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Aporia approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes, suggesting the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage -- but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Yellow LP","offer_id":31713040203847,"sku":"AKR137LP-C1","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31713040171079,"sku":"AKR137LP","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR137-Digital.png?v=1580856865"},{"product_id":"denison-witmer-american-foursquare","title":"Denison Witmer - American Foursquare (Blue) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmerican Foursquare is a meditation on empathy, on love, and on the meaning of home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDenison began writing \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmerican Foursquare \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003eafter he and his family relocated from Philadelphia to his hometown of Lancaster in 2014, trading their 800-square-foot row home for a 100-year-old house on the edge of Lancaster City. 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This is an album of juxtapositions and contradictions, where joy and sorrow are underpinned by festive mourning, where balloons and tablecloths battle with trombones and pianos, and where the tape machine itself plays a vital role in the album’s drive, interrupting moments of ecstasy and revelation with varispeed pitch shifts and grainy decay. As with all things Half-handed Cloud, these songs are quick, bright, spastic, and fantastic. Whole libraries of sound and sense are compressed into mere seconds, with lyrical depth and wordplay conveying wit, wisdom, and existential anxiety that often seem at odds with the music’s joyful, child-like surfaces. At the center of this auditory journey lies the conscience and imagination of band-leader John Ringhofer, whose awe-and-wonder explorations of sound and unique spiritual conviction work in tandem to make sense of a world at odds with itself. 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Then exposed to sunlight beneath a negative, agitated in water, dried, with the process repeated for 2nd side.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #333333;\" color=\"#333333\"\u003eX-Acto cut, glued, with hand-painted watercolor sections\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #333333;\" color=\"#333333\"\u003eIndividually numbered (lacquer thinner transfer) \u0026amp; signed\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #333333;\" color=\"#333333\"\u003e4\" x 3\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Half-handed Cloud","offers":[{"title":"LP (Oxidized Tape Brown Colored Vinyl)","offer_id":39627299094599,"sku":"AKR147LP","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Super Duper Artist Book LP Bundle","offer_id":39627299389511,"sku":"AKR147LPAB","price":84.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP Bundle","offer_id":39658921918535,"sku":"AKR147LPBUNDLE","price":50.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR147-Digital-Cover-Art.jpg?v=1650476291"},{"product_id":"the-welcome-wagon-esther","title":"The Welcome Wagon - Esther (Pink) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome Wagon's fourth album\u003cem\u003e Esther\u003c\/em\u003e explores themes of homecoming and faith, recorded after the couple's transformative sabbatical journey.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Welcome Wagon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39755560255559,"sku":"AKR149LP","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR149_2000x2000_9c5fbf60-209d-4f33-bb52-35c574cabe8e.jpg?v=1661888456"},{"product_id":"angelo-de-augustine-27-hologram-cassingle","title":"Angelo De Augustine - 27 \/ Hologram Cassingle","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the course of three intimate and exceptional solo albums, Angelo De Augustine has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most gifted young songwriters of the modern age. The reclusive Southern California artist now returns with “27” and “Hologram,” two new singles that find De Augustine exploring Greek and Roman history, monsters and ghouls, evil, death, faith, love, destruction, and opposing deities. These originals–recorded, produced, and mixed by Angelo–hint at a larger sound to come, and a profound artistic evolution years in the making. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDe Augustine began work on “27” in 2019 while recording initial demos that would become A Beginner’s Mind, and features instrumental assistance from friend and label-mate Sufjan Stevens. “Hologram” alternately disguises its depths in the body of a simple folk song. Starting in 5\/4 time, the track’s dexterous octave jumping melody subliminally morphs into a 3\/3 waltz, before quickly dissolving into a 4\/4 chorus. Its lyrics depict dystopian and hellish landscapes painted over with age long myths, games of telephone, what it means to be evil, and how evil itself is often misunderstood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese two offerings are his first new music since 2021’s acclaimed collaborative LP with Sufjan Stevens, A Beginner’s Mind, and his first solo work since 2020’s dual tracks “Santa Barbara” and “Blue.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39897117753415,"sku":"AKR399-CASS","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/IMG_1086.jpg?v=1668454921"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-timo-andres-conor-hanick-reflections","title":"Sufjan Stevens, Timo Andres, Conor Hanick - Reflections LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I'm constantly thinking about bodies moving through space when I'm writing for ballet – that is what has informed this music, first and foremost,” says Sufjan Stevens on \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e, his latest collaboration with choreographer Justin Peck. Originally commissioned and performed by Houston Ballet in 2019, \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e was written for two pianos and eleven dancers. A studio recording of the seven movements is now available; engineered, mixed and mastered by Ryan Streber with performances by pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. Released via Asthmatic Kitty Records, \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e is, in Stevens words, about “energy, light and duality.” This piece follows on from several scores Stevens has created with Peck, including \u003cem\u003eYear of the Rabbit\u003c\/em\u003e (2012), \u003cem\u003eEverywhere We Go\u003c\/em\u003e (2014), \u003cem\u003eIn the Countenance of Kings\u003c\/em\u003e (2016), \u003cem\u003eThe Decalogue\u003c\/em\u003e (2017) and \u003cem\u003ePrincipia\u003c\/em\u003e (2019). “We have been working together for many years now,” says Stevens. “We respect and trust each other's work.” Peck and Stevens are currently collaborating on a dance theater piece based on Stevens’ songs from the acclaimed album, Illinois, to premiere at Fisher Center at Bard in June of 2023.