Another day, another quasi-ambient foray into staticky rhythm loops and guitar and synth bloops for these Brooklyn-via-Olympia weirdos. For noise aficionados not familiar with Growing’s ouevre, the trio could best be described as Black Dice-lite - not as aggressive or beat-heavy, but definitely in the business of creating grimy, post-21st century digital psychedelia. more ›

Label Asthmatic Kitty seemed poised to capitalize on the neo-folk renaissance of a few years ago, releasing albums by Sufjan Stevens, Half-Handed Cloud, Castanets, and My Brightest Diamond. These acts, pegged by leanings toward the spiritual, confessional and multi-instrumental, could easily have led the label’s charge into the next ten years. Instead, they switched gears. It’s not just that indie rock is perhaps less serious than it was five years ago, when Stevens was penning a song about John Wayne Gacy. In all probability, the label was in a better position to release more records than ever, and they picked some fun ones. Power to ‘em. Starting with the dance-rock Fol Chen, the label has also seen the release of Grampall Jookabox’s newest full-length, and, starting last year, releases by Cryptacize. more ›

One of the many options for festival fans on SXSW's first day of music is the recently announced Cool for Cats revue hosted by Tomlab, Asthmatic Kitty and K Records. Beauty Bar is set to host No Kids, LAKE, Parenthetical Girls, Fol Chen, Rafter, Desolation Wilderness and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone among others. more ›

It's no surprise that Sex, Death, Cassette was released on Asthmatic Kitty. Multi-faceted and experimental yet easily accessible, Rafter matches its label-mates in quirky, humble pop. more ›

We first ran into The Small Stakes at The Flatstock Poster Show during SXSW 2006. The three-day concert poster convention features works by today's premiere screenprinters and artists. Sifting through the field of amazing choices, we kept finding ourselves returning to The Small Stakes before making our final purchases. We grabbed up a number of their posters that day; now, their business card is the only one we still have. Behind The Small Stakes... more ›

Yet another emerging indie act from Canada, Shapes and Sizes’ self-titled debut blends earnest pop-rock with somewhat abnormal meter. Out now on Asthmatic Kitty, the record kicks off with “Island’s Gone Band”, a peculiar two songs in one introduction to the band. “I Am Cold” builds from a sparse arrangement into a multi-instrumental crescendo while “Wilderness” features the band’s trait of melding melody with noise. Caila Thompson-Hannant’s vocal chops rank up there with the... more ›

If you survived the Deliverance-esque Ikea parking lot this weekend, and didn't get shot trying to get yourself a PS3, you deserve to spend even more of your hard-earned cash on records. Here's what you can find on the shelves at fine local establishments like End of an Ear or Waterloo today. Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas (Asthmatic Kitty) Featuring five discs worth of holiday music spanning the course of five years, tinsel used... more ›