From Arthur “Weedeater” columnist Nance Klehm:

Weedeater Street Medicine in Los Angeles
February 19+ 20, 10am – 5pm, $165 for two days; $90 a day

Learn to prepare and use the vast amount of medicinal plants that grow in the street and city lots. We will be exploring the cultivated and the wild plants of our surroundings that are readily available for the making of place based medicines. Each day will be rich with hands-on gathering and preparations, tastings and samplings and grounded with an urbanforage walk. A light foraged lunch and teas will be provided.

~Day One~
Introduction to basic herbal energetics and actions that includes a two-hour urban forage walk.Preparations of medicines used externally: poultices, linaments and salves

~Day Two~
Introduction to Plant Spirit Medicine that includes a two hour urban forage walk. Preparations of medicines used internally: infusions, tinctures and flower essences.

$50 holds your space. Registration deadline February 14.
Paypal account: nettlesting@yahoo.com

Teaching locations and a short materials list will be given with registration.
?Questions? nettlesting@yahoo.com

Also leading a ‘poo salon’ on Feb. 18 and an urbanforage in echo park on Feb. 27, each organized through the urban homestead couple. check out their post and register through them:

homegrownevolution.com

www.spontaneousvegetation.net
www.salvationjane.net

BANQUET OF THE BLACK JACKAL

What happens when mankind ends? How will history, cultural objects, and relationships between the elements be remembered or reinterpreted? The artists in this exhibition tackle the notion of history—be it personal, cultural or philosophic—in their multimedia installations. The questions at play in this exhibition are informed by the writings of Hegelian philosopher Alexandre Kojève and contemporary science fiction.

Participating artists: Eduardo Consuegra, Adam D. Miller, Ruby Neri, Devon Oder, Amanda Ross-Ho, Liz Craft, Shio Kusaka, and Matthew Greene

The opening reception for Banquet of the Black Jackal will be from 6-8pm on Saturday, January 22.

exhibition curated by Adam D. Miller
exhibition runs from January 22 – March 19. Gallery hours monday-thursday & saturday noon to 5pm. Gallery closed on friday and sunday.

A catalog has been published to accompany the exhibition with essays by Adam D Miller, Mark Von Shlegell, Lia Cheyenne Trinker Browner and Evan Calder Williams. Hand silk-screened covers, and full-color artist pages. Please bring a couple bucks to the opening to get a copy.

The Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA, 90032
California State University, Los Angeles
323-343-6600
http://www.luckmanarts.org

…saluted by the Arch-Drude (Julian Cope) at the Dorian Cope-helmed, bookmark-worthy On This Deity blog

Brilliant poet, cartoonist and musician David Berman is now blogging at
http://mentholmountains.blogspot.com

David’s one-panel comics were featured throughout the premiere issue of Arthur, published in September, 2002. He also illustrated “Uncle Skullfucker’s Band,” Daniel Chamberlin’s piece on being a secret Deadhead that ran in Arthur No. 11. Both issues are in stock at the Arthur Store.

More: etsy.com

Download: LITTLE WINGS – “How Come” (mp3)

Stream:

Sweet new song off Kyle Fields’ new LITTLE WINGS album Black Grass, forthcoming from Marriage Records February 25.

Longtime Arthurians will recall the Little Wings profiled by Erik Bluhm in Arthur No. 13 (2004), and the song “Look at What the Light Did Now” included on Devendra Banhart’s 2004 Arthur compilation cd, Golden Apples of the Sun. Did you know? Both the magazine and the CD are available from the Arthur Store.

Courtesy R.P.

Solo acoustic take on song from astonishing forthcoming album, The Gathering.

More: http://arbouretum.blogspot.com

More more: Thrill Jockey Records

The Black Keys in Arthur No. 2 (May 2003), by Peter Relic: read it

The Black Keys’ singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach talks matzo ball soup in Arthur No. 13 (October 2004): buy it at the Arthur Store

Wade Davis: wikipedia

Latest book: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Sunday, January 23, 2011, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Wade Davis lectures at Bowers Museum (Santa Ana, CA)

Peter Coyote talks with Rebecca Solnit about her book, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster.

SCULPTURE “Rotary Signal Emitter”
Picture-Disc LP
EUR16.00
(limited 300)

More info: dekorder.com

Order info: dekorder.com

Via strangeattractor.co.uk

More: beautifulandthedamned.com/

Ann Summa’s Clash and Joe Strummer photos were featured in Arthur No. 3.

J Mascis – Not Enough by subpop

Photograph by Susanna Howe, make-up and styling by Kristofer Buckle, from Arthur No. 28 (available from The Arthur Store).

Read: Diamanda Galás Responds to the Smithsonian’s Removal of David Wojnarowicz’s Work

artwork by Arik Roper

From Ethan Miller’s Silver Currant blog…

“What I can remember about this session is that it was recorded during the daytime at our practice space on 3rd st. in San Francisco most likely between September 1st and the 3rd of 2005. Comets and Growing had toured the Midwest and Eastern U.S. together in June and July of that same year. This is just a few months later and Growing was out on the West Coast to play the first Arthurfest in Los Angeles which Comets also played…”

More Miller spiel plus a download of the sesh: http://silvercurrant.blogspot.com/2010/08/comets-growing.html

“cartoonist ron rege, jr talks to gazeta comics about alchemy, catholicism, and his project ‘the cartoon utopia.’

“more about the cartoon utopia and foreign comics at gazetacomics.com

“music by ron rege’s discombobulated ventriloquist
images by ron rege (or from his blog)
edited by maria sputnik / gazeta comics”

http://ronrege.blogspot.com

Plastic Crimewave, creator of the Galactic Zoo Dossier magazine for Drag City, proprietor of the Galactic Zoo Disk reissue label, leader of spacepunkers Plastic Crimewave Sound, and general music historian/head has reached the end of the fifth consecutive year of his Galactic Zoo Mix Tape Club, and will be taking subscriptions again with another year of Mix Tape-age starting in December.

You get six 90 min. tapes (one every other month) with exclusive artwork and the sounds of rare and populist psychedelia, glam, acid folk, prog, boogie, power pop, soft rock, shoegaze, protopunk, hard rawk, experimental, bubblegum, etc. for a mere $30.

Paypal at plasticcw@hotmail.com, or send a check or cash to 1061 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60622.

Ethan Miller (Howlin’ Rain, Comets on Fire) writes up a heavier-geared tape from the Galactic Zoo Mix Tape Club.

Also on the PCW tip, we’ve got about 50 copies left of Plastic Crimewave’s Two Million Tongues compilation CD from 2005 for $10 postpaid at The Arthur Store.

In the summer of 1979, Gary Weis and six film crew members drove from Manhattan to the South Bronx every day for two weeks, a journey that each day left Mr. Weis in awe and despair.

“It was almost like going to a foreign country,” said Mr. Weis, 63. Bombed-out buildings, heaps of rubble and stripped cars; he compared it to postwar Dresden.

Mr. Weis, then a director of short films for “Saturday Night Live,” spent those days on the Grand Concourse, between 167th and 170th Streets, making a documentary film about two of the most ruthless gangs in the Bronx: the Savage Skulls and Savage Nomads.

The result, a 60-minute documentary titled “80 Blocks From Tiffany’s,” was intended to fill one of “SNL’s” weekly time slots on NBC, open every third week that summer. But it was never broadcast. Executives found it too controversial, and after a screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 1980 and a limited VHS release in 1985, the film was shelved.

Read on: New York Times feature

Linda Perhacs, interviewed by Daiana Feuer at LAWeekly:

“Young people in their exploratory years are making choices. It’s the choice between following the good energy in the universe or choosing to forsake that and follow the opposite. Follow the opposite, the problems are going to be maximum.

“[Some people that I knew] were experimenting with things that did not allow their lives to go full-term. I didn’t participate in that. I don’t need it! But, yes, it was everywhere and we lost a few that we loved. … I’m sorry, it makes me cry to think about this. … One died from an overdose, another, I don’t know if he’s still on the physical plane. Of these two people that I thought were so strong, I am the one that ended up being the strong one.

“We are all in this together. It’s not new versus old. Artists are going to approach the same questions of the old world with the tools of the new world. Just hopefully they keep their balance with the organic. We have to remember that these technologies require a power source. Without that they go down instantly. That power source is not man-made. It comes from a higher place in the universe.”

Author Michael Moorcock, interviewed by Ben Graham at The Quietus…

“I’m actually very anti-nostalgia, but I am interested in the past… I’m nostalgic for 1967, because that was when I was young and having a wickedly good time, but that’s about it. I knew that the 60s weren’t going to last, and so I decided that this is a golden age, and that it’s probably got about another 10 years, and I’m going to get everything I can out of it! And I had a great time. When people say, this didn’t happen or that didn’t happen, well, you weren’t there mate, you know! So yeah, that’s the only nostalgia I have, and even that, you know… I was also doing bad things as well, just bad things that everybody does, as it were.

“The thing was, everyone was in Ladbroke Grove or Notting Hill at that time; there were bands everywhere, and you felt that there was something wrong with you if you didn’t play some sort of fretted instrument! Almost everybody did, and I’d been in bands before that; right from the 50s; I’d been in a skiffle group, and I made that transition to blues, R&B, the way a lot of people did. And then I’d kind of given it up because I found it was more comfortable to sit there working in a chair than sitting in the back of an old van, and then being screwed when you got to a gig, the usual sort of crap. So I just stopped doing it. I’ve said this a lot of times but I think it’s actually worth saying: a lot of us did this, we went for rock & roll and science fiction because they weren’t respectable, and there was no criticism at all. There were no magazines that dealt with it; there was no body of criticism. There was nothing. Melody Maker, if you were lucky, you got a cartoon of Elvis Presley in the back, and they didn’t think it was going to last.

“But it was something that you could make of it what you wanted. So you went into the studio – when you went into the studio – not really knowing what you were going to do. And sometimes it was better than you thought it was going to be. Sometimes it was bloody awful. But again, it was just that sense of having something that was your own. I think that gaming [role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons and Runequest, which frequently drew on Moorcock's work] became that for another generation, and there’s other stuff that goes on. I think if you’re 18, you’re always going to be looking for something where there isn’t your dad telling you, you know, how it should be or how it used to be. You’d rather somebody said ‘what the hell are you doing, wasting your time?’ Now it’s a respectable career. ‘Dad, I want to be a rock & roll musician!’ ‘Okay, we’ll send you to rock & roll school!’ And it’s just not, you know, who wants to do that?

“I think the 60s were really about ’63 to about ‘75; I mean what people call the 60s. I see it as finally ending with Stiff’s last tour. That was for me the kind of end of it all, the last record company that had come up from nothing, that was really going after new talent, that was really wide open to pretty much anything, a very broad spectrum of popular music. And classical music, if anybody had gone to see it. I know [Stiff label boss] Jake Riviera, if somebody had said to Jake, come on Jake, let’s get Birtwhistle, he’d probably have said yeah, alright, great, let’s try it. And that was in a sense what the so-called sixties were all about. But it also happened because there were huge amounts of money, and we were the richest kids that had ever been, and have ever been. That went as well. I think the tricks that Margaret Thatcher played on us all put the money into the hands of the powerful people who were interested in money. But for a short while the money was in the hands of people who were actually interested in doing something with the money.”

More artwork and classic comic pages at this recently launched Moebius appreciation Tumbler blog: http://theairtightgarage.tumblr.com/

Comix historian R.C Harvey reviews Gilbert Shelton’s 624-page “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus” over at The Comics Journal site…

“Mike Jay, the author of High Society, a history of mind-altering drugs, introduces his new book and heads to China to cover the opium wars.