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere is a long tradition of using pianos to accompany dance – whether it is during lessons at the barre or for\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erehearsals when hiring a full orchestra is prohibitively expensive – and Stevens was happy to further explore the instrument's capabilities. “Although I've never taken a lesson,” he says, “the piano was my first true love.” Self-taught as both a pianist and a composer, Stevens’ first instrument was the oboe, which he started playing in 5th grade. He played in orchestras from high school through college and listened voraciously to recordings of classical music alongside pop radio. He would often take breaks from the oboe by improvising on the piano, working out music he had heard in passing – pieces by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Bach. “I learned by ear, in a very rudimentary way, inspired by a wide range of music,” he says. “A lot of the work that I compose is anachronistic as it doesn't follow a genealogy of aesthetic. It can be a cornucopia of styles.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat's the case with \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e, where listeners may detect a hint of Debussy, Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and even Bruce Hornsby. Born in 1975, New York-based Stevens is best known as a singer-songwriter. He has recorded over a dozen solo and collaborative albums. He received Academy and Grammy Award nominations for Best Original Song for Mystery of Love, which was one of three contributions towards the soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s feature film “Call Me By Your Name”. \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e is imbued with Stevens's broad experience in orchestral pop and electronica—but here the grandiosity is reduced to just two instruments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new recording benefits from lively and intelligent interpretations by pianists Andres and Hanick. The performances captured are bold, bright and skittishly virtuosic, cocooning the listener in glorious technicolor. Andres and Hanick bring percussive flair and a light touch to the fast-paced and varied score, digging into grumbling glissando, free-falling filigrees and dread-pan bombast with a joyful ease. Andres, a talented composer himself, is fully acquainted with Stevens' motivic development, having performed as the soloist on \u003cem\u003eThe Decalogue\u003c\/em\u003e (Asthmatic Kitty Records), while Hanick—who has premiered over 200 new piano works himself—seems undaunted by any technical challenge thrown at him (of which there are many here—intricate counterpoint, cross rhythms and moving tonal centers, to name a few. The score is available via G. Schirmer Inc.\/Wise Music Classical).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album artwork by Jessica Slaven – reminiscent in palette and form of the mid-century works by the Delaunays – is a quasi-graphic score. At first glance, the individual cells appear to be shifting, moving at odds with each other – but on closer inspection, each part is actually linked to the other. And so it is with Stevens's \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e; every kaleidoscopic turn brings new shades and shapes, tightening the weave; twisting, refracting, mirroring.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":39984505946183,"sku":"AKR148LP-C1","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR148-Digital-Cover_2000.jpg?v=1680658926"},{"product_id":"angelo-de-augustine-toil-and-trouble","title":"Angelo De Augustine - Toil and Trouble (Cauldron Fire) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe fourth solo album from Angelo De Augustine, \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e exists according to its own quixotic logic, inhabiting a psychic landscape as sublimely mystifying as a fever dream or fairy tale. In creating such an all-enveloping body of work, the Southern California-based artist spent nearly three years working alone and exploring the vast expanse of his imagination. “This album came from thinking about the madness of the world right now and how overwhelming that can be,” says De Augustine. “I used a sort of counter-world as a guide to try to gain some understanding of what’s actually going on here—I had to take myself out of reality in order to try to understand reality.” At turns bewitching and devastating and ineffably lovely, the result is the most visionary work yet from a singular songwriter, revealing his profound capacity to alchemize pain into extraordinary beauty.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArriving on the heels of 2021’s \u003cem\u003eA Beginner’s Mind\u003c\/em\u003e—a critically acclaimed collaboration with Sufjan Stevens—\u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e marks De Augustine’s first solo effort since his breakthrough album Tomb (produced by Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman). In a return to the self-contained approach of his 2015 debut Spirals of Silence and 2017’s Swim Inside the Moon, De Augustine wrote, arranged\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e, recorded, produced, and mixed \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e, shaping the album’s ornately detailed sound by performing on 27 different instruments (including such oddities as a xylophone made of glass). In the midst of that highly experimental process, he endured an ephemeral but nightmarish period of otherworldly sensations and supernatural visions—an experience that briefly disrupted the album’s creation but in the end helped to enrich \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble’s\u003c\/em\u003e immense emotional depth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough an abundance of original and mythical characters populate the songs of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e—Peter Pan, Miss Havisham, Christopher Robin, to name a few—the album opens on the quiet sorrow of “Home Town,” a despairing yet dreamlike track born from De Augustine’s reflection on a tragic mass shooting that occurred near his former residence. “It felt like if something like that could happen in this little town, then nowhere was safe,” he says. “And that feeling of not being safe anywhere is what led me to start thinking about a lot of themes on this record.” Next, on “The Ballad of Betty and Barney Hill,” De Augustine mines inspiration from one of the stranger chapters of human history: the account of a rural New Hampshire couple who claimed to have been abducted by aliens in the early 1960s. “It’s a bizarre story, and of course nobody knows if it’s true, but it’s probably the UFO abduction story that’s got the most credibility,” De Augustine notes. Spotlighting the unbridled ingenuity of his sound design, “The Ballad of Betty and Barney Hill” unfolds in unearthly textures achieved in part through his use of elegantly warped