July 12th, 2018 , by Asthmatic Kitty

Asthmatic Kitty Records has released Sufjan Stevens’ 2006 Avalanche on vinyl on August 31st, 2018. The 2xLP is available in limited edition colors and through AKR’s store, or through your favorite record record store.

Initially conceived by Sufjan as part of a double album version of Illinois, Sufjan and Asthmatic Kitty Kitty instead released Avalanche as a follow-up companion album on CD and digital.

Fans have requested a vinyl pressing of Avalanche ever since its release.

To celebrate the album’s release to vinyl, Asthmatic Kitty Records is releasing a special colored edition, with the first of the 2XLP in “Hatchback Orange,” and the second LP in “Avalanche White.” The edition is limited to 10,000 units worldwide.

You can purchase the 2XLP on the AKR store here. Or, here:
US: Amoeba / End of an Ear / Landlocked Music / Turntable Lab / Rough Trade /
International: Fat Beats

video by Deborah Johnson/CandyStations (footage by Sufjan)

tbt (shaky cam by ???):

The Greatest Gift Out Now

December 8th, 2017 , by Asthmatic Kitty

The Greatest Gift, previously available on cassette and streaming/digital, is now available as a translucent vinyl LP in your favorite local record store.

A portion of the proceeds from the release will benefit the Cancer Support Community.

The Greatest Gift unveils new remixes by several longstanding collaborators: Roberto C. Lange (a.k.a. Helado Negro) remixes both “Death With Dignity” and “All Of Me Wants All Of You;” Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman) remixes “Exploding Whale,” a song previously only available as a 7-inch single; and James McAlister (a.k.a. 900X) remixes “Fourth of July.” The album features Stevens’ own remix of “Drawn to the Blood” and includes alternate and/or demo versions of songs from the original album, including a fingerpicking version of “Drawn to the Blood,” and iPhone-recorded demo versions of “John My Beloved” and “Carrie & Lowell.” Finally, the mixtape features four previously unreleased new songs recorded at the same time as the Carrie & Lowell.

Also in stores: Sufjan’s Blue Bucket of Gold / Hotline Bling (Featuring Gallant), or via AKR here.

Listen to Sufjan’s Greatest Gift Early

November 21st, 2017 , by Asthmatic Kitty

Sufjan’s The Greatest Gift comes out Friday on digital and cassette, and December 8th on vinyl, but you can listen to the full album now, thanks to NPR’s First Listen series.

Hear it here.

Greatest Gift is out on digital platforms and cassette on Friday, November 24th, and available in translucent yellow vinyl on December 8th at your favorite local record store.

P.S . The translucent blue 12 inch vinyl of “Blue Bucket of Gold” and “Hotline Bling (Featuring Gallant” is out in record stores this Friday November 24th.

Happy Birthday Lowell!

March 31st, 2017 , by Asthmatic Kitty

Today, March 31, is a very special day: the birthday of our own Lowell Brams, co-founder of Asthmatic Kitty Records and Sufjan’s step-dad. As a gift to Lowell (and the rest of the world) Sufjan has decided to release Carrie & Lowell Live, an audio and visual document of his November 9, 2015 performance at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center in South Carolina. Release date is set for April 28, 2017.

Today is also the two-year anniversary of Sufjan’s seventh album, Carrie & Lowell, an album based, in part, on Sufjan’s childhood summers spent in Eugene, Oregon, when Carrie and Lowell were married.

The live show was shot and produced by We Are Films and the Art Counsel, edited by Keith Bradshaw, and mixed by Casey Foubert. The video will be available on YouTube and Vimeo, and the audio will be available for purchase and/or streaming on all platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, and Bandcamp, etc.).

As you may recall, Sufjan released one song from this show back in February 2016. We are excited to share the rest of it with you!

Stay tuned for more information. Happy birthday, Lowell!

This is the setlist:

Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappou)
Death With Dignity
Should Have Known Better
All of Me Wants All Of You
John My Beloved
The Only Thing
Fourth of July
No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
Carrie & Lowell
Drawn to the Blood
Eugene
Vesuvius
Futile Devices
Blue Bucket of Gold
Blue Bucket Outro

encore:
Hotline Bling* (featuring Gallant)

*audio streaming and download only

Announcing Private Energy, the next album from Helado Negro

July 28th, 2016 , by Asthmatic Kitty

We’re proud to announce that we are releasing Helado Negro’s next album, Private Energy.

This week FADER premiered “Runaround,” the first single from the album. Here’s what Roberto, aka Helado Negro, told FADER about the song:

“The song was written in November 2014, around the time when we all found out that no police officers would be charged in the Michael Brown murder case. It is inspired by the words of a robot in a Isaac Asimov short story. The robot finds itself in conflict with its internal rules: 1. Obey orders, 2. Don’t hurt yourself. The robot eventually gets fixed by an engineer but for that brief moment, it’s stuck. This line from the story describes the feeling of trying to find meaning and understanding in our troubled world: ‘No love can cut our knife in two. I think the ‘knife’ is us; me, my own hardened self with love within. It’s made of the strongest, sharpest love combined with a soft love, maybe a selfish, rootless love which could never cut my knife in two.'”

Private Energy comes out October 7th on digital, and October 14th on limited edition cassette. You can preorder it in the AKR store right here.

