STILL DECIDING
December 18th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
As of December 17, we are still trying to decide the winner of the Great Sufjan Song Xmas Change. We received so many great entries, this is a harder job than we thought! Expect something in the next day, and thank you for your patience!
MOSTLY LOVES CLOUDS (AND SHIRTS)
December 17th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
The Unusual Animals Project Space is finished exhibiting the brilliant landscape dissection of installation artist Cindy Hinant, and there are a few limited edition t-shirts still left. Designed by Cindy herself, made by American Apparel, and pressed by Kangaroo Press, these are custom made for each order and will take 1-2 weeks for manufacturing and shipping. You can purchase them for just $15 from the UAPS website here.
And on January 4th, UAPS will debut its new show, Mostly Loves Clouds, a crowd collaborative installation from the clouded mind of librarian Michael Kaufmann. The show will open on January 4th, 2008, from 6-10pm, at the Project Space in the Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE
December 13th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Music is one of our favorite parts of the holidays, and we’re not just saying that because we’re a record label. Besides listening to the submissions for the Great Sufjan Song Xmas Xchange (we’ll announce the winner soon!), there are a few other things in rotation. Our very own Chris Schlarb is member of I Heart Lung, who created the wonderful EP, I Heart Christmas – a fine holiday soundtrack, and probably the only one that features a battle between Santa and Dracula. Click here to download for free (and here for the semi-related Nichole and the Dreamcatchers Christmas release).
Also making the rounds is A Familyre Christmas, from sister record label Sounds Familyre. Danielson starts off the album, followed a few songs later by a special Christmas gem by Half-handed Cloud entitled, "Plant a Little Fir Tree on the Roof." Sounds Familyre is providing each song as a stream and a download right here.
MICROCINEMATIZED
December 7th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
We met Microcinema in Houston, Texas for a collaborative all-day, all-ages, all-free, all-good five-band gig called Unusual Animals. But that short rendezvous was not enough for either of us, so after a few carefully written telegrams and telephonic calls, we are getting together with Microcinema again to collectively present Independent Exposure 2008.
Since its inception in 1996, Independent Exposure has been a curatorial effort designed to bring the newest and most innovative short films to an untapped, broader audience by using non-traditional venues. These showcases are exhibited in non-traditional venues or "microcinemas" such as galleries, cafes, bars, nightclubs, outdoors, and other alternative spaces that support the independent arts. To date, Independent Exposure has been presented hundreds of times in 44 countries plus Palestine and Antarctica and at base camp on Mt. Everest.
Microcinema is therefore asking for film submissions, from everyone including you, our readers. Winning filmmakers will receive everything from a Panasonic AG-HSC1U 1/4" 3-CCD High Definition Video Camera (if you know what that means, you know how awesome it is), to a specially selected Asthmatic Kitty discography. And with base camp at Mt. Everest setting the bar, who knows where Microcinema might display your work?
Click here to read rules and submission instructions, and click more to see one our favorites from last years winners.
"Trace," by Chirstinn Whyte
SUFJAN TO PERFORM AT TIBET HOUSE BENEFIT
December 6th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan Stevens will be participating in the Tibet House Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. Sufjan will join Philip Glass, Nawang Khechog, Marisa Monte and others yet to be announced, for an evening of music in support of a good cause. Please check Tibet House website regularly for updates: www.tibethouse.org
TWILIGHT HAS DAWNED
December 4th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Chris Schlarb’s Twilight and Ghost Stories is now available in your local independent store, or here from our own site for just $10. The forty-plus-collaborator composition is also featured on iTunes’ Alternative page today, so you can easily buy it there as well. This is a project that nearly all Asthmatic Kitty artists have contributed too, so we’re all very proud of it.
Don’t forget that you can catch Twilight in quadraphonic sound this weekend in cities across the U.S. See here for details.
LIZ JANES AND CHRIS SCHLARB AT NEXT TO LAST
December 2nd, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Our very own Liz Janes and Chris Schlarb are performing at Athens Georgia’s Next to Last Festival on Saturday, December 8. This remarkable event is a breath of fresh air to the increasingly corporate affair of music festivals. Instead of overcharging and overcrowding, Next to Last is an affordable ($20 for both days!), comfortable, professional all-ages festival that includes not only music, but speakers, performance art, a vendors’ market, a farmers’ market, and a community info center.
Liz and Chris will be performing separately; Liz with some new material (!) and Chris with a rare live selection from his Twilights and Ghost Stories composition. Then they’ll play together. See here for fest details.
With over 15 other artists manning the stages, file this under not-to-miss.
PEN RESCHEDULED
November 30th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan Stevens’ performance at Southpaw, Brooklyn to benefit the PEN American Center has been rescheduled to December 17.
SCHLARB QUADRAPHONES AND VIBRATES
November 30th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Chris Schlarb’s Twilight and Ghost Stories should appear in your local record store next Tuesday, and is already available for preorder and full preview on our site here. But even though the nearly 50-collaborator composition is in the can and out the door, Chris hasn’t slowed down.
In a testament to the vast net that Chris cast to create Twilight, collaborators from across the U.S on the album will be appearing in their corresponding cities to perform and present a specially crafted quadraphonic version of Twilight. Cities include Long Beach, Indianapolis, Brooklyn, Austin, Chicago, and Bogart. See details here. Chris will also perform Twilight live, along with Liz Janes, at Next to Last Fest in Athens, Georgia on December 8th and 9th.
Finally, Chris has taken section IV of his composition and untangled all the contributions from artists like Sandy Ewen and Aaron Russell of The Weird Weeds (as the Macaroni Band), Dave Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors fame), avant reedmen Lynn Johnston and Bhob Rainey, Patagonian, uber-bassist Orlando Greenhill, Languis, Sebastian Krueger (of Inlets). He’s set them free into WAV or GarageBand format for the Internet-at-large to rearrange and remix. That means you! Go here and give it a shot.
