NEWLY RELEASED: MAKE DVD

June 21st, 2011 , by

The best art is that which uses the engine of inspiration to in turn create more art. So today we are honored to be releasing MAKE on DVD, a documentary film that explores the lives of four American self-taught artists, all of whom use simple materials to create remarkable and thought-provoking work. The journey of the film from concept to today's release has been a long one for filmmakers Scott Ogden and Malcolm Hearn; years, really, of travel,  investigation, interviewing, research, editing, collecting, and documenting. Their work, if we may be so bold, mirrors the quality of the artists that they document in the film. 
 
And it is MAKE that also inspired Sufjan Stevens' most recent album, The Age of Adz. Sufjan based the framework of the album after seeing Prophet Royal Robertson's work featured in MAKE. (Royal's artwork is also in the liner notes of the CD and LP.) 
 
You can see this remarkable film for yourself by purchasing the DVD for $15. We also have a digital version available for $10. Click here to do either.
Feel free to play or download Sufjan’s “Get Real, Get Right” below, a track from Adz heavily inspired by the art of Prophet Royal Robertson.

SECOND SUFJAN STEVENS SHOW ADDED TO PROSPECT PARK

June 14th, 2011 , by


Photo by Mattias Johansson

EDIT: preorder tickets go live today (June 15) at 10AM EST at Etix.
The Password is "heirloom" (without quotes): http://bit.ly/m7EqMI 

You went and did it! Undeterred by swelter and sweat and mosquitos and rising crime rates in the surrounding area, you bought all the tickets to Sufjan's Celebrate Brooklyn! show in NYC's Prospect Park on August 2. Wow! Thanks so much! 

Problem though. Sufjan and crew just finished up their European tour, and people seemed to really, really like it. That's not the problem, but do check out these normally reserved British folk in the comment section on the  on the 4-star review in the Guardian: "Utterly mad, utterly beautiful," "My face hurts from 2 1/2 hours of grinning ear to ear," "Ambitious, silly, indulgent and profoundly moving," "The rest of the crowd went absolutely mental." Ok, fine and good, but…back to that problem. 
 
See, Sufjan still has an enormous overstock of balloons and confetti and neon gaffe tape. Soooo what do do? There's only one thing to do: ADD A SECOND SHOW! How's August 3rd sound? Good? Good! 
 
This will be your last chance to see the Adz tour in all its bright, balloony glory! And to see Sufjan actually outdoors. Imagine this, but outside! For the last time! Ok, we said that it was your last chance when we announced the August 2nd show, but this time we mean business. 

And by business we mean tickets. Presale tickets for the second benefit concert go on sale tomorrow from 10AM-10PM EST (Wednesday June 15th) at Etix, and general admission tickets will go sale Friday the 17th on Ticketmaster right here.

TICKETS FOR SUFJAN AT PROSPECT PARK ON SALE 10AM EST

April 6th, 2011 , by

A reminder: tickets for Sufjan Stevens' summer outdoor show in Prospect Park in August go on sale on Etix at 10AM EST today (Wednseday, April 6th). Click here for details. You'll need the password "Heirloom" to purchase from this link: http://bit.ly/gauVaq.

SUFJAN STEVENS TO PLAY PROSPECT PARK IN AUGUST

April 4th, 2011 , by

Summer in Brooklyn: friends, fireflies, stoop sales, racial tension, black-outs, car theft, homicide, real estate busts, and…Celebrate Brooklyn! Where the World's Greatest Borough puts on the World's Greatest Summer Festival in the World's Greatest Urban Park. That's what we call Prospect Park!

Our Very Own Megalomaniac Master of Musical Disguises Sufjan Stevens will be making a rare outdoor appearance at the infamous bandshell on Tuesday August 2, 2011 for the annual Celebrate Brooklyn! festival. He'll be performing with his 10-piece intergalactic ensemble of musical muppets from the Age of Adz tour. What does that mean for you? Do the math: Prog-pop space jams + extra-terrestrial dancers + excessive neon gaff tape + cosmic eurhythmy + hot booty moves + a frenetic video display + hometown advantage = Life Affirming Summer Spectacular Event of a Lifetime (and other superlatives).
 
Did we already say it's outdoors? Under the Brooklyn sky, surrounded by sycamores and flickering fireflies, and city smog…This is a rare treat! Sufjan does not typically play outdoor stages. Nor does he have any festival appearances scheduled for 2011. This is your last chance to see Adz in all its glory! And we promise it will be a total blow-out!
 
Tickets for the show are will go on sale for general public on Friday, but you can get special preorder tickets for $35 (+fees) from Etix on Wednesday April 6th. Those tickets will be at this link at 10AM EST April 6th: http://bit.ly/gauVaq. The password is (whisper): Heirloom.

SUFJAN STEVENS TO TOUR EUROPE

February 23rd, 2011 , by

Sufjan Stevens at The Tivoli – Brisbane Australia 30th Jan 2011 – Photo by StephenBooth

Do you remember 2006? That was the year we lost contact with Pioneer 10, Italy won their fourth FIFA World Cup, and No 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock became the most expensive painting ever sold. Good times!

