MBD PARTIES LIKE THEY HAVE A NEW ALBUM, BECAUSE THEY DO
June 16th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Tomorrow on Tuesday June 17th, My Brightest Diamond will be releasing A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, their second full length album. If you’ve ever been to one of MBD’s parties, you know that they take it very seriously. Agenda includes marimba, horns, toys, party hats, and strings.
Sxip Shirey, composer/sound designer/performer/story-teller/curator, will open. The enchanting puppetry of Lake Simons follows, who may or may not have convinced a magical elephant puppet to perform. My Brightest Diamond will close the evening, no doubt playing through the reportorie of tracks from the new album, along with a few surprises.
The doors of the Blender Theater at Gramercy in Manhattan open at 7pm. Admission is $18, and you can pick up tickets early right here. There are some of us at AK that are not in NYC, and we are sad. If you are within travelable distance to the Blender Theater, go as proxy. It will be unforgettable, we promise.
As far as the album is concerned, ordering is still in technically "pre" at least until 11:59pm tonight. That means if you preorder the album, you receive a free, downloadable digital EP. After 11:59pm tonight, you will not have a chance to get the EP. So get it while the getting is good. Preorder here ($11 for CD, $12 for LP, plus S&H).
RAFTER HANGS OUT, LOVES GRASS
June 12th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Rafter eats healthy, dances regularly, and has been known to rescue a wayward animal or two. In other words, he is a super hero with a penchant for groovy dancing. Hollywood producers took notice and have asked him to provide some party music for the second episode of Adrian Grenier’s (of HBO’s Entourage fame) Alter Eco show. This episode will premiere TONIGHT! (then likely rerun,) on Planet Green. The episode features seminal graphic artist and designer Shepard Fairey. Their website has a channel tracker so people can find it in their area.
CRYPTACIZE CONFERENCE CALL
June 5th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Ok. Welcome, everyone. Yes, I see that many of you already have the hand-out. Good good. Terrance? Please start the projector. We have a lot to cover today, and it’s all good, so stick with me. Excellent. Let’s get to the issue at hand: the wonder, the movement, the belief . . . that is . . . Cryptacize.
Tour. They’re touring. Right now the Official Cryptacize Van of Touring – you have the IP on that Danny? – is slowly making its way across the Midwest of the US. Eventually it will make it to Boston, New York, south from there to Austin and Los Angeles. Please save questions for the end and yes, they are visiting the UK not long after that. You’ll see it on page 84, or you can click here.
Ok. Next. Karaoke. "The act of singing along to a music video, esp. one from which the original vocals have been electronically eliminated." It’s hot, it’s what the kids are doing, and Cryptacize are definitely in with the kids. They’re karaoke-ified one of their songs for the karaoke-ing masses. It’s a contest, there’s dough involved. A fantastic video viewable here – good job to Kristen’s team on that, no clapping please. Who’s that scuba diver? Get him on the next project Tom.
Yep, you read right. Cash prize of $150. Details on page 133, or here. Please remind your staff that submissions are due June 15. EOW. STAT. PRONTO.
And finally, Sufjan turned in some nice copy on the band. You’re missing it Jesse? Terrance, share yours yes? A good read. "Magic crystals." Good one. We’ll use that for the toothpaste project. And the scuba diver. Nice. Read here.
Anything else? I think that covers it. Jeff, you heard right, no weekend overtime, and I was lying about taking questions.
RAFTER WITH NEW, SWEATY, MAGICAL EP
June 2nd, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
If you’re at all a visitor to our fine webhome, you know that for a while Rafter was posting weekly mp3s. Well-received all, but it occurred to Rafter that the best of them made a fine booty moving mix. Rafter trenched up in his studio, took these self-made tracks and added that special, loving spin to each song that only Rafter can.
The result is the Sweaty Magic EP, a perfectly designed set of seven songs with the sole intent of expanding the borders of the dance floor further and further out. We’ve had the luxury to listen to the EP, and the result was exactly as promised: sweaty, and magical. These little musical gems will arrive just as the summer winds up, on September 9, just before you wipe that brow for the last time.
