NEW YORK (KITTY Label - Liz Janes and Castanets both hail from San
Diego and many of the same musicians worked on both albums. "Poison & Snakes" will be Janes' second full-length release, following up "Done Gone Fire" which was recorded, produced and arranged along with Stevens. "Poison & Snakes" documents Janes' progression as a seasoned singer, songwriter and performer. Her mellifluous blues-tinged voice and unexpected phrasing are set against eclectic and unpredictable arrangements by herself and producer Rafter Roberts (The Rapture, GoGoGo Airheart, Tristeza). "Poison & Snakes" features contributions by drummer Tom Zinser (Pinback, Three Mile Pilot), trumpeter Jason Crane (Rocket from the Crypt) and backup vocals and saw by Pall Jenkins of
Black Heart Procession whom Janes worked with on their latest album, "Amore del Tropico". "Poison & Snakes" will be released on October 5, 2004.
"Cathedral" is the debut release from Castanets. The core of the band is the lyrical and musical talent of Raymond Raposa. Echoes of The Velvet Underground, No-Neck Blues Band, and the delta blues harness a strain of ancient Americana that even today pulses through a subdivided and paved landscape. The result is what Raposa calls "derailed country psychedelia." Backed by the enchanting angelic voice of newcomer Bridgit DeCook and recorded mostly in a secluded cabin in the northern California woodlands, "Cathedral" illuminates architecture where faith and doubt clash in an often ambiguous search for the divine. "Cathedral" is also out on October 5, 2004.
In addition to the upcoming releases on Stevens' label, the singer has invited Drag City Records folk sensation Joanna Newsom to be the opening act on all of the dates on his upcoming full-band West Coast tour. Stevens and Newsom have grown mutually fond of each others' work over the past few months. Stevens will also play a two-night headlining stint at New York's Mercury Lounge in August.
Sufjan Stevens and the Michigan Militia Tour Dates:
07/23 San Diego, CA Casbah
07/24 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
07/25 Sacramento, CA Old Ironsides
07/28 Seattle, WA Neumo's
07/29 Portland, OR Dante's
07/31 San Francisco, CA Great American
08/19 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
8/20 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
