Raymond Raposa de Castañuelas died at the age of 41

Raymond Raposa, who published music under the name Castañuelas, has died at the age of 41.

Raposa’s death was announced yesterday (July 30) by his former label Asthmatic Kitty Records, run by Sufjan Stevens. The cause of death has not been provided.

“It is with great sadness that the family of Raymond Raposa announced his death today,” reads the statement, provided to the label by Raposa’s family. “Raymond was a great son, brother, uncle, friend and musician. He will be greatly missed.”

Sharing his own tribute post on tumblr, Stevens wrote: “He was a shining star, a good friend and a great musician. Always a great joy and a wild spiritual journey working with him. Heavy heart and deep sadness here. Ray, May your soul shine brightly on the other side! And may eternal light shine upon you. I love you.”

Raposa was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on January 22, 1981. He started out as a free jazz musician in a band called Womb, before traveling the United States for four years on a Greyhound Bus from the age of 15. . In 2002, his collaboration with Nathan Delffs “What Kind Of Cure” caught the attention of Sufjan Stevens, who signed Raposa to his Asma Kitty label.

In 2004, the couple moved to Brooklyn, and Raposa released his first album “Cathedral” under the name Castanets. In the next ten years, he released five more albums as Castanets: “First Light’s Freeze” (2005), “In The Vines” (2007), “City Of Refuge” (2008), and “Texas Rose, The Thaw And The Threat” (2009). from 2005, “In The Vines” from 2007, “City Of Refuge” from 2008, “Texas Rose, The Thaw And The Beasts” from 2009 and “Decimation Blues”, his last project with Castanets, in 2014.

He stepped out of his Castanets moniker for 2012’s “Little Death Shaker”, releasing under the name Raymond Byron and the White Freighter. Earlier this year he released his latest album as Raymond Byron, titled “Bond Wire Cur”.