WEATHER AND MIGRATION FORECAST FOR HOUSTON, PORTLAND
October 20th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Houston will see sunny skies with a pleasant high of 86° today. Moving in later this afternoon to Diverseworks Art Space around 3pm are some Unusual Animals including Future Rapper, Cryptacize, Hearts of Animals, The Wiggins, Space City Gamelan, and Moth Fight. Read details here, or our sidebar, where Craig McCormick writes about the Gonzo Art of Houston, Philip Beck lists Patrick Swayze as one of his favorite things about Houston, Sara Strohmeyer finds Houston delicious and interesting, and Moth Fight digs up the Houston news archives.
Portland will experience some cold rain, with a high of just 54°. But that’s ok, as the Unusual Animals in Portland will be taking shelter at the warm and cozy Urban Grind Coffee around 2pm. Varieties include Half-Handed Cloud, booty-shaking The Beauty, the lo-fi-ically precise Upsidedown Cat, and the charmed-before-you-know-it Kelli Schaefer, as well as nearby Olympia Washington’s hand-clapping Lake. Read details here, or see some propaganda puppetry here.
Also you can stream a cover by The Beauty of "Sway," a Castanets track from this Tuesday’s release of In The Vines, just below.
Both events are free, of course.
"Sway" The Beauty, covering Castanets
TOO MUCH RAFTER FOR JUST ONE ALBUM
October 19th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Rafter’s first official full-length release, Music for Total Chickens, inspired many things, not the least of which was a car chase in a forest with eggs. But one album isn’t enough to contain the imagination of Rafter.
So, on January 22nd when you think you’re done with partying in 2008, Rafter will release his second record, Sex Death Cassette, an album that will change the way you think about television and move your boot(y) – in just 19 songs or less! Like cough syrup on a stomach full of hi-qual sushi, this album will go smooth and sweet. We already have one song up from the album, so start sampling by clicking here.
But even two full-lengths is not enough to contain the pure awesomeness of Rafter. Here on our very own Sidebar, Rafter is releasing a song a week. He’s already three in, so you have some catching up to do. Click here to see the entries so far.
"ZZZPenchant" (Download)
IN THE VINES NOW IN THE SHOP, ON TOUR
October 17th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
In their Illegal Leak of the Week column, Seattle’s weekly paper The Stranger called Castanets’ frontman Ray Raposa a great American songwriter. But there is no need to scour a leaked copy; we’re leaking it official style here on Asthmatic Kitty, one week early. Castanets’ new album, In the Vines, is now available for purchase in our shop for just $10 (+SH), or from the album’s page here.
Or, you can buy it from Ray himself by catching the Castanets on tour. Castanets will be travelling the Midwest and Eastern States, from Washington, DC to Athens, GA. See dates here.
"This is the Early Game" (Download)
SUFJAN TO SPEAK AND PERFORM AT PEN
October 16th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan Stevens will be appearing at the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in early November, but you can catch him performing for another New York acronymic mainstay, the PEN American Center (which officially stands for poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, and novelists) on November 28th at 8pm at Southpaw (125 Fifth Ave. Park Slope, Brooklyn). Sufjan will be speaking and performing alongside fellow writer/musicians Rick Moody, and John Wesley Harding (aka Wesley Stace).
Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $10 and available in advance from the Southpaw website.
UNUSUAL ANIMALS IN SPACE AND RADIO
October 12th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
In about a week, Unusual Animals will arrive in Houston and Portland. As is protocol, we have incorporated artists from those two events into the blustering airwaves of akradio – which you can access by clicking on akradio just below our banner.
But that’s not all in UA news. When Unusual Animals first crawled onto land, it did so from a pool of oozing vinyl in the from of a limited print double side series featuring eclectic experiments by Asthmatic Kitty Records artists and friends. From there, the idea propagated into Unusual Animals Parties, live events with an Asthmatic Kitty artist highlighting local fringe musicians and businesses. Now, catalogers will have to change their genus-differentia of Unusual Animals to include art, with the evolution of this project into the Unusual Animals Project Space in Indianapolis, Indiana.
On October 31st, UA Project Space, Asthmatic Kitty Records, and Kangaroo Press present the official debut of the specialized gallery, along with live music by Castanets, newly announced Cryptacize, Deer Tick, and Bronze Float. The Harrison Center for the Arts, a gallery with studio space housing 23 artists and VSA Arts, is hosting the UA Project Space. Music will be in the Harrison Center Underground.
Because the Unusual Animals Project Space will promote installation art from aspiring and established artists alike, local and national, it will be the first of its kind in Indianapolis. Cindy Hinant, the Space’s first artist and co-curater with our very own Michael Kaufmann, will present Cascades, a representation of Hinant’s personal mythology with nature. The environment will combines images from popular culture and childish shapes to describe the relationship she has with the natural world.
Doors open at 7pm on October 31st. Admission is $6.
ROUND-UP WITH HALF-HANDED CLOUD
October 2nd, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Half-Handed Cloud is all around these days, so there’s only one good way to do this. Close your eyes for a moment, then envision an Indiana Jones style map of musicography, with John Ringhofer of HHC traveling to and fro leaving little red lines tracing his steps.