40 BANDS 80 MINUTES FOR 1 WEEK
May 30th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
In 2006 forty bands gathered to play music for two minutes each. They played their own forms of jazz, noise, rock, metal and folk music and the night was captured by director Sean Carnage. The film was released in late 2006 long before featured bands like HEALTH, No Age, Abe Vigoda and our own I Heart Lung were known to many music fans outside of Los Angeles. Produced by our own Chris Schlarb and released on his Sounds Are Active record label, 40 BANDS/80 MINUTES! now enjoys a "One Week Only" feature on Pitchfork.tv. Click here to stream for free, and here to purchase for $12.99.
ERMASSE = HERMAS
May 28th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
We recently announced the addition of Ermasse to our artist roster, whose homespun guitar gems warmed our hearts. Up until now though, nothing has forced him to settle on the exact spelling of his name. A new passport, and the second century writing The Shepherd of Hermas, helped him settle his mind on "Hermas." Hermas Zopoula. Pronunciation is the same.
No matter how you spell his name, we’re very excited and honored to bring his music to you soon.
(For those of us who need this described in the dialect of indie rock gossip, assume he broke up as Ermasse and has reformed under Hermas. Twice.)
"Seigneur Apprend Moi" (Download)
MBD PLAYS SAN FRAN, OPENS NEW WEBSITE
May 24th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
My Brightest Diamond is gearing up to release their second full-length, A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, but you can catch some of those songs a little early live and in person tonight if you’re in the SanFran area. Pedestrian and A Weather are opening for MBD at The Independent. Doors open at 8:30, and tickets are $13. You can buy them by clicking here.
For those outside the Bay area, you’ll be happy to know that MBD just re-launched their website, replete with photo, video, "tweets," and all the wit and charm you’ve come to expect from MBD. Visit the site here.
Bonus! Pitchfork’s Forkcast column just posted an exclusive video of MBD, featuring Shara Worden and her guitar in Austin. View it here.
WEIRD WEEDS HIT ROAD
May 21st, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
If you haven’t heard Weird Weeds, may we be so bold to suggest that you’re missing out?
You can of course pick up our own Unusual Animals Volume 1, a 7inch with Shapes and Sizes on one side and Weird Weeds on the other. But you can also catch Weird Weeds on their newest tour, still fresh from their fantastic third album I Miss This. They’ll be passing through Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Canada, and Ohio, among others. You can see details of the tour here, or pick up the 7inch for $6 (+S&H) here.
Weird Weeds, "Red" (I Miss This)
KARAOKE-A-LONG WITH CRYPTACIZE!
May 20th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Is Cryptacize tired, you might ask? They’ve released an album, embarked on many far and wide tours since that album. That would tire me, you might say.
To which Cryptacize would say, "We are not tired. We are tireless. But we do need your help." They are touring again, this time drawing a big circle of music around the United States: trekking across the Midwest (Chicago), then to NYC, down to Balt-ee-more, then to Knoxville, on to Texas, and back to California. If you’ve missed them on a previous tour, don’t think this will last forever! Cryptacize is rare and flighty!
"They said they need my help," you might remind us. It is true. To fuel their explorative journey across the United States, they are hoping that all peoples of the Internet join them in song, that is to say, karaoke. As their record label, we are happily sweetening the deal with cash prizes.
Record a karaoke version of "Cosmic Sing-a-Long" and email the mp3 to akcontest [at] gmail [dot] com, or post your video to YouTube or Vimeo and email the link to that same email. You can sing as a group or solo, make up new lyrics, choreograph dance, puppets, employ special effects and extensive CGI and/or stop-motion, or anything really. Points galore for creativity.
Deadline is June 7th. We’ll announce the winner on or around June 15th. Get karaokeing!!!
Click here to view the video in Vimeo, or click more to view. And click here to download the Karaoke MP3, or here for the original.
THE COSMIC SING-A-LONG CRYPTACIZE KARAOKE CONTEST from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.
AK STUFF UP FOR GRABS
May 16th, 2008 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Tuneage, a recently launched music blog, is celebrating their 1000th "follower" (that means a large readership in non-internet language) with a fairly significant giveaway that includes several albums from the Asthmatic Kitty catalog and AK-related paraphernalia. All you have to do is create the perfect summer mix, using Muxtape.com. Easy right? Click here to see details on Tuneage, or here to listen to our very own muxtape.