Helado Negro is also touring in the fall:

Tour:

July 31, 2016 – State Theatre – Portland, ME (With Beirut)
August 1, 2016 – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY (With Beirut)
October 9, 2016 – III Points Festival – Miami, FL
October 11, 2016 – The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
October 12, 2016 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
October 13, 2016 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA
October 15, 2016 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
October 20, 2016 – Hideout – Chicago, IL
October 21, 2016 – The Frequency – Madison, WI
October 22, 2016 – Des Moines Social Club – Des Moines, IA
October 23, 2016 – The Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
October 24, 2016 – Urban Artifact – Cincinnati, OH
October 25, 2016 – The Hi-Fi – Indianapolis, IN
October 26, 2016 – Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts – Louisville, KY
October 27, 2016 – 21c Museum Hotel – Lexington, KY
October 28, 2016 – Majestic Cafe – Detroit, MI
October 29, 2016 – The Drake – Toronto, ON
October 30, 2016 – L’Escogriffe – Montreal, QC
October 31, 2016 – Light Club Lamp Shop – Burlington, VT
November 1, 2016 – Wonder Bar – Allston, MA (With Buscabulla)
November 2, 2016 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY (With Buscabulla)
November 3, 2016 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA (With Buscabulla)
November 4, 2016 – Ottobar – Baltimore, MD (With Buscabulla)
November 5, 2016 – Duke Coffeehouse – Durham, NC
November 6, 2016 – Masquerade (Purgatory Stage) – Atlanta, GA
November 7, 2016 – Strange Matter – Richmond, VA

Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition, out now

April 1st, 2016 , by Asthmatic Kitty

The officially licensed, totally legit, 100%, Marvel-approved a-ok Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition is available now. The release includes both discs in Antimatter Blue and Cape White colors. Every copy of Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition includes a red 12″ single of a demo version of “Chicago,” die-cut into the shape of the star on the Chicago city flag. Read details on the record here.

Sufjan is touring extensively this summer at festivals near you, starting with Coachella in just a few weeks.

Blue Marvel is currently heading up The Ultimates. Issue #05 is just out.

We’re currently out of stock at AKR HQ, but record stores everywhere should have the Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition.

You can also buy from these online retailers: Other Music / Amoeba Music / Zia Records / Barnes & Noble / CCVinyl / Oldies.com

Announcing Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition

November 22nd, 2015 , by Asthmatic Kitty

“Well, now. I guess that qualifies as a level eight.”

Read the Rest...

New Sufjan Tour Just Announced, Australia in 2016

September 15th, 2015 , by Asthmatic Kitty

Sufjan is currently touring in the EU now, the US later this year, and – just announced – in Australia in 2016. Says The Guardian on Sufjan’s performance in London: “The solemn care with which Stevens recreates Carrie and Lowell, the album dedicated to his late mother, leaves the audience spellbound and breathless.”

Click here for details.

United States:
JUL 25 Newport RI – Newport Folk Festival
AUG 14 Lyons CO – Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
OCT 24 Santa Barbara CA – The Arlington Theatre
OCT 25 Phoenix AZ – Orpheum Theatre
OCT 26 Albuquerque NM – Popejoy Hall
OCT 28 Omaha NE – Orpheum Theater
OCT 30 Buffalo NY – The Center for the Arts University at Buffalo
OCT 31 Jersey City NJ – Loews Jersey Theatre
NOV 01 Baltimore MD – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
NOV 03 Pittsburgh PA – Heinz Hall
NOV 04 Charlotte NC – Ovens Auditorium
NOV 05 Atlanta GA – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
NOV 06 Orlando FL – Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center
NOV 07 Miami FL – Olympia Theater at Gusman Center
NOV 09 Charleston SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center
NOV 10 Birmingham AL – Alabama Theatre
NOV 11 Nashville TN – Ryman Auditorium
NOV 12 Louisville KY – Robert S. Whitney Hall, The Kentucky Center
NOV 13 Cincinnati OH – Aronoff Center

Australia:
FEB 22 Sydney – State Theatre
FEB 26 Melbourne – Hamer Hall
MAR 02 Perth – Red Hill Auditorium
MAR 04 Brisbane – QPAC Concert Hall

Ceci Est Ma Main

January 23rd, 2015 , by Asthmatic Kitty

“Ceci Est Ma Main” is a French spin on “This Is My Hand,” the title track from My Brightest Diamond’s latest album. Though song simplifies the instrumentation down to a drum and guitar, this version feels more pressing and immediate. “Ceci Est Ma Main” arrives just as MBD makes a run through the Netherlands and France in February. See those tour dates here.

Lyrics below.

Ceci est ma main, ceci est mon poignet.
Ceci est mon bras, ceci est mon poing.
Comme une vigne entortillée, s’enveloppe et s’entrelace

Ceci est mon visage, ceci est ma bouche.
Ceci est mon œil, ceci est mon sourcil.
Comme le vin de lilas, se déversant de toi, pour toi.

Ceci est ma forme, ceci est mon moule.
Ceci est mon âge, ceci est ma charpente.
Ceci est mon esprit, ceci est ma voix.
Ceci est mon coeur, ceci est mon choix.

Ceci est ma cuisse, ceci est mon sexe.
Ceci est ma hanche, ceci est mon sein.
Ceci est mon ombre, ceci est ma haine.
Ceci est ma ligne, ceci est mon doute.

Ma mélancolie, ma flamme, ma joie, mon but d’aimer, aimer, aimer…