New Video From Rafter for “Convertible Jeep”
May 9th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Debuting exclusively on Jamaicans Music, Rafter’s new video for “Convertible Jeep” will cause your brain to melt into a pool of reggae-ified gel. The good kind (of brain gel).
Directed by Lizeth Santos, the video features Rafter in an amazing Reggae Robot suit, an army of extras donned with gold future-microphones wearing multi-colored body suits, and pretty much every color possible.
Watch it on Jamaicans Music here, or below.
The album is available now. Allmusic reviewed it, saying “Everyone from Lee Perry to King Tubby, and even more modern producers like Steely & Clevie, would be impressed by the sounds [Rafter] conjures up on the record.” Buy it here.
Another Island Arrives From Helado Negro
May 6th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Another transmission has just been received from the Island Universe: Helado Negro’s cryptic, nocturnal Island Universe Story series of EPs has given rise to two new music videos.
Gus Gavino directed “Pressed,” a track from the first Island Universe Story.
“Pressed” is a dark and abstract instrumental drawn from the first tape in the sequence, Island Universe Story One, and Gavino’s footage is dark and abstract to match: chilly, gray and distorted, like a sci-fi dystopia. It matches, in fact, in a one-to-one correspondence between sound and vision: every blip on the screen corresponds to a blip from the speakers.
But something unexpected happens when Gavino’s graphics meet the beats of Helado Negro. By playing out the interaction of the layered sonic elements in “Pressed” as the interaction of minimalistic visual elements, not only does Gavino illuminate the inner working’s of the original track, but the ghostly harmonies lend Gavino’s spare, geometrical visuals an uncanny pathos.
The Zircon Prince takes on “Suntan Overcoat” and “The Elephants Foot” with a jarring collage of images set on a striking visual placemat.
Island Universe Story One and Island Universe Story Two, the first two installments in the freestanding series of EPs from Helado Negro are already out on tape and MP3 from Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Island Universe Story Three is now available digitally on Bandcamp or on limited edition cassette in cherry-red shell with gold lettering. Buy it here.
Get My Brightest Diamond’s “Until Now” On Noisetrade
April 10th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
For the price of an email address (and an optional tip), you can download Until Now, a concise compilation of the music of My Brightest Diamond since her debut album in 2006.
My Brightest Diamond will be playing in South Bend, Indiana, in Grand Rapids, and Indianapolis over the next few days. In May she’ll be touring a few select cities in Europe. See those tourdates on her website.
Expect more from MBD later this year. But for now, you can download Until Now on Noisetrade here.
Making The Saint: New Album From Chris Schlarb in May
April 8th, 2014 , by
Praised across the board for his sophisticated approach to merging eccentric pop, jazz, soul, and avant-garde experimentation on his 2013 Psychic Temple II, Chris Schlarb returns in May, 2014 with a new, more laid-back LP entitled Making The Saint.
Recorded in a cabin in the San Bernardino mountains of California, Making The Saint is Chris’ attempt at making a “small” record. Read more about that here. You can preorder the record in CD or LP here.
Trailer, with some visuals of the cabin and recording, below.
It’s Reggae; New Album From Rafter Out Now
April 1st, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Rafter’s latest record, out now, is an ode to reggae, fueled by a trip to Maui, lots of late nights, and pure love. Rafter titled the album It’s Reggae. How appropriate! You can buy the album in CD or LP.
Below is the letter Rafter wrote to reggae.
Allmusic.com: “Roberts has crafted a loving tribute to reggae that is steadfastly true to its roots, yet still has plenty of his personality and loads of originality.”
Listen to “Wedding Ring Modulator” below – buy It’s Reggae here.
Announcing Flying Scroll Flight Control from Half-handed Cloud
April 1st, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Photo by Carolyn Pickell
Lately, Half-handed Cloud’s John Ringhofer has been paying close attention to Robert Rauschenberg, to Joseph Beuys, to artists and filmmakers and musicians who turn the stuff and debris of everyday life into high art–and it shows. Ringhofer is set to release Flying Scroll Flight Control, his sixth LP as Half-handed Cloud, on Asthmatic Kitty Records in June of this year, and it positively bristles with contradictions like these, of discerning the absolute truths concealed within chaos and ephemera.
The tunes on Flying Scroll Flight Control are pure pop–they were mixed and polished to a shine with Sufjan Stevens in his Brooklyn studio during the first week of September last year. At times the album’s buzzing trunkful of unlikely instruments suggest a rough-hewn, ramshackle aesthetic, recalling Flight Control‘s roots in the bedroom demos that Oakland-based Ringhofer made during a few months abroad, recording with whatever was at hand.
But nothing is disposable in the musical world of Half-handed Cloud: the dizzy arrangements envince the sophistication of Ringhofer’s musical thinking, while the lyrics dig deep into theological mysteries by way of Paul the Apostle.
With Flying Scroll Flight Control, Half-handed Cloud aims to marry the humblest sound-sources and the highest artistic aspirations, the giddiest aural pleasures and the most reverential jubilation, to be at once a confection for the ears and nourishment for the soul.
See the trailer below. You can pre-orders for the pop-bottle-clear vinyl, and CD, here.
Sisyphus Out Now
March 18th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The three S’s of Sisyphus constitute the three talents essential to any hip-hop track: the pugilistic flow of rapper Serengeti, the gently crooned come-ons of singer Sufjan Stevens’ hooks, and the heavy beats of producer Son Lux, all interwoven into an intimate collaboration.
But they each bring something unexpected to their self-titled full-length record, out today. Serengeti’s vulnerability isn’t far at all beneath the wit and bluster on the surface, and no amount of autotune will smooth out the ambivalence of Stevens’ seduction. Son Lux’s beats are raw and help extend the architecture of the songs into strange new shapes.
Commissioned by the Walker Art Center and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra / Liquid Music Series, Sisyphus boasts cover art by Jim Hodges, whose work helped inspire the album, and layout by David J. Woodruff.
The album is available now on CD, digital download, and a gatefold two-LP set made available by Joyful Noise Recordings, who are co-releasing Sisyphus with Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Get the album here.
Linda Perhac’s “The Soul of All Natural Things” Out Now
March 4th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The wait is over.
Linda Perhacs’ second album, The Soul of All Natural Things, is out today, over four decades after the release of her cult debut. Coaxed back into the studio the generations of fans that rediscovered her first disc, Parallelograms, she has created a sophomore album that once again summons that LP’s youthful spirit, without compromising its forward-looking experimental streak.
The intervening years have done little to dampen the idealism of that debut, says The New York Times, praising the “aura of mystical innocence” Perhacs radiates on her sophomore effort, as well as her music’s “craft and innovation.” Produced by Fernando Perdomo and Chris Price and featuring guest appearances by post-Perhacs singer/songwriters Julia Holter and Ramona “Nite Jewel” Gonzalez, The Soul of All Natural Things is now available for purchase as a CD, vinyl LP, or digital download.
Alcohol, Devotion: New Music From Sisyphus
February 17th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sisyphus, a collaboration of Serengeti, Son Lux, and Sufjan Stevens, is now available for preorder here. When you preorder, you get immediate downloads of the two new singles.
“Rhythm of Devotion” is out on Soundcloud. A lyrics video for “Alcohol,” another new single, is up for listening on Soundcloud.
Sisyphus will be on on March 19th, 2014.
Linda Perhacs On Tour
February 17th, 2014 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Otherworldly and ahead of its time, Linda Perhacs’ 1970 debut, Parallelograms is a window into the time and place of its creation: sun-soaked Los Angeles at the dawn of the ’70s. So it’s fitting that she should christen her second album, The Soul of All Natural Things, with a tour that brings her brand-new music to her fans up and down the Pacific Coast.
Her new record comes out on March 4, and on March 22, she’s celebrating with a concert at Seattle’s Fremont Abbey Arts Center, followed by a pair of dates in Oregon. March 23 will see her perform in Portland, at The Old Church, and on the 25, she’ll be singing at Eugene, Oregon’s Cozmic Pizza. In California the next night, Perhacs will play The Chapel on March 26, followed by a date at Hollywood’s Masonic Lodge on March 27. Finally, she’ll head inland for a March 29 date at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace in Pioneertown, CA. See the details of her tour here.
Championed by fans ranging from Daft Punk to Devendra Banhart, Linda Perhacs has only grown in stature in the four decades since the start of her musical career. Her return to recording is less a “comeback” than the next step in her long-awaited arrival.
Hear “Freely,” the latest single, here: