COMING BACK INTO PRINT: "GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN" CURATED AND DESIGNED BY DEVENDRA BANHART
"THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN"
curated and designed by DEVENDRA BANHART
(Arthur 0004)
AT LAST! Finally back in print: the acclaimed 2004 compilation of current underground folk music, as selected by Devendra Banhart.
This is more than a compilation--it's expertly sequenced and paced, like one long, slow flow of a particularly rich vibe. Liner notes are by the artists themselves, paying tribute to each other, all handlettered by Devendra, who also provides artwork on cover, back cover, sleeve, tray and the disk itself.
"Essential." -- Mojo, September 2004
"Sparkling." -- The Wire, July 2004
"8.6 (out of 10): [Its] sprawling landscape presents a persuasive case for the depth of a scene that seemingly sprung up (like mushrooms) overnight." -- Pitchfork, July 8, 2004
Track listing:
1. Vetiver (with Hope Sandoval) - "Angel's Share" (from the "Vetiver" LP)
2. Joanna Newsom - "Bridges and Balloons" (from "The Milk-Eyed Mender" LP)
3. Six Organs of Admittance - "Hazy SF" (previously unreleased)
4. Viking Moses - "Crosses" (from "Crosses")
5. Josephine Foster - "Little Life" (prev. unreleased home recording)
6. ESPers - "Byss & Abyss" (from "ESPers" LP)
7. Vashti Bunyan & Devendra Banhart - "Rejoicing in the Hands" (from the "Rejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress" LP)
8. Jana Hunter - "Farm, CA" (prev. unreleased)
9. Currituck Co. - "The Tropics of Cancer" (from "Ghost Man on First")
10. White Magic - "Don't Need" (from the Drag City EP)
11. Iron and Wine - "Fever Dream" (from "Our Endless Numbered Days" LP)
12. Diane Cluck - " Heat From Every Corner" (from "Macy's Day Bird")
13. Matt Valentine - "Mountains of Yaffa" (prev. unreleased)
14. Entrance - "You Must Turn" (prev. unreleased home recording)
15. Jack Rose - "White Mule" (from "Red Horse, White Mule")
16. Little Wings - "Look at What the Light Did Now" (from "Light Green Leaves")
17. Scout Niblett - "Wet Road" (from "Sweet Heart Fever")
18. Troll - "Mexicana" (from "Pathless Lord")
19. CocoRosie - "Good Friday" (from "La Maison de Mon Reve")
20. Antony - "The Lake" (from "Live at Saint Olaye's With Current 93")
Pre-order a copy:
USA - $12 postpaid
Canada - $14 postpaid
World - $19 airmail
BULK ORDERS: Contact Arthur staff (editor at arthurmag dot com) for quote.
07/20/2008
THIS SUNDAY, JULY 27: HOWLIN RAIN, MARK FOSSON AT ARTHUR SUNDAY EVENINGS AT MCCABE'S
How a brush with death, a haunted guitar and filmmaker Harmony Korine helped Spiritualized's JASON (SPACEMAN) PIERCE wrestle a new album of narcotic gospel music into being. By Jay Babcock, with photography by Stacy Kranitz.
In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, legendary film director/author/poet ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY (El Topo, Holy Mountain) reflects on his encounters with Zen teacher EJO TAKATA and Surrealist master LEONORA CARRINGTON in late-Sixties Mexico City.
NANCE KLEHM salutes weeds in general and in Artemesia vulgaris, aka MUGWORT, in particular.
The Center for Tactical Magic tells us HOW TO THROW A HEX -- and why.
GREG SHEWCHUK on how the continuous prospect of eating shit on a skateboard can keep you humble -- and awake.
ERIK DAVIS takes a stand against Cory Doctorow-style iPodiphilia and other data processing-marketed-as-pleasure.
A howl for America's long-gone liberal media, by DAVE REEVES.
New work by poet MICHAEL BROWNSTEIN.
Psychonaut lookers Guy Blakeslee, Paz Lenchantin and Derek James are THE ENTRANCE BAND. Salubriously styled by the singular ALIA PENNER.
Writer-scholar EDDIE DEAN waxes lovingly about Argentinian bandoneon master Chango Spasiuk, American rock n roll band Howlin Rain, the Maryland Redbud Tree, the Olympic Hi-Fi Stereo Console and other stuff rubbing him right lately.
Comics artist Joseph Remnant on author Patrick Rosenkrantz's gorgeous book of underground comix history.
Bull Tongue columnists BYRON COLEY & THURSTON MOORE review choice finds from the deep underground.
JULIAN COPE on an extraordinary art statement of cavernous Detroit Psychedelic soul.
The Melvins' BUZZ "KING BUZZO" OSBORNE joins C & D as they examine stuff by Endless Boogie, Al Green, Dennis Wilson, King Darves, Buffalo Killers, Hercules and Love Affair, Free Kitten, Arp, Awesome Color, Seun Kuti and Jex Thoth.
HEY BO DIDDLEY!: In Memorium by Plastic Crimewave.
The mag is at the printer, but you can download the entire 72-page magazine as two PDFs now:
Or, order only Arthur No. 30, via PayPal (credit cards ok!):
USA - $6 postpaid
Canada - $8 postpaid
World - $11 airmail
07/10/2008
"There is no other periodical I look more forward to arriving than the new Arthur." Rick Rubin
"Arthur re-awakens the vigilante in me." Miranda July
"Arthur is really something singular and much-needed." Dave Eggers
"Arthur Magazine is one of the things this miserable, rotten Vale of reheated Tears seem just a little more dayglo. [Editor] Jay Babcock bears the blazing light of the psychedelic sun through the nightlands of the early 21st century. Great regular columns by Dave Reeves and Doug Rushkoff, new music, old dissent and cold, clear sanity. Although I don't get to see them often enough, these people are among my dearest friends and they make life worth living on the Planet of the Damned. Go forth unto ARTHUR." Grant Morrison, July 2008
"[Arthur has] its finger on America's eccentric and softly anarchic countercultural pulse." The Sunday Times, 2007
"The central voice of the new scene" The New York Times, 2006
"Arthur is oversized, free, colorful, patchouli-scented but whip-smart, unapologetically political, sometimes silly, often anarchist and always willing to listen to voices way, way outside the mainstream. Above all, it is prophetic, usually about two years ahead of the rest of the country in its loves and obsessions." The Village Voice, 2007
"[Arthur has] an allure unlike any other magazine I have seen in my lifetime. [L]ike picking up a true document of a time and place in American culture, yet also removed from the present, harkening back to the utopian visions championed by the hippie free press... In any given issue, you can read about music, drugs, protest, meditation, metaphysics, sex, herbs, nature, communes, art, socialism, siphoning gasoline from SUVs, and hypnotizing cops by eating doughnuts in front of them... Arthur seems to attract a readership numbed by the glut of too-slick music and culture mags, just waiting for something truly unique to emerge." Brian J. Barr, Seattle Weekly, 2007
"Arthur [is] the most eclectic, thoughtfully designed periodical I have encountered. Arthur [is] clearly drawn to psychedelic music and [is] always a good place to look for fresh acts but to say it [is] a music magazine would be a misnomer. This free publication presents contemporary artwork, photography, political essays and literary reviews with admirable disregard for categorisation. I [have] never picked up a copy of Arthur without finding something intriguing and informative and I believe that magazines of which this can be said are all too few and far between.... In drawing attention to what is being produced under the radar and discussing its merits, magazines like Arthur have a nurturing effect on great music and art. They connect artists with audiences and provide an outlet for intelligent discussion and detailed criticism. It would be great to see the example taken up [in Britain]." Alan McGee
"One of the best music magazines on the terrasphere is back... Now in full-color, Arthur remains all about...saving the parts of the planet worth saving. And: free. Life is short, art is long, Arthur isn't done." RJ Smith, Los Angeles Magazine, 2007
"(F)orceful and singular in its vision..." SFWeekly, 2007
"The American counterculture's answer to the New Yorker" The Guardian
"Back from the dead, this latest issue [No. 26] of the newly-resurrected American counter-cultural zine has gotta be their most solid read to date, with a real stand-out feature/interview/poetic appreciation of Yoko Ono by Byron Coley and Thurston Moore that focuses on the more obscure avant-garde activities normally eclipsed by endless Beatles wackery. Excellent. Great to have em back. David Keenan / Volcanic Tongue, 2007
"[Arthur] has been busy streaming the revelations and imperatives of the New New Age into pop culture, where the kids can get at it... Arthur has become the place where the ideas meet the music; where Derek Jensen's freefall apocalyptics can sit with total aptness beside a piece on nouveau hippie swooners Brightblack Morning Light. The same issue begins with a column about mint tea and ends with a list of 'sensitive weapons' (e.g., shotgun shells taped to the end of a BB-gun barrel) for use when the grid collapses and Devendra Banhart fans are called upon to defend their homes and woolly hats.... Arthur has saturated itself in the '60s, via features on the Weather Underground, the MC5, the 1967 March on the Pentagon, and also in the post-psychedelic slant of the music coverage. But there's nothing regressive here. From the freaky folkers to the acid rockers, Arthur bands have their eyes on the advancing historical horizon..." James Parker, The Boston Phoenix, 2006
"[Arthur's first 25 issues featured] an admirable chunk of visionary muckraking and alternative journalism... This was not Spin or Blender's flashy, tastemaking colleague. More like its anarchist brother."
Audra Schroeder, Austin Chronicle, 02007
Print Fetish interviews Arthur editor/owner Jay Babcock. (June 2007)
Arthur was featured in the 29 June 02007 edition of Spanish daily El Pais. (No link yet, sorry!)
"Tracks," a French-German TV program, is featuring a segment on Arthur in its 12 July 02007 broadcast. Arik Roper, Vashti Bunyan, Brightblack Morning Light and Priestbird are also featured.
07/07/2008
ARTHUR COMES TO NEW YORK CITY!
After six years in Los Angeles, Arthur editor/publisher Jay Babcock has relocated Arthur's editorial headquarters to Brooklyn, effective immediately. (Why the move? "Pizza's better here," he said.)
Please direct all correspondence to do with editorial (not advertising!) matters to:
Arthur Editorial Office
Jay Babcock
339 South Fifth Street, Third Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11211
Are you based in New York City and interested in working on Arthur? Tell Jay what you want to do.
jay at arthurmag dot com
07/07/2008 GOOD NEWS
re: June 26, 2007 Arthur Emergency Appeal for $20k by July 1, 2008
We got the money and more!
Thank you to everyone who contributed either monetarily or with positive thoughts.
We are eternally grateful.
Thanks to you, not only are we able to continue publishing the magazine, we are going to be able to grow into self-sustainability in the coming months without losing an ounce of autonomy. That is a HUGE accomplishment, and we could not have done it without you. Thank you.
New issue of Arthur is out in two weeks!
More news soon!
Kisses,
The Arthur Gang
Brooklyn * Atwater * Nevada City * wherever you are
04/20/2008
"WE ARE A REVOLUTION DISGUISED AS A THEATRE"
Arthur Magazine proudly presents PARADISE NOW: A Collective Creation of The Living Theatre DVD
PARADISE NOW ANTHOLOGY DVD
LIMITED EDITION OF 1,000. direct from ARTHUR using PAYPAL - ORDER NOW!
USA - $29.95 postpaid
Canada - $34.95 postpaid
World - $39.95 airmail
01/16/2008 FREE DOOM SAMPLER FOR NEW ARTHUR SUBSCRIBERS!
We are pleased to announce that "Within the Church of Thee Overlords II," a multi-artist sampler CD from the doom record label Southern Lord, has joined our list of premiums available free of charge to new Arthur subscribers.
1. Om "Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead"
2. Weedeater "God Luck and Good Speed"
3. Burning Witch "History of Hell"
4. sunno))) "Orakulum" (edit)
5. Wolves in the Throne Room "Cleansing"
6. Glorior Belli "Manifesting the Raging Beast"
7. Tangorodrim "Justus Ex Fide Vivit"
8. Striborg "Psychedelic Nightmare"
9. Burial Chamber Trio "Only Vinyl Is Real (Ultra-Mega Death Throb Edit)"
10. Orthodox "Solemne Triduo"
11. Boris w/ Merzbow "Flower, Sun, Rain"
12. Earth "The Driver"
Our online drive to provide one-year subscriptions to Arthur
Magazine for everybody else
PRISONERS
In lieu of a proper education system America has instituted a special school for people of color called prison. Students learn a lot in prison, but are propagandized solely by corporate media, whose rotten message grows even more virulent in the nightmare that is life inside. As a consequence, Arthur regularly receives pleas from these captives to provide them with an untainted diversion at least.
If you are one of our 120,000+ readers who enjoys Arthur for free, please consider giving a prisoner the same privilege. Over two million people - one out of every 142 Americans - is now in prison. Almost 500,000 Americans are in jail for drugs-only offenses, and if they try to go to a record store or coffeehouse or nightclub to pick up a copy of Arthur, they will be shot and bit by dogs. These starving minds have got to get Arthur sent to them in a warden-approved manner, which costs thirty dollars a year. With your kind donation, Arthur will be able to give a lucky prisoner and their cellblock a free one-year subscription.
Provide a beacon for a guy who got caught today.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
America's public libraries are criminally underfunded. You can probably guess why. When you buy a subscription to Arthur on behalf of a public library, you help to expand the public's consciousness while also providing vital financial support to the magazine itself, enabling it to continue its mission. Not too shabby for 30 bones!
NEW ALBUM CURATED BY JOSEPHINE FOSTER COUNTERS U.S. MILITARY RECRUITING CAMPAIGNS
"So Much Fire to Roast Human Flesh"
Track listing:
1. THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS - "Dragonfly" (live)
2. FEATHERS - "Dust"
3. MICHAEL HURLEY - "A Little Bit of Love for You"
4. MEG BAIRD - "Western Red Lily (Nunavut Diamond Dream)"
5. ANDREW BAR - "Don't Trust That Man"
6. GOATGIRL - "President Combed His Hair"
7. DEVENDRA BANHART - "I Know Some Souls" (demo)
8. KATH BLOOM - "Baby Let It Come Down On Me"
9. CHARLIE NOTHING - "Fuck You and Your Stupid Wars"
10. DIANE CLUCK - "A Phoenix and Doves"
11. JOHN ALLINGHAM & ANN TILEY - "Big War"
12. JOSEPHINE FOSTER - "Would You Pave the Road?"
13. ANGELS OF LIGHT - "Destroyer"
14. RACHEL MASON - "The War Clerk's Lament"
15. PAJO - "War Is Dead"
16. MVEE - "Powderfinger" (Neil Young cover)
17. KATHLEEN BAIRD - "Prayer for Silence"
18. LAY ALL OVER IT - "A Place"
Curated by Josephine Foster
Cover artwork by Fred Tomaselli
Musician Josephine Foster has joined forces with Arthur Magazine to help give America's youth the tools they need to protect them from the depredations of the nation's many unscrupulous military recruiters.
"All of the musicians represented on So Much Fire to Roast Human Flesh are American citizens," says Josephine. "Our voices join with many others across this land that freely question and openly oppose war. Hopefully we will raise a good sum of money to help fund the educational pacifist tasks these organizations do. They are dedicated to creating a positive counter to the rising tides of the war being waged. We hope to assist them in their efforts promoting peace and non-militarism in the United States."
The album's title is taken from a line by the poet Apollinaire, who died from wounds he sustained while serving in World War I.
An eye-opening study issued in August 02006 by the Government Accountability Office reported that "allegations and service-identified incidents of recruiter wrongdoing" increased almost 50 percent between 02004 and 02005. Criminal violations more than doubled over the same period of time. Increasingly common tactics used by the nation's 20,000 military recruiters range from lying about the financial benefits of service to threatening high school students with arrest if they back out of an enlistment process already underway. Military recruiters have also been assisting recruits in the falsification of documents to cover up conditions like autism, mental illness and serious drug problems that would bar them from service if reported. [See Endnotes.]
Proceeds from sales since this album's release last year have already been distributed to
