sweaty Magic, an EP from Rafter that has kept us shaking our boots and booties since we first heard it. Now, we know EPs get a bad rap sometimes. But trust us, this gem is worth it.
Or don’t trust us. Trust other people. Pitchfork reviewed it yesterday: "Songs ooze with sleazy sensuality . . . its clattering beats and madcap synths ride a propulsive rhythm that fulfills his goal of shameless danceability."
Paul Zimmerman over at First Coast News writes that "Sweaty Magic is short and sweet and a fantastic sweat inducing dance beast from the electro netherworld." The fact that this is a "mere" EP getting you down? Cokemachineglow would beg to differ: "This may find itself more often reached for than anything so self-consciously legitimate as a ‘real’ album."
Finally, Some guy on iTunes perhaps said it best: "This is delicious cereal pop with sugar stars!" Buy the EP from us for $6 (+S&H) and listen to a few mp3s here, or from iTunes here.
I HEART LUNG IN MYRIAD FORM
October 13th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
I Heart Lung is playing twice this week. Tonight they’ll be with Mike Watt and Widow Babies at Pehrspace. It’s just $5, or $3 with the purchase of the many album releases being celebrated that night. Doors at 9pm.
Then on Thursday, IHL is playing in Long Beach with jazz legend Cooper-Moore, who is performing in California for the first time in 40 years. They’ll be playing at {open} bookstore, with a suggested donation of $5. Music is at 8pm.
And if you can’t catch them live, IHL’s full-length, Interoceans, is beautifully improvised and almost as good as seeing them live. You can pick it up and listen here for $10.
And/or, you can check out the IHL new video by visual artist, Cristopher Cichocki by clicking more or visiting Pitchfork.tv. If you’d like to do more than just see the video broadcast via internet to your computer screen, you can purchase it on mini-DVD form from video label Table of Contents. They’ve included the video alongside Seth Kasselman’s hypnotic Warm Climate. It’s $8, and details are here.
CURTAIN RAISED ON CURTAIN SPEECH
October 10th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On December 9th, we will proudly unveil the very first release from DM Stith: the EP, Curtain Speech.
We signed David Stith after listening to just two demo songs. Yes, they were that good. And then, after a year of careful recording and revising, Stith finished Curtain Speech. It is an EP that – we admit – is little more than a tease for the upcoming 2009 full length, Heavy Ghost. Still, Curtain Speech is exquisite; a complex, atmospheric set of whispered songs. This EP gives us something to savor while we wait. Read more about it here.
GRAMPALL JOOKABOX DONE WITH TOUR, ABOUT TO TOUR
October 7th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On November 4th, something very significant will happen: Grampall Jookabox will celebrate his first Asthmatic Kitty album (in association with Joyful Noise), Ropechain, and kick off a celebratory release tour. Moving through a landscape darkened by the shadows of financial convulsion and political warfare, Moose Adamson’s joyous supernatural street visions will refresh and reinvigorate weary hearts and minds.
Grampall Jookabox has already toured extensively, but this will be his official tour for Ropechain. And it will be good, we promise. He’ll start in Indianapolis with a release party at Radio Radio, then continue with Deer Tick (they’re reissuing the exquisite War Elephant on vinyl in November, by the way) to fourteen cities across the country, including Dallas, Austin, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Chicago. See here for details.
CASTANETS: DUBBED, TOURED, COLLECTED
October 7th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On Tuesday, Castanets released their fourth album, City of Refuge. You can purchase the CD here for $10, and the LP for $12. And today we announce Dub Refuge , a dub-ambient revisionary history of City of Refuge from Ero.
Says Ero: "I wanted to make sounds from his music that respected the realism and naturalism of the source material (hums, buzz, the acoustic signature of motel and cheap microphone) while adding in additional depth of reference and providing some clouds of unknowability, in order to emphasize the more spiritual and aggressively ‘out’ aspects of the music." Read more from Ero here.
Dub Refuge releases November 4th. Castanets are also setting off on a fairly broad tour, showing up from Chicago, to Portland, to San Francisco, to DC. See details here.
In the meantime, we have created a Castanets "collection" of sorts, if there can be such a thing, which consists of Castanets’ first three full-lengths (Cathedral , First Light’s Freeze, In the Vines). It’s just $15, and while supplies last, we are including a limited edition tour EP that Castanets split with Shapes and Sizes. You can buy it by clicking here.
RAFTER, LIZETH SANTOS AT PEHRSPACE, L.A.
October 1st, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Not so long ago, Rafter and his girlfriend Lizeth Santos embarked on an experiment wherein they created an art project a day. Lucky for us, this resulted in a plethora of interesting songs and photographs for our Sidebar (which shall return!).
Those are gone now, but luckily Rafter and Lizeth have transformed them from the chrysalis of that original experiment into a myriad of new expressions. One is Rafter’s sweet and perfect Sweaty Magic EP, and another is Lizeth Santos’ upcoming art show at Pehrspace in Los Angeles.
Pehrspace will be exhibiting Lizeth’s work from October 11th to November 5th. The opening on October 11th, from 9pm to 12pm, will feature a performance by Rafter at 10pm and is free. Click here to go Pehrspace’s website, or here to visit Lizeth’s website.
(Bonus: I Heart Lung performs at Pehrspace just a couple days after on Monday night!)
FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD NOW AVAILABLE TO WORLD
September 24th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
My Brightest Diamond is playing in Berlin tonight at Lido, and then in several cities across Europe for the next couple of weeks. Later in October, you can catch MBD in the U.S. as they tour with Clare & the Reasons.