March 17, 2004

COMMAND PERFORMANCE

THE ARTHUR MAILING LIST BULLETIN No. 0001

“Text beyond the presses.”

Did you see that new Honda ad with the old Ween song?!? I’m not into cars, or the commercials for them, or heck even TV, but man, getting to hear “Ocean man/take me by the hand/Lead me to the land that you understand/ocean man/the voyage to the corner of the globe is a real trip…” blasting out of the national television broadcast was strangely thrilling…

Anyways, here’s what’s the latest from Arthur’s twin HQs (one West, one East– one day we’ll have North and South too — watch for it, it won’t be long.):

(((1))) BASTET

Pronounced “Bast-t,” as if that clarifies anything, Bastet is Arthur’s new non-magazine publishing imprint venture. Really new, like last week. Basically we’re gonna make stuff we wanna own. Then we’re gonna make some more of that stuff for other people to buy. The first two things we’re making are extremely limited edition compact disks featuring *extremely different kinds of music*, available only via our website. They are:

BASTET 0001: “The Golden Apples of the Sun” a 20-track *FOLKISH* showcase curated by the wondrous Devendra Banhart featuring Vetiver, Joanna Newsom, Jack Rose (Pelt), ESPers, Six Organs of Admittance, Antony, Jana Hunter, Jospehine Foster, Matt Valentine, Diane Cluck, Iron and Wine, Cocorosie, Entrance, Little Wings, Scout Niblett, Currituck Co., Viking Moses, White Magic, Troll and Vashti Bunyan & Devendra Banhart. Cover and all artwork and handlettering by Devendra Banhart.

Packaging by Thumbprint Press. Edition of 1,000.

BASTET 0002: “The Libations of Samhain: SUNN 0))) live at London’s Subcamden Underground, Hallo’ween 2003.” Exactly that: one live *POWER-DRONE AMBIENT METAL*  track just under 49 minutes, plus a bonus interview with Savage Pencil and Sharon Gal, originally broadcast on London’s Resonance FM 104. Features Attila Csihar on InVoxAtion. Cover artwork by Savage Pencil. Letterpress printing by Thumbprint Press. Edition of 500. 

These are available *now* for pre-order and will start shipping before May 1,

2004. (People have been ordering this stuff already, so it’s probably best not

to dawdle!) THESE LITTLE BASTETs *WILL* SELL OUT AND WILL *NEVER* BE RE-ISSUED.

So, do what you need to do:

http://www.arthurmag.com/bastet.html

(((2))) ARTHUR NO. 9, ARTHUR No. 10.

ARTHUR No. 9 hit the streets running on Feb 28. Doom metal/stoner rock elder WINO graces the cover and gets the fabulous, accessible, expansive Arthur feature interview treatment inside from legendary metal journalist Joshua Sindell. Plus you get 7.5 pages on the MC5! 12,000-plus words and color photos on the annual Humboldt County Kinetic Sculpture Race scene. Plus a short feat on THE LIARS. Plus pirate radio operator/author Sue Carpenter on what she learned from the experience. PLus Leif Goldberg! Plus “Breaking Open the Head” author Daniel Pinchbeck’s debut as Arthur columnist! Plus etcetera. 

Mark your calendars: Arthur No 10 is out April 27. It’s okay, we’ll remind you later. We’ll let you know all about No. 10’s contents in the next Command Performance, but fer now, know this: It’s gonna be a doozy.

(((3))) SO, TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF.

Help ARTHUR grow stronger by helping us sell ads. Help us sell ads by yapping about yourself on our new Arthur Reader Survey. It’s right here:

http://www.keysurvey.com/survey/24574/144b/

Do the 15-question survey, give us your email address and we’ll enter you in the sweepstakes for some free Arthur/Bastet stuff. Come on, it’s only 15 questions.

Help a brother out. You can do it. 

(((4))) CAN’T FIND ARTHUR? PERHAPS SIR/MADAM WOULD CONSIDER A SUBSCRIPTION.