Now read this (you might have to open your eyes again):
Start at the record label Happy Happy Birthday to Me, where HHC has left a brand new song entitled, "Couple Kings Close the Road on a Giant, part 1." The compilation is only $10, and features many artists including Red Pony Clock, Keith John Adams, the Melody Function, and Men in Fur. Order it here before the limited press runs dry.
Now, draw a red line from there to the Northwest U.S., where HHC is mini-touring with Olympia Washington’s very own hand-clapping-pop band Lake. Stops include Oakland, Arcata, Olympia, Bellingham, Seattle, and of course the Portland Unusual Animals party. See the dates here, and read more about the party at this news item.
Ok. Cue dramatic John Williams travel music and chart another line from there to the Seven Inch Project, where HHC has created a wonderful and rare artifact, a six-song, 7" vinyl, complete with gatefold sleeve. The 7" hasn’t transpired yet for wide consumption, but if you wait for a bit (and dodge the swinging axes and poison arrow darts) you can order it here.
Tired? HHC isn’t! John is covering a medley of WHY? songs for a new WHY? single on Anticon Records due out in November. Visit Anticon’s website often for details.
To Sounds Familyre, HHC heads next, to pen this tale for perusal by the the readers of blogs everywhere. And, yes, his story does involve poison and Scots!
And finally, one last thick red line to home! HHC is adding to the Unusual Animals Vinyl Series here on Asthmatic Kitty with a 7", split right now its vinyl center with the West Coast’s post-angst Ariel Pink. Watch this space for further information.
To be continued . . .!
CRYPTACIZE, MEET EVERYONE; EVERYONE, CRYPTACIZE
September 25th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Cryptacize has joined the Asthmatic Kitty family, and everyone around here is happier for it. Here is why:
1. The band was birthed near C&H Sugar Factory, which you can take a panoramic tour of by clicking here.
2. The band’s name comes from a toothpaste-related incident. However antithetical that sounds due to the bands’ proximity to a sugar factory, it is true.
3. This cowbell video on YouTube. If you watch it, your eyes will text message you "WE R AMAZED."
Together, Chris Cohen of The Curtains and formerly of Deerhof, soloist Nedelle Torrisi, and percussionist Michael Carreira are on a mission. We didn’t bother to ask them what it was though because we were too busy tapping our feet to their beat, but if the crusade is as pleasant to ingest as their music, we’re in.
They mean business. You can tell because of the look in their eyes, and their upcoming tourdates. They promised to release an album one day and we’re holding them to it. We’ll let you know more when we can. Click here for their artist page.
UNUSUAL ANIMALS EMERGE IN PORTLAND
September 24th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
We didn’t think it was possible either, but here they are, staring at us from the darkness of two sides of the country: two herds of Unusual Animals appearing at the same time, one in Houston, and then this variant, peering up from the waters that run beneath the bridges of Portland.
Our own Half-handed Cloud will be there of course, making the migration from the coast, but so too will indigenous Portland booty-shaking The Beauty, the lo-fi-ically precise Upsidedown Cat, and the charmed-before-you-know-it Kelli Schaefer, as well as nearby Olympia Washington’s hand-clapping Lake.
Film too! Thanks to The Journal of Short Film, who must have tossed the right kind of fish food into the Columbia river, these Animals also include works from acclaimed filmmakers like Jeremy Bird, Uli Beutter, Ryan Jeffrey, Karl Lind, Matt McCormick Vanessa Renwick, Stephen Slappe, and Chel White.
Yes, there will be puppetry.
Did we say this is for humans of all ages, and free? It is.
Click more to see an illustrated representation of the Portlandian Unusuals by Jesse Hamm.
UNUSUAL ANIMALS CORRALLED INTO HOUSTON
September 21st, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
You’ve seen them before. Maybe in Austin, Brooklyn, or Indianapolis. You thought they were a bit peculiar, a little errant, unusual even. Furry, maybe. Sometimes not. But animals. Definitely animals. Unusual Animals.
We predict an appearance of these creatures again, this time in Houston, Texas. If the trend continues, a band or two from our own roster will show up – probably Future Rapper, and perhaps someone else. We also think local bands will emerge from the foliage, bands like Hearts of Animals, The Wiggins, Space City Gamelan, or Moth Fight. Carefully fed and cared for by generous hosts like KTRU, Microcenema, Poison Girl bar, Saint Arnold’s Brewery, Signal to Noise, Sound Exchange, and Tito’s Vodka, these animals will congregate and find friends on October 20, 3pm at the Diverseworks Art Space.
Payment of course will be unnecessary, as these wondrous creatures operate on instinct alone, and perhaps a little love.
MBD OVER THE SEA AND WITH TIM
September 18th, 2007 , by Asthmatic Kitty
My Brightest Diamond has crossed the ocean! She’s touring in Europe for September, hitting the festivals and then some clubs in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland. After that she’ll return home for a brief spin around the Midwest, Canada, and New England, joined this time with Tim Fite. Tim crafts some very fine sample-pop gems. If you don’t believe us, go to his website and download his latest album, Over the Counter Culture…FOR FREE! Then you can even sing along at the shows!
Click here for tourdates.