I just finished Brief Episodes of Joy. It will be available soon on iTunes, but you can get the CD at CDBaby and Amazon. The CD features a bonus remix of a Techno Squirrels track and brightly-coloured packaging.

Here is the CD release party info:

ALP CD Release Party: Brief Episodes of Joy
Saturday, April 5, 2008
7:30 until 9:00pm
Sligo Urban Community Center
500 Sligo Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

The event is FREE. There is no booze allowed (this is the nanny state of Montgomery county after all) but I will make this up to you at the after-party. I have a few videos of tracks off the cd up at my YouTube channel.
posted by Bev  # 7:53 PM | Perma Link
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Recently one of my online vendors switched business models which forced me to move my back-catalog to another service. Fortunately an Amazon company called CreateSpace has come along with the ability to fulfill CD orders on-demand. I also have the option of making them available at Amazon.com, which is a godsend if you want to be on the radar of social networking sites and Pandora, etc.

I noticed that the CD Pursuit of Happiness (which won the 2006 Washington Area Music Award for electronica album of the year and is sold on CDBaby and iTunes without a problem) seemed to be stuck in purgatory with an "in process" designation. When I sent an e-mail to follow up I received this response:

Thank you for your inquiry. It appears that your cover art goes beyond what Amazon is willing to accept. Amazon guidelines are as follows:

"Pornography. Pornography; X-rated movies; home porn; hard-core material, including magazines, that depict graphic sexual acts; amateur porn; soiled undergarments; sexual aid devices; and "adult-only" novelty items that are primarily sold through adult-only novelty stores and erotic boutiques are not permitted. Unrated erotic videos and DVDs and properly censored erotic artwork and magazines of the type you'd find at a typical bookstore are permitted. Nudity, graphic titles, and descriptions must be sufficiently concealed with censor strips on all items containing such content."

We ask that you please correct your cover art and re-upload it. Once you have done this, please let us know and we will continue to process your title. Thank you.

I have no problem with a private company having editorial guidelines, but isn't it a little odd for Amazon to take this position when they use the first amendment as an excuse in defending the sale of cockfighting publications? (read about Amazon's response to the Human Society's recent lawsuit here).

Odder still, is the fact that the digital version displays the cover art in all its glory (probably not safe for the typical work environment). Amazon mp3 rocks! But if you want the physical (so to speak) CD, CDBaby has it here.

UPDATE: Wal-Mart is also selling Pursuit of Happiness. With the cover. This is in spite of their established practice of censoring albums "with cover art or lyrics deemed overtly sexual or dealing with topics such as abortion, homosexuality or Satanism."
posted by Bev  # 9:37 PM | Perma Link
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