ARTHUR comes out, and then it’s gone. You snooze, you lose. But no one should be punished for being unlucky, which is why ARTHUR offers SUBSCRIPTIONS. Now, you need never fear the empty stack again. Do you live in the USA? We are sorry. But, you can get six issues of Arthur for $30, plus (while supplies last) a free BASTET CD or ARTHUR t-shirt of your choosing. Do you live in Canada? Right on. That’ll cost you $39. Do you live somewhere else on the big blue cloudy marble? Wow, that’s awesome. That’ll be $60. Order via PayPal at

http://www.arthurmag.com/backissues.html

(((5))) ENJOY ARTHUR-APPROVED LIVE MUSIC.

<<<<BRANT BJORK & THE BROS >>>>>

“The Pizza Tour” 

A genuine living legend, and he ain’t yet 30! Multinstrumentalist Brant Bjork co-founded the legendary Kyuss; featured with Fu Manchu when they were good; and  now releases Thin Lizzy/War-inflected solo records full of soul and hot lung. Watch out especially for the shows in the next few days, which will feature the one and only Nick Oliveri, ex-Kyuss and now ex-Queens of the Stone Age, doing his solo act…. (more info at: http://www.dunarecords.com/) 

Mar 17 – Philadelphia, PA (Khyber) (opening: Nick Oliveri)

Mar 18 – Brooklyn, NY (South Paw) (opening: Nick Oliveri)

Mar 20 – Cleveland, OH (Grog Shop) (opening: Nick Oliveri)

Mar 21 – Detroit, MI (Small’s) (opening: Nick Oliveri)

Mar 22 – Chicago, IL (Double Door) (opening: Nick Oliveri)

Mar 23 – St. Louis, MO (The Way Out Club) 

Mar 24 – Kansas City, MO (Hurricane) 

Mar 25 – Denver, CO (Larimer Lounge) 

Mar 26 – Salt Lake City, UT (Urban Lounge) 

Mar 28 – Seattle, WA (Sunset Tavern) 

Mar 29 – Portland, OR (Berbati’s Pan) 

Mar 31 – San Francisco, CA (Parkside) 

Apr 1 – Santa Cruz, CA (The Aptos Club) 

Apr 2 – Boulder City, NV (Matteo’s) 

Apr 3 – Los Angeles, CA (Spaceland) 

<<<<<KHANATE>>>>> 

“LET LOOSE THE LAMBS” tour

Khanate’s new album “Things Viral” is described by our friends at Southern Lord as “Destitute, barren, punishingly heavy doom! 2nd album from NYCs’ most grimm metallic warriors. 4 new tracks totalling 59:06. Torturous, snail-like pace makes the debut album sound like speed metal! Extreme audio terrorism.” What’s the anti of “amen”? I dunno… (more info at: http://www.southernlord.com) 

Mar 18: Lizard Lounge 200 Decatur Street New Orleans, LA (w/ Scelsi Girls, and Hagus) $5/21+ 

Mar 19: Polk Street Warehouse Cnr Polk & Roberts, Houston, TX (w/ Ossum, Goat, Pretty Little Flower, Kairos, [Eye against Eye Video projections]) $8/All Ages 

Mar 20: SXSW The Ritz Austin, TX 320 East 6th St Austin, TX (Southern Lord Showcase w/Place of Skulls, Earthride, Outlaw Order, Graves at Sea) $??/21+ 

Mar 21: Conservatory 8911 N Western Oklahoma City, OK (w/ Place of Skulls, Graves at Sea) $7/21+ 

Mar 22: Lemp Gallery 3301 Lemp Ave $5/All Ages 

Mar 23: Gabes Oasis 330 E. Washington Iowa City , IA (w/ Flacid Trip) $8/21+ 

Mar 24: Empty Bottle 1035 N. Western Ave. Chicago , IL (w/ KEVIN DRUMM, WHITE LIGHT) $8/21+ 

Mar 25: Mac’s Bar 2700 E. Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI (w/THREATENER) $6/21+ 

Mar 26: Grog Shop 2785 Euclid Hts Blvd Cleveland, OH (w/ WOLF EYES) $7/21+ 

Mar 27: The Balcony 1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA (w/ 27) $8/21+ 

And that’s it fer now.

Til next time–

So long, it’s good to know ya,

The Arthur Gang

March 17, 2004