MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND RELEASES MUSIC AND HUMAN BOY

September 8th, 2010 , by

Asthmatic Kitty is pleased to announce that Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond) has released two limited edition items. The first is a hand-numbered split 7” with the lovely and dynamic Dayna Kurtz. For the 7" each artist covers the other, Shara taking on Dayna’s “Postcards From Downtown”, and Dayna covering “Gone Away” from Bring Me The Workhorse. The 7” is on Kismet Records and you can stream the two tracks via their myspace page. You can purchase the two songs from itunes here and here.

The other release is a human boy. Constantine Jamesson Worden was born on 19 July 2010 at 10:58pm, healthy and happy to equally healthy and happy parents! Read all about it here. Fortunately this release is not for sale on itunes.

My Brightest Diamond will be performing in rock trio formation at some select shows in September and October. Click here for dates.

THE AGE OF ADZ, A NEW ALBUM FROM SUFJAN STEVENS

August 26th, 2010 , by

Last week we had the pleasure of releasing the All Delighted People EP (available for download for $5 and free stream right here). And the week before we announced a fall tour (tickets are still for sale here, but selling quickly).

And today, we are proud to announce the upcoming release of The Age of Adz (pronounced Odds), the first song-based full-length from Sufjan Stevens since 2005's Illinois. The Age of Adz will drop on October 12th (CD, MP3) with a double-LP following on November 9th.

For the next three weeks you can preorder the CD and LP  and receive an MP3 download on September 28th, two weeks before the release date. 

Preorder it all right here.

It’s much too soon to cast descriptive lots, but we can say the new album sounds nothing like the All Delighted EP (although it shares similar themes of love, loss, and the apocalypse). Nor is this new album built around any conceptual underpinning (no odes to states, astrology, or urban expressways). 

We can say it shows an extensive use of electronics (banjos and acoustic guitars give way to drum machines and analog synthesizers), and an obsession with cosmic fantasies (space, heaven, aliens, love), to create an explicit pop-song extravaganza, augmented by heavy orchestration, and maybe even a few danceable moments. Enjoy Your Rabbit meets the BQE. But with songs. Verse, chorus, bridge, backbeat. Gated reverb. Space echo. Get your boogey on. 

The “Adz” of the title loosely refers to the apocalyptic paintings of outsider artist Royal Robertson (1930-1997), whose work is used for the album cover, interior design, and as general inspiration for the tone of the album. 

TRUMANS WATER RETURNS, TODAY [FREE MP3]

August 24th, 2010 , by

If you're a Trumans Water fan, and if you are savvy about independent rock and roll you are most certainly one, you will be happy to know that TW has returned. Triumphantly. With bears on the album art.
 
O Zeta Zunis is their 13the release in their nearly two-decade existence. The album finds the band skronkily uncompromising but direct and – dare we say? – catchy. Please don't hit us.
 
And what's an album release without a tour? Expect to see them in Portland, Bellingham, and Seattle. Short, and sweet. Details here.
 
You can buy the limited edition for $15 here. 

“We Fish” (Download)

A NEW EP FROM SUFJAN STEVENS

August 20th, 2010 , by

Raise your hands if you’re delighted to hear the good news that Sufjan is releasing an 8-song, 60-minute EP for digital download! Available immediately right here! As in right now! For only $5! From this up-and-coming-indie-DIY website, Bandcamp! (It will be available on iTunes, Amazon, and other corporate entities on Monday.)
 
The EP, All Delighted People, is built around two different versions of Sufjan’s long-form epic ballad "All Delighted People," a dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon’s "Sounds of Silence." Sounds delightful, yes! The song was originally workshopped (oh we hate making workshop a verb, but time is money!) on Sufjan’s previous tour in the fall of 2009. Other songs on the EP include the 17-minute guitar jam-for-single-mothers "Djohariah," and the gothic piano ballad "The Owl and the Tanager," a live-show mainstay (and Debbie Downer if you ask us; what’s it doing on a "Delighted" EP?). The full track list is available right here.
 
If you don’t have five dollars, you can stream the EP for free right on Bandcamp. Or if you're into tactile sensations, we are making All Delighted People available on single-CD and double-LP formats later in 2010 (we’re aiming for December, fingers crossed). 180-gram vinyl. With Big Pictures. Where’s Waldo? Leo?
 
OH! In case you haven't been reading along, Sufjan is also on tour in the fall. Tickets are selling furiously, so we recommend you order them soon, as in now! Seriously! Do it! Urgency! Haste! Right here!

FOL CHEN: VISCERATED

August 19th, 2010 , by

ZACK BENT EXHIBITS NEW WORK

August 11th, 2010 , by

This Thursday our good friend, artist Zack Bent will present a new work at Vermillion Gallery in Seattle. Zack Bent’s new mixed-media installation, Fort Branch, continues the tradition of his previous series at Gallery 4Culture, Buffalo Trace, where he and his family collaborated as a tribe of scouts.

“In this series,” Zack says, “many of the works walk the line between play and catastrophe in the face of an unwieldy natural order. The exhibit is filled with a series of artifacts, including a full-scale dilapidated Lincoln Log cabin, drawing on the nearly 100-year-old toy designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son John during the Progressive Era. The toy’s early packaging described the contents as ‘interesting playthings typifying the spirit of America'. Also among the works are a mummy bag sarcophagus, a flag-burying kit and a selection of photographic documents and occurrences.”

The opening reception is tomorrow, August 12th, from 6-11PM and the show runs until September 4th. For more details go here.

NEW AK DIGITAL SAMPLER

August 9th, 2010 , by

It's summer. It's hot. But the weather really has nothing to do with our new sampler because it's entirely digital. It exists 100% independent of the weather. And you can also download it for free. It will not cool you, but it will make you cool. The sampler includes many of our most recent releases, including tracks from Fol Chen, Shannon Stephens, Trumans Water, and more.
 
Stream and download it here, via Bandcamp, or below. Please enjoy.

SUFJAN STEVENS TO TOUR

August 9th, 2010 , by


Photo by Denny Renshaw

Sufjan is going on tour in October! This should be quite a tour, as he personally structured this tour around some of the most historic theaters and venues in the country. He'll start on October 12th in Montreal and move his way through the Midwest, to Texas, westerly, and then back through the Midwest and to New York. 
 
Tomorrow, Tuesday August 10th, we begin selling special pre-sale tickets especially for fans. We negotiated the fairest price we could for tickets and Where we could, we also secured exclusive seating in each of the venues.
 
We expect these to sell out very quickly, and there are only a select number of pre-sale seats available. But do not fret; if for some reason you miss out on the pre-sale through Etix, you will have the opportunity to purchase the remaining tickets through the venues. Sales for some theaters will begin on Friday, August 13th, while others will start later. Please check with your local venue for their public on-sale date. To avoid scalping, there is a 4 person ticket limit, and the first 20 rows of seats are WILL CALL ONLY.
 
There are only a select number of pre-sale seats available at each venue. Tickets for these seats go on sale starting tomorrow, Tuesday August 10th, at 1pm EST. You can see details, dates, and (as of Tuesday 1pm EST) links to purchase tickets here:
 
Again, if you miss the pre-sale tickets don't worry. These are large venues, and after the presale you'll be able to pick up general admission tickets.
 
And lots of other Asthmatic Kitty artists are touring as well, passing through your city no doubt, including Castanets, Chris Schlarb, DM Stith, Fol Chen, Jookabox, Rafter, and Shannon Stephens. See those dates here. 

ON OUR MAILING LIST? YOU SHOULD BE, YOU SHOULD BE.

August 7th, 2010 , by

Photo by Steve 2.0 We realize the world has moved on to new forms of communication, be it Facebook or Twitter or [INSERT NEW FANGLED THING HERE]. But we here at AK hold our electronic-mail friends very near and dear to our electronic hearts.  So it's our emailing list that gets AK news first. If […]

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FOL CHEN TOURS AND GETS REMIXED

August 2nd, 2010 , by

First the words were good, they helped us understand. But then the sounds would double like holograms. Now, they have quadrupled, twisted and contorted into unreadable hieroglyphics by four technicians of sound. They sing of deep space disco at the hands of Teen Daze. They fall back to earth and "Primary 1" picks through the debris like a surgeon with grisly precision and melody. FUR has stolen them from the lab and the cutting slab and taken them out knight riding, nestled inthe backseat and oozing into the leather. Finally, this memory of a song is scooped up by Hard Mix and broadcast as an agitprop slow-dance. The air smells of chemicals. Take a listen and download, for free, here.

Do not be alarmed, if you need an orientation to the new paradigm you can see Fol Chen live as they head out first with !!! and then The Apples in stereo. See tour dates here.
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