Announcing A Beginner’s Mind, a New Album by Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine
July 7th, 2021 , by Asthmatic Kitty
AKR is proud to announce A Beginner’s Mind, the new album from Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine. The album is set for release on September 24 on CD, LP, cassette, and digital. You can pre-order the AKR exclusive in “Beginner’s Mind Ocean Blue” colored 12-inch LP and all other physical formats, from our store here. Read more about the record here.
Artist Daniel Anum Jasper illustrated the cover and artwork throughout the packaging.
Two songs from the album, “Reach Out, inspired by Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire, and “Olympus,” inspired by the 1981 Clash of the Titans, debut today along with a video for “Reach Out” shot by Sufjan and Angelo (and starring their respective dogs Joku [a Jindo] and Charlie [a Havanese]) and edited and directed by Jess Calleiro. Watch the video on YouTube here and Vimeo here, and hear both songs by clicking here.
“Reach Out” and “Olympus” are available on 7-inch in “Olympus Metallic Owl Silver,” with artwork illustrated by Daniel Anum Jasper. The 7-inch ships August 11th and is available for pre-order here.
Also available for pre-order is a “Completist Bundle,” which includes the full LP in “Beginner’s Mind Ocean Blue,” the 7-inch of “Reach Out” and “Olympus,” and two future 7-inches. That pre-order is available here. View all the available pre-order options, including a hat designed by Angelo De Augustine, here.
Sufjan Stevens’ five-volume Convocations is available digitally
May 12th, 2021 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan’s five-volume instrumental album Convocations is out today on most digital platforms (and available tomorrow, Friday, on all digital platforms). Click here to listen. And you can watch the accompanying, full-length generative video work by Mexican artist Melissa Fuentes here, or below.
The physical 5-LP boxset will be available on August 20th. Check your local record store for pre-order availability.
Sufjan has also released a special, hand-made, tie-dyed Convocations themed t-shirt, which you can pre-order for $35 plus shipping here.
Announcing Convocations by Sufjan Stevens
April 2nd, 2021 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Convocations, a new instrumental album by Sufjan Stevens, will be released on May 6 digitally, and on August 20th, 2021 via 5xLP colored vinyl boxset .
Convocations is comprised of five volumes—Meditations, Lamentations, Revelations, Celebrations and Incantations—the project is a two-and-a-half-hour, 49-track reflection on a year of anxiety, uncertainty, isolation, and loss. Read more about the project here.
You can hear the first song from the project, “Meditation V,” right now by clicking here.
The full volume of Meditations will be out this Thursday, April 8. We’ll be releasing the other four volumes each week for the next four weeks. See schedule below for details.
Each of the volumes and tracks of Convocations are accompanied by a generative video art piece created by artist Melissa Fuentes.
Also: please save the date and join us on Thursday at 12pm ET, when we’ll be premiering Meditations in full, alongside with Fuentes’ visuals, via YouTube livestream here. The livestream will remain active during that week to come, and we encourage you to join in the stream’s chat throughout to reflect, respond, meditate, lament, revel, celebrate, and incant what we’ve gained and what we’ve lost over the last year, and what we see on the horizon.
We are also releasing Convocations on 5xLP on August 20th. You’ll be able to pre-order the boxset on Thursday, April 8th at 1pm ET here or over at Bandcamp here. See photos below.
Schedule
Today
“Meditation V” out now.
Thursday April 8
12PM ET: Livestream of Meditations.
1PM ET: Pre-orders available for 5xLP boxset
Monday April 12
“Lamentation II”
Thursday April 15
12PM ET: Livestream of Lamentations
Monday April 19:
“Revelation II”
Thursday April 22
12PM ET: Livestream of Revelations
Monday April 26
“Celebration VIII”
Thursday April 29
12PM ET: Livestream of Celebrations
Monday May 3:
“Incantation VIII”
Thursday May 6
12PM ET: Livestream of Incantations,
1PM ET: full Convocations project available on digital platforms
August 20th
5xLP boxsets ship (first pressing).
Click here to follow the schedule on our Sufjan calendar.
Video Debut for Sufjan’s “Tell Me You Love Me,” Directed by Luca Guadagnino
February 11th, 2021 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Sufjan has released a music video directed by Luca Guadagnino for “Tell Me You Love Me,” from The Ascension. Sufjan previously collaborated with Guadagnino director for the 2018 film Call Me By Your Name.
