OK, MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND
July 12th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Once you get past the fact that it has really been a decade since you first borrowed Radiohead’s OK, Computer from your roommate and never gave it back, you should check out Stereogum’s brilliantly curated tribute, OKX. The revisit features a track-by-track cover of the album from artists like David Bazan, John Vanderslice, and Marissa Nadler Feat, as well as our very own My Brightest Diamond. Somewhere between tour stops with Rasputina (see here for details), Diamond lead Shara Worden managed to record her vision of "Lucky." In her notes on the track, Shara does tell, "We cannot commodify the value of being able to listen to this record for years and not tire of it . . . Yes, we gush and are unashamed of our love."
Click here to download the free album, and here for the artist notes.
UNUSUAL ANIMALS MIGRATE TO INDIANAPOLIS
July 6th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
On August 3, 2007, we are proud to present the third Unusual Animals party at the Harrison Center for the Arts in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. In the spirit of the two previous Unusual Animals parties, this event will also feature an Asthmatic Kitty artist, as well as highlight local risk-taking musicians and artists. Future Rapper, whose release, Land of a Thousand Rappers is due out on August 7, will curate the Indianapolis Unusual Animals party.
Click more for details.
Artists include Greg Ajamie, Elizabeth Sparrow Boring, Scott Grow, Cindy Hinant, Kyle Ragsdale, Casey Roberts, and SPPR. Future Rapper has chosen to feature pieces by these artists that emphasize bulbous abstraction and bold color, ones that draw out certain aspects of the visuals in such a way that unifies seemingly disparate forms of art.
Music will include Actuel /Paren (hip-hop/free jazz infused electronica), Bronze Float (nylon-stringed folk ballads), and Pope Whiter (fist-pumping drum-boxing).
Future Rapper will present a PowerPoint lecture on temporal collapse.
Taste Café will provide lemonade.
Admission is free. Doors open at 6pm, and music starts at 8:30pm.
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND TOURS WITH RASPUTINA
July 2nd, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Photo by Murat Eyuboglu After successfully traveling with The Decemberists as a three-piece, My Brightest Diamond will shear it down to just one: the indomitable Shara Worden donning her trusty guitar. She will open for the well-costumed trio Rasputina on their tour of the South and West, while they promote their freshly finished full-length, Oh […]
Read the Rest...CASTANETS TO RELEASE THIRD ALBUM
June 29th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
With their third record, In the Vines, Castanets have crafted a deeply psychological and intimate ten tracks of music. This album is perhaps the most haunting of their three, but also the most reassuring. Though In the Vines peers around corners and disappears from peripheral vision, we expect its shuffling and meandering will shadow listeners for a very long time. Inspired by a Buddhist fable, Ray Raposa completed the album just after three thieves mugged him outside his Bedstuy apartment in Brooklyn. And regular readers will recall that other thieves recently stole all of Castanets’ gear while on tour. That this album’s release is imminent is good news in a wake of bad.
Castanets will release the album in the middle of an appropriate season, autumn, on October 23, 2007. Jason Munn of the Small Stakes has delicately designed the cover art. We will be including a limited edition, embossed o-card with the first pressing.
Watch this space for tour dates and preorder information, and click here to go to the release’s page.
A RAFTER BLAST FROM THE SXSW PAST
June 26th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Back in March, Rafter and whatever bandmates he could find (Chris Cory, Susanna Waiche, Ryan Severance, Future Rapper, and John Beeler) went into a borrowed studio to record some songs for the veritable Daytrotter, who has just posted them to their website. It’s now several months later, but the songs sound just as fresh. In fact, they’re so new that some of the tracks are from an album due out later this year! Others are from Music for Total Chickens – and Daytrotter recorded all with amazing skill and sound quality.
Click here to read Sean Moeller’s writeup, here to stream and download the mp3s, or here for a list of previous Asthmatic Kitty artists on Daytrotter.
