On Tuesday, Castanets released their fourth album, City of Refuge. You can purchase the CD here for $10, and the LP for $12. And today we announce Dub Refuge , a dub-ambient revisionary history of City of Refuge from Ero.

Says Ero: "I wanted to make sounds from his music that respected the realism and naturalism of the source material (hums, buzz, the acoustic signature of motel and cheap microphone) while adding in additional depth of reference and providing some clouds of unknowability, in order to emphasize the more spiritual and aggressively ‘out’ aspects of the music." Read more from Ero here.

Dub Refuge releases November 4th. Castanets are also setting off on a fairly broad tour, showing up from Chicago, to Portland, to San Francisco, to DC. See details here.

In the meantime, we have created a Castanets "collection" of sorts, if there can be such a thing, which consists of Castanets’ first three full-lengths (Cathedral , First Light’s Freeze, In the Vines). It’s just $15, and while supplies last, we are including a limited edition tour EP that Castanets split with Shapes and Sizes. You can buy it by clicking here.

Former Castanets member, musicologist, and all around friend to the label Benjamin Piekut recently shot a series of videos with the criminally under-recognized Henry Flynt. We here at Asthmatic Kitty are always interested in turning our friends and visitors onto new things, so we wanted to call your attention to these videos. 

In Ben’s own words:
"Equal parts oral history and polemic, the video might be of interest to anyone working on the 1960s and 1970s, music and politics, the avant-garde, or the sectarian Left. In each of the short scenes, Flynt stands in front of an important building or location and recalls one or more visits to the site and why it has been important in his own life."

Both Castanets and My Brightest Diamond will wake up today and find themselves across the sea. Instead of waking up in their own beds, they will awake in Europe. Like little Risk ® soldiers, they will spread throughout the continent, leaving behind good music in their wake.

Castanets’ journey starts on Friday in Sevilla, Spain, and then will pass through the Netherlands, including ZXZW in Tillburg (see Pitchfork article here) then through Germany.

MBD will begin her set of European dates tonight in Manchester, UK, gypsy through Belgium, Germany, Holland, France, and then close it out in Spain. (Not in Europe? That’s ok; you can watch her fantastical new music video here.)