CASTANETS AND MBD CROSS THE OCEAN
September 18th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
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.)
VOTE FOR MBD ON BBC2
September 13th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Each week Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Marconie, hosts of one BBC2’s radio shows select four songs and then let listeners vote by email. They then play that song every day for the following week.
This week they’ve chosen "From the Top of the World" by My Brightest Diamond as one of their new "Pick n’ Mix" selections. Yay! We of course agree that "From the Top of the World" is a good choice. You can listen to the song yourself on the show’s webapage, here, or watch the new music video (crafted with help from many wonderful people, including Tim Fite and puppeteer Lake Simons) by clicking more.
If you like the song as much as we do, we’d really appreciate a vote! You can do that by emailing the name of the song ("From the Top of the World") to [email protected]. Deadline is at noon on Monday London time (6AM EST).
From the Top of the World from My Brightest Diamond on Vimeo.
FAREWELL PAPER THIN WALLS
September 11th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Oh why do the good things in life always blink out as quickly as they arrived? That is a 55% false statement, making it 45% true. And one of those things to have bit the byte dust is Paper Thin Walls. It is unfortunate to see more and more quality music publications pass into memory of the way back machine.
But Paper Thin Walls, we thank you and salute you. We thank you for your coverage of our artists, such as your listening parties for Sex Death Cassette and Castanets’ In The Vines, your publishing of Cryptacize’s frightening tour experience, and Chris Schlarb’s insane documentation of the LA Underground rock scene. We thank you for letting Castanets take over for a day as editor And of course, finally we thank you for your completely off the mark review of Future Rapper
We wish you well in all your future endeavors.
SUFJAN TO CURATE MUSIC FOR BAM TAKEOVER
September 8th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
No word on a dunk tank or jumping castle, but the Brooklyn Academy of Music sure knows how to throw a party. And they have asked Sufjan Stevens to curate the music component for an evening that will also include DJs, video art, and horseplay. The event, entitled TAKEOVER, takes place Saturday September 27th, 2008 […]
Read the Rest...A GOOD DAY FOR A GRAMPALL TOUR
September 6th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Tonight, Grampall Jookabox begins his first tour since joining us here at Asthmatic Kitty. Appropriately, he heaves off his hometown, the corn-laden, landlocked docks of Indianapolis, at Spin Nightclub alongside Mudkids and Twilight Sentinels.
If you can’t make it to Indianapolis tonight (a shame since it’s the most interstate-connected city in the U.S. save L.A.!), you can listen to and download Rill Bruh, a free EP we released in conjunction with Joyful Noise Recordings, in a variety of locations (here, Last.FM, Virb, or Jamendo).
SUFJAN AWARDED THE BRENDAN GILL PRIZE
September 5th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan is receiving The Brendan Gill Prize issued by the Municipal Arts Society for “The BQE”, which premiered at BAM last November.
The prize was created by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1986 and is awarded annually. Ms. Kennedy Onassis said of the prize, it will acknowledge a “creator of a building, book, essay, poem, lyric, song, composition, play, painting, sculpture, choreography, landscape or any work of art which best captures the energy, vigor, and verve of our incomparable city.”
Past winners include Christo and Jeanne Claude for The Gates, Ang Lee for the Wedding Banquet, Joseph Mitchell for Up in the Old Hotel, architect Yoshio Taniguchi for the new Museum of Modern Art and many more. Sufjan is the first musician to receive the prize.
Congratulations Sufjan!
CRYPTACIZE TOURS WITH THE TRYING HARTZ OF DANIELSON
September 3rd, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Danielson is part of our family. That’s why we celebrate with them in their release of Trying Hartz, a retrospective collection of not-so-distant classics, live numbers, and oddities. When Danielson invited Cryptacize to join them on tour in support of this 2-disc set, our hearty trio of course said yes. Cryptacize will join Danielson for an extensive US tour starting on Halloween, at the Knitting Factory in NYC, and looping out to California and back. Rumor has it that certain Cryptacize members will also be assuming supporting roles as musical family members of Danielson. Be sure to check out the tour dates section here.
ASTHMATIC KITTY ARTISTS APPEAR ON SACRED HARP COMPILATION
September 3rd, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Friends of the label Erica and Matt Hinton have produced a documentary about the tradition and history of Sacred Harp singing. Pitchfork.tv is currently screening the film, Awake My Soul, as part of their One Week Only series. Along with the film, the Hintons are releasing a two disc compilation. Recorded in Atlanta, the first disc includes live recordings sung by traditional Sacred Harp singers, while the second disc features 19 never-before-heard popular adaptations of Sacred Harp music. Participants include John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Elvis Perkins, Doc Watson, Danielson, and two of our own artists, DM Stith and Liz Janes. Visit the MySpace page to preview a few of the songs. Awake My Soul will be out in stores October 14th. Click more to see the complete track listing of cover versions.
1 "Blooming Youth" – Rayna Gellert (Uncle Earl) & John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
2 "Weeping Pilgrim" – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
3 "David’s Lamentation" – The Good Players
4 "Africa" – The Innocence Mission
5 "The Christian’s Hope" – Jim Lauderdale with Jeni & Billy
6 "Help Me To Sing" – Mac Powell (Third Day)
7 "Columbus" – John Wesley Harding
8 "The Traveler" – Cordelia’s Dad
9 "Abbeville" – Liz Janes
10 "China" – All Things Bright & Beautiful
11 "Essay" – Tenement Halls
12 "Windham" – Richard Buckner
13 "Sermon on the Mount" – Danielson
14 "And Am I Born to Die?" – Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton
15 "Kedron" – Sam Amidon
16 "Consecration" – Woven Hand
17 "The Grieved Soul" – Rick Moody and Nina Katchadourian
18 "Vernon / Wrestling Jacob" – Tim Eriksen (Cold Mountain Soundtrack)
19 "Christian’s Farewell" – DM Stith
20 "Bound For Canaan" – Murry Hammond (Old 97’s)
RAFTER VIDEO CONTEST VOLUME 2
August 28th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Photo by Lizeth Santos Rafter’s new EP, which is sweaty, magical, and ergo very appropriately titled Sweaty Magic, is available for order right now. It’s the perfect booty-shaking disc for college students returning to dorm halls, or 75 year old veteran dancers wanting to shake up the weekly shuffleboard-a-thon. You can read more about it […]
Read the Rest...CRYPTACIZE EXPLORES FLATLAND
August 28th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The reliably and refreshingly content-heavy music website Daytrotter has posted a revealing look into Cryptacize’s reading habits. In the latest of Daytrotter’s Bookery series, Chris Cohen of Cryptacize reads through the foreward to Edwin Abbott’s 1884 Flatland, replete with Cohen-esque commentary. Listen here (and you can check My Brightest Diamond’s addition to Daytrotter’s ever-expanding Bookery library here).