field recordings of ambient noises like cars, frogs, and teapots, as well as the extremely rare DG-1 Stepp Guitar synthesizer (an item invented in the 1980s by a British instrument designer named Stephen Randall). “It is a mysterious instrument unlike anything I have encountered,” says De Augustine, who adds that “there are entire worlds waiting to be discovered within it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll throughout \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e, De Augustine magnifies the mesmeric effect of his songwriting by uncovering new and wholly unexpected possibilities within the album’s vast array of instruments, many of which he’d never worked with before. “Memory Palace,” for instance, interweaves lush Mellotron tones and delicately layered percussion with the bell-like timbres of a Mustel celeste (a type of small piano invented by Auguste Mustel in 1886). “I loved that instrument since I was a kid and went to see The Nutcracker, and found out that the magical sound you hear in ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ is the celeste and the Glockenspiel piano playing together,” De Augustine explains. “The celeste I have now was made by Auguste Mustel, who gave Tchaikovsky the celeste he used to compose parts of The Nutcracker ballet, so that feels very special to me.” Meanwhile, on “Another Universe,” a Japanese guitar synthesizer known as the Unisynth lends a gloriously cosmic quality to a track whose lyrics echo the intense longing at the heart of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e (e.g., “If I created my own world\/Minds would be open and unfurled…The galaxy would be a guide for love”).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother piece laced with the celeste’s sweetly luminous tones, \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble’s\u003c\/em\u003e title track closes the album with a heavy-hearted reverie reflected in the cover art: a painting created by Ghanaian artist Daniel Anum Jasper, depicting an anthropomorphized and wild-eyed cauldron surrounded by test tubes and spell books and brightly blooming opium poppies. “After three years of creating everything myself, I’d gotten to a place of feeling stuck and not knowing how to finish this record—but the moment when I got the cover art from Daniel, I knew the way out,” De Augustine recalls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile De Augustine refers to the making of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e as a painful and emotionally demanding process, each track embodies the kind of rarefied grace that can only come from a certain purity of expression. “For me songwriting has always felt like something that I need to do, and even if I don’t understand why, I completely trust that feeling,” he says. And by fully surrendering to his instincts, De Augustine ultimately arrived at a selection of songs whose transportive power is both immediate and indelible. “When I made the album I was so disheartened by the world that I needed to use an alternate world to get away from it,” he says. “But even though it’s a very personal record, it also feels more broad than that—like something bigger than just me and my story.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39988835483719,"sku":"AKR152LP-C2","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR---5-of-18_2000.jpg?v=1681854893"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-seven-swans-20th-anniversary-akr-deluxe-edition","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (20th Anniversary AKR Deluxe Zoetrope Edition)","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe follow-up to 2003’s \u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e, Sufjan Stevens’ \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e was originally released on the 16th of March 2004. At the time the Guardian dubbed it “a record of remarkable delicacy,” and Billboard called it a “consistently moving, subtly beautiful experience.” And in the twenty years since its release, \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e has cemented its place as a seminal album in Sufjan's catalog.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eTo celebrate the 20th anniversary of this beloved record, AKR is delighted to release an expanded deluxe physical package. The music is delivered on a beautifully \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Naf-JAITZFQ\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eanimated zoetrope disc\u003c\/a\u003e, created in collaboration with Stephen Halker and Drew Tetz. Also included in the package is a flexi disc featuring two bonus tracks, \"I Went Dancing With My Sister\" and \"Waste Of What Your Kids Won't Have,\" both previously released on 7\" but which have long been out of press. The LP jacket has also received special treatment--the text and the swan on the front have been embossed and hit with a spot gloss finish for added pop.\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe delicate folk songs of Sufjan’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e occupy a singular space in Sufjan’s catalog. The quiet, psalm-like music arrived less than a year after his 2003 breakthrough album, \u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e and his much-publicized announcement to write an album for each of the 50 states. Just as wider audiences were becoming acquainted with the ever-evolving artist—who had, by this point, released a lo-fi folk-pop collage (2000’s \u003cem\u003eA Sun Came\u003c\/em\u003e), a Zodiac-inspired electronic suite (2001’s \u003cem\u003eEnjoy Your Rabbit\u003c\/em\u003e), and a grand, orchestral epic to kickstart his exploration of the country (\u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e)—he re-introduced himself in hushed tones.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor Stevens, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehas remained a work in constant motion, something to revisit and reinvent at each stage in his evolution. 20-years after its initial release, it marks a definitive moment in the artist's body of work. With an atmosphere that feels equally cozy and cosmic, the album is carried by the refined pluck of Stevens’ banjo and acoustic guitar, the confessional tug of his voice, the tension of his melodies, and the profound questions of devotion and doubt that drive his songwriting to this day.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the years since its release, Stevens himself has frequently reinterpreted this material over the years. If you caught his 2006 tour with the “Illinoisemakers” band, you may have seen him \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pga0GOT6gcE?si=PfbMMcIYq3Z2w1WY\u0026amp;t=48\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eemerge on stage with wings affixed to his back\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, leading his accompanists through an electric, Crazy Horse-style overture that comprises more than half the runtime of “Sister.” On the technicolor live shows behind 2011’s noise-pop overhaul \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Age of Adz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Stevens \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zxxW8NEAIkI\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eopened his sets\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’ bracing title track, embellishing its operatic arc with newfound drama and theatrics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eDespite cultivating a vast influence that spans genres, \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e is defined by its sense of intimacy. Think of it as Stevens’ self-penned book of prayer, a talisman that’s never been far from reach. Listening to \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e leaves us with enough hope, mystery, and wisdom to make it feel alive and exalting whenever we return.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40874806837319,"sku":"AKR130LP-D2C","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/DSC_1029.jpg?v=1716250451"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-enjoy-your-rabbit-2023-year-of-the-rabbit-edition","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit (2023 Year of the Rabbit Edition) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt’s 2023, a year of the rabbit, one predicted to be full of harmony, longevity, and prosperity – making it a perfect time for a Year of the Rabbit Special Edition vinyl of this double LP. Since Sufjan was born under the rabbit, we wanted to wait until his birthday to unveil this for his fans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 2xLP is pressed in a calming deep blue vinyl, punctuated by a subtle rabbit-fur cloudy white. We hope it brings you harmony and good fortune.\u003cspan class=\"c-mrkdwn__br\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40986425098311,"sku":"AKR003LP-YOTR","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR003LP-2023-2.jpg?v=1688580043"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-javelin-seaweed-ocean-blast-lp","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Javelin (Seaweed Ocean Blast) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eAKR's \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e140g “Seaweed Ocean Blast” vinyl is housed in a full color inner sleeve and full color wide spine jacket. Comes with a 48-page book of original art and essays by Sufjan.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40986426048583,"sku":"AKR171LP-D2C","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/AKR171LP-D2C_booklet-closed.jpg?v=1696701087"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-silver-gold-mock-neck-shirt","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Silver \u0026 Gold Mock Neck Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003eHarken back in time to the holidays of yore, when the days were short and the shirt necks were mock. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/losangelesapparel.net\/products\/1827gd-unisex-oversized-long-sleeve-high-mockneck-t-shirt?variant=42660250484915\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLA Apparel 1827GD\u003c\/a\u003e long sleeve mock neck shirts are screen printed in Atlanta using water-based inks. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":41123313483847,"sku":"AKR100-2024-LS-S","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Medium","offer_id":41123313516615,"sku":"AKR100-2024-LS-M","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Large","offer_id":41123313549383,"sku":"AKR100-2024-LS-L","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Extra large","offer_id":41123313582151,"sku":"AKR100-2024-LS-XL","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/APD_AsthmaticKitty_SufjanStevens_HolidayMerch04_Square.jpg?v=1732297100"},{"product_id":"the-welcome-wagon-esther-tote","title":"The Welcome Wagon - Esther - Tote","description":"\u003cp\u003e13\"x14\" over-the-shoulder tote bag, made in the USA with recycled cotton.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Welcome Wagon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41646059454535,"sku":"AKR149TOTE","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/ToteV2Blank1_1.jpg?v=1662062974"},{"product_id":"the-welcome-wagon-isaiah-california-16x24-archival-print","title":"The Welcome Wagon - \"Isaiah, California\" 16x24\" Archival Print - Esther","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArchival quality 16\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ex24\" print of original artwork by Monique Aiuto titled \"Isaiah, California.\" Released in conjunction with the song of the same name, from the album \u003cem\u003eEsther\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Welcome Wagon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41646069481543,"sku":"AKR149PRINT","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/BlankBlank1_1_1d1aa777-2809-4f1f-abff-103c632332c5.jpg?v=1661890422"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-javelin-posters","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Javelin - Posters","description":"\u003cp\u003e24\"×24\" print featuring original art by Sufjan Stevens - \"Will Anybody Ever Love Me?\", \"Hold Me Closely\" or \"A Running Start.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach poster is printed on 46lb uncoated stock. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Will Anybody Ever Love Me?","offer_id":42018779758663,"sku":"AKR171-POSTER-2","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hold Me Closely","offer_id":42018779791431,"sku":"AKR171-POSTER-1","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A Running Start","offer_id":42018779824199,"sku":"AKR171-POSTER-3","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/APD_SufjanStevens_Javelin20_Square.jpg?v=1758036466"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-convocations-lp","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Convocations LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eConvocations, \u003c\/em\u003ethe new instrumental album from Sufjan Stevens, moves like a two-and-a-half-hour electronic\/ambient mass for our present age of anxiety and dread; its 49 tracks work through the stages of grief and gladness with emotional mood music that is dreamy, dissonant, vertiginous, rhythmic, repetitive, urgent, and calm—that is, all the things we undergo when we inevitably live through isolation, uncertainty, and loss. Its five sonic cycles (\u003cem\u003eMeditations\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLamentations\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRevelations\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCelebrations\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eIncantations\u003c\/em\u003e) replicate different stages of mourning, healing and catharsis, working both to soothe our unease while savoring a renewed sense of awe and wonder for being alive in these unprecedented times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStevens initiated \u003cem\u003eConvocations\u003c\/em\u003e in response to (and as an homage to) the life and death of his father, who died in September last year, two days following the release of \u003cem\u003eThe Ascension\u003c\/em\u003e. It is, then, ultimately an album about death, and an album that reflects a year in which we have all lost so much. That said, this is not a personal record, but a universal one. \u003cem\u003eConvocations\u003c\/em\u003e is built on a shared experience that seeks to be honest about how complicated grief can be in these difficult times—the pain and separation, the anxiety, the unknown, the absolute joy of memory. This is also an album made in lockdown, when we were all cloistered in whatever space we had. \u003cem\u003eConvocations\u003c\/em\u003e arrives just as we begin to emerge from a year whose losses we will calculate for a lifetime. It is, then, right on time, as we begin to process our grief and try to carry on with it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42058477043783,"sku":"AKR145LP","price":84.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/APD_SufjanStevens_Convocations27_Square.jpg?v=1759249058"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-timo-andres-conor-hanick-reflections-copy","title":"Sufjan Stevens, Timo Andres, Conor Hanick - Reflections CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I'm constantly thinking about bodies moving through space when I'm writing for ballet – that is what has informed this music, first and foremost,” says Sufjan Stevens on \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e, his latest collaboration with choreographer Justin Peck. Originally commissioned and performed by Houston Ballet in 2019, \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e was written for two pianos and eleven dancers. A studio recording of the seven movements is now available; engineered, mixed and mastered by Ryan Streber with performances by pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. Released via Asthmatic Kitty Records, \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e is, in Stevens words, about “energy, light and duality.” This piece follows on from several scores Stevens has created with Peck, including \u003cem\u003eYear of the Rabbit\u003c\/em\u003e (2012), \u003cem\u003eEverywhere We Go\u003c\/em\u003e (2014), \u003cem\u003eIn the Countenance of Kings\u003c\/em\u003e (2016), \u003cem\u003eThe Decalogue\u003c\/em\u003e (2017) and \u003cem\u003ePrincipia\u003c\/em\u003e (2019). “We have been working together for many years now,” says Stevens. “We respect and trust each other's work.” Peck and Stevens are currently collaborating on a dance theater piece based on Stevens’ songs from the acclaimed album, Illinois, to premiere at Fisher Center at Bard in June of 2023.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere is a long tradition of using pianos to accompany dance – whether it is during lessons at the barre or for\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erehearsals when hiring a full orchestra is prohibitively expensive – and Stevens was happy to further explore the instrument's capabilities. “Although I've never taken a lesson,” he says, “the piano was my first true love.” Self-taught as both a pianist and a composer, Stevens’ first instrument was the oboe, which he started playing in 5th grade. He played in orchestras from high school through college and listened voraciously to recordings of classical music alongside pop radio. He would often take breaks from the oboe by improvising on the piano, working out music he had heard in passing – pieces by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Bach. “I learned by ear, in a very rudimentary way, inspired by a wide range of music,” he says. “A lot of the work that I compose is anachronistic as it doesn't follow a genealogy of aesthetic. It can be a cornucopia of styles.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat's the case with \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e, where listeners may detect a hint of Debussy, Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and even Bruce Hornsby. Born in 1975, New York-based Stevens is best known as a singer-songwriter. He has recorded over a dozen solo and collaborative albums. He received Academy and Grammy Award nominations for Best Original Song for Mystery of Love, which was one of three contributions towards the soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s feature film “Call Me By Your Name”. \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e is imbued with Stevens's broad experience in orchestral pop and electronica—but here the grandiosity is reduced to just two instruments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new recording benefits from lively and intelligent interpretations by pianists Andres and Hanick. The performances captured are bold, bright and skittishly virtuosic, cocooning the listener in glorious technicolor. Andres and Hanick bring percussive flair and a light touch to the fast-paced and varied score, digging into grumbling glissando, free-falling filigrees and dread-pan bombast with a joyful ease. Andres, a talented composer himself, is fully acquainted with Stevens' motivic development, having performed as the soloist on \u003cem\u003eThe Decalogue\u003c\/em\u003e (Asthmatic Kitty Records), while Hanick—who has premiered over 200 new piano works himself—seems undaunted by any technical challenge thrown at him (of which there are many here—intricate counterpoint, cross rhythms and moving tonal centers, to name a few. The score is available via G. Schirmer Inc.\/Wise Music Classical).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album artwork by Jessica Slaven – reminiscent in palette and form of the mid-century works by the Delaunays – is a quasi-graphic score. At first glance, the individual cells appear to be shifting, moving at odds with each other – but on closer inspection, each part is actually linked to the other. And so it is with Stevens's \u003cem\u003eReflections\u003c\/em\u003e; every kaleidoscopic turn brings new shades and shapes, tightening the weave; twisting, refracting, mirroring.