“High Society explores the spectrum of drug use across the globe and throughout history, from its roots in animal intoxication to its future in designer neurochemicals.

“Designed to accompany the 2010 Wellcome Collection exhibition, the book is beautifully illustrated with rarely seen material from the museum’s collections.”

Masters of Reality’s Chris Goss, musician, with wild desert tortoise. Photograph by Stephanie Smith, in Joshua Tree, California. Interview by Arthur editor Jay Babcock at LAWeekly.

“Today we commemorate the death of the prophet and gnostic George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, who died sixty-one years ago in Neuilly, near Paris, surrounded by a large group of sobbing followers. Somewhat like William Blake’s notion of having been a ‘sent man’, Gurdjieff was throughout his life obsessed with what he called his ‘Being Duty’, his unyielding belief that his role was to serve others by lending them his expertise in navigating the great problems of life…”

Continues: onthisdeity.com

The late Tuli Kupferberg in make-up as God on the set for “Voulez-vous couchez avec God” circa 1971-2. Photo: Kenneth Locker

This is the second in a series of cartoons and prints called “Peter and Becky’s Fun Fun Slogans.”

Cartoon credits: Art by Kevin Hooyman. Song by Becky Stark. Directed by Peter Glantz. Animated by Kenneth Onulak. Sound recording by Suzanne Goldish. Produced by Peter Glantz and Imaginary Entertainment (imaginarycompany.org).

A limited edition print is available until Tuesday, Oct. 26. Kevin illustrated and colored this thing like an obsessed wild man. Act fast because they will sell quickly. Check it out at: tinyshowcase.com

Unsigned edition: justseeds.org

Published in Arthur No. 13 (Nov., 2004), available from The Arthur Store

My Top Ten Favorite Psychedelic Folk Songs
by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge

I was invited to create a list of my personal FAVORITE music and so I did, for an English newspaper The Independent. I was happy to illustrate how different my taste is to the endless dark mediocrity of current so-called Industrial Music that people seem to assume I would like when I NEVER have!

A note about the number of Incredible String Band songs in the following list: In 1969, I was a member of The Exploding Galaxy kinetic performance troupe in London. Some members left to form Stone Monkey, who danced with the ISB for a while. I had been listening to the Incredible String Band since school. The surrealism and FREEDOM of the lyrics is what continually engages me: the subject matter of absurdity and spirituality combined. I feel the ISB are probably the lyrical geniuses of the ’60s and onwards, far more than the Beatles or Dylan, who become predictable and never really extended the form of the song as an open system in the same way. Once one gets the ISB all the other musics fall into place. These are the true troubadours of the last two centuries. They explore divinity and magick from a lyrical chivalric dimension. Combine this with the interdimensionality and you have works beyond compare. SUBLIME!

Go and explore, there are more stories in the drug mine of British folk than man hath dreamed of and Lewis Carroll hath penned to his own particular blend of paper.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
New York City, April 2004

=====

1. “Meet Me on the Ledge” by Fairport Convention
(from What We Did On Our Holidays, 1968)
When I was at Hull University this song was on the student-picked juke box. The in-joke amongst we flower children/soon-to-be-drop-outs was that when we wanted to score hash from the University dealer we’d put this record on as a buying signal and meet outside by the “hedge.”

2. “When I Get Home” by Pentangle
(from Light Flight compilation double CD, 1971)
This is amazing! Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Richard Thompson and the crew evoke the most immersive sense of melancholy. I saw all the guitarists individually in the Hall of Residence cafeteria so this always makes me smell gravy and roast potatoes instead of think of alcoholism. A whiskydelic song as Lady Jaye would say.

3. “A Very Cellular Song” by the Incredible String Band
(from The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, 1968)
Probably my equal favorite song of all time. Full of whimsy, weirdness, surreal lyrics that insist they are profound when you know they are more likely just found. When it gets to a sequence which describes the feelings of an amoeba you know that you are, after all, in the presence of genius!

4. “Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal” by Dr. Strangely Strange
(from Kip of the Serenes, 1970)
I can’t imagine life without this band. They always bring joy to my heart. Rumor has it the main singer split to become a full-on Zen priest so they only made two albums. Both are total classics of British pre-Raphaelite fairytales. No other people can pull off this nonsense poetry so authentically. The genius Joe Boyd brought them from Eire to record their masterpiece. You do not love words if you cannot love this song which has the silliest chorus ever written.

5. “Sign On My Mind” by Dr. Strangely Strange
(from Heavy Petting, 1970)
I used to have this on vinyl and the cover unfolded as intricately and dadaistically as the music and lyrics. Gnomic hippies peer from insubstantial cut-out trees as we are led a merry frolic into the surprise of a guitar solo by Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy fame! I have seriously considered doing a cover version of this song with The Master Musicians of Jajouka playing the flute parts.

6. “Time Has Told Me” by Nick Drake
(from Five Leaves Left, 1969)
The myth says that Rizzla rolling papers had one paper that said “Five Leaves Left” to warn stoners of impending doom. Of course, I could have chosen ANY song by Nick Drake. The intensity of melancholia drenching the analog tape, the sheer PRESENCE of his voice is an honor to share, as is the raw intimacy with which he describes turmoil, creating confusion in us by delicately flecking every edge of his words with guilty beauty.

7. “My Father Was a Lighthouse Keeper” by the Incredible String Band
(from Earthspan, 1972)
Here I am duty bound to confess I have at least 20 ISB CDs and albums! Never, ever, on any day, in any mood do I feel less than joyous to hear their voices and humor, their grand metaphysics and acid-drenched morality plays. At first I wasn’t sure about this era. L. Ron Hubbard supposedly wanted to guide their parables. But there is something in the violin—as an electric violin player since 1966 myself, I am a sucker for them. Now, I bellow along and feel the sea spray soak my mediaeval hose as I witness a murderous foam.

8. “Translucent Carriages” by Pearls Before Swine
(from Balaklava, 1965)
Tom Rapp is one of the great undiscovered poet songwriters from Eastern USA. Originally on ESP Disc alongside the Fugs and other neo-Beat nutters he occasionally lets slip a seductive lisp. I have never figured out the meaning of this song (which was first played to me by Annie Ryan in Liverpool in a post-acid glow) even though I did record it for the Psychic TV Pagan Day album. Answers on a dog-tag please. He is a lawyer now. Sensible man saw too much of the larval nature of mankind for his own peace of heart.

9. “War in Peace” by Alexander “Skip” Spence
(from Oar, 1969)
Skip was a Canadian bass player who switched to drums for the Jefferson Airplane during the acid madness until he was dropped in 1966 for missing a rehearsal! He turned up like a mad penny in Moby Grape next, still erratic and enigmatic. There’s the touch of Syd Barrett tragedy in the implosion and incompleteness of many of his songs. His deranged inspiration sneaks him in as folksy acid.

10. “Ducks on a Pond” by the Incredible String Band
(from Wee Tam and the Big Huge, 1968)
Yes, I know, there are so many others and where DO you draw the psychedelic line? By its very natyre it meanders and has no beginning, edge or point. I wanted to include the Blossom Toes’ “We Are Ever So Clean”; Nirvana’s “All of Us”; anything quirky by Syd Barrett (which means everything he did). Why I even toyed with Kaleidoscope from the USA and Dantalian’s Chariot (whose guitarist went on to play in The Police!!! Oh Andy Summers, ouch!). But “Ducks” is the 1968 masterpiece. A total artwork. A monster that will not shut up or stop spiralling around and around as dumb as a duck and as crazy as a fox complete with “inky scratches everywhere.”

Best caption for this promotional photo starring author/once-upon-a-time Arthur columnist Daniel Pinchbeck and bassist Gordon “Sting” Sumner wins something TBD. Submissions are welcome in the “Comments” section below.

WE HAVE A CAPTION CONTEST WINNER:

“See Daniel, if we go by the Mayan long count, I can actually maintain an erection for 26 hours…”

Congratulations, Brian!

BLACKOUT, Arthur’s new 49-minute mixtape specially sequenced to accompany (or simulate) a human-plant interaction, is now available.

50-SECOND TEASER TOKE:

TRACK LIST:

1. MOON DUO “Into the Trees” (from the Escape LP on Woodsist)
2. WHITE HILLS “Three Quarters” (from the White Hills LP on Thrill Jockey)
3. WHITE NOISE SOUND “Sunset” (from the White Noise Sound LP on Alive Naturalsound)
4. LORDS OF FALCONRY “Osiron” (from Lords of Falconry on Holy Mountain)
5. ENDLESS BOOGIE “Pack Your Bags” (from the Full House Head LP on No Quarter)
6. MASTERS OF REALITY “Johnny’s Dream” (from the Pine/Cross’d Over LP)
7. MESSAGES “Tambura” (from the After Before LP on De Stijl)
8. ENUMCLAW “Harmonic Convergence” (from the Opening of the Dawn LP)

BLACKOUT is available only as a digital download, featuring Arik Roper artwork, additional art and text, and eight 192kpbs mp3s sequenced and mixed with blacking you out in mind.

Pay what thou wilt, starting at $4.20.

All proceeds go towards keeping the Arthur community garden alive through the fall season. Details here, travelers: BLACKOUT info and order page

More: http://www.metallicspheres.com

Download: “Laura” – Wyatt, Atzmon, Stephen (mp3)

A cover of the jazz standard “Laura,” written by David Raksin and Johnny Mercer, by Wyatt, Atzmon, Stephen.

This is from For the Ghosts Within—a full-length collaboration between Robert Wyatt, Gilad Atzmon and Ros Stephen—out November 9 from Domino Records

Arthur’s new 49-minute mixtape, specially designed to accompany (or simulate) a human-plant interaction, is now available as a digital download, featuring a high resolution JPG of the Arik Roper artwork (above), some additional art and text, and the following sequence of songs, as selected by Arthur editor Jay Babcock and sewn together by engineer/mixer Bobby Tamkin.

50-SECOND TEASER TOKE:

TRACKLIST:
1. MOON DUO “Into the Trees” (from the Escape LP on Woodsist)
2. WHITE HILLS “Three Quarters” (from the White Hills LP on Thrill Jockey)
3. WHITE NOISE SOUND “Sunset” (from the White Noise Sound LP on Alive Naturalsound)
4. LORDS OF FALCONRY “Osiron” (from Lords of Falconry on Holy Mountain)
5. ENDLESS BOOGIE “Pack Your Bags” (from the Full House Head LP on No Quarter)
6. MASTERS OF REALITY “Johnny’s Dream” (from the Pine/Cross’d Over LP)
7. MESSAGES “Tambura” (from the After Before LP on De Stijl)
8. ENUMCLAW “Harmonic Convergence” (from the Opening of the Dawn LP)

Pay what thou wilt, starting at $4.20. All proceeds go towards keeping the Arthur community garden alive through the fall season.

Order here: BLACKOUT NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Mind-Melders
At home, at work and at play with visionary artist-musician duo Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom

by Trinie Dalton

My boyfriend Matt and I arrived on our bikes to this chic Berlin restaurant that had no sign, and I wouldn’t have known we were at the right place had there not been a long dinner table set outside where a Stevie Nicks-ish redhead sporting a ’70s military jacket sat next to a semi-crusty, spaced out guy with really long hair and a beard that looked matted as if he had just gone scuba diving; his locks looked like they were caked with sea salt. I hope we’re eating with them, I thought, in awe of their awesome style. I also immediately liked them because we were gathered to visit mutual friend, artist AVAF, a.k.a. assume vivid astro focus, a.k.a. Eli Sudbrack, and friends of Eli’s are all jovial and talented. Eli had just come from Brazil via London and was in Berlin for two days before going to Barcelona, or something. Next to him was artist (and also, like Matt and me, summer Berlin resident) Terrence Koh, wearing a buckled-up Michael Jackson leather jacket. Then there was gallerist Javier Peres, the ultimate host, who’d just flown in from somewhere like Greece, England, or the U.S., and was stopping through before a trip to Estonia to pick up travel partner and permanent Berlin resident, Danish artist Kirstine Roepstorff. The other ten people at the table were French or Spanish DJs.

