Asthmatic Kitty Records is an American independent

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...

led by

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...

and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities. While the original Holland nucleus has dispersed across the country, the community has grown, with new artists and shared projects with other

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

. The Library Catalog Music Series, inaugurated in 2009, showcases

instrumental music An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer t ...

from a wide variety of musicians, with eighteen albums in print as of February 2013, and more scheduled for release. Asthmatic Kitty is now based in

Lander, Wyoming Lander is a city and the county seat of Fremont County, Wyoming. It is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork Popo Agie River, Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is a tourism center ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The label's name refers to Sara, a stray with

feline asthma Feline asthma is a common allergic respiratory disease in cats, affecting at least one percent of all adult cats worldwide. It is a chronic progressive disease for which there is no cure. Common symptoms include wheezing, coughing, labored brea ...

adopted by Lowell in 1994. From 2002 on, she lived in Lander, Wyoming (elevation 5,358 ft / 1,633 m), where the thin, dry air alleviated most of her asthma symptoms. Sara died in December 2008, aged fifteen or sixteen years old. Between 2007-2010, Unusual Animals was a special series of limited edition vinyl releases, parties, artist showcases, and music events. In 2007, the Unusual Animals Project Space founded by Michael Kaufmann at the Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis featured exhibitions by Cindy Hinant and Stuart Snoddy. In 2020, Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams released ''

Aporia In philosophy, an aporia () is a conundrum or state of puzzlement. In rhetoric, it is a declaration of doubt, made for rhetorical purpose and often feigned. The notion of an aporia is principally found in ancient Greek philosophy, but it also p ...

,'' a 21-track album. The album has been described as "mixing organic instrumentation with experimental electronics, intertwining both new age and ambient music."

Active artists

* James McAlister 900X * Angelo De Augustine * Denison Witmer *

Half-handed Cloud Half-handed Cloud is an American recording project, based in Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland since 2015. It was started in 1999 as a one-man band by John Ringhofer, who created the band name based on an occurrence in the Old Testament. The majority of ...

Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ancient Corinth, Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He reveals Zeus's abduction of Aegina (mythology), Aegina to the river god As ...

* The Welcome Wagon

Former artists and alumni

* Cecile Believe *

Castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

* Cryptacize *

DM Stith David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first album ''Heavy Ghost'' in 2009 on the Asthmatic Kitty label. He currently resides in Rochester, New York. Stith comes from a musical family: his fathe ...

* Dots Will Echo * Epstein * Fol Chen * Helado Negro * Hermas Zopoula * I Heart Lung * Jookabox *

Julianna Barwick Julianna Barwick is an American musician who composes using electronic loops. Her first album, '' The Magic Place'', was released in 2011. Music career Barwick has said that her music is influenced by her participation in church choir while gro ...

* Land of a Thousand Rappers * Lily & Madeleine * Liz Janes *

My Brightest Diamond My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova. The band has released five studio albums and a remix album, five studio EPs and four remix EPs, and made several tours across the United States. Hist ...

* Ombre * Osso String Quartet * Linda Perhacs * Pepe Deluxé *

Rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...

* Raymond Byron and the White Freighter * Roberts and Lord *

Royal City Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

* Chris Schlarb * Shannon Stephens * Shapes and Sizes * The Curtains * Trumans Water

References

External links

*
Interview with Lowell Brams

Interview with Michael Kaufmann
American independent record labels Record labels established in 1999 Indie rock record labels Experimental music record labels Companies based in Wyoming Companies based in New York City 1999 establishments in Michigan Sufjan Stevens {{Record-label-stub

Active artists

Former artists and alumni

See also

References

External links