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42744695062599,"sku":"AKR148CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR148-Digital-Cover_2000.jpg?v=1680658926"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-the-ascension-cd","title":"Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Acension CD includes the disc, 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens, and lyric booklet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42744698011719,"sku":"AKR150CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR150-Digital-Cover_1000.jpg?v=1593028414"},{"product_id":"half-handed-cloud-flutterama-cassette","title":"Half-handed Cloud - Flutterama Cassette","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHalf-handed Cloud’s seventh album, \"Flutterama,\" is a record of 18 jubilant indie-pop songs that investigate spiritual incompetence with lively, rhapsodic arrangements and radiant melodies that dissolve into sonic deterioration using herky-jerky tape manipulation and analog wow-and-flutter with an animated orchestra of home-recorded sound effects. This is an album of juxtapositions and contradictions, where joy and sorrow are underpinned by festive mourning, where balloons and tablecloths battle with trombones and pianos, and where the tape machine itself plays a vital role in the album’s drive, interrupting moments of ecstasy and revelation with varispeed pitch shifts and grainy decay. As with all things Half-handed Cloud, these songs are quick, bright, spastic, and fantastic. Whole libraries of sound and sense are compressed into mere seconds, with lyrical depth and wordplay conveying wit, wisdom, and existential anxiety that often seem at odds with the music’s joyful, child-like surfaces. At the center of this auditory journey lies the conscience and imagination of band-leader John Ringhofer, whose awe-and-wonder explorations of sound and unique spiritual conviction work in tandem to make sense of a world at odds with itself. If art is a battle, this album surrenders.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-8de5d573-7fff-bf52-51db-abfd5ad17ef7\"\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Half-handed Cloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42755502211143,"sku":"AKR147CASS","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR147-Digital-Cover-Art.jpg?v=1650476291"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-the-greatest-gift-cd","title":"Sufjan Stevens - The Greatest Gift CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Greatest Gift is a mixtape of outtakes, remixes and demos from Sufjan’s 2015 album Carrie \u0026amp; Lowell. The release is available in translucent yellow vinyl and yellow cassette.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis collection serves as a companion piece to the Carrie \u0026amp; Lowell Live album released earlier this year (and as an expansion to the original album). In the same way the live show featured re-interpretations of the songs from Carrie \u0026amp; Lowell, the mixtape unveils new remixes by several longstanding collaborators including Roberto C. Lange (aka Helado Negro), Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman), and James McAlister (aka 900X). The album also features Sufjan’s own remix of “Drawn to the Blood.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe mixtape includes a few alternate and\/or demo versions of songs from the original album. The digital release also contains an iPhone demo of the song “Carrie \u0026amp; Lowell.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe mixtape features four previously unreleased new songs, “official” outtakes from Carrie \u0026amp; Lowell (they were recorded at the same time as the album). These include “Wallowa Lake Monster,” “The Hidden River of My Life,” “City of Roses,” and “The Greatest Gift.” This new material,  in its investigation of love, life, death, God, and the beautiful state of Oregon, serves as a contemplative companion to the original album. We hope you enjoy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42759684423751,"sku":"AKR134CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR134-Digital-Cover-Art-3000x3000.jpg?v=1619869970"},{"product_id":"angelo-de-augustine-swim-inside-the-moon-cd","title":"Angelo De Augustine - Swim Inside The Moon CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSwim Inside the Moon\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e is a record by 24-year-old Angelo De Augustine. This second full-length of Angelo’s career captures a sound he’s been looking for since he started playing music a decade ago:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“A sound behind the voice,” says Angelo, who recorded all of this record in his bathtub using a reel-to-reel machine and a single Shure SM57 microphone. “I noticed that when you sing off a reflective surface you hear two voices. I was compelled to isolate that voice and bring it more to the front of the songs because in many ways I feel more connected to and comforted by that voice following me.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eListeners might hear Nick Drake’s intricate arpeggiated guitar parts, Elliott Smith’s pure vocals, or, at times, a likeness to the soulfulness of artists such as Vashti Bunyan, Judee Sill, and José González. But for Angelo’s part, he found this sound on his own terms. As to what these songs \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003emean\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, well, that’s harder to say. “I couldn’t tell you,” says Angelo. “I get into this place, and then I wake up with a song instead of a dream.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42759698513991,"sku":"AKR133CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR133_-_Digital_Cover_Art_jpg.jpeg?v=1571262676"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-seven-swans-20th-anniversary-akr-dinked-excluisve","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (20th Anniversary Dinked Excluisve)","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe follow-up to 2003’s \u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e, Sufjan Stevens’ \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e was originally released on the 16th of March 2004. At the time the Guardian dubbed it “a record of remarkable delicacy,” and Billboard called it a “consistently moving, subtly beautiful experience.” And in the twenty years since its release, \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e has cemented its place as a seminal album in Sufjan's catalog.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eTo celebrate the 20th anniversary of this beloved record, AKR is delighted to release an expanded deluxe physical package. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eTo celebrate the 20th anniversary of this beloved record, AKR is delighted to release an expanded deluxe physical package. The split color LP is housed in a special jacket -- the text and the swan on the front have been embossed and hit with a spot gloss finish for added pop. Also included in the package is a flexi disc featuring two bonus tracks, \"I Went Dancing With My Sister\" and \"Waste Of What Your Kids Won't Have,\" both previously released on 7\" but which have long been out of press. Also included are seven pieces of origami paper and an instruction sheet for how to make origami swans.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe delicate folk songs of Sufjan’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e occupy a singular space in Sufjan’s catalog. The quiet, psalm-like music arrived less than a year after his 2003 breakthrough album, \u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e and his much-publicized announcement to write an album for each of the 50 states. Just as wider audiences were becoming acquainted with the ever-evolving artist—who had, by this point, released a lo-fi folk-pop collage (2000’s \u003cem\u003eA Sun Came\u003c\/em\u003e), a Zodiac-inspired electronic suite (2001’s \u003cem\u003eEnjoy Your Rabbit\u003c\/em\u003e), and a grand, orchestral epic to kickstart his exploration of the country (\u003cem\u003eMichigan\u003c\/em\u003e)—he re-introduced himself in hushed tones.