CASTANETS GEAR STOLEN
June 24th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The other night, someone stole the Castanets’ gear. If you have any information, or see their stuff show up on ebay, please contact us at info at asthmatickitty dot com. Because the band has received some offers of monetary help, they’ve set up a PayPal account to cover the costs of replacing the equipment. If you’d like to make a small donation, please send PayPal money to mutualincarnation at gmail dot com. If the money raised exceeds the cost of replacement, they will give the money to a charity.
Jana Hunter, who has been touring with Castanets, writes:
"So, the story is, last night we played in tucson at solar culture. afterward, we loaded our stuff up, went downtown, had a drink, and went to a house to crash on the floor. en route, we damaged a door, making it such that the door won’t close and such that eventually, before we return the vehicle to the rental company, we’ll have to pay on the order of 2 grand to replace the door.
seeing as how we had an unsecured vehicle, ray (castanets) slept in the van. sometime during the night, some brave soul(s) very quietly opened the back door and took what they could carry. we assume there were more than one of them given all the gear they managed to walk away with. we’re gathering what serial numbers we can, but in the meantime, here’s a rudimentary list."
Click more for total list and serial numbers. Thanks for your help.
JH gear-
fender classical guitar (ser.#9505151116)
new boss 20xl loopstation
boss reverb/delay pedal
original digitech whammy pedal
original b k butler tubedriver overdrive pedal
peavey 6 mixer (ser.#k0344300)
shure beta 98/s
custom flashlight circuit-bended thing
Castanets gear-
late 60’s blue fender music master guitar
line 6 delay pedal
boss tremolo
mutron volume/wah pedal
boss tuner pedal
digitech metal master
ebow
slides/cables
LAURA PARK SHOWCASED – AND SOLD OUT!
June 12th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Laura Park, a frequent (and favorite) haunt of our Sidebar, is selling prints of "It Won’t Be a Stylish Marriage" tonight on Tiny Showcase, starting at 7pm EST. The good news is that the prints are a very affordable $20, and partial proceeds go to Operation Smile.
The bad news? There are only 100 of these available! The last time Laura showed up on Tiny Showcase, she sold out in minutes – and made Wired Magazine!
Click here to see the print in a large size, and be there at 7pm tonight! – Too late! They sold out!
CASTANETS QUIT DAY JOB
June 11th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
In an alternate reality, Ray Raposa has a surfing video game named after him. In this reality, he’s Castanets by night, and a record store clerk by day. In the Memorial Day edition of Stereogum’s "Quit Your Day Job" feature, Brandon Stosuy interviews our reality’s Ray. Click here to read.
SHAPES AND SIZES PROLIFERATE ACROSS GEOGRAPHY, INTERNET
June 9th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Shapes are busily promoting their new album, Split Lips, Wining Hips, a Shiner by zig-zagging across the US-Canada border and the Internet. Caila has posted a tour diary of the Toronto-Chicago pilgramage on our sidebar, which you can read here. Philadelphia based Woodshop Films has posted a second video Shapes and Sizes’ "Can’t Stop That Sinkin’ Feeling, " viewable here (or here for their first video). No Love For Ned, whose internet archives hold a litany of in-studio recordings with accomplished musicians, has made their April session with Shapes and Sizes available here.
And finally, the Quebec Independent Music Awards have listed Split Lips as an album eligible for their Best Indie Rock Album award. Once you register with the website, you can vote for your favorite album (Split Lips?) here.
WE SUPPORT THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN ORGANIZATION
June 6th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
At Asthmatic Kitty, we like it when people use art and culture to make the world better. Inspired by the film Invisible Children: Rought Cut, the non-profit organization Invisible Children is doing just that. They are dedicated to providing financial resources to invisible children by documenting their true, untold stories in a creative and relevant way, resulting in positive change. The documentary documents a war in Uganda in which children are abducted by a rebel army and forced to fight as child soldiers, but is has turned into a grassroots movement of youth around the world inspired to use their voice to change lives. Invisible Children currently employs 200 people in the war-torn area of Northern Uganda and is putting 560 kids through school, with plans to see that number grow. To find out more about the programs and to get involved, please go to www.invisiblechildren.com.