I locked up my bike, sat down, ordered some champagne and a bowl of white asparagus soup, and introduced myself to Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom, the most stylish couple in the world. They looked like a couple I could relate to: same age as me, creative, but with a way advanced fashion sense. I chatted with them while I waited two hours for the waitress to come out and tell me they were out of soup, and it was now too late to order more food since the kitchen was closed. Oh well, I enjoyed more champagne and listened to Delia talk about horoscopes and her visit to a highly-skilled psychic. It was a summery night and Delia and Gavin had only spent a few months thus far in their new Berlin apartment, where they moved to escape the New York art world and high cost of living. They met eight years ago in New York. Matt and I enjoyed discussing the beauty of discovering a new city with them. I felt a bond with Delia and Gavin, a sense of expatriate camaraderie, which imbued the rest of my stay in Germany with the comforting knowledge that other youngish American artists were living only blocks away. Even if I didn’t get to hang out with them, since they had an intense traveling schedule, they were still there, making the city cooler. Delia and Gavin made Berlin feel less foreign to me.

Therefore, I first met Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom as visual artists. They’ve worked as a pair for the past seven years, used to be a couple but aren’t anymore, and live separately, sharing each others’ apartments; Delia’s house is the art studio and Gavin’s is the music space. I’d seen their sculptures, knew they were represented by Daniel Reich, and seen another piece of theirs in a catalog for a group show in Austria. Their sculptures look like minimalist architecture, gleaming and pristine, hypnotically formal, and are either covered in cowrie shells or sequins. Sometimes they’re laquered or gold-leafed. They have a sort of punk-new age spirit, if one could mention the two together without extreme cheesiness. Their artwork’s punk glamour is cross-pollinated by a fascination with the occult. The sculptures are inspired by Art Deco, the golden age of Disco, and 70s Italian horror movie sets; some pieces have religious undertones, referencing Latin-American and African ceremonial totems and shrines, and illuminated manuscripts. Human-sized cubes and cones get cowrie shell eyes and mouths, transforming simple geometric shapes into magical talisman. Most of their sculptures are soundtracked by Delia and Gavin’s trance-inducing disco.

But Delia and Gavin didn’t begin as a collaborative sculpture team. Delia, originally from Miami, moved to New York in the mid-’90s to dance in troupes like Fancypants. Gavin, from Providence, was hosting magic shows under the name The Mystic Satin when the two met at a loft party. At first, Delia joined The Mystic Satin, while her and Gavin tinkered with prop making, set design and several varieties of modern dance. Since then, they’ve made videos, starring themselves, about zombies who wander Times Square; performed live magic acts dressed as a ballerina (Delia) and a warlock (Gavin); danced in their troupe called Black Leotard Front, and played in a heavy metal band, Fight Evil With Evil. Their first 7” single (and straight-up music project) “El Monte,” came out in 2004. Last October, hip electronic label, DFA (home of LCD Soundsystem and The Juan Maclean) released Delia and Gavin’s first full-length album, The Days of Mars. They’ll be playing some U.S. gigs while here for their art opening at Peres Projects Los Angeles in April. They’ll also be promoting the release of their single and video, “Relevee,” out this month.

Days of Mars is like Brian Eno, Goblin, and Kraftwerk combined into four long synthesizer tracks that are ambient but layered with pulsating rhythm. Gavin makes their analog synthesizers. When you listen to it you feel like you’re traveling to well, Mars. But their music is really more about life on Earth, Delia and Gavin each told me separately over the phone from Berlin. I spoke with them both as they passed their phone back and forth. Their wide range of interests reflect how limitless the idea of making art is to them. Genres don’t matter. Music, video, dance, magic show, sculpture, drawing: they love it all.

ON SCIENCE FICTION SOUNDTRACKS, HOT LESBIAN AUTHORS, AND HOMEMADE SYNTHESIZERS
Delia: Days of Mars is named after a Winifred Bryher book. She was Hilda Doolittle’s girlfriend. I had a little crush on her. It’s about WW2 in England. Bryher lived in Switzerland, but when the Germans were bombing England, she went back to support her friends, and kept a diary. The way she described people’s reaction to the war, the way they ignored everything that was going on, reminded me of Bush’s re-election. Everyone was threatening to leave the country, revolt, but when he was reelected, no one did anything about it. Everyone was in denial. “Black Spring,” the fourth song on the album, is also named after a book, by Henry Miller. I found out about that while reading Anais Nin.

Gavin: To make this album, we used synthesizers. I always related to music, and I wanted a more fluid relationship with my instruments. Building synthesizers was something I really wanted to do. In 2000, we were doing performances, and I wanted to make more synthesizer music. I made connections with people in NYC and over the Internet until I figured out how to build analog circuits using parts from Radio Shack and mail order electronics catalogs. I even etched the circuit boards in our apartment, until I figured out a more efficient way to do it. We use regular keyboards; since a lot of what we do is based on pulsing rhythms, the synthesizers allow us to separate out parts of the sound and give them their own rhythms. The sounds are mechanically generated so they interact with what we’re playing.

But really, I don’t know anything about electronic music. The only person I’ve been inspired by in that realm is David Tudor, John Cage’s pianist. He did the “Silence 4’33” piece, for example. As a composer, his basic idea was that the score is a circuit. He built what he called Black Boxes, so that the music he composed would serve as connections between them. Then there’s Louis and Bebe Berron, they made the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet. They felt that a soundtrack should not only be a soundtrack but also the sounds of the events in the film. There was the ongoing score then action sounds. They built a lot of their own stuff, and had this idea about the Cybernetic, that all instruments should have a life of their own. You’d turn the instrument on, it would create sound for a while, then it would die.

What’s interesting about making soundtrack music that isn’t a soundtrack for anything is that it becomes an analog to experience. It’s not fixedly about something visual, but to me it’s a way to be very expressive. Also, it articulates something about living in a time of war. People are in weird states of mind. Critics make this surface comparison of our music to ’70s synthesizer music, whether German or Vangelis, but that music is about escapism, creating an alternate world, whereas what we do is more about an describing an inner world.

Delia: Since we make the instruments, there’s already a story in them. We interact with the instruments. And since we’ve worked together for so long, we work so intuitively that we really just sit down and start playing. We think up themes for the songs on our own, but together we just play.

ON KENNETH ANGER, PERFORMANCE ART, DRESSING UP, AND STAGEFRIGHT
Delia: Style is important to me. I’m definitely motivated by beauty, as well as Gavin. No contemporary styles fall into that category, though. Our pieces have entertainment value because we grew up watching TV and movies. Hollywood has influenced us. In that way, we are like Kenneth Anger.

Gavin and I always have a dilemma of how to look on stage. When we performed in the past, we made all of our costumes. Now, when we play, we feel like it’s really us, so it’s harder to come up with a visual. We’re used to performing live in galleries. But our music now is more personal. Before our record came come out, I was nervous to tour because I get so embarrassed. For our shows coming up, we are for sure renting costumes! Then, I can totally perform.

Everything I do is extremely personal. For our sculptures, we take more into account what people will think, but really, we’re not even interested in that. Living in New York, it bothered me that so many people make art for commercial value, to get ahead. So we both made work against that. Our work is personal on purpose.

Gavin: Kenneth Anger makes me think of the aesthetics of magic. The most important thing is that magic or religion works. So in that sense, it doesn’t matter if art is made to entertain others or if it’s for yourself. You can look at Anger’s movies as Egyptian Magic Tools, or Hollywood Spectaculars.

There’s this over-saturation to the point that it becomes ecstatic. What inspires me about Afro-Latin-American religions is that they take from everything. If some image from pop culture works in a magical context it becomes integrated into the system. The cool thing about music versus art is that music functions as entertainment even though it is really personal too. It’s high intensity since it’s social.

ON MAGIC, CUBAN CULTURE AND THE OCCULT
Delia: I have a definite interest in occult systems. My parents are Cuban, and Santería has an impact on Cuban culture whether you’re into it or not. When I met Gavin, he was interested in Santería too. We’re not involved in occultism, but we’re interested in expanding our consciousness. We’re interested in both the supernatural and natural ways of looking at things. There’s a lot of struggle in our music. While we were recording Days of Mars, there were so many things I was holding inside that needed release, and I couldn’t put them into words. Music is spiritual for me.

Gavin: I’m interested in trance phenomenon. As a kid, I wanted to put myself into trances. Going to punk rock shows as a teen was ritualistic for me. So I started researching occult ideas, and how they manifested themselves in other cultures. I was interested in meditation and the psychedelic experience, because in my mind, the function of music is to access some deeper state.

ON COLLABORATION, MINIMALISM, AND FINDING YOUR CORE
Delia: We have conversations and come up with ideas together. Since we’ve been working together for eight years, it just happens. At first, it was hard for Gavin to work with someone else, and it was easier for me. There was a power struggle. But then we spent every second of the day together. We’d never spent a night apart, so we became in tune with each other. We exchange ideas all the time, so in some sense we’re one entity.

Gavin: At first, we introduced so many things to each other. Then we searched for things together, and now we’re back to showing each other things from different directions. Delia brings literary influence. She knows about 20th century literary social circles, like the Surrealists, like the poets Hilda Doolittle and Edith Sitwell, and she’s also aware of fantasy stuff. We’re both hugely into cinema.

Delia: Our work is somewhat ‘visionary,’ but mostly intellectual because ideas come out of conversations we have. The reason our work looks so bare and stripped down is because we’re collectors, so when we lived together, we had too much shit. When you walked in, everything was about to fall in on you. That affected our artwork. We almost have too many ideas, so we want to strip everything to its minimal essence. Individually, our instincts are to make crazy, elaborate stuff. If we made things separately, everything would look way different. Our aesthetic is shared. We want to find our core.

Excerpted from Arthur No. 21 (March 2006), available from The Arthur Store for $6 postpaid

From the album Le Noise, out Sept. 28.

photo: Leanna Asheton

Great, heavy interview with Iggy by Greg Kot: Chicago Tribune

Stooges in Arthur in 2003, on the occasion of their reactivation: The Arthur Store

“The festival will be held at Old Mill Farm, located deep in the redwoods near the town of Mendocino, 150 miles north of San Francisco. The roads out to the farm are very narrow and blind, so please be EXTREMELY careful when driving. Because the farm is so remote, we suggest stocking up on anything you might need for the weekend before you make the drive. Camping is included with your ticket, but please bring a tent and other camping gear. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the gate. Price includes overnight camping and a full dinner with farm-grown veggies and meat…”

thanks: KC B!

Ketamine—a powerful anesthetic for humans and animals that lists hallucinations among its side effects and therefore is often abused under the name Special K—delivers rapid relief to chronically depressed patients, and researchers may now have discovered why. In fact, the latest evidence reinforces the idea that the psychedelic drug could be the first new drug in decades to lift the fog of depression.

“We were trying to figure out what ketamine was doing to produce this rapid response,” which can take as little as two hours to begin to act, says neuroscientist Ron Duman of the Yale University School of Medicine. So Duman and his colleagues gave a small amount of ketamine (10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight) to rats and watched the drug literally transform the animals’ brains. “Ketamine… can induce a rapid increase in connections in the brain, the synapses by which neurons interact and communicate with each other, ” Duman says. “You can visually see this response that occurs in response to ketamine.”