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor Stevens, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehas remained a work in constant motion, something to revisit and reinvent at each stage in his evolution. 20-years after its initial release, it marks a definitive moment in the artist's body of work. With an atmosphere that feels equally cozy and cosmic, the album is carried by the refined pluck of Stevens’ banjo and acoustic guitar, the confessional tug of his voice, the tension of his melodies, and the profound questions of devotion and doubt that drive his songwriting to this day.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the years since its release, Stevens himself has frequently reinterpreted this material over the years. If you caught his 2006 tour with the “Illinoisemakers” band, you may have seen him \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pga0GOT6gcE?si=PfbMMcIYq3Z2w1WY\u0026amp;t=48\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eemerge on stage with wings affixed to his back\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, leading his accompanists through an electric, Crazy Horse-style overture that comprises more than half the runtime of “Sister.” On the technicolor live shows behind 2011’s noise-pop overhaul \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Age of Adz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Stevens \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zxxW8NEAIkI\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eopened his sets\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’ bracing title track, embellishing its operatic arc with newfound drama and theatrics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eDespite cultivating a vast influence that spans genres, \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e is defined by its sense of intimacy. Think of it as Stevens’ self-penned book of prayer, a talisman that’s never been far from reach. Listening to \u003cem\u003eSeven Swans\u003c\/em\u003e leaves us with enough hope, mystery, and wisdom to make it feel alive and exalting whenever we return.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42828489523271,"sku":"AKR130LP-DINKED","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/DSC_1040.jpg?v=1779991085"},{"product_id":"sisyphus-sisyphus-lp","title":"Sisyphus - Sisyphus LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSisyphus is the new name for the collaboration between Serengeti, Son Lux, and Sufjan Stevens (formally s\/s\/s), whose new project under this moniker is a self-titled album partly inspired by the art of Jim Hodges, and commissioned by the Walker Art Center and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music series in Minneapolis\/Saint Paul.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42866854821959,"sku":"AKR117LP","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/0002462944_10.jpg?v=1781107838"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-carrie-lowell-10th-anniversary-edition-greeting-card-were-all-gonna-die","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Carrie \u0026 Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition) Greeting Card  - We're All Gonna Die","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"We're All Gonna Die\" greeting card featuring original artwork by Sufjan Stevens on the front, with an accompanying envelope.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43054872035399,"sku":"AKAM027","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/WereAllGonnaDie_GreetingCard.jpg?v=1786567986"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-angelo-de-augustine-a-beginners-mind-ocean-blue-lp-1","title":"Sufjan Stevens \u0026 Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner's Mind (Ocean Blue) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture (impossible and absurd). But what about singing about movies? \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine have paired up for a collaborative project that does just that. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA Beginner’s Mind \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eis their debut album that contains 14 songs (loosely) based on (mostly) popular films. The source material is highbrow, lowbrow, and everything in between. The music is folksy, sweet, sincere and harmonically effervescent—Simon \u0026amp; Garfunkel with New Age flourishes. This album runs the gamut and has fun with it, even while its songwriters remain fully rooted in the melancholy folk idioms they are known for.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eStevens and De Augustine wrote everything with a deliberate sense of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eshoshin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—the Zen Buddhist concept for which the record is named and an idea that empowered the pair to look for and write about unlikely inspiration without preconceived notions of what a film had to say. The underlying objective was \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eempathy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eopenness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, absent of judgment: to observe what is pure and good—or seemingly dark and villainous—with the eyes of a child. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDaniel Anum Jasper, a pioneer of Ghanian movie poster painting,  was commissioned to paint a series of new works for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA Beginner’s Mind\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. Information about the project was kept vague so that Mr. Jasper could work without restraint. Mythical deities and monsters, zombies, skydivers and a celebrated American director (Jonathan Demme, to whom the album is dedicated) were submitted as visual cues. The resulting paintings are a graphic simulacrum for the same sense of wonder, wordplay, and intrigue that shape \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA Beginner’s Mind\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. By transforming old films into vital new songs, Stevens and De Augustine ask us to consider ourselves from a previously unconsidered vantage point—a new way of seeing and hearing—an exercise that’s as necessary and relevant now as it’s ever been.