{"title":"VINYL RECORD FAVORITES","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"illinois","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Illinois LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike the self-proclaimed \"Spiderman\" who climbed Chicago's Sears Tower with no harness, Sufjan Stevens scales dusty prairies, steel factories, and two hundred years of history in the second installment of his 50 State Project, \"ILLINOIS\", a 22-track anthemic tone poem to The Prairie State.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"2LP","offer_id":254351209,"sku":"AKR014LP","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR014_900.jpeg?v=1757963614"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-michigan","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Michigan LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eComposed as a geographical tone poem, MICHIGAN follows a metaphysical expedition through the idiosyncrasies of middle America. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"2xLP","offer_id":254351299,"sku":"AKR007LP","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR007_900.jpeg?v=1619869989"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-carrie-lowell","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Carrie \u0026 Lowell LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \"Carrie and Lowell,\" Sufjan Stevens is a child again or, more specifically, the child character in the family of man drama that often but not always centers on the story of love given, or love forsaken, but isn't that the same thing to the poet? That the love Stevens sings about having left or given or been born to--thank you, Carrie--is a perceptible wound not only on the singer's throat, but his sleeve: he wears love's incomprehensibility, and the deep incomprehensibility of being a son, like a backing vocal on \"Carrie and Lowell,\" which is also filled with colors, hearts, trees, conclusions, and beginnings, all adding up to the kind of intimacy that caught my eye the morning I sat in the diner waiting for the sun to get stronger as I saw intimacy pass by while going about it's business, like something sung and felt by Sufjan Stevens on his new beautiful solitary and rich record filled with faith and disbelief and the resurrection of trust and dreams. - HILTON ALS \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":1093662124,"sku":"AKR099LP","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR099_Cover.jpg?v=1619868951"},{"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-javelin","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Javelin LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOver the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that color our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHis new album \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—Sufjan’s first solo album of songs since 2020’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Ascension\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhere \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Ascension,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e lauded by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eas “a cry of despair and prayer for redemption,” used ornate but urgent electronics to square up to its moment, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e begins more like a self-portrait, detailed yet plain. Yet whether listened to individually or as an album, these 10 songs become something much bigger, the entire experience of Sufjan’s 25-year career expressed in four-minute bursts. Choral, orchestral, and electric wonder: it all shows in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, all of it animating these songs as full spectacles. In each song we hear the vulnerability and candor of quiet starts, then Sufjan raising the stakes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAt times, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e has the feel of a big team album production—but it is decidedly not: almost every sound here is the result of Sufjan at home, building by himself what sometimes feels like a testament to classic ’70s Los Angeles studio recording sessions. There are indispensable contributions from a close circle of friends; the harmonies of five singers who afford \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e so much frisson: adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui, and Nedelle Torrisi. Bryce Dessner plays acoustic and electric guitar on “Shit Talk.” And, of course, Neil Young wrote the tender and mystic closer, “There’s a World.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnd speaking of the world: there is a permeable sense of world-building imbued in every corner of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, especially in the 48-page book of art and essays that accompanies the album. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Sufjan returns as we may know him best, offering vulnerable reflections on love and relationships, so that in listening we may see ourselves more fully.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":40149937782855,"sku":"AKR171LP","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/APD_SufjanStevens_Javelin03_Square.jpg?v=1777673360"},{"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-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-illinois-yellow","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Illinois - Yellow Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike the self-proclaimed \"Spiderman\" who climbed Chicago's Sears Tower with no harness, Sufjan Stevens scales dusty prairies, steel factories, and two hundred years of history in the second installment of his 50 State Project, \"ILLINOIS\", a 22-track anthemic tone poem to The Prairie State. Limited quantity available of this special Yellow vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"2LP","offer_id":42016953335879,"sku":"AKR014LP-2023-UO","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/AKR014LP-2023-UO_-_Sufjan_Stevens_-_Illinois_2023_Urban_Outfitters_Exclusive.jpg?v=1757963614"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-carrie-lowell-cd","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Carrie \u0026 Lowell CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \"Carrie and Lowell,\" Sufjan Stevens is a child again or, more specifically, the child character in the family of man drama that often but not always centers on the story of love given, or love forsaken, but isn't that the same thing to the poet? That the love Stevens sings about having left or given or been born to--thank you, Carrie--is a perceptible wound not only on the singer's throat, but his