More specifically, as the researchers report in the August 20 issue of Science, ketamine seems to stimulate a biochemical pathway in the brain (known as mTOR) to strengthen synapses in a rat’s prefrontal cortex—the region of the brain associated with thinking and personality in humans. And the ketamine helped rats cope with the depression analog experience brought on by forcing the rodents to swim or exposing them to inescapable stress. “Preclinical and clinical studies show that repeated stress or depression can cause a decrease in connections and an atrophy of connections in the same region of the brain,” Duman explains, noting that magnetic resonance imaging shows that some depressed patients have a smaller prefrontal cortex as a result. “Ketamine has the opposite effect and can oppose or reverse the effects of depression” for roughly seven days per dose.

More: Scientific American

“Originally released in 1971, Raga: A Film Journey into the Soul of India documents the life of sitar master Ravi Shankar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following him on his return to India to revisit his guru, Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. It further explores Shankar’s life as a musician and teacher in the United States and Europe, initiating those in the West to the exceptional world that is Indian classical music and culture. Through rare and candid footage shot in both India and the United States, Raga sheds light on Shankar’s influences and collaborations, from Allauddin Khan to his famed dancer brother Uday Shankar, to his associations with Western musicians Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison. Fully narrated by Shankar himself, Raga reveals music as the soul of India and of Shankar’s life. The premiere DVD release of Raga features a digitally re-mastered 35mm print optimized to modern color range resolution and standard and a fully re-mastered audio soundtrack.”

From Volcanic Tongue:

Matthew Valentine’s Child Of Microtones imprint was one of the first labels to fully explode the CD-R format, combining deluxe packaging with exploratory psychedelia and extended rural glam. He was the brains and the conceptual clout behind Brattleboro’s legendary Free Folk Fest in 2003, an event that was pretty much ground zero for the contemporary underground and that gathered alla the emergent tribes in the same spot for the first time. But really MV has been a key player since back in the day, with Tower Recordings being a central component of Siltbreeze’s first wave while his editorial duties on the sadly-defunct Cock Displacement buzzed a whole bunch of brains. But it’s his work with partner Erika Elder that has best brought together his various obsessions, minting a recording process known as Spectrasound that exposes the most sidereal aspects of the jam while fusing Dead/Allman Brothers-style improvisations with free jazz, raga, folk and blues in order to mint a visionary take on underground modes. MV is free folk. He’s also a wordsmith par excellence, an inspired writer (check out his first novel, Small As Life & Infinitesimally As Pure) and filmmaker (The Temptation To Zoology) and an active proponent of the up country good life. We’re lucky to have him. Here he’s reminiscing about the April 2010 No Floor Tour in anticipation of his headlining shot at VT’s Subcurrent 2010 fest. Look out for the winner of the top ten middens….

Read on at Volcanic Tongue

Plus, here’s VT on the latest MV & EE releases, which VT is vending here:

MV & EE
Not Only Wine But It’s Oblivion I Pour
Heroine No Cat
CD-R
£6.99
”Duo set from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder from the European leg of their UK/Europe tour back in February 2010 recorded at Viseu, Portugal. A set which connects strongly back to the aesthetic of the American singer/songwriters of the Troubador and coffee shops in the mid-60s with more of a focus on song, melody and vocals. The guitars are more stripped back and cleaner on this one with the vocals much higher in the mix. Only the mid-set raga induced meanderings of “Environments” breaks rank from the other numbers. A set which runs “Satisfied”, “Anthem of the Cocola Y&T”, Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street, a jam of “Environments” into “Cold Rain” and closing with the ‘hit the road’ anthem of “Feelin’ Fine”. A great set for those who prefer their MV&EE up close and personal. Appropriate locational cover with a blurred snap of the Sé de Viseu. Recommended.” – Andrew Ross.

MV & EE w/Willie Lane
Blazed Corndog, ‘Ham Bone (Turn The Heat Up!)
Heroine No Cat
CD-R
£6.99
”I love this particular incarnation of the MV&EE family with the trio of Matthew Valentine, Erika Elder and Willie Lane. Set from the same series of shows that gave us the previously released “Ready for another house” from May 2009. A very similar set which runs “Hungry Stones”, “I Got Caves in there” into “Cold Rain” and closing with “Weatherhead Hollow” into “Environments”. Overall, this demonstrates the beautiful art of guitar weaving between all three players, with guitar runs and melodies getting interlocked into one taking the listener on a totally unique magical experience. I particularly like the version of “I Got Caves In There” with the more song based version replaced by a version where guitar weaving around the song’s melody takes centre stage. The sets opus is the 20 minute spectrasound workout of “Weatherhead Hollow” and “Environments”. Great sonic transmissions on this one. Highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross.

MV & EE w/Mick Flower
(Bad) Blood On The Doozer’s Guitar
Heroine No Cat
CD-R
£6.99
”Set by Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder from the recent UK tour in February 2010 recorded at Manchester’s Islington Mill. Whilst this was primarily a duo tour the highlight here is the addition of Mick Flower on bass for the whole set (tour support act the Doozer also provides harmonica on a couple of tracks). Mick’s playing adds a whole new dimension to the songs, be it a melodic run of notes over the chords in “Cold Rain” and “Summer Magic” or thumping out a solid repetitive bass riff throughout “Get Right Church” or “Canned Happiness” for 10 minutes without missing a beat. I also really liked the version of “Environments” on this tour with sitar-sounding meanderings at the beginning to the waves of raag induced crescendos at the close. This was one of the highlight shows of this tour with a set which runs “Cold Rain”, “Get right church”, “Summer magic” and a jam which goes “Environments” into “Canned Happiness” back into “Environments” and into the closing “Easy Livin’”. A great set with a very similar feel and personnel as the recently released Electric Wharf (Coventrian) set that was recorded the following night. Highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross.

MV & EE w/Rongoose and Mo’ Low
Toasted Clam
Heroine No Cat
CD-R
£6.99
”Simply stunning set from the quartet performance of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder augmented by Ron Mongoose and John Moloney. This is the 2nd set recorded at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, NY on 16 Oct 2009 following on from the 1st set which was captured on previous Heroine release “Free Folk Paintball”. This excellently captures the ability of the artists to alter from a stripped back duo performance to a full on Golden Road augmented freakout. This is a heavily psychedelic set with a feel and guitar sound straight from the West Coast dance halls of the late 60s alla Quicksilver Messenger Service. The sets starts with the rarely played “Anyway”, opening track from the excellent Drone Trailer album. The Neil Young-esque guitar chops staying true to the album version for the first minute or so. That’s where the comparisons end. The whole set then descends into elongated jams with guitars heavily laden with echo, delay and tremolo. Single guitar notes and chords being drawn out and held for an age, to the point where it sounds like the whole thing is going to stop and implode on itself, only just being held together and moved forward by a single hit of John Moloney’s hi-hat. The overall result being an utterly captivating and submerging experience with the listener almost being peeled off from one chord to the next carried on a flutter of notes akin to John Cippolina’s earlier work. The type of jams you could lose yourself in and not return for a week. The whole set continues like this. Next up is “Hammer” with previous heavy versions being replaced by an almost funeral march approach where chords are slowly plucked out adding to this song’s feeling of unrequited affection. The final descent is into the slow, heavy blues lament of “Tea Devil” laden in psychedelics with only the closing “Get Right Church” offering some lighter relief. A phenomenal set which leaves the listener exhausted and somewhere else. This is why every Heroine release must be heard, with a different incarnation of the songs every time, always chasing that elusive trip. Set the sonics to stun. Hilarious cover shot. Highest possible recommendation.” – Andrew Ross.

MV & EE with The Golden Road
No Floor Tour April 2010
Blackest Rainbow Recordings No Cat
8xCassette Box Set
£36.99
Beautifully assembled eight cassette box set in the mode of the earlier Road Trips box with live recordings from the April 2010 No Floor Tour featuring Matthew Valentine, Erika Elder, Mick Flower, John Moloney and Zuma with guest spots from J.Mascis and Doc Dunn. In moulded plastic case with a full-colour booklet featuring liners and pics. Jams from Grey Matter Book, Hadley MA 4/9/09, Silent Barn, Ridgewood NY 4/10/10, Fairfield Chapel, Oberlin OH 4/11/10, PJ’s Lager House, Detroit MI 4/12/10, The Boat, Toronto ON 4/13/10, La Sala Rossa, Montreal QC 4/14/10, Spring Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs NY 4/15/2010, Nom D’Artiste Loft, Boston MA 4/16/10. Here’s Andrew’s review of the Montreal set to get you salivating: “Another stunning set, this time from the quintet of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elders with Golden Road cohorts in tow of Mick Flower, Doc Dunn and John Moloney recorded in Montreal, Canada as part of the ‘No floor tour’ in April 2010. This is simply blues rock jams at their finest and less psychedelic in places than some previous Golden Road shows. The playing is completely capable of rivaling the marathon blues infused rock workouts of the Allman Brothers Band or Led Zeppelin at their peak with a big dose of Sonny Boy Williamson’s ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ thrown in. Throughout the set John Moloney lays down a simple 4/4 rock beat but with the same type of swing, feel and control afforded by Buddy Miles to Hendrix’s Band of Gyspys. The result being a set which charges along but with a real sense of groove layered over the top with blues wailing guitar and mouth harp. The set starts with a slow psychedelic workout around “Satisfied” but keeping the blues theme before charging into a set which runs “Get Right Church”, “Canned Happiness” and a closing jam of “Environments” into “Feelin’ Fine”. There are many highlights to choose but clocking in at over 14 minutes this is the finest version of “Get Right Church” I have heard, a relentless blues jam which obliterates the recent studio version on Barn Nova. As a grown adult I find myself listening to this with the same giant grin I first encountered at the age of 13 when I was handed a copy of AC/DC’s High Voltage or Canned Heat’s Fried Hockey Boogie and thinking – can rock music be this much fun? So if your musical tastes allow you enjoy the rock of AC/DC at the same time as the musicianship of Jandek then you have got to hear this! Highest possible recommendation.” – Andrew Ross. Edition of only 150 copies.

Poster by Xavier Schipani

Anthology Film Archives and Arthur Magazine present

Sunday, Aug 29
7:00 PM

NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN BLUES & OMA
by KC Bull
ca. 65 minutes.

NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN BLUES (
2004/09, 55 minutes, video)
A cult hero revered in folk circles and beyond for his incredible ability to play seemingly any stringed instrument, Sandy Bull’s virtuosity was only matched by his technological curiosity and inclination towards experimentation, both in the studio and onstage. Often compared to contemporaries such as John Fahey and Robbie Basho, Bull’s music merges influences from the worlds of jazz, classical, Arabic, and Indian composition, yet always retains an immediately distinctive feel that comes across as both effortless and timeless. NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN BLUES shines a light on Bull’s unconventional life, bringing forward many unknown stories, interviews with friends and admirers (Wavy Gravy, Hamza El Din, Bob Neuwirth), as well as long unheard recordings from different periods in his career. If you know Bull’s music you’ll want to see this film, and if his name is new to you then it will serve as the ultimate introduction.

Screening with:
OMA (2001, 10 minutes, 16mm-to-video)
by KC Bull
A short portrait about KC’s grandmother (Sandy’s mom) Daphne Hellman. Daphne was a harpist in NYC who played everything from Bach to boogie woogie. The portrait traces Daphne’s life through stories of her career playing harp and of her several marriages to New York socialites. The film includes footage of Daphne and her long-time musical partner, Mr. Spoons, performing in the Subway.

Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 505-5181

$9 General Admission
$8 Essential Cinema (free for members)
$7 Students, seniors and children (12 & under)
$6 AFA Members

Tickets are available at Anthology’s box office on the day of the show only. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day. There are no advance ticket sales. Reservations are available to Anthology members only.

Lead cut off Syrian partier Omar Souleyman’s new album, Jazeera Nights, available from the good people of Sublime Frequencies.

Glyph by Ed Sanders, November 2009

This refers to the Oct. 21, 1967 exorcism of the Pentagon. A 10,000-word oral history of the event, including testimony from Mr. Sanders himself, was the cover feature for Arthur No. 13, available from the Arthur Store for $6 postpaid.

Our very popular “Tuff Wizard” T-SHIRT (pictured above) by Arik Moonhawk Roper is back in stock in all sizes, forest green on cactus green, $18.95 postpaid.

VINTAGE BACK ISSUES of Arthur Magazine’s 2002-2008 run have been repriced—some as low as $3.50 postpaid. Hot dawg!

Two CDs we thought we’d run out of are back in stock—extremely limited quantities of artfully curated and sequenced mix CDs by Plastic Crimewave (“2 Million Tongues”) and Comets on Fire/Howlin Rain’s Ethan Miller (“Bread, Beard and Bear’s Prayers”) are now available. Very happy to be able to offer these again, for $10 postpaid, natch.

A few of our CDs have been re-priced to $10 postpaid! When they’re gone, they’re gone daddy.

Have a browse at the Arthur Store. Order with PayPal, credit card and debit card—or you send (well concealed) cash, money order or check by mail.

hipped to this via The Human Serviette

New film starring Colm O’Leary and Will Oldham

More info: newjerusalemmovie.com

One from The Strange Boys…

Read: Canticle for Rip Cord Rex

More: josephremnant.com

Plus Keith Richard. 1974.

More: Southern Lord blog

3rd Annual Cinefamily 4th of July BBQ Blowout (feat. The Fantastic Sights And Sounds of Virtual Fireworks and Other Movie Mayhem!!!!)

Co-presented by Arthur Magazine

From Cinefamily:

We’d like to invite you all to the best 4th of July party since the Capitol Celebration of 1778, when George Washington gave the United States Army an artillery salute and a double ration of rum! Well, we’re gonna give you a quintuple ration of cinema with one of our signature Cinefamily “Mondo” nights. It’s all planned out: an open door to our sweet back patio, good music, friends, and that most American of traditions—a BBQ, so bring something to grill! And if it gets too hot, just step inside our nice air-conditioned theatre, and catch our marathon film festival. “Mondo” means a world of weirdness built around a theme, and tonight’s theme is America, so it’s a patriotic free-for-all of film formats, from DVDs to 16mm industrials, to 35mm features. We’ll be keeping the fest alive all night long, just like our grill! Check out the highlights:

5PM: We light the grill. We begin the festivities… [Arthur Magazine deejays will be on hand to spin proper barbecue music. Also, courtesy Rounder Records, we will be giving away copies of Willie's sweet new album — see below—to winners of a contest whose nature is yet to be determined.]

6PM-ish: WILLIE NELSON’S 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION! An incredibly rare boozy ‘n woozy full-length concert film, shot at the 1977 edition of Willie’s very informal annual 4th of July concert festival. Featuring Willie, Waylon, Leon Russell, Doug Kershaw and other great country stars singin’, sweatin’, partyin’—and most importantly of all, drinkin’. These folks were some of the ultimate party animals, with Leon Russell emerging as the King of Booze in some of the most gloriously inebriated footage ever shot! As Austin, TX’s Alamo Drafthouse says: “These good ol’ boys knew as much about partying as Marie Curie knew about radium. Be there!!!!”

8:08PM: VIRTUAL FIREWORKS SHOW! According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the July 4th sun will set at 8:08 PM. We wouldn’t want you to miss the fireworks, so we’ll be screening best-of videos from international fireworks competitions, experimental films and enough jingoistic eye candy to make you oooh and aaah!

8:30-ish: UNCLE SAM The climax of the night is this patriotic back-from-the-dead revenge slasher from the fevered minds of William Lustig (Maniac) and Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, God Told Me To), featuring a Gulf War solider killed by friendly fire who returns to extract bloody payback from any draft dodgers, flag burners and oily military men he can find. Perfect viewing for when you’re chomping down the last charred remains of any remaining hot dog from the grill. Abbondanza!

Tickets – $10/free for members — Buy here

The Cinefamily
611 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 655-2510

Download: “Man With the Blues” — Wille Nelson (mp3)
Stream:

“If you need a little shove in fouling up in love/come to me, I’m the man with the blues”

Sweet-to-these-ears new Wille-penned blues, from this great American outlaw’s new album, Country Music out now on Rounder Records, produced by T-Bone Burnett (!). More info at Amazon

Also of interest: Wille Nelson Peace Research Institute

And, very highly recommended: The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart by Willie Nelson with Turk Pipkin

Thanks Kevin Barker!

More:

Rather lengthy Brother JT interview in Arthur No. 8

For the past year or so, i’ve been working on a lot of beat and synth driven ideas. One day i decided it had been too long since i gave much attention to the guitar or making slowly evolving improvised “sound-scape” music.
Boring Guitar Music was recorded with this in mind/ in one sitting/ in March of 2010. Electric guitar, Ableton Live and an APC40 controller.
DOWNLOAD THIS AWESOME ALBUM NOW! NAME YOUR PRICE OR FREEEEE!!!!

Go: whiterainbowpizza.bandcamp.com

Stream:

Download: Prince Rama – “Lightening Fossil” (mp3)

An Amon Duul for the new ‘teens? The ecstatic psychedelic heart of Prince Rama’s forthcoming Shadow Temple LP, out in September on Paw Tracks, Animal Collective’s imprint on Carpark. They were on Arthur Radio yesterday, and will be playing a bunch of gigs in coming weeks. More at their myspace yurt

Stream:

Download: “Pack Your Bags” — Endless Boogie (mp3)

It is our pleasure to present this eight-minute deep cut off Arthur office faves ENDLESS BOOGIE’s forthcoming second album, Full House Head (ahem), out July 20 on vinyl and digital formats from No Quarter Records of New York City. Pre-order by sending money directly to them here.

From Sublime Frequencies:

Baltimore: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8pm
at Floristree- 405 W Franklin St 6th fl

Philly: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 8 pm
at Space 1026- 1026 Arch St.
Hisham Mayet will dj after the screening
at Kung Fu Necktie 1248 North Front St.

NYC: Thursday, June 24, 2010 8:00pm – 10:00pm
at Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue New York, NY
Plus Frank Sumatra djs the after party
at Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, 11 pm- ?

There will be two films, with filmmakers in attendance and Q&A after films, plus Sublime Frequencies CD/DVDs/LPs for sale after screening. The films are:

Staring into the Sun
A film by Olivia Wyatt
60 minutes
Staring into the Sun is the latest ethno-folk cinema classic from Sublime Frequencies. Ethiopia is known to be one of the oldest areas inhabited by humans and presently has over 80 diverse ethnic groups. Photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt explores 13 different tribes throughout Ethiopia in this visually stunning film. Traveling from the northern highlands to the lower Omo Valley, Wyatt brings together the worlds of Zar spirit possession; Hamer tribal wedding ceremonies; Borena water well polyphonic singing; wild hyena feedings; and bizarre Ethiopian TV segments; presenting an enchanting look at these ethereal images, landscapes and sounds from the horn of Africa. The tribes featured in this film are captured with an unflinching sense of realism and poetic admiration resulting in a visual and aural feast of the senses.

Land of the Songhai
A film By Hisham Mayet
30 minutes
Hisham Mayet’s latest film explores the music and landscape of the Songhai, around the Niger River in Western Niger. Zarma mock possession hoedowns, Wodaabe trance vocal performances, Spirit possession ceremonies, Godje one sting laments, contigi string masters, comsaa griots and Sahel night markets create a bizarre and fascinating glimpse into the arid and culturally vibrant bend in the Niger river.

A member of Amorphous Androgynous accepts an award from Mojo for a compilation, and makes the most of the opportunity.

Personal apocalypse; acid, Canned Heat and Hyde Park, 1970; magic, transrationalism… and in the following parts, a bit about why the announced collaboration with Damon Albarn/Gorillaz for an opera about John Dee isn’t happening, after all… “It didn’t work out, shall we say.” But Moore’s libretto will be appearing in upcoming ish of the ever-intriguing Strange Attractor Journal…

An Introduction to Arcanorium College…

From The Chancellor, Peter James Carroll

Throughout history, Magical ideas have been debated and spread by word of mouth or by books. Despite that magical ideas have so often inspired tremendous human advances; such word of mouth transmission have frequently faced suppression or even burning at the stake. Books have had to be smuggled across borders and hidden from the eyes of inquisitors. The ideas of magic have usually threatened the status quo.

Nevertheless, so much of our knowledge has its roots in magic. Astrology gave rise to Astronomy and Cosmology, Alchemy underlies Metallurgy and Chemistry, Numerology gave birth to Mathematics and Cryptography, and both Medicine and Psychology owe a huge debt to Magical and Mystical ideas. Magical ideas have almost invariably underpinned the foundations of all the world’s religions. Miracles remain both the ultimate justification and the Achilles’ heel of all faith based systems.

So what does magical thought have to offer the 21st century? I suspect that it has a seminal role to play, much as it has for the last 25 centuries.

Like most technical advances, the internet took off as a military innovation to decentralize command, control, and intelligence in the event of nuclear attack, and then it got used by science as a means of exchanging papers by hypertext. Recently it has become dominated by commerce, entertainment, and pornography, which seem to be humanity’s greatest concerns at the time of writing. The military now has an alternative network.

However, whilst a relative state of anarchy and absence of censorship prevails on the internet, we will take advantage of it to explore what the magical perspective has to offer. Accordingly I have asked a number of the finest Adepts of my acquaintance over the last 3 decades to prepare material for discussion for a planet-wide discussion of The Magical Perspective.

The College provides a variety of discussion and workshop facilities which remain open throughout the year, plus specialist lecturers give courses which normally last about 6 weeks. Our academic year consists of six by six week semester periods with breaks of a week or two between each. There will usually be about three courses going on simultaneously during the semester periods. Members may participate in as many of these as they wish.

The range of topics currently embraces Sorcery, Divination, Tantra, Runes, Neurolinguistic Programming, Chaos Magic, Thelema, Enchantment and Results Magic, Alternative Physics, the History and Culture of Magic, and Magical Software Design. The College also features an extensive Library of Archives and Links, Common Room areas for debates and socialization, and workshop facilities with online magical tools which remain open between semesters.

Membership follows quickly after registration. Application must be at least 18 years of age. A modest annual registration fee is levied to cover the cost of maintaining the College and to discourage frivolous applicants, but no further expenses need be incurred by members…

More info: arcanoriumcollege.com

From Associated Press:

SYDNEY – …Laurie Anderson debuted her original “Music for Dogs” composition outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday.

Hundreds of dogs and their owners bounced around as Anderson entertained them with 20 minutes of thumping beats, whale calls, whistles and a few high-pitched electronic sounds imperceptible to human ears.

“Let’s hear it from the medium dogs!” Anderson called out from the stage, as a few dogs yipped in return. “You can do better than that — come on mediums! Whoo! WHOOOOOO!”

The performance was part of the city’s Vivid art and music festival, which is being co-curated by Anderson and her husband, rock legend Lou Reed.

Anderson — who often plays music for her rat terrier Lollabelle — said the idea originated during a chat with cellist Yo-Yo Ma while the two were waiting backstage at a graduation ceremony.

