“COMMAND PERFORMANCE” -THE ARTHUR MAILING LIST BULLETIN

No. 0018

FRIDAY MAY 20, 2005

1. “It is quite clear that gluttony, greed and lack of compassion have caused America to become the most despised nation on this Earth. And the sad thing is, as my Polish wife tells me, we were and still could be, the hope of all. Instead we have not one friend on earth despite the babblings of that Texas millionaire in Washington.” — Lew Welch, 1967.

2. A PLACE TO COMMINGLE: We’ve added more space to our Arthur message board at www.arthurmag.com. Drop in if you’re in the mood.

3. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!: Brian Eno is interviewed by Kristine McKenna in the next issue of Arthur, out June 14.

4. SAVE THE DATES. SERIOUSLY: September 4 and 5, 2005: Arthur Festival, Los Angeles, California. More information in the coming weeks.

5. KANDY KORN CARTWHEELS AND YOU: From David Keenan’s review in the May issue of THE WIRE: “We’ve got the closest thing to a high fidelity release here from the confirmed kings of the under-the-counter-culture, Sunburned Hand Of The Man. No Magic Man bundles a selection of some of Sunburned’s most punishingly rhythmic heart-punches to date. There are pieces here that sound like Pete Cosey-era Miles cut up with Lhasa street song and stand-up stonerskits, while others make out like the logical Heavy Metal extension of Tony Williams’ experiments with electricity as part of Lifetime alongside guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. Guitarist Marc Orleans can generate kandy korn cartwheels as well as The Magic Band’s Jeff Cotton and combined with Rob Thomas’s bass, the two provide a steam-rolling backline that various drummers — John Moloney, Phil Franklin — work to bolster and undermine. Much of No Magic Man is possessed of a uniquely squelchy analog bottom end and 

between tracks there are some wowing cut-ups from various found sources that add a beautiful veneer of mystic shit to the already precariously dosed proceedings.”

“No Magic Man” is available Arthur’s Bastet label for only $12US/$14Can/$17World, postage paid. Or FREE with a new subscription. Go to www.arthurmag.com to order.

6. ARTHUR ON DUBLAB.COM‘S DUBSTREAM: Arthur editor Jay Babcock just did a 60-minute sequence of music selections that is in random, schedule-less rotation with other folks’ sessions now on dublab.com‘s live “dubstream” thingamabobber. Features Babcock ramble plus new music by Vetiver, A Band of Bees,  Psychic Paramount, Sleater-Kinney, Gang Gang Dance, Growing, Marissa Nadler, Colleen and Radar Bros. and old music from Rod Stewart and P.P. Arnold, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Hawkwind, Incredible String Band and Gary Higgins. Listen in at www.dublab.com

7. ARIK MOONHAWK ROPER’S “TOUGH WIZARD” ARTHUR T-SHIRTS ALMOST GONE, MORE ON THE WAY.

Arik Moonhawk Roper: you’ve seen his illustrations on the covers of High on Fire albums, Black Crowes tour posters and accompanying Daniel Pinchbeck’s column in Arthur. Recently you may have seen his artwork in a new place: on someone’s chest. Yes, Arik designed the very popular bullets-and-mushrooms-wielding Wizard who graces the current Arthur t-shirt. Well, we’re almost out of the mustard-on-earth color variety, so hurry up and order if you want those. They’re cheap and available from www.arthurmag.com We’ve got some new shirts on the way incorporating the same design, but with a different color scheme. What is the new color scheme? It’s a secret, silly.

We all know,

Arthur Information Bureau

Los Angeles, California