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens \u0026 Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43085014138951,"sku":"AKR143LP-C1","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/Standard_LPStandard_LP_Vinyl_Sleeve_-_1_1.jpg?v=1625601550"},{"product_id":"angelo-de-augustine-toil-and-trouble-gold-lp","title":"Angelo De Augustine - Toil and Trouble (Gold) LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe fourth solo album from Angelo De Augustine, \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e exists according to its own quixotic logic, inhabiting a psychic landscape as sublimely mystifying as a fever dream or fairy tale. In creating such an all-enveloping body of work, the Southern California-based artist spent nearly three years working alone and exploring the vast expanse of his imagination. “This album came from thinking about the madness of the world right now and how overwhelming that can be,” says De Augustine. “I used a sort of counter-world as a guide to try to gain some understanding of what’s actually going on here—I had to take myself out of reality in order to try to understand reality.” At turns bewitching and devastating and ineffably lovely, the result is the most visionary work yet from a singular songwriter, revealing his profound capacity to alchemize pain into extraordinary beauty.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArriving on the heels of 2021’s \u003cem\u003eA Beginner’s Mind\u003c\/em\u003e—a critically acclaimed collaboration with Sufjan Stevens—\u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e marks De Augustine’s first solo effort since his breakthrough album Tomb (produced by Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman). In a return to the self-contained approach of his 2015 debut Spirals of Silence and 2017’s Swim Inside the Moon, De Augustine wrote, arranged\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e, recorded, produced, and mixed \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e, shaping the album’s ornately detailed sound by performing on 27 different instruments (including such oddities as a xylophone made of glass). In the midst of that highly experimental process, he endured an ephemeral but nightmarish period of otherworldly sensations and supernatural visions—an experience that briefly disrupted the album’s creation but in the end helped to enrich \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble’s\u003c\/em\u003e immense emotional depth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough an abundance of original and mythical characters populate the songs of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e—Peter Pan, Miss Havisham, Christopher Robin, to name a few—the album opens on the quiet sorrow of “Home Town,” a despairing yet dreamlike track born from De Augustine’s reflection on a tragic mass shooting that occurred near his former residence. “It felt like if something like that could happen in this little town, then nowhere was safe,” he says. “And that feeling of not being safe anywhere is what led me to start thinking about a lot of themes on this record.” Next, on “The Ballad of Betty and Barney Hill,” De Augustine mines inspiration from one of the stranger chapters of human history: the account of a rural New Hampshire couple who claimed to have been abducted by aliens in the early 1960s. “It’s a bizarre story, and of course nobody knows if it’s true, but it’s probably the UFO abduction story that’s got the most credibility,” De Augustine notes. Spotlighting the unbridled ingenuity of his sound design, “The Ballad of Betty and Barney Hill” unfolds in unearthly textures achieved in part through his use of elegantly warped field recordings of ambient noises like cars, frogs, and teapots, as well as the extremely rare DG-1 Stepp Guitar synthesizer (an item invented in the 1980s by a British instrument designer named Stephen Randall). “It is a mysterious instrument unlike anything I have encountered,” says De Augustine, who adds that “there are entire worlds waiting to be discovered within it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll throughout \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e, De Augustine magnifies the mesmeric effect of his songwriting by uncovering new and wholly unexpected possibilities within the album’s vast array of instruments, many of which he’d never worked with before. “Memory Palace,” for instance, interweaves lush Mellotron tones and delicately layered percussion with the bell-like timbres of a Mustel celeste (a type of small piano invented by Auguste Mustel in 1886). “I loved that instrument since I was a kid and went to see The Nutcracker, and found out that the magical sound you hear in ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ is the celeste and the Glockenspiel piano playing together,” De Augustine explains. “The celeste I have now was made by Auguste Mustel, who gave Tchaikovsky the celeste he used to compose parts of The Nutcracker ballet, so that feels very special to me.” Meanwhile, on “Another Universe,” a Japanese guitar synthesizer known as the Unisynth lends a gloriously cosmic quality to a track whose lyrics echo the intense longing at the heart of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e (e.g., “If I created my own world\/Minds would be open and unfurled…The galaxy would be a guide for love”).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother piece laced with the celeste’s sweetly luminous tones, \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble’s\u003c\/em\u003e title track closes the album with a heavy-hearted reverie reflected in the cover art: a painting created by Ghanaian artist Daniel Anum Jasper, depicting an anthropomorphized and wild-eyed cauldron surrounded by test tubes and spell books and brightly blooming opium poppies. “After three years of creating everything myself, I’d gotten to a place of feeling stuck and not knowing how to finish this record—but the moment when I got the cover art from Daniel, I knew the way out,” De Augustine recalls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile De Augustine refers to the making of \u003cem\u003eToil and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e as a painful and emotionally demanding process, each track embodies the kind of rarefied grace that can only come from a certain purity of expression. “For me songwriting has always felt like something that I need to do, and even if I don’t understand why, I completely trust that feeling,” he says. And by fully surrendering to his instincts, De Augustine ultimately arrived at a selection of songs whose transportive power is both immediate and indelible. “When I made the album I was so disheartened by the world that I needed to use an alternate world to get away from it,” he says. “But even though it’s a very personal record, it also feels more broad than that—like something bigger than just me and my story.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43085023871047,"sku":"AKR152LP-C1","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/AKR152LP-C1_Angelo_De_Augustine_-_Toil_and_Trouble_Retail_Gold_LP.jpg?v=1767728600"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/collections\/EOSS26_webbanner.jpg?v=1786989399","url":"https:\/\/store.asthmatickitty.com\/collections\/eoss26.oembed?page=3","provider":"Asthmatic Kitty Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}