“We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you’re playing a concert and you look out and everyone’s a dog?’” Anderson said. “So I thought if I ever get a chance to do that, I’m gonna do it. And today was it. So this is like a highlight of my life.”

The music had varying effects on the pooches, with a series of high-pitched whale sounds working several into a frenzy. Many wagged their tails and barked in apparent encouragement, while others stared at the stage with glazed eyes.

“Yo!” Anderson shouted from behind her keyboard. “Beautiful work, dogs!”

Not all of the pups were thrilled. Oliver, a Jack Russell terrier who tends to have issues with high-pitched noises, folded his ears back and exploded into a barrage of frantic barks as he lunged toward the stage, dragging owner Jacqui Bonner along with him.

Others appeared entranced. April Robinson giggled as her small dog Spot swiveled his head toward the stage, ears perked high.

“He loves it!” she squealed while Spot stared wide-eyed at Anderson.

The concert was originally billed as a performance for dogs’ ears only, and was going to be largely limited to electronic noises played at a frequency too high for human ears. But Anderson changed things up when she decided she wanted people to have some fun, too.

“We didn’t want to do something that humans couldn’t hear,” she said. “We brought the octaves down into our hearing range so we could all have the experience.”

Anderson, who turned 63 Saturday, said the crowd was one of the best-behaved she’s ever played for, and considered the whole event a howling success.

“That was the most amazing concert I’ve ever, ever gotten to give!” she said with a grin. “It’s really a dream.”

Stream:

Download: “Dead” – White Hills (mp3)

From White Hills, available on lp, cd and digital from Thrill Jockey.

Diamanda Galas writes:

It has come to my attention over the last years that the stage reviews of many of my colleagues are prefaced by the words,”Although now 45, he is still a strong performer,” or “Looking older than we last saw him, he still manages to convince.” It is time now for me to say the following words to the anemic cretins who write these desktop reviews of virtuosos: “Stick to reviewing plant life and leave the Witches alone.”

A true performer, like Liszt, like Horowitz, like Birgit Nilsson, often has an extremely long career span—and will be performing long after your life is diminished from tripping over your child’s bicycle and impaling upon yourself upon the Christmas tree of your wife.

A great performer is a vampire. We have trained to be thus. We have trained to enter the Pantheon. Of course we are punished for this, but no longer by the Gods, who have retired forever in despair—so dim is their reflection upon the humans they once challenged—but by the tiny minds of paralyzed voyeurs, who are incapable of discussing our work on any level, never literal, and now not even figurative.

If a performer appears upon the stage bald or with white hair after you have not seen him for ten years, this is not commentary for a musical review. I will quote Gregory Sandow who wrote that whether or not Charlie Parker performed only in his underwear was immaterial to how he played.

Liszt performed with long white hair, the master of the piano, and not less so for his age. Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein and Mary Lou Williams were masters only days before they died. Sonny Rollins cannot be condemned to the grave which is inhabited by small minds who lurk like worms awaiting a fresh kill. It is to escape these worms that we choose to be cremated.

…The witch’s focus is upon the production of a new turn of phrase, a new twist of the song, a new fight, the immolation of a lie if it takes the creation of a masterpiece to do it. The great witch Maryanne Amacher,who was felled only by a freak accident,had a house filled to the rooftops of unparalleled work and she slept on the floors of every studio to which she was invited worldwide—and created more bizarre work through the years.

The vampire knows that only new blood will sustain her. New blood, new research, new language study, and willful deconstruction and reconstruction, new meter, new arrangements, new writing, difficult performances—which later become great ones—through perseverance.

You who wait for the ticking of the clock so that you might one day proclaim that one of us is approaching our dotage should imagine instead your own life, which is is fading behind you, like a reflection of your netherparts, wretched, hanging, like the flanks of a tethered animal, too long unfed,alone, and unloved…

Read on: diamandagalas.com

Diamanda Galas in Arthur Magazine No. 28

Map of Heaven by Malachi Ward — click to enlarge

Available as a 21″ x 15″ + half inch white border, high quality print on heavy archival paper for $15 from malachiward.blogspot.com

FYI – Longtime Arthur Magazine “Bull Tongue” columnist Byron Coley, pictured above, has been subject to questioning by Jason Gross over at Perfect Sound Forever

http://humanresourcesla.com/rats-jarrett-silberman-lady-no/

Image: ripped from Rebecca Horn, Einhorn (“Unicorn”) (1972)

Homunculi
Matt Greene, Allison Schulnik, Ruby Neri and Matthew Ronay
curated by Trinie Dalton

June 4 – July 11, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, June 4th from 6 – 8:30 PM
Canada New York

While Charles sat there in a thoughtless, vegetative stupor, completely surrendered to circulation, respiration, and the deep pulsation of his natural juices, there formed inside his perspiring body an unknown, unformulated future, like a terrible growth, pushing forth in an unknown direction.
—Bruno Schulz, Mr. Charles.

If monsters are metaphors, then we now think of the little man that Paracelsus brewed by beaker as a pocket of thought deep in the recesses of the scientist’s unconsciousness. In alchemical magic, homunculi were diminutive men under twelve inches tall who, like goat kids who pop out as walking, whinnying critters, were birthed fully-formed through the mystical transformation of sperm. Their embryonic recipe consisted of bones, sperm, skin chunks and animal hair steeped for a month in horse manure. In slightly more modern science, homunculi represent the conscious parts of our brains. But as one website essay reiterates, “homuncular arguments fall into an infinite regress, with the consciousness of each homunculus explained by ever smaller homunculini, nested like Russian dolls.” At the very root of creativity is the desire to tame, harness, and generate art made of this miniature circus material, parading through our minds like a migrant herd of wildebeests.

The artists in this show make figurative work that feels like primordial, barely changed representations of their inner-homunculi. But actually, it is their artwork itself that is a labored, half alive thing with its own life. Their art is the homunculus. Their blobby, witchy monsters are sprung forth onto canvases like the homunculus concocted to chat with Mephisto by Faust’s assistant, Wagner. Like golems, some are even sculpted out of clay. Their figures pile up, fornicate, dance, rest in awkwardly yogic poses, and generally exude respect for charmed, ancient ritual. While these works are not made on diminutive scales, each artist here makes large works that incorporate miniscule elements to express a fascination with microscopic aspects of hybrid human forms.

Allison Schulnik’s chunked out paint application compliments her studies of hoboes, clowns, gnomes, and other tricksters. As a Claymation animator, too, she gets deep into golem territory, to create an overall body of work that pays homage to James Ensor but is more playful than plagued.

Matt Greene makes drawings and paintings reveling in his own female fantasies that transform sexuality into a magical symbolism. His works become talismanic portrayals of beings that, like Hindu gods and goddesses, incorporate myriad aspects of self into unified, all-powerful forms that fuse gender, species, and archetypal character into his own sexpot ideal.

Ruby Neri could have fallen off a wagon pulled by Der Blaue Rieter group. Her visionary paintings are reconstitutions out of Bay Area funk and early twentieth century Fauvism. There is a brute physicality in her work; these are figure paintings with the bones left in. Unnatural color and form stains us with the spirit world, they are paintings to die for.

Matthew Ronay’s sculptures, videos, and installations commingle tribal, indigenous, and modern formalist aesthetics to invent new mysticisms and Jungian-inspired things. Whether fictionalized or real, his objects and images seem borne from an infinite well of psychological chaos. Enduring extreme costuming and physical trials, Ronay has recently begun using himself in his sculptures to return to the ritualistic purposes inherent to sacred art. In this, he is the ultimate homunculus manikin.

CANADA is located at 55 Chrystie Street between Hester and Canal Streets in New York City. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m. For more information, please contact the gallery at 212-925-4631or at gallery@canadanewyork.com.

Above: Daniel Higgs – Waggon – Offenbach, Germany – 2009-10-20 | © Laurent Orseau

Stream:

Download: “Hoofprints On The Ceiling Of Your Mind”—Daniel Higgs (mp3) (twenty-nine mb)

From Say God, available now from Thrill Jockey on double vinyl and double cd. More info here.

SPADES & HOES & PLOWS is the third solo album by Welsh producer, pianist and songwriter David Wrench, and was commissioned for Julian Cope’s Black Sheep by Cope and Fat Paul. The album presents four traditional folk themes from the British Isles, all performed in an eerily upfront and cadaverous manner, reminiscent of such late black metal as Furze, or perhaps a radical hybrid of Andrew King and an acoustic Khanate. But this is hardly a radical new course for Wrench, whose obsessions with cultural marginalia began as long ago as the late 80s with Nid Madagascar, his Welsh language acid house band. In 1997, Wrench released the turbulent BLOW WINDS BLOW, a dark set of songs influenced by Peter Hammill and John Cale. As the co-leader of the short-lived glam-sleaze duo Bubblegun, Wrench grabbed the ear of Julian Cope, whose particularly enjoyed the earnest electro-ballad ‘Beautiful Cunt’. David Wrench’s next solo album was THE ATOMIC WORLD OF TOMORROW, a horny melange of politically charged hi-energy synth pop. As an Engineer/Producer and Mixer, he has recently worked with Caribou, mixing most of the new album Swim, and previous album ANDORRA, engineering the Mercury prize nominated TWO SUNS by Bat For Lashes, WHEN THE HAAR ROLLS IN by James Yorkston, and producing the critically acclaimed albums GOODBYE FALKENBURG by Race Horses, GOTHIC ROAD by Jackie Leven, MIRACLE INN and BORE DA by Euros Childs, and THE QUICKENING by Kathryn Williams. He recently was awarded the BBC Radio Cymru C2 award of Producer of the Year for the 3rd time. He joined Julian Cope’s group Black Sheep in 2008, performing vocals on their 2009 album KISS MY SWEET APOCALYPSE 2.

More info: http://www.headheritage.co.uk/spades-and-hoes-and-plows/

Red Goo, Paper Cut-Outs and Conscious Digressions: Mike Mills on HENRY JACOBS’ handmade absurdism

The Fine Art of Goofing Off
Three 30-minute episodes, 1971
Dir. Henry Jacobs
Available on The Weird World of Henry Jacobs DVD/CD (Important, 2004)

“Well, ‘goofing off’ is not really being what you’re really supposed to be doing.”
—boy’s voice in Episode 1

Each show begins with the same image: a gallon of paint thrown onto a black and white target. Red gooey paint, probably the worst tool for the job a target suggests—hitting the center and the center only, and all the competition, judgment, and evaluation therein. There’s no specificity, linearity, no ability to pierce—just thick gooey amorphous wrap-around-everything-non-solidness.

And so the game begins, The Fine Art of Goofing Off, or as I mistakenly remembered it “Taking Goofing Off Seriously.” Glad I’m not in charge of remembering, but there’s something to my mistake. Under all the home-made/hand-made qualities of the show, the claymation, construction paper cut-outs, the felt pen animation, and the rambling structure, under the constant humor and seeking of fun is a deceptively serious mission—to derail oneself from “what you’re supposed to be doing” (or as the genius of the kid mistakenly put it, “not being what you’re supposed to be doing”). Goofing off is the giving up of all things Western Civilization worked so hard to make soul crushing: progress, work, betterment of self, basing everything on the future and linear time and the always wanting that time to be faster and more convenient. Not to mention the primacy of the plot and drama at all costs in storytelling, the anything-less-than-success as shameful construct, and the sadness as failure feeling, and the exploitation of any and all substances you can gather to ease all the worries us European-descenters are so prone to.

Yes, this is what this kid show addresses. And this little confrontation was happening on public television, broadcast across the airwaves in 1971. It’s handmade absurdism was mixed in the airwaves with Nixon, the Vietnam war, with the Weather Underground bombing the U.S. Capitol in protest of the invasion of Laos, with Apollo 14 landing on the moon, with Willie Wonka’s theatrical release, with Evan Goolagong winning Wimbledon. The Fine Art of Goofing Off was pushing its gooey red paint into antennas, and the imaginations of children/adults.