sleeve: he wears love's incomprehensibility, and the deep incomprehensibility of being a son, like a backing vocal on \"Carrie and Lowell,\" which is also filled with colors, hearts, trees, conclusions, and beginnings, all adding up to the kind of intimacy that caught my eye the morning I sat in the diner waiting for the sun to get stronger as I saw intimacy pass by while going about it's business, like something sung and felt by Sufjan Stevens on his new beautiful solitary and rich record filled with faith and disbelief and the resurrection of trust and dreams. - HILTON ALS \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42744573263943,"sku":"AKR099CD","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR099_Cover.jpg?v=1619868951"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-javelin-copy","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Javelin CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOver the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that color our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHis new album \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—Sufjan’s first solo album of songs since 2020’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Ascension\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhere \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Ascension,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e lauded by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eas “a cry of despair and prayer for redemption,” used ornate but urgent electronics to square up to its moment, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e begins more like a self-portrait, detailed yet plain. Yet whether listened to individually or as an album, these 10 songs become something much bigger, the entire experience of Sufjan’s 25-year career expressed in four-minute bursts. Choral, orchestral, and electric wonder: it all shows in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, all of it animating these songs as full spectacles. In each song we hear the vulnerability and candor of quiet starts, then Sufjan raising the stakes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAt times, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e has the feel of a big team album production—but it is decidedly not: almost every sound here is the result of Sufjan at home, building by himself what sometimes feels like a testament to classic ’70s Los Angeles studio recording sessions. There are indispensable contributions from a close circle of friends; the harmonies of five singers who afford \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e so much frisson: adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui, and Nedelle Torrisi. Bryce Dessner plays acoustic and electric guitar on “Shit Talk.” And, of course, Neil Young wrote the tender and mystic closer, “There’s a World.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnd speaking of the world: there is a permeable sense of world-building imbued in every corner of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, especially in the 48-page book of art and essays that accompanies the album. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJavelin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Sufjan returns as we may know him best, offering vulnerable reflections on love and relationships, so that in listening we may see ourselves more fully.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42744574967879,"sku":"AKR171CD","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD - No Booklet","offer_id":42744575000647,"sku":"AKR171CD-slim","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/APD_SufjanStevens_Javelin07_Square.jpg?v=1727969437"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-michigan-cd","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Michigan CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eComposed as a geographical tone poem, MICHIGAN follows a metaphysical expedition through the idiosyncrasies of middle America. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42744684511303,"sku":"AKR007CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR007_900.jpeg?v=1619869989"},{"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":"angelo-de-augustine-toil-and-trouble-cd","title":"Angelo De Augustine - Toil and Trouble CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca class=\"button_bandcamp\" href=\"https:\/\/store.asthmatickitty.com\/products\/angelo-de-augustine-toil-and-trouble-bundle\"\u003eBUY TOIL AND TROUBLE BUNDLE\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca class=\"button_bandcamp\" href=\"https:\/\/store.asthmatickitty.com\/products\/angelo-de-augustine-toil-and-trouble-t-shirt\"\u003eBUY TOIL AND TROUBLE T-SHIRT\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\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 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angelo De Augustine","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42747854946375,"sku":"AKR152CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR152CDCD_Disc2-1_1.jpg?v=1681854937"},{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-illinois-cd","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Illinois CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike the self-proclaimed \"Spiderman\" who climbed Chicago's Sears Tower with no harness, Sufjan Stevens scales dusty prairies, steel factories, and two hundred years of history in the second installment of his 50 State Project, \"ILLINOIS\", a 22-track anthemic tone poem to The Prairie State.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sufjan Stevens","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":42747855208519,"sku":"AKR014CD","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/products\/AKR014_900.jpeg?v=1757963614"},{"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":"sufjan-stevens-seven-swans-20th-anniversary-akr-dinked-excluisve-copy","title":"Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (20th Anniversary Indie Retail Exclusive)","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 silver 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.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-583db6d7-7fff-e40f-3dab-b0e0d50c8f41\"\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\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":42828496011335,"sku":"AKR130LP-INDIE","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0185\/9528\/files\/DSC_1021.jpg?v=1779991263"},{"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"}],"url":"https:\/\/store.asthmatickitty.com\/collections\/vinyl-record-favorites.oembed?page=2","provider":"Asthmatic Kitty Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}