Pitchfork

Last Saturday, Owen Ashworth-- aka Casiotone for the Painfully Alone-- delivered one downer of a message via his official website. The Tomlab artist's Chicago apartment building caught fire on Friday, October 27, and while he and his girlfriend (painfully alone my ass) escaped unscathed, he lost some musical equipment-- and the couple's cat, who is still MIA.

As a result of the incident, Casiotone has been forced to cancel a series of performances. He will, however, stick out a handful of California dates, as well as one Windy City stint scheduled later this month-- and he'll still hit us with a smattering of autumn releases.

"Yesterday morning, the Chicago apartment building where my girlfriend and I live caught on fire and we had to get the fuck out of there," the entry reads.

"We are both totally fine, but some of our belongings including some of my musical equipment were lost in the mess, and my girlfriend and I need to find a new place to live. We also lost our cat, Rufus, who we are hoping escaped the building on her own, but is still missing...Again, my girlfriend and I are totally fine. We have lots of amazing and supportive friends and family who are helping us out and things are going to work out.

"Also, if anyone living in the Wicker Park/East Village neighborhood of Chicago sees a year old female gray tabby, please get in touch. We miss our cat."

Pitchfork extends our best wishes to Owen, his girlfriend, and Rufus the Cat, who we will be sure to keep an eye out for.

Casiotone will still play a handful of dates, and the first is tomorrow, when he'll make an appearance at KDVS Recordings' (note: the only university-funded, volunteer-run, non-profit label in the country) seven inch debut celebration, as he, along with supporting acts Dead Science and Sholi, is featured on the label's first-ever piece of small vinyl (also due tomorrow).

The split's A-side holds Sholi's only official release, "All That We Can See", while the B-side, "Pinky Ring", offers a collaboration between Casiotone, the Dead Science, This Song Is a Mess But So Am I, Abortion Camp, members of the Home Recording Project, and one member of Business Lady.

The show, meanwhile, takes place at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill. Another KDVS party with the aforementioned lineup plus the Papercuts is slated to go down in Davis, California at the University of California Davis' Coffee House on November 8. The Dead Science will serve as a backing band for Casiotone on both dates.

As previously reported, Tomlab Records has released a newly mastered version (available on both CD and seven inch) of "Bobby Malone Moves Home" as the second single from Casiotone's March LP, Etiquette.

Also, on Halloween, Rococo Records released Casiotone's cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland" as a limited edition (500 copies) seven-inch single. Slated to land on the label in the near future is a Casiotone/Oscillating Innards collaborative single.

And one more quick reminder to wrap up the single madness: around Thanksgiving, Oedipus Records will unleash a Casiotone split seven-inch with folk trio Foot Foot. The former's contribution is coined "It's a Crime". Nearer to the year's end, the label will also drop a Casiotone picture disc, the second in a series by photographer and Xiu Xiu tour manager David Horvitz. On it, listeners will find reworked versions of "New Year's Kiss" and "Lesley Gore on the TAMI Show". Whew.

Remaining dates:

11-04 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (KDVS Recordings 7" Release Party) *
11-05 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory *#
11-06 San Luis Obispo, CA - Downtown Brewing Co.
11-07 Santa Cruz, CA - Attic
11-08 Davis, CA - University of California Davis Coffee Shop
11-26 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle

* with the Dead Science, Sholi
# with the Papercuts

KDVS split tracklist:

01 Sholi - "All That We Can See"
02 The Dead Science ft. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Pinky Ring"

"Bobby Malone Moves Home" seven-inch tracklist:

01 Bobby Malone Moves Home
02 Jeane, If You're Ever in Portland (Daytrotter session)

"Bobby Malone Moves Home" CD tracklist:

01 Bobby Malone Moves Home
02 Jeane, If You're Ever in Portland (live)
03 Tonight Was a Disaster (live)
04 It Wasn't the Same Somehow (live)
05 Bobby Malone Moves Home (live)