We won’t dwell on how impossible this show would be now, but actually we will for just three small points: 1. The great contemporary tendency to protect children from everything would not allow something so “dangerous” and “adult” to be on the air. 2. Our cleaned-up “professionalized” visual culture would never allow so much felt-tip-pen animation out in the world. 3. The positivity-openheartedness-vulnerability expressed in this show would be mocked by most mainstream and counter-culture makers of today. Softness is so easily beaten-up. But this is a digression, and really, how scary is it to digress, to not know what you’re doing, or what’s going on, or what’s next, or worse, to not have anything next. But this is the space Goofing Off was trying to make, the rich and conscious digression from what we’re supposed to be doing.

The end of episode three has a thank you list which includes: Walt Disney, Sigmund Freud, Leonardo DaVinci, The Beatles, Ray Bradbury, Federico Fellini, Marcel Marceau, Rene Magritte, Dali, Picasso, Alfred E. Neuman, Krishnamurti, Marshall McLuhan, John and Yoko, D.T. Suzuki, Jacques Tati, Benito Mussolini, Oral Roberts, Buckminister Fuller, The Eames, Corita Kent, Charlie Chaplin, J.R.R. Tolkien. What a party that would be. And while this list is playfully implausible, part of the magic of the whole show, it’s funny to see how many of these people thought of a different world, or, our world differently. Freud, populizer of the unconscious as the real source of all our actions. Marceau, the mime that explained his art as “documentaries” of human behavior mirrored back to us so we can transform. Suzuki and Krishnamurti (still trying to finish those books). The utopian popular modernism of Fuller-Eames-Kent. Alfred E Neuman’s scope of satire, nothing was beyond Mad’s reach. Disney, the maker of “the happiest place on earth,” maybe the most powerful shaper of “childhood” for any of us born after the Fifties. Henry Jacobs, Bob Mcclay, and the community that made this were playing at influencing imaginations on this big scale while not falling for the seriousness that turns revelations into rules. They disguised their insurgency in felt-tip pen and construction paper cut-outs. The revolution will be funny, inventive, unprofessional, small-scale, for children/adults and televised.

Mike Mills is a filmmaker and graphic artist living in Los Angeles. His latest graphics can be seen at humans.jp

BRAIN DONOR

“WASTED FUZZ EXCESSIVE”

BRAIN DONOR RECORDS
9918-4

Tracklisting:

Invocation: The Mead of Fimbulthul
1. GATES OF SKAGERRAK
2. DEATH BECOMES YOU
3. DYSLEXIA RULES K.O.
4. EMERGING/SHADOW OF MY CORPSE
5. FRANKENSTEIN
6. FOKKINGER SLAG/THE HANGING

WASTED FUZZ EXCESSIVE is the long awaited follow-up to Brain Donor’s 2006CE’s epic DRAIN’D BONER, this new album continuing in those dark traditions of declaimed metallic poetry, but extending further into works of epic construction and length. Driven by No Wave riffs and hoary proto-metal assaults, this Donor record burns at both ends. Here it hangs static and taut, whilst there it endures a rocket fired up its ass due to Mister E’s sudden and marvellous acceleration. The seven songs pan out across over an hour of music, and include Cope’s infamous stereo bass solo ‘Shadow of My Corpse’, previewed on his last tour. For those with a mind to listen to the far out, have it destroyed by the might of WASTED FUZZ EXCESSIVE. U-Know it makes sense … to somebody!

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ANOTHER WAREHOUSE FIND: We’ve got 55 copies left of this sweetie and then it’s gone forever.

This beautifully sequenced, far-ranging album commemorates the second annual Plastic Crimewave-curated, Galactic Zoo Dossier/Arthur-presented “Million Tongues” festival that went down at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, November 3-6, 2005.

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”

Track selection, art and lettering by Plastic Crimewave. Limited edition of 1,000 copies in jewelcase, released through Arthur’s “Bastet” imprint in 2005. 55 copies left and then they’re all gone!

$10 postpaid from The Arthur Store

MAJOR WAREHOUSE FIND: We’ve got 80 copies left of this beautiful sucker—this is the last of the 500-copy jewel case run—and then they’re gone forever. Orders will start shipping June 1, 2010.

Thirteen gnarly tunes gathered from high and low by ETHAN MILLER of COMETS ON FIRE and HOWLIN RAIN back in 2006. “For lovers of bloody nose street folk, dangerous shit rock, drunken cosmic slop and those wandering down the outer and under paths alone.”

Track listing:
1. Albert Ayler – Truth Is Marching In
2 Monoshock – Crypto-Zoological Disaster
3 The Colossal Yes – The Honey Creeper Smiles
4 Ghost – Piper
5 Electric Six Organs Of Admittance – Close To The Sky
6 Michael Yonkers – Swamp Of Love
7 Shit Spangled Banner – Cuntshine
8 Brother JT – Country Blues/Be With Us (live)
9 Joshua – Look Floating
10 7 Year Rabbit Cycle – Meditation
11 August Born [Six Organs and L collaboration] – Providence
12 Dark Inside The Sun – Truly Cursed
13 Comets On Fire – Death Squad

Artwork by Rob Fisk.

$10 postpaid from The Arthur Store

Stream:

Download: “Colors” — Elisa Randazzo (mp3)

A song from Elisa Randazzo’s debut solo album, Bruises and Butterflies, available Tuesday, May 18 on LP, CD and digital and download from Drag City of Chicago.

Stream:

Download: “Rhizomes” — Effi Briest (mp3, 10mb)

Title track off Effi Briest’s debut album Rhizomes, available now on lp, cd and digital download from Sacred Bones Records of Brooklyn.

Planting the Future Conference – California
Saturday, May 15th 2010
Sonoma Academy Campus – Santa Rosa , CA
(off Petaluma Hill Rd, just minutes from Santa Rosa)

More info: United Plant Savers

Teachers include: Amanda McQuade-Crawford, Christopher Hobbs, Kathi Keville, Cascade Anderson-Geller, Richo Cech, David Hoffmann, Sheila Kingsbury, Autumn Summers, Leslie Gardner, Denise Cooluris, ND, Peggy Schafer, Kami McBride, Jane Bothwell, Gail Julian, Rose Loveall, Trinity Ava, Dale Pendell, Bill Schoenbart, L.Ac, Lynda LeMole, David Crow, Sage LaPena, Annabella deMattei and other local teachers.

Classes:
Sirens of the Sea – Sea vegetables for food and medicine– Autumn Summers, Trish Gallagher, Kristin Younger, Terry Nieves
From ancient times to the present, seaweeds have been used by coastal people all over the world to nourish themselves, their gardens, as well as to treat disease. The Sonoma coast is incredibly rich in seaweeds that can be used as foods and medicines. Learn about this amazing resource from a panel of seaweed harvesters.

Hearing the Voice of White Sage (Salvia apiana), – A Shamanic Connection to the Plant World – Annabella De Mattei
An interactive class that is a synergy of presentations, dialogue, imaging, art expression and a journey using traditional shamanic techniques for accessing plant spirit.

Orpheus, Faust, Eve: Shamanism in the Western Tradition – Dale Pendell
Through the myths of Orpheus, Faust, and Eve we find shamanic traditions in the West—some using plants, some not—that continue to affect our policies and beliefs. The three magical traditions are distinct, and lead to vastly different results in the contemporary world.

Wildcrafting Herbs – Discussions on a Complicated Issue – Cascade Anderson Geller
With population growth and land development on the planet increasing, is there any rationale for wildcrafting herbs? Or, is wildcrafting herbs and other plants, actually an incentive to keep wild lands wild? We’ll explore this controversial issue from several points of view using well-known species such as goldenseal, ginseng, echinacea, linden, pau d’ arco, cork oak and others from around the world.

Ten Top Herbs for Kids – Sheila Kingsbery
Children often have fairly common ailments and a well thought out selection of herbs can help and appeal to their taste buds. Learn herbs for fevers, respiratory infections, coughs, sore throats, tummy aches, sleep issues, anxiety, skin rashes, insect bites and small wounds. And the delivery methods most helpful in getting children to willingly take our concoctions.

Turmeric and Red Sage –Ancient Tradition and Modern Science of Two Miraculous Herbs – Bill Schoenbart
Learn about the many traditional uses and modern research on turmeric as a powerful anti-cancer herb. Red Sage root, or Dan Shen, used to “calm the spirit” and treat heart problems has modern research that shows it possesses impressive cardiac effects and profound anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. Bill’s own research shows that locally grown organic Red Sage roots are equal or superior to those grown in China.

The Medicinal Landscape – Kami McBride
Come explore the use of California native plants for creating your home medicine chest garden. Enhance the ‘medicine shed’ and turn your yard into a medicinal landscape. Seasonal harvests become healing medicines inspiring sustainability, self-empowerment and keeping your loved ones well.

Herb ‘Walk’ in the Potted ‘Insta-Garden’ – Gail Julian
Learn the identification and uses of the herbs provided to us by local growers, in our lusciously blooming potted ‘HerbGarden’.

Class Session #2 1-2:30pm

Backyard Aroma Farmacy – Kathi Keville
Learn to grow and use your own essential oil plants (including alternatives to endangered aromatic plants) to make your own oils. Class will be a live plant demo making simple decoctions without expensive materials. Goldenseal B-140

Herbal Skin Food for the 21st Century – Trinity Ava
Learn new and exciting formulation strategies to create “super foods” that will assist the vibrancy and protection of your skin. We’ll discuss utilizing abundant and sustainable local plants, beneficial antioxidants, skin tone evening serums for all skin types- men and women. Peyote B-220

Ten Top Herbs for Kids – Sheila Kingsbery
Children often have fairly common ailments and a well thought out selection of herbs can help and appeal to their taste buds. Learn herbs for fevers, respiratory infections, coughs, sore throats, tummy aches, sleep issues, anxiety, skin rashes, insect bites and small wounds. And the delivery methods most helpful in getting children to willingly take our concoctions. Trillium B-240

Bringing Back the Green – The Evolution of Herbalism: Are We Prepared for the 21st Century ? – David Hoffmann
A look at the diversity of herbalism in the U.S., how it has changed in the last 25 years, and how it might change in the next. Are we ready for climate change, globalization, etc. Yerba Mansa – B-222

Asthma and Allergies in Sonoma County: Herbal Solutions and Formulae – Denise Cooluris
Asthma and allergies have reached epidemic levels in Sonoma county. Join us as we discuss the mechanisms of these immune reactions, the multifaceted causes, and how herbalists can formulate to safely and effectively address these concerns in our community. White Sage – B-120

UpS “AT-Risk” Herbs– Lynda LeMole
Meet the 19 UpS “At-Risk” and the “To-Watch” plants during an interactive slide-show presentation. As an herbalist or UpS member, you can learn to use this slideshow to educate and inform about plant extinction, how herbs are determined to be “at-risk” and what UpS is doing to encourage botanical sanctuaries, plant rescues and preservation. Ginseng B-142

Direct Medicine Plant Walk – Christopher Hobbs
Meet the lesser-known but exciting medicinal plants in the wild here in Sonoma County. We will emphasize cross-cultural uses, botany, chemistry, pharmacology, safety, preparation, home use and clinical use. Help preserve the famous “at-risk herbs” by learning more about local weeds and abundant bioregional resources. Outside at Zeigler Point