The music video features work by Alessio Bolzoni and Celia Hempton.
Regarding the video, Guadagnino says:
“The aching feeling of loving and wanting to be loved, the mystery of bodies that clash, the uncanny aspects of nature, the sublime music poetry and voice of Sufjan—all this went into this video that I am proud to have made with the collaboration of two more great artists, Alessio Bolzoni and Celia Hempton.”
You can purchase The Ascension at your local record store, or from our store here, or stream it here.
Sufjan has also released a new “Tell Me You Love Me” themed t-shirt.” You can pre-order the shirt at our store here.
“My Rajneesh” by Sufjan Stevens available now
July 10th, 2020 , by Asthmatic Kitty
“My Rajneesh,” the B-Side to the 12-inch single of “America” culled from the sessions for Carrie & Lowell, is out on digital platforms today. You can hear it below, or on your preferred digital platform by clicking here.
The 12-inch 45rpm is out in record stores on July 31st. Check with your local store for availability.
Announcing The Ascension, a new studio album by Sufjan Stevens, available September 25.
June 30th, 2020 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Important note: CD/LP/Tape release date moved to October 2nd due to COVID-19 related manufacturing and logistics delays. Digital and streaming is still set for release on September 25th.
Track listing:
- Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse (5:19)
- Run Away With Me (4:07)
- Video Game (4:16)
- Lamentations (3:42)
- Tell Me You Love Me (4:22)
- Die Happy (5:47)
- Ativan (6:32)
- Ursa Major (3:43)
- Landslide (5:04)
- Gilgamesh (3:50)
- Death Star (4:04)
- Goodbye To All That (3:48)
- Sugar (7:37)
- The Ascension (5:56)
- America (12:30)
All songs written, recorded and produced by Sufjan Stevens.
Cover art and album design by Sufjan Stevens.
Info and pre-orders for UK/EU available here.
Info and pre-orders for US and rest of world available here.
Subscribe to the YouTube Premiere of “America” here.
Sufjan & Lowell’s Aporia Out Now
March 23rd, 2020 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Check your local record store today for physical copies
Read the Rest...Now Available: “The Runaround,” the newest single from Sufjan and Lowell’s Aporia
February 19th, 2020 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Two weeks ago we announced Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams’ instrumental new age album, Aporia, set for release here on AKR on March 27, 2020. You can watch the promo video and hear the first single, “The Unlimited,” here.
Today we’re releasing “The Runaround,” the second single, along with a video set to the track.
The video, shot and edited by ABUTTA492, features Bike Life bikers on the streets of Harlem and NYC, Atlanta, and Miami. You can watch more of ABUTTA492’s Bike Life videos on his Youtube channel or his Instagram. You can also learn more about Miami’s Bike Life movement by watching the short documentary “Bikes Up Guns Down,” available here.
Watch and listen to “The Runaround” here.
Aporia is out March 27th. You can pre-order the limited edition yellow LP, yellow cassette, or CD here.
Decalogue Score Available for Purchase
December 11th, 2019 , by Asthmatic Kitty
Last month we released The Decalogue, composed by Sufjan Stevens and performed and recorded by Timo Andres.
The deluxe limited edition, which you can purchase here, includes a 40-page piano score.
But if you don’t have a record player but want to play the etudes at home, you’re still in luck; the score is available for purchase separately, as a 40-page physical book, or as a digital, downloadable PDF. You can purchase it here for $15 for the physical and $5 for the PDF.
Sufjan Debuts “IV” from The Decalogue
October 4th, 2019 , by Asthmatic Kitty
A couple of weeks ago, we announced The Decalogue, a recording of Sufjan’s score for Justin Peck’s ballet of the same name, performed by pianist Timo Andres.
Today you can hear “IV,” the fourth etude of ten on The Decalogue, on your usual digital streaming platform, or on YouTube with animation by Stephen Halker of Unreasonable Studios here.
You can also listen on your favorite streaming platform here.
We’re releasing The Decalogue digitally and on limited deluxe vinyl edition on October 18th. You’ll be able to find it at your favorite local record store, or you can preorder it here.
The deluxe edition includes a 40-page song chart book.
Below are the charts for “IV.”