It was also the last time Sufjan set foot in Europe as a touring musician. And this year  (is it already 2011?) he will do so again, landing first in Norway, moving to Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Ireland, Holland, Italy, and finishing in Spain and Portugal. 
 
Sufjan has toured the US, Australia, and New Zealand and the shows involved gratuitous amounts of dancing, neon gaffe tape, balloons, and DM Stith (in the US anyway). We imagine this tour will be more of the same, in a very, very good way. And yes, our own DM Stith will open!
 
We hope you can go. Tour dates and buy links are here.

HAPPY YEAR OF THE RABBIT

February 3rd, 2011 , by

Today, February 3rd, 2011, is the first day of the Year of the Rabbit. People born this year will be articulate, talented, and ambitious. They will be most compatible with those born in the years of of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.

To commermate the Year of the Rabbit, we are offering Sufjan Stevens' Enjoy Your Rabbit for $5 in MP3 form for a limited time. You can buy it here. We hope you enjoy it.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM AK

December 23rd, 2010 , by

Well folks, this is it. We are officially knee-deep in the holiday season. So, from everyone here at Asthmatic Kitty Records Headquarters, we wish you well and hope you spend the next bit of time happily and with loved ones. 

Because it's Christmas, there is, of course, plenty of music to go around. NY Mag has two songs from Sufjan Stevens and the Dessner Brothers (of The National). Those songs are here. Also, Sufjan, along with our own Helado Negro and Half-handed Cloud, contributed to this year's volume A Familyre Christmas. You can stream and download for free here. Sufjan's own Christmas collection is here. You can stream it for free or download it for $12.
 
If the Ghost of Christmas Past were here, he'd remind us of the Great Sufjan Song Xmas Xchange from a couple years back. You'll recall that Sufjan picked Alec Duffy's phenomenal "Every Day is Christmas" as the winner. You can hear it here. We also created a mighty fine AKradio playlist of the runners-up, culled from over 600 original Christmas song submissions. Kick that into Christmas cheer gear by clicking  here. And finally, there's a sled-full of AK/Sufjan Christmas goodness including a tinseltastic flash game by Tom DesLongChamp, right…over…..HERE. There kids, that should keep you busy for a while.
 
Once again, Happy Christmas and thanks to all of you out there for making our Christmas bright. 

PEOPLE; ALL OF THEM, DELIGHTED FOR SUFJAN VINYL, CD [FREE MP3]

December 10th, 2010 , by

Do you break for tangible? Do you have a landline phone? Do you like writing letters – ones  that do not require an "@" symbol or fit on paper, not 140 character limits? (We answered yes to all of the above.) Then you will be mightily interested to know that Sufjan Stevens' All Delighted People EP is now officially in the real world, on Compact Disc and LP. Buy the CD here $8+S&H and the LP – we're talking gatefold here people – for $20+S&H here. And of course you can travel on a real bike or car or bus or sidewalk to your local neighborhood record store. They have real shelves with which to stock real goods. 

Speaking of Sufjan. An up and coming producer going by InfinitRock and coming out of Red Hook, NY – working from Base Trip Records – remixed "All For Myself" from The Age of Adz. The remix is a sleek and stylish piece of work. We hope you enjoy it. If you do, you can download InfinitiRock's most recent album for free here.

“All For Myself” (Remixed by InfinitiRock) (Download)

SUFJAN TO PERFORM ON JIMMY FALLON [TOP SECRET CODE]

November 15th, 2010 , by


 

As you can see above in a very expensive and time-consuming simulation generated by our Official Asthmatic Kitty Department of Photoshopical Reality Generation, Jimmy Fallon has been thinking about Sufjan Stevens. Or maybe he hasn't and his people just booked Sufjan to perform, in which case we'll be canning the entire department for an inaccurate representation. Either way, Jimmy Fallon will be watching Sufjan Stevens perform on his show on November 19th. 
 
You can watch along with Jimmy if you tune into NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that Friday night at 12:35am (technically Saturday morning we guess). Or, if you're in the vicinity of 30 Rockefeller Plaza NYC that night, you could sit on the show's super special exclusive "Band Bench." We think that means you get good seats somewhere near Sufjan's band. Go here, and use the code "SUF" (generated by our Official Asthmatic Kitty Department of Poor Code Generation) for your chance to warm your buns on the said band bench.
 
UPDATE: Our own DM Stith will also be performing in Sufjan's band!

TOO MUCH FROM SUFJAN STEVENS [FREE MP3]

September 9th, 2010 , by

The internet is an amazing place, yes? We are able to transmit music quickly and efficiently in ways previously unheard of.

Here, for example, is "Too Much," the second track from Sufjan Stevens' The Age of Adz. 

If you preorder the album now, you can get the entire album similarly transmitted in digital form two weeks early. Do that right here.

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