One of our favorite things around here is seeing our artists meander around the country spreading great music, so you can imagine our giddiness when two of our artists decided to pal up and tagteam an east-of-Lake-Minnetonka tour. The team? Sufjan Stevens and Cryptacize. Click more to read details.

We wanted to make this as equitable for all of the fans so there are a few things to read carefully here. Due to the sizes of the venues, tickets will be limited. With that in mind, we wanted to avoid ticket scalpers and ensure that as many fans as possible could attend these shows. Tickets must be picked up at will-call the night of the show (not mailed), tickets are non-transferable and purchaser must present a government-issued photo ID. Also, there is a two ticket limit per purchaser. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

!!UPDATE – AUGUST 17th!!
This tour is sold-out.

09-21: Philadelphia, PA –  Johnny Brenda’s (SOLD OUT)
09-22: Philadelphia, PA –  Johnny Brenda’s (SOLD OUT)
09-23: Ithaca, NY – Castaways (SOLD OUT)
09-24: Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
09-25: Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
09-26: Champaign, IL – The High Dive (SOLD OUT)
09-27: Minneapolis, MN – 400 Bar (SOLD OUT)
09-28: Madison, WI – The Majestic (SOLD OUT)
09-29: Bloomington, IN – Buskirk Chumley (SOLD OUT)
10-01: Toronto, ON – Lee’s Place (SOLD OUT)
10-02: Montreal, QC – Cabaret (SOLD OUT)
10-03: Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
10-04: New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
10-05: New York, NY  – Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
10-06: Brooklyn, NY – Hall at Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)
10-07: Brooklyn, NY – Hall at Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)

Back in October of 2007, Sufjan Stevens debuted The BQE—a visual and musical homage to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway—at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in downtown Brooklyn. Originally commissioned by BAM for the Next Wave Festival, the BQE featured three simultaneous film projections, a 35-piece band and orchestra, and live hula hoopers for a 3-night run.

One week following the performances, Sufjan and his orchestra went into the studio to record the soundtrack, but afterwards, feeling disenfranchised by the magnitude of the universe, Sufjan decided to shelve the project. Until now. Two years later, Sufjan found inspiration to mix the music, edit the video and expand the project to include photographs, liner notes, a comic book, and a stereoscopic image reel—a multi-media package that attempts to render this much-loathed urban expressway into a conscionable work of art.

The release date is set for October 20, 2009. The double-disc album will include the original film on DVD, the original soundtrack on CD, a 40-page booklet (with photos and liner notes), and a stereoscopic image reel (aka View-Master®), created by illustrator Stephen Halker.

The limited edition vinyl is available as a double gatefold and includes the soundtrack on 180-gram vinyl, a large-scale 32-page booklet with liner notes and photographs, and a 40-page Hooper Heroes comic book.

You can read a more complete description of the release here. An HD version of the trailer is here.

If you understood any of the words in that title, and you enjoy the music of Sufjan Stevens, then you will thoroughly enjoy Tape Op‘s interview with Sufjan. Our very own Rafter is interviewer, and he diligently mines out all the gnarly details of Sufjan’s recording process and finally solves the Great 32kHz Michigan Mystery. NYC recording studio The Buddy Project has it partially posted right here. For the complete interview, buy a shiny copy at your favorite newstand, or better yet – subscribe already!

For those wishing a less numerical Sujfan read, you may instead peruse his new post on the Sidebar, which tackles topics wholly unrelated to sound engineering. Read here.

We here at Asthmatic Kitty Records hope that your holiday season is warm, cheery, and full of family and friends. To help a little, we’ve put together a package of fun goodies on our special Christmas section of Asthmatic Kitty. Click here to visit the site. But in case you don’t want to take the time to unwrap, here’s a descriptive list:

Thanks to the hard work of iAppeal Media you can now send your friend or family a wonderful eCard, heralded by your very own decorated Sufjan-elf! Thanks iAppeal!

Chiptune artist Leeni scored Tom’s game, but she has also converted the soundtrack into downloadable ringtones. Thanks Leeni!

Of course, the kids need something to color while you’re sneaking someone that mistletoe kiss. Laura Park comes bearing coloring book ornamnets. Thanks Laura!

And finally, throw some logs on the fire, snuggle up to loved ones, put your laptop on the other side of the room (so it doesn’t overheat and catch on fire), and load up the complete, free stream of Sufjan’s Songs for Christmas, as well as the winners of last year’s Christmas contest. Thanks Sufjan! Thanks musicians from all over the world!

Click here to visit our Christmas site, or here to order Sufjan’s 5-CD boxset, Songs for Christmas ($19+S&H).

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 […]

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!

This Saturday night, August 9th, Austin City Limits is encoring Sufjan Stevens’ live performance alongside the extensive and talented Band of Butterflies. Calexico (who has a new album due this September 9th!) follows. Check your local listings for times.

Last year, Sufjan Stevens composed and performed an orchestral piece inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) at the Brooklyn Academy for Music. If you went, you surely remember the Hula Hoopers. (If you didn’t go, you might have read Sufjan’s essay on the relationship between the BQE and hula hoops, available here.)

Well, it shouldn’t surprise you to know that someone designed the hula hoops employed by the dancers. That someone was Elaine Tian of Circle Candy. Sufjan commissioned Elaine to custom-design the hoops, and custom design she did. These are not only cheery and colorful, but versatile and sturdy. Perfect for hula-ing!

And they’re now for sale in Elaine’s store on Etsy, in a limited edition set of 50, for just $30(+S&H) each. As of right now only 10 are left! There is some cursory scientific evidence suggesting that frequent use of well-designed hula hoops such as these, in multiple locations at once, can in fact modify the trade winds and beckon spring sooner than usual. You can purchase a hoop and look at more detailed photographs here.

The hard working souls at Stereogum managed to wrangle the following little video gem from the depths of YouTube. If you don’t smile by the time one of the students pretends to bite into a candy cane, please say hello for us to the three apparitions of various timeframes that you’ll be seeing tonight.

Thanks to the Grade Four students who worked so hard at this wonderful video!

Oh yes, and Merry Christmas from Asthmatic Kitty!

A message From Sufjan Stevens, followed by the winning entry and by a message from the AK Elves:"Having received over 600 Christmas song entries, it became a daunting task to pick just one. I fell in love with them all. Even the songs with expletives, the songs with Christmas clichés, the many songs about ex-girlfriends, […]