Come on Sufjan do a cheer! Yay! No? Well, alright then. We’ll just pretend you aren’t staring off into the distance like we don’t exist. Asthmatic Kitty is probably best known for the music of (and co-founder) Sufjan Stevens, who better get cracking on his 50 albums in his lifetime project he set for himself some years back. We only have two states since 2003, and in that a b-side record for one of them.
Interestingly enough, the original text in the online liner notes for their Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation disc read, ”Sufjan Stevens is not going to write a record for each of the 50 states after all.” This statement was possibly included as a joke, as the text has since been removed and the current liner notes related to Stevens reads, “18. Sufjan Stevens can fold a fitted-sheet (he once worked as a professional folder in a commercial laundromat).”
Moving along to the topic at hand, according to the Asthmatic Kitty website, on April 30th, they announced the release of seven new artists. From the website directly:
“We have not added any new artists in a while, but we are making up for lost time by announcing not just one addition, but seven new artists, including six diverse musical acts and a visual artist. Ermasse Zopoula, DM Stith, Welcome Wagon, I Heart Lung, Shannon Stephens, Osso, and illustrator Laura Park will all be added to the roster. To showcase these new artists, we are releasing a free sampler album with one piece of work from each of the new signings. The album, which consists of songs in various stages (demos, previous releases, works in progress, etc.) and an illustration, is available via download here and stream at Muxtape.com by clicking here.
Click more to see what these brave new artists are up to right now. You can also buy the very first release from this new group, a minicomic from Laura Park, here, for just $3 (+S&H).
DM Smith was raised in a family of band directors, opera singers, amateur astronomers, and percussionists, David grew up shy about performing and avoided a life of music. He attended art school in New York, illustrated children’s books, wrote novels, and worked on visual art until meeting Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens, and many others in the New York independent music scene who coaxed out of him his long-standing private love of singing and composition.
Ermasse presently lives in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa, works for the state-run Air Burkina, and occasionally rents a beat-up truck to short-term visitors to the country while also acting as a translator. For the last few months he’s spent his Sunday afternoons in the National music studio recording songs for his first studio effort. He is also a very talented Moped operator.
I Heart Lung, a Los Angeles-based drums and guitar duo, is due to embark on a west coast tour with San Francisco band ellul. Look for new record out early fall, as well as a split 12″ on Thor’s Rubber Hammer Productions in September and collaboration with visual artist Jonathan Dueck.
Osso, when not losing quartet members (Marla Hansen, Rob Moose, Maria Bella Jeffers, and Olivier Manchon) to Jens Lekman, Antony, Kayne West, The National, Clare and the Reasons or Jay-Z, are currently working on string arrangements of Sufjan’s Enjoy Your Rabbit.
Shannon Stephens, a talented singer/songwriter and long time friend of the label resides in Seattle with her husband and daughter. Shannon formerly lived in Holland, Michigan, where she led the folk-rock group Marzuki, a college band that also included Matthew Haseltine, Jamie Kempkers, and Sufjan Stevens. A new album is on the horizon, but in the meantime you can hear her music covered by Will Oldham on his upcoming release.
Welcome Wagon have appeared on both Asthmatic Kitty “Mews” compilations. Vito and Monique Auito, the heart and soul of Welcome Wagon, are finishing up a new album which will see a late 2008 release.
Laura Park is working on a second minicomic (the first minicomic is available via asthmatickitty.com) as well as an anthology of her comics. She’s also finished a ten page story for Adhouse Book’s Superior Showcase Issue#3, which ships in June! When not writing and drawing, Laura ponders her secret plans for the perfect grapefruit salad.”
End Scene,
Dan Tana
No comments
Comments feed for this article