Sep 17, 2009

Casey Foubert (Sufjan Stevens) and James McAlister’s (Ester Drang) “Dung Beetle” is the last stop on this week’s exclusive MP3 train for Asthmatic Kitty‘s Library Music Catalog. Click here and here for our first two posts. The clicking and whirring “Dung Beetle” is off Music for Drums, the first in a series of albums conceived by the indie-rock pair using only various percussive instruments, software effects and “pattern-based sequencing with samplers.” This particular track sounds like an ensemble of inectoids jamming in space.

Keep in mind that the second installment of the AK series (Vol. 4-6) comes out in December with some big names from the AK roster stepping up to the plate. There are more volumes slated for 2010 as well. You can purchase or learn more about any of these discs directly from Asthmatic Kitty’s site.

Sep 17, 2009

Watch on YouTube

Former Marzuki collaborator Shannon Stevens (no relation to Sufjan Stevens) just released her sophomore LP, via Asthmatic Kitty. Her folk-y first single, “In Summer in the Heat,” now has brightly lit, Brakhage-like clip attached to it. The track’s minimal guitar and vocal arrangements play like a morose Connect the Dots game between Rosie Thomas, Aimee Mann and Sufjan Stevens. This is lovely stuff that makes one glad Stephens came back to music after becoming a mother. The MP3 for the track, along with others, are available here.

Sep 17, 2009

Logan Lynn hails from Portland, OR and crafts some delightfully warm synth-pop on his debut full-length, From Pillar to Post. That album drops November 24th via The Dandy Warhols’ Beat the World, but we have a slick preview MP3 above for your earlobes. It’s called “Feed Me to the Wolves” and toes the line between Cut Copy‘s epic chimes and Ladytron‘s dancefloor squiggling.

Lynn is giving away a four-volume remix EP with every purchase of his record directly from his website. Remixers include Boy In Static, Y-Tron and Sound//Audio. According to Lynn’s publicist he’ll release the songs digitally Spring 2010, via iTunes, et al.

Sep 16, 2009

Watch on YouTube

Throw Me the Statue go on a Northwest safari in the very Phil Ek-produced, Creaturesque track “Hi-Fi Goon.” Scott Reitherman and his crew leave breakfast early to chase after an elephant from the zoo. They visit a junk shop for some proper safari equipment, kick and headbutt some boards at a dojo and track zebras and giraffes. The funny clip was directed by Tree Filmworks’ Jason Argyropoulos.

TNTS’s “Hi-Fi Goon” is featured on their recent Secretly Canadian release, Creaturesque. The lo-fi-gone-hi-fi quartet is currently finishing up a U.S. tour

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Sep 16, 2009

Icelandic experimental pop musician, Sin Fang Bous, aka Sindri Mar Sigfusson, is touring with the U.S. and Canada in late October with Múm, in support of his solo debut, Clangour (Morr Music). Sigfusson is the founder of the Reykjavik-based folk-pop band Seabear.

According to a press release, the name of Sigfusson’s solo venture stems from a shortened version of his birth name, his teeth and his perception of what his music sounds like. On the clattering “Catch the Light,” Sigfusson layers and loops sounds over the shambolic folk cut. Old school Animal Collective and Caribou fans will certainly enjoy this.

Sin Fang Bous Tour with Múm:
10-21 Somerville, MA - The Somerville Theatre
10-22 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian
10-23 Washington, D.C. - Black Cat
10-24 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
10-26 Montreal, Canada - Le National
10-27 Toronto, Canada- Phoenix Concert Theatre
10-28 Chicago, IL - Logan Square
10-29 Minneapolis, MN - McGuire Theater
11-01 Calgary, Canada - Marquee Room
11-02 Vancouver, WA - Richards on Richards
11-03 Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market
11-04 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
11-05 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
11-06 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
11-07 Santa Ana, CA- Yost Theatre

Sep 16, 2009

My Robot Friend‘s Soft Parts is “Howard Robot”‘s third full-length, Soft-Core. It’s coming out October 13th on Soft-Core Records, which is the label owned by Dean Wareham.

The album features a ton of collaborations with artists such as Alison Moyet (Yaz(oo)), Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna), Zombie Nation, and Outputmessage. The latter appears on the New York infectious electro pop cut “Misfits Fight Song,” which you can download above. Fire up your Casio friends.

Sep 16, 2009

Today we give you the second part of our exclusive premieres from the first three volumes of Asthmatic Kitty‘s recently released Library Catalog Music. The slightly ambient instrumentals that make up the first installment are supposedly, “designed for possible use in films and television, as background sounds for home or office, or sundry personal needs, such as relaxation, stimulation, meditation, concentration or elevation.”

Bellevue, Washington’s Law of the Least Effort (or Sufjan Stevens/Crystal Skulls live musician Casey Foubert, Yuuki Matthews, James McAlister, Josh Ottum, C.J. Camerieri, Steve Moore and Richard Swift) score the second volume, entitled Music For Measurements. That disc’s second track, “Lobby Call,” gives you a great introduction to this groovy disc. It’s a deep-soul funk number with a strong jazz influence on the percussion. Enjoy. We’ll bring you Casey Foubert/James McAlister’s “Dung Beetle,” off Music For Drums, tomorrow.

Keep in mind that the second installment of the AK series (Vol. 4-6) comes out in December with some big names from the AK roster stepping up to the plate. There are more volumes slated for 2010 as well.