Raymond Raposa—the singer-songwriter who recorded under the name Castanets—has died at the age of 41. Raposa’s longtime label Asthmatic Kitty confirmed the news earlier today (July 30) via a post on ...

In 2001, Jesse Ainslie quit his Chapel Hill band, Straight No Chaser, and moved to Florida. Soon, he was in New York, studying creative writing and musicology at the New School University. In 2005, he ...

Ray Raposa, the folk artist best known for his music as Castanets, has died at age 41. Via Pitchfork, the news came via Sufjan Stevens‘ Asthmatic Kitty label, who released much of Raposa’s work and ...

Often dismissed as little more than a niche songwriter futzing with the boundaries of his own woodsy, quasi-Americana palate, Ray Raposa (a.k.a. Castanets) has remained a sorely overlooked act. Often ...

After his Castanets project vanished off the map in 2009, Raymond Raposa brings the experimental folk project back for another go-round. Decimation Blues is a fragmented album that trends toward the ...

The best castanets may vary from person to person, depending on each individual’s needs, but it’s not hard to miss a nice pair of castanets when you see them. While most castanets have a few things in ...

Raymond Raposa, who released music under the name Castanets, has died at the age of 41. Raposa’s death was announced yesterday (July 30) by his longtime label Asthmatic Kitty Records, helmed by Sufjan ...

The Castanets is Ray Raposa, a San Diego native whose album City of Refuge is an exercise in solitude. Raposa recorded the album in Overton, Nevada, a two-bar town ...

There’s nothing like a bout of depression to get the creative juices flowing. That’s what happened to Raymond Raposa, the brains behind San Diego indie folk outfit the Castanets. The singer/songwriter ...

Kenichi Tomizawa uses a file on lumber pieces at a workshop in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, on June 2, 2016. (Mainichi) MINAKAMI, Gunma -- Environmentally friendly castanets made from lumber obtained ...