Class Session #3 2:45 – 4:15 pm

Women’s Spirit – Jane Bothwell
Women have used plants for healing since time began. Learn to deepen this relationship and make wise choices in your medicine for yourself and others. Specific formulas as well as simples will be shared. Topics will be preventative health with nourishing herbs, and formulas for PMS, yeast infections, bladder infections, cramps. Goldenseal B-140

Plants for Ecological Healing – David Crow, L.Ac
Plants create and maintain both the balance of the biospheric elements that all higher life depends on, and the inner ecology of the human body. We’ll explore Community Immunity- understanding our biological interdependence with plants and their immunological intelligence; Healing body and earth- how plants heal both the inner ecology of the human body and the outer ecology of the environment; Phytoremediation- the use of plants for ecological detoxification. Yerba Mansa B-222

Folk Research: The Hidden Benefits of a Long Tradition – Kathleen Harrison
As herbal medicine has moved into the mainstream, we’ll review how research has been done for thousands of years, using observation, memory, oral tradition, experimentation, and intuition. We’ll discuss contemporary issues such as standardization, addiction, and the somewhat parallel history of psychoactive medicines as Science is finally looking at them. Peyote B-220

Infected Mucosa: Alternative for Goldenseal, Oregon Grape, & Yerba Mansa – Amanda McQuade
Will Local Mallows Replace Althaea? What are the alternatives for goldenseal, Oregon grape, and yerba mansa? Synergy between abundant demulcents and antimicrobials move us beyond berberine for URT conditions and mucus membrane health. Ginseng B-142

Cultivation & Conservation of Western & Chinese Herbs – Leslie Gardner & Peggy Schafer
Join two growers for a conversational trip from here to China and back. We’ll discuss the cultivation of efficacious botanicals, use of potential analogs for at-risk medicinals, conservation issues, and invasive species. White Sage B-120

Protecting California Native Herbs – Sage La Pena
Learn how to protect California native medicinal plants using traditional gathering methods. Trillium B-240

Seed Cleaning and Medicinal Plant Propagation – Richo Cech
This will be a demonstration of various methods of purifying the seed harvest, including rubbing, whacking, using graduated screens, wind winnowing, flannel sheet method, fermentation and flotation. Clean seeds maintain their vitality for longer, and they are easier to space and cover during planting. Hands-on tricks of the trade! Outside at Zeigler Point

TEACHERS’ BIOS:
Amanda McQuade Crawford, DipPhyto, MNIMH, MNZAMH, RH (AHG), is an herbalist. author of The Natural Menopause Handbook, The Herbal Menopause Book, and Herbal Remedies for Women, and is a contributor to many other books and guides on herbs. Amanda hosts “What A Relief,” on the Veria television network in S. Cal.

Annabella De Mattei is the creator of the Luna Fina line of herbal, floral and earth remedies as well as the Rose Chakra Flower Essences. She has developed an unusual way of working with plants that goes from the intellectual to the experiential and shamanic and has used this approach in various educational venues. She taught “Herb Explorations and Remedies for 6 years at both the Albany Adult School and Tamalpais Adult School (San Anselmo, CA).

Autumn Summers Inspired by the plants since childhood she has studied herbalism and ethnobotany for the last 20 years with a kinship for the plants, seaweeds and mushrooms of Northern California. She has guest hosted KPFA’s Herbal Highway, co-organized free community herb festivals and worked at Rosemary’s Garden, Simplers Botanical and KW Botanicals. Currently she teaches edible and medicinal plant classes at the California School of Herbal Studies (www.cshs.com) and throughout the Bay Area and manages Bayer Farm Community Garden for the non-profit LandPaths (www.landpaths.org)

Bill Schoenbart L.Ac., D.A.O.M.has been practicing traditional Chinese herbal medicine for 20 years, and has been a student of herbalism in general for 40 years. He is the author of two books on Chinese medicine, and teaches herbal medicine and medical theory at Five Branches University in Santa Cruz. Bill also does research for the natural products industry.

Cascade Anderson Geller – During the Vietnam era of the early 1970′s, Cascade channeled her political activism into healing and starting food cooperatives. Embracing her love of the outdoors and her Appalachian family heritage of wildcrafting, she became an herbalist as a way to gather up her passions into one basket. In 1979, she was a founding member of the Everett House Healing Ctr in Portland, OR, where she saw clients and taught classes. She has served on the faculty of the Nat’l College of Naturopathic Med., Bastyr College, SW College of Naturopathic Med., and the Cal. School of Herbal Studies and teaches at many other institutions and conferences. Cascade is a UpS Advisory Board member.

Christopher Hobbs L.Ac.,A.H.G. is a 4thgeneration herbalist and 3rd generation botanist whose life-long passion for plants was sparked at the age of 5. After 40 years of teaching and learning, he is still ardently listening to what the plants have to teach. Author of 25 books, licensed acupuncturist with over 15 years of clinical experience, he is now a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley in plant sciences, especially evolutionary biology, biochemistry, botany and ethnobotany. He is a UpS Advisory Board member.

Dale Pendell is the author of Pharmako/Poeia, Pharmako/Dynamis, and Pharmako/Gnosis, a depth study of the shamanic and pharmacological virtues of psychoactive plants. Dale’s first novel, The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse, stories from the next ten thousand years of California history, will be released in July.

David Crow, L.Ac., is an acupuncturist and herbalist with over thirty years experience. He is the author of “In Search of the Medicine Buddha,” about his studies of Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine in the Himalayas. He is the founder of Floracopeia, which supports ecologically sustainable agriculture through the production of essential oils and aromatic treasures. He is the founder of The Learning Garden, one of the country’s largest school gardens. www.floracopeia.com.

David Hoffmann B.Sc., F.N.I.M.H.
A Fellow of Britain’s National Institute of Medical Herbalists, David has been a phytotherapist for 30 years. He is a founding member and past president of the American Herbalist Guild, and on the advisory board of the American Botanical Council and United Plant Savers. He promotes phytotherapy throughout Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He teaches at the California School of Herbal Studies and Bastyr University. The author of 17 books, his latest is a textbook on science and clinical skills for phytotherapists entitled Medical Herbalism.

Denise Cooluris, N.D. practices family medicine, clinical botanical medicine, and integrative gynecology in Santa Rosa. An herbalist for fifteen years and a passionate naturalist, Dr. Cooluris has served as Adjunct Faculty and lecturer for the Botanical Medicine Department at Bastyr University. She combines her scientific training with centuries-old wisdom of traditional medicine to educate her patients and community.

Gail Julian is as a clinical herbalist, medicine maker and teacher with 20 years experience in the clinic and classroom. Her training includes Western Herbalism and physiology, native plant use, Chinese and plant energetic systems. Gail is a core teacher at the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville.

Jane Bothwell is a practicing herbalist, educator, hypnotherapist, and flower essence practitioner of 20 years.. She directs and teaches at the Dandelion Herbal Center in Kneeland, CA. Jane is former teacher and administrator at the California School of Herbal studies in Sonoma County, CA. and is a UpS Advisory board member.

Kami McBride is an inspiring teacher that has helped thousands of people learn to use herbal medicine in their daily lives in ways that are healthy, safe and fun. Her mission is to help revive the art of home herbal care, creating self-reliance, sustainable wellness practices and revitalizing our relationship with the plant world. www.livingawareness.com

Kathi Keville has taught lively and engaging seminars on medicinal herbs and aromatherapy
throughout North America for over 40 years. She has written 14 books and 150 magazine articles.
Kathi lives at Oak Valley Herb Farm in Northern California’s Sierra Nevadas, surrounded by her gardens.

Kathleen Harrison is an independent ethnobotanist, who particularly studies the lore of plants used in ritual and healing. She does fieldwork in Latin America and teaches field courses for various universities.

Kristen Younger NC, CMT, Pacific Seaweed and Botanicals, Nutrition Consultant, Herbal Educator, and Massage Therapist. Kristen has been hand harvesting seaweed off the Sonoma County Coast for 20 years.

Leslie Gardner, B.S., M.H., RH (AHG), has taught and cared for the garden at the California School of Herbal Studies since 1993, and directs the Sonoma County Herb Exchange, a clearinghouse connecting medicinal herb growers with medicine makers and manufacturers. She is the author of “Life in the Medicine”, a guide to growing and harvesting herbs.

Lynda LeMole is Executive Director of UpS since 2003. She is former co-owner, President and formulater of Traditional Medicinals herb teas (1983-2003), was President of American Herbal Products Association 1984-89 and is a practicing environmentalist and herbologist.

Peg Schafer is a nationally recognized grower of high quality Chinese herbs. With a background in nursery management and farming, she is the owner/operator of the Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm near Petaluma, California.. . She is also co-owner of Fu Tian Herbs the first company in the US to exclusively offer certified organic, domestically-grown Chinese herb products. .

Richo Cech started his professional work as an archaeologist and ethnobotanist in East Africa. In 1978, he began cultivating and saving medicinal plants seeds. His collection became the basis for Horizon Herbs. Richo is the author of 3 seminal books on growing medicinal herbs, his latest release is The Medicinal Herb Grower. Horizon Herbs Seed Farm in Williams, Oregon cultivates 1,000 species of medicinal plants. Richo is a UpS Advisory Board member.

Sage LaPena is Nomtipom/Tunai Wintu traditionally and college trained ethnobortanist. She has over 20 years experience with California native plants.

Sheila Kingsbury N.D. is a Naturopathic Physician, Lactation Consultant and Registered Herbalist. Dr. Kingsbury is a graduate of Bastyr University’s naturopathic medicine program and has a clinical practice in Kirkland, Washington where she focuses on pediatrics and women’s health. She is the Chair of the Botanical Medicine department at Bastyr University and a core faculty member, teaching courses in Pediatrics and Botanical Medicine.

TERRY NIEVES has been a wild ocean food provider for over 13 years. As owner of Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Co., she offers a wealth of knowledge about seaweeds and their nutrition. She works as an educator, directing a Mendocino School County-wide nutrition and gardening program.

Trish Gallagher runs a local seaweed business, Wild DevOcean. Using sustainable and ethical harvesting practices, Ocean Goddess Trish wildcrafts fresh Northern California sea vegetation into delicious and highly nutritive snacks, supplements and high quality culinary sea vegetables for available at the Collective’s store. She offers wellness consultations. Trish has been gathering seaweed professionally for 12 years.

Trinity Ava – With a fascination for the world of plants since childhood, Trinity’s mission is to inspire and empower individuals with the effectiveness of herbal tradition. For over 13 years she has taught Eastern and Western herbalism, Ayurvedic principles, use of essential oils and has clinical experience. She teaches at the California School of Herbal Studies and Bastyr University. Trinity currently serves as a consultant for the natural/herbal product industry & teaches Yoga and contemporary dance www.trinityava.com or trinityava@gmail.com

COVERING FLIPPER

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Download: “I Was Gone”—Woods (mp3)

From the excellent new Woods album At Echo Lake, just out from the fellas’ own label Woodsist (LP=$15, CD= $12, Cassette=$8 postpaid) and itunes.

Woods are traveling and playing shows this summer, including two mini-festivals in California. Info at their blog: http://woodsist.blogspot.com/

We’ve reduced prices by as much as 50 percent on BACK ISSUES over at the Arthur Store—most are now priced from $3.50 to $25. Some issues are sold out already. Quantities are finite so do what you gotta! Also: posters, dvds, cds and a few more t-shirts…

CLICK HERE to visit the Arthur Store

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Download: “I Keep Waiting”—Hacienda (mp3)

Sweet new one from C & D faves Hacienda—three well-dressed harmonizin’ Texan brothers and a cousin, whose second album, “Big Red & Barbacoa” is out from Alive Records on vinyl and the digital. Like their debut, it’s produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys…