“COMMAND PERFORMANCE” -THE ARTHUR MAILING LIST BULLETIN
NUMBER 26 of 1,750
OCTOBER 4, 2005
I. “The Wild Women of East Tenth taught me a valuable lesson that carried me all the way through the rest of the decade. I tended to be morose and always worried about things. Events, projects and decisions swirled around me in terrible turbulence. Nobody had any time to sleep. Everybody had five careers. What I learned from them was the Dickens Principle–it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but it was OUR times, and we owned them with our youth, our energy, our good will, our edginess. So let’s party. Under the Dickens Principle everything was a party. Poetry was a party. Work was a party. Fugs rehearsals were a party. Even demonstrations and long meetings planning the revolution.” — from “Tales of Beatnik Glory” by Ed Sanders
II. ARTHUR FOR PRISONERS.
Arthur regularly receives written inquiries from inmates at U.S. prisons requesting complimentary subsciptions to the magazine. We are now keeping a list of such requests, all of which we hope to fufill at no charge to the prisoners themselves.
We are inviting Arthur’s readers to participate in this program and help it grow.
Please remember that 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. According to a 2003 Human Rights Watch report, since 1980 “nearly three quarters of new admissions to state prison were convicted of nonviolent crimes.” The same report stated that “although black Americans account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black.”
The easiest, quickest way you can help us get Arthur into U.S. prisons is by buying a one-year, $30 gift subscription on a prisoner’s behalf.
III. LOVELY ARTHUR T-SHIRTS NOW IN STOCK.
Remember the “Tuff Wizard” Arthur T-shirts designed by Arik Moonhawk Roper we had on sale a while ago? Yes? No? In either event, they’re back in stock– one could say “new and improved” with a straight face because now they’re in stylish Royal Blue & Yellow, and it also says “Magazine” under the wizard so people won’t ask you, “So what is Arthur”? Now they will know straight off: it’s a magazine. Also, we’ve found a few more of the Earth & Mustard ones, so those are on offer now as well. Both look good with a grin. $18.95US postpaid. Ordering info at www.arthurmag.com
IV. “2 MILLION TONGUES” FESTIVAL COMPILATION CD AVAILABLE NOV. 1.
To commemorate the second annual Plastic Crimewave-curated, Galactic Zoo Dossier/Arthur-presented Million Tongues festival at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, occurring this year on two stages from November 3-6, Arthur’s Bastet imprint will be releasing 2 Million Tongues, spotlighting work by artists performing at the festival, on Nov. 1.
Track listing:
1. MOUNTAINS – “Speaking”
2. NO NECK BLUES BAND – “Pulse”
3. MIMINOKOTO – “Tokedasu”
4. TIM KINSELLA & AMY CARGILL – “Song for Josh”
5. MICHAEL CHAPMAN – “The Northern Lights”
6. JOSEPHINE FOSTER – “Wondrous Love”
7. CHRIS CONNELLY – “Pray’r”
8. PEARLS AND BRASS – “Waterfall”
9. TRAVELING BELL – “Apparitions”
10. THE SINGLEMAN AFFAIR – “Good to Be With You Again”
11. JACK ROSE – “Hey Fuck You Rag”
12. TAR PET – “Takeit Heri”
13. BIRDSHOW – “Pilz”
14. TONY CONRAD – “Bowstring 1”
15. HOTOTOGISU – “Blues for Steve K”
16. HAPTIC – “Indifference -> Building On Fire”
17. LUX – “Need Fade In + Out”
18. HARDSCRABBLE – “Sail It Away”
This CD is limited to 1,000 copies.
Ships Nov. 1
$12 US, $14 Can, $17 world, postpaid. Or free with new subscription order.
Ordering info at
V. PRESS REVIEWS OF ARTHURFEST.
* “ArthurFest yields an eclectic and bountiful crop, with Yoko Ono particularly vibrant.” –Los Angeles Times
* “Two days of transcendental psychedelia and mind-expanding musical machinations… There was the vibe, a commonality between so many bands looking to higher goals. The event definitely reverberated with a high-minded and spiritual and community-oriented, living-off-the-grid feeling so rare in the city of angles.”– San Francisco Bay Guardian
* “At Arthur Magazine’s inaugural gathering, youth and experience, the rough-hewn and the preening, dissonance and harmony all rubbed comfortably against each other.” — Pitchfork
* “But for all the range, there was a unifying intelligence holding the festival’s 41 acts together: a devotion to following their muses to the extreme and a near complete disregard for commercial appeal.” — Variety
* “For two days at least, Arthurfest provided a relatively unruffled respite from the city below.”– Billboard
* “Ono, the weekend’s de facto veteran of disorder, seemed wholly nonplussed. After roughly sixteen hours soaking in ArthurFest’s vivid goon-age daydream — this spectrum of sublimity in the face of such a greater, tumescent ignorance — so was everyone else. And all were better because of it.” — Dusted
* “Looks like we’ve got an instant, de rigueur classic on our hands.” — LAWeekly
* “This was the most peaceful and carefree festival I have ever attended.” — Valdas Kiralis, IceCreamMan.com
One thousand ArthurFest photos are online at
http://www.icecreamman.com/festivals/arthurfest2005
bless,
Arthur Social Pleasure Society
Los Angeles, California
Arthur Magazine 