PEN RESCHEDULED
November 30th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan Stevens’ performance at Southpaw, Brooklyn to benefit the PEN American Center has been rescheduled to December 17.
SCHLARB QUADRAPHONES AND VIBRATES
November 30th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Chris Schlarb’s Twilight and Ghost Stories should appear in your local record store next Tuesday, and is already available for preorder and full preview on our site here. But even though the nearly 50-collaborator composition is in the can and out the door, Chris hasn’t slowed down.
In a testament to the vast net that Chris cast to create Twilight, collaborators from across the U.S on the album will be appearing in their corresponding cities to perform and present a specially crafted quadraphonic version of Twilight. Cities include Long Beach, Indianapolis, Brooklyn, Austin, Chicago, and Bogart. See details here. Chris will also perform Twilight live, along with Liz Janes, at Next to Last Fest in Athens, Georgia on December 8th and 9th.
Finally, Chris has taken section IV of his composition and untangled all the contributions from artists like Sandy Ewen and Aaron Russell of The Weird Weeds (as the Macaroni Band), Dave Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors fame), avant reedmen Lynn Johnston and Bhob Rainey, Patagonian, uber-bassist Orlando Greenhill, Languis, Sebastian Krueger (of Inlets). He’s set them free into WAV or GarageBand format for the Internet-at-large to rearrange and remix. That means you! Go here and give it a shot.
SUFJAN XMAS ENDS DECEMBER 1, MIDNIGHT
November 29th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
ADVENT CALENDAR NOW AVAILABLE
November 24th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The practice of using a calendar to count down the days until Christmas – an advent calendar – supposedly began in 1851 in Austria with carefully handmade versions. Since then, advent calendars have taken all forms, from chocolate to jello to Lego.
Along with illustrator Tom Eaton (who animated Sufjan Stevens’ "Put the Lights on the Tree" video), we thought it might be nice to celebrate this year with a very special Asthmatic Kitty advent calendar. And Tom Eaton really came through on this one, detailing the scene with all kinds of nice Christmas surprises. Just don’t open them early!
We’re giving this away free to anyone who purchases Sufjan’s Songs for Christmas boxset before December 25, 2007 ($19 for 5 CDs, here), or you buy the calendar separately for $5. To do so, or see a larger image of the calendar, click here.
TWILIGHT NOW A STREAM
November 20th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Chris Schlarb’s Twilight and Ghost Stories is out December 4th, but you don’t have to wait. We have released the entire, 39 minute composition available for free streaming until the album comes out. You can preorder and listen here.
HALF-HANDED CLOUD IN GATEFOLD MATTE
November 20th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
If the phrase Gatefold Sleeve and Matte Finish mean anything to you, or you love Half-Handed Cloud like we do, then you’ll want to know that as of today, The Seven Inch Project has released his six-song Winding Currents on a Spool EP as a hand-numbered vinyl pressing in a limited edition of 500. For those of you with turn-tables in storage, MP3’s are included with each purchase. You can only buy these gems from the Seven Inch Project website, or from John of Half-handed Cloud at one of his upcoming shows (details here) when he opens for Why? this weekend.
Speaking of Why? – Half-handed Cloud recorded a multi-part cover of Why? songs for the US version of their Hollows 12" single. You can find-out more information and pre-order this vinyl on Anticon’s website here.
LISTEN TO TWILIGHT IN QUADRAPHONIC SOUND
November 11th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Pitchfork recently reviewed Chris Schlarb’s new album, Twilight and Ghost Stories, and remarked on the way it pulls off being intimate and connective at the same time, by being both about Chris’ life, but also involving around forty collaborators.
Chris decided that the best way to accomplish this same effect live was by holding Listening Events in various cities when the album comes out. Collaborators will open each listening event with a performance, and a quadraphonic presentation of Chris’ album will follow. Cities include Indianapolis, Long Beach, Brooklyn, Austin, and Chicago. Chris will also perform himself, along with Liz Janes, at Next to Last Fest in Athens, Ga. Click here for details and collaborators.
Twilight and Ghost Stories releases December 4th, but you can preorder now right here.
THE GREAT SUFJAN SONG XMAS XCHANGE!
November 9th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
It’s Christmas time again! That means tightly bundled scarves, lively debates on the merits of real/plastic trees, a litany of Christmas television specials, and finding the perfect retro Christmas wrapping paper.
And gifts of course! Who could forget the gifts!
That’s why Sufjan Stevens is busy working on a very special gift right now, for a very special person. And in the spirit of Christmas, that person will give Sufjan a similarly special gift.
Here’s how it works: write an original Christmas song, record it, and email the song to us. Asthmatic Kitty will pick a winner, and that person will trade rights to their song for rights to Sufjan’s song.
Just like a gift exchange, Sufjan’s song becomes your song. You can hoard it for yourself, sell it to a major soft drink corporation, use it in your daughter’s first Christmas video, or share it for free on your website. No one except Sufjan and you will hear his song, unless you decide otherwise. You get the song and all legal rights to it. We get the same rights to your song.
Not a song-maker? It’s ok! We’ll stream the submissions just after we pick the winner on December 15th…and we are streaming Sufjan’s entire Christmas boxset for free! Click here for contest details and stream, and here to purchase the boxset for $19.
EVERYONE OVERSEAS
November 6th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Several of our artists are headed overseas to non-American places in the next few months.
Castanets just released In The Vines, and are touring accordingly. They’ll be in the UK this month with Dirty Projectors (who also have an excellent new album), and then in time for Spain’s December winter. See dates here.
Having completed his BQE, Sufjan Stevens will be making his first appearance in Australia for Sydney Fest in January, and then in Japan at Club Quattro in Toyko and Osaka (click here for more).
Sufjan will be opened in Sydney and Japan by our very own My Brightest Diamond, who is currently on a November tour with the indomitable Tim Fite in the Midwest. See her dates here. Rumor is a new album is on its way – so you may hear some new tunes on this tour (check her website here for a steady stream of YouTube videos about mice and bunnies).
DISPATCHES FROM CHRIS SCHLARB
November 5th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Photo by Adrianna Schlarb Our newest addition to the Asthmatic Kitty roster has been busy, even though his album doesn’t release until December 4th. Pitchfork Media got their hands on a copy of Twilight and Ghost Stories, and reviewer Joe Tangari said this: "Twilight is a unique and remarkably universal record, and one that offsets […]
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