PLEASE WELCOME PEPE DELUXÉ TO THE AK FAM [FREE MP3]

October 31st, 2011 , by

Like many people, you may have heard Pepe Deluxé. Perhaps you listened to any one of their first three albums. Or, you may have been in the Luray Caverns in Virginia while tuxedo-ed Paul Malmström of Pepe stepped up to the Stalacpipe Organ – the largest instrument in the world – to record. Or perhaps you heard their music via television, advertising, or movie. Regardless, we are honored to announce that we can provide to you yet another remarkable Pepe Deluxé experience, at a nominal fee.

In January of 2012, in tandem with our similarly feline-monikered Catskills Records in the UK, we’ll be proud to release Queen of the Wave, the fourth full-length from the dapatical duo of Finn Jari Salo and Swede Paul Malmström & Co (“humans,” mostly). When Pepe Deluxé sent the album over the ocean to AK HQ in Lander, Wyoming a few months ago, we were instantly charmed. We started dancing and haven’t stopped since.

If you’re of the few that have never heard Pepe Deluxé, you’re in for a surprise and/or treat. Think cinematic. Think epic. Think space opera going through that slightly creepy tunnel in Willy Wonka’s Candy Factory. Think a massive bubble machine overloading in the Smithsonian. Or better yet, stop thinking and start moving.

Beginning, perhaps, with “The Storm,” an MP3 offered free for stream and download for a limited time. More info on the band is here. Do stop by Pepe Deluxé and say hej.
Pepe Deluxé, “The Storm” by asthmatickitty

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR RAPOSA/SUFJAN-SCORED FILM ?BEYOND THIS PLACE?

October 25th, 2011 , by

Beyond This Place is a powerful new film about fatherhood and forgiveness directed by Kaleo La Belle. The film follows Kaleo as he connects with his estranged and perpetually-stoned father on a 500-mile bicycle tour of the Pacific Northwest. It’s currently screening in select theaters across the US. More info here.

Kaleo recruited AK artists Sufjan Stevens and Ray Raposa (Castanets), who worked together to score the film. You can catch a live version of the score as Sufjan and Ray perform the soundtrack before the screenings in LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Brooklyn. Details and tickets are here.

Listen and download to the title track from the score, by Sufjan, Ray, and Vesper:

ITUNES AK SALE

October 21st, 2011 , by

To celebrate the release of All Things Will Unwind from My Brightest Diamond, we've put sixteen AK records on sale on iTunes for just $7.99, including MBD (of course), Sufjan Stevens, Welcome Wagon, Shannon Stephens, Liz Janes, Julianna Barwick, and more. View all the titles here.

FILMMAKER OF MAKE CURATING ROYAL ROBERTSON SHOW

October 20th, 2011 , by

This Friday night in New York City at White Columns gallery, Scott Ogden is curating a show entitled NO PROUD BASTARDS, an in-depth consideration of work by Louisiana artist Prophet Royal Robertson (1931-1997). Robertson’s art is an integral part of the MAKE documentary film, which Scott Ogden and Malcolm Hearn created over the course of many years. Royal Robertson’s art also served as inspiration for Sufjan Stevens’ The Age of Adz.

 This will be a rare opportunity to see Royal's art in person. The show opening is Friday, October 21st from 6pm to 8pm at White Columns

You can read more or purchase MAKE on DVD here.

NEW ALBUM FROM MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND OUT NOW, NEW VIDEO

October 18th, 2011 , by

 It’s always a happy day at Asthmatic Kitty when we ship out a new record, and today is no exception. All Things Will Unwind is now out, and it is easily our favorite My Brightest Diamond record yet. The album is full of surprises; loose but articulate, catchy but challenging. Every detail, from handbells to costume design to every note trill, is straight from the soul of frontwoman Shara Worden, and it shows in each little corner of every song. It’s stacked with collaborations too, including DM Stith and the prolific yMusic. We hope you like it as much as we do!

Buy the album on iTunes at a limited time sale price for $7.99 right here.

You can also find the CD or LP at your local record store, or order it from our humble mail-order website by clicking here. We also have new Detroit-made MBD t-shirts that include an MP3 download for sale right here.

There’s also a new video! Longtime MBD collaborator Murat Eyuboglu shot the above for “We Added It Up,” which includes dance choreography by Jennifer McQuiston Lott. Watch above, or here.

My Brightest Diamond, “We Added It Up” by My Brightest Diamond

BE BRAVE T-SHIRT FROM MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND BENEFITS LOVE146

October 14th, 2011 , by

One of the songs of off My Brightest Diamond’s new record is “Be Brave,” a rain-dance/prayer/monologue written by frontwoman Shara Worden to herself as a way to gumption up and do something tangible and real about injustice. You can watch the video here.

Shara, who lives in Detroit, worked with a “hyper-local” screen-printer not far from her house named InkInBloom to design and print a shirt based on this song. You see the result above; a beautiful incorporation of one of the masks from the project and the lyrics.

All of the profits from the sale of these shirts go to Love146, a non-profit organization working to end child sex slavery and exploitation.

Of the shirts Shara says, “"Be Brave, dear one. Be ye changed or be undone. Millions of people are reported to be enslaved, most of whom are in commercial sex industries.  1.2 million are children.  Since I have several friends who are working with non-profits to raise awareness of this reality, and try to help prevent human trafficking, I decided this was a small thing I could do to help.  I’ve known the founders of Love146 for 10 years and I trust them.  I believe in their work.  So I thought for starters, I could make a tee shirt, a little prayer, a hopeful wish for those people who are trapped, to trust that change will come. "

You can buy men and womens’ shirts from InkInBloom’s website for $24 by clicking here.

WEAR A DIAMOND: MBD RELEASES STITH-DESIGNED, DETROIT-PRINTED T-SHIRTS

October 12th, 2011 , by

We'll speak it plainly: these are terrific t-shirts, and My Brightest Diamond through and through.  Longtime MBD collaborator David Stith designed the shirts, while Detroit-based Inkinbloom  screen-printed them from their own home using non-polluting and biodegradable inks and emulsions.

For the womens' shirt, they printed on the Berry colored Bella B8101 (click here for info and sizing chart). The mens' they printed on a Lieutenant Green American Apparel shirt (here for those details and sizing chart).

Purchase the t-shirt and a full MP3 download of My Brightest Diamond's All Things Will Unwind for $20. MP3 delivered via email on October 18th, 2011. Click here to buy.

My Brightest Diamond on Twitter | Facebook | Web

MBD TO UNVEIL UNWIND AT RELEASE PARTY FRIDAY NIGHT IN BROOKLYN, NY

October 11th, 2011 , by

 My Brightest Diamond’s new album, All Things Will Unwind, is out in Europe (buy it on iTunes here), and NPR is streaming the album over at their First Listen section here.

And if you live in or around NYC, we have extra good new news for you: MBD’s release party is this Friday night at Littlefields, though tickets are going fast! Doors open at 8pm, and  DM Stith opens shortly thereafter. 21+, tickets just $15; buy them here.

My Brightest Diamond on Twitter | Facebook | Web

MBD?S UNWIND STREAMING ON NPR?S FIRST LISTEN

October 10th, 2011 , by


The third album from My Brightest Diamond, All Things Will Unwind, comes out in the US next Tuesday the 18th (and is already out in the EU). But NPR is graciously hosting a stream of the entire album right here.

If you’re hankering for something more visual, you can watch La Blogothèque’s lovely videos right here, or some mini-documentaries directed by Murat Eyuboglu over here.

You can preorder All Things Will Unwind on iTunes here, or CD/LP here.

My Brightest Diamond on Twitter | Facebook | Web

NEW MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND ON LA BLOGTHEQUE

October 10th, 2011 , by

One of our absolute favorite music websites ever in the history of internetting, La Blogothèque, did what they do best and posted some amazing footage of My Brightest Diamond. No one does this better than La Blogothèque! You can view one of the videos above, or all three here (Version française).

Note from those of us at AK that are parents: we dare you to watch the above version of “I Have Never Loved Someone” without breaking a tear.
 
Unwind is out on October 18th. Preorder on iTunes here, or the CD/LP here).

My Brightest Diamond on Twitter | Facebook | Web
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