Arthur Loves Plastic

Upcoming Gig: September 27, 2008

2008-08-10T19:01:00.003-04:00

Below are details about the listening party/laser light show under the stars being held Saturday September 27.

WHAT: Arthur Loves Plastic Listening Party
WHERE: Montgomery College Planetarium, 7651 Fenton St., Takoma Park, MD
WHEN: Saturday night, September 27, 2006 8pm

THE EVENT IS FREE

Refreshments will not be provided but consumption is recommended before the show. ; )

Here is a map.

(photo credit: Jane Buscher)

THE "RBR" House Party to Support Basic Rights Montgomery!

2008-07-11T20:50:00.008-04:00

I will be spinning at a benefit on Thursday for Basic Rights Montgomery:

Location: The Fabulous Home of Robert Raben
Washington, DC 20002
When: Thursday, July 17, 6:00PM

Come enjoy music, fun, and a great cause! Basic Rights Montgomery is a broad-based coalition of community leaders and organizations formed in response to the efforts to repeal Montgomery County's recently passed transgender anti-discrimination law.

VIEW THE EVITE

Genre Hopping

2008-06-21T23:14:00.002-04:00

Here is video of the Capital Country Dance Club dancing during my set at Capital Pride's arts stage last weekend. I am so glad this was archived! And Chris the engineer ran great sound!! The dancing starts around a minute into the clip.

ALP on YouTube

2008-06-12T07:31:00.004-04:00

Here is a video from DC filmmaker Isaiah Headen. This was shot at Thayer Avenue, just before Montgomery County kicked me out of my apartment.

ALP at Capital Pride

2008-06-08T20:21:00.005-04:00

Arthur Loves Plastic will be spinning at the Arts Corner on Sunday, June 15th at 1:30 at DC's Capital Pride.

The stage is located on 6th St. just off Pennsylvania Ave NW. Hope to see you there!

Queering Sound in Metro Weekly

2008-05-29T19:20:00.003-04:00

Click here to read the Metro Weekly piece on Queering Sound.

Queering Sound 08 [Pix el a tion] happens Saturday, June 7, at 8 p.m. at:

Warehouse Second Stage
1021 Seventh St. NW
Washington DC
(near Mt. Vernon Square Metro)

Tickets are $10, available at the door.

Hope to see you there!

As Seen on TV

2008-05-26T09:42:00.004-04:00

A snippet of Arthur Loves Plastic's "Hold Me" from Fixed Star is being used as the intro theme for the documentary series "Lesbian Sex & Sexuality" being shown on Here! TV. Below is a clip from the episode on erotic dancers.

Queering Sound 08

2008-05-08T22:06:00.001-04:00

2008 . pix el a tion
...we are all part of the pixel nation

BLK w/ BEAR [loops + turntables + prepared vinyl] . Arthur Loves Plastic [audio/video] . VJ Poppins [live video mix] . *V*I*R*G*O* + Charles Cohen [audio] . Building Castles Out of Matchsticks : Anne Sulikowski [audio/video] . Nick Lopata [video] . Doug Poplin [cello + effects] . PD Sexton [bass + laptop + effects] . Dan Vera [words] . RH Bear [bass + effects] . Mansard [audio] . Long Division with Remainders [audio] . Helen Watson [audio] . Joseph Dress [tech] . Melissa Mullins [video tech] ... additional contributors and performers TBA

Warehouse . 1021 7th Street NW . Washington DC USA
Saturday 07 June 2008

8:00 pm

Next Gig--Greenbelt

2008-04-09T22:52:00.008-04:00

I will be spinning between live band sets at the Crazy Quilt Festival 2008 in Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt MD Greenbelt, Maryland on April 19th between 12:50 pm and 6:50 pm. Please stop by!

Sponsored by Friends of New Deal Cafe Arts (FONDCA) with support from the City of Greenbelt

New CD: Brief Episodes of Joy

2008-03-15T19:53:00.001-04:00

I just finished Brief Episodes of Joy. You can get the CD at CDBaby and Amazon. It features a bonus remix of a Techno Squirrels track and brightly-coloured packaging. The tracks are available at iTunes as well.

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.

Amazon: Cockfighting Okay; Other Activities Not So Much

2008-03-13T21:37:00.011-04:00

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."

Beneath the Watchful Eyes

2008-02-20T19:07:00.003-05:00

Beneath the Watchful Eyes won the Washington Area Music Award for Electronica Album of the Year on Sunday. You can see who else won here.

You can buy it on iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.

Disappeared, the Web 2.0 version

2008-01-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

This morning I received an e-mail from a friend informing me Arthur Loves Plastic's myspace profile was down. Sure enough, the pre-Murdoch myspace page I've had since 2005, with over a thousand friends, has been deleted. You can see how it looked in google's cache back on January 21 here.

I wrote myspace to find out why my profile has been deleted, and received this canned response:

If your question pertains to why your account/profile was cancelled by MySpace or why content was deleted, please refer to our Terms of Service for more detailed explanations. Reasons could include, but are not limited to inapproproate [sic] images, racial content, excessive violence, copyright infringement of any kind, underage users, etc.

MySpace is a community where free expression is encouraged. However, we also have a responsibility to all of our users to ensure everyone abides by our Terms of Service.

If this does not address your issue completely, please press "Reply" and provide any additional information you feel is relevant. Please do not alter the subject as it will be considered a new inquiry.

Speculation on why this may have happened is welcome! My theory is that my profile was too tasteful -- perhaps more glitter bears and a busier background would have saved me. I am tempted to not even bother putting another page up because myspace is SO last year anyways.

UPDATE: As of the morning of January 25, my profile has been restored. Thanks Tom!

No Nations No Peoples

2008-01-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

An oldie but goodie has been afforded a new lease on life thanks to iTunes. No Nations No Peoples was released in 2002 and snapped up by a record label that went under. The subsequent digi-release floudered as well. But not to be discouraged, ALP has made No Nations available on iTunes. Here's what one review had to say:

"Solid and substantial, musically just so varied, and yet so darned catchy, it's an electronic ambient downtempo brew that will have your feet tapping and your body swaying as track after incredible track fills the airwaves, each one full of the most wondrous array of melodies layers and textures that you could hope to hear - a simply astounding album that is so refreshing and vital it should be prescribed to anyone feeling down or alone. Fantastic and then some."
-- A Garibaldi (CD Services)

Get it here at iTunes.

Long Time No Talk!

2007-12-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a while since I have updated my website! This has been due to an unexpected move and a dysfunctional ISP (Earthlink). The county recently forced me out of my apartment because of a housing code violation so I have established camp in a neighborhood known as North Takoma. Despite being in the trendy 20910 zip code it has been a lot to ask to get a solid green light on the DSL modem.

Anyhow, I am in the process of sending the new CD through the digital distribution pipeline. It is entitled "Brief Episodes of Joy" and if you wait to buy it from Amazon or CD Baby it will feature brightly colored packaging and a bonus remix of the Techno Squirrels. Stay tuned for spring CD release news!

I also had a fabulous time this year working with local contemporary folk faves Cletus and Lori on a track called "She's Coming Back Around" that you can listen to on their myspace page. My 2002 release "No Nations No Peoples," a CD so good it was thwarted by record label drama, is now available on iTunes. I can't get you the direct link now because I don't have iTunes connected to the internet, but you'll see it if you search for Arthur Loves Plastic. TTFN!!!

GEICO Caveman's Crib 2.0

2007-09-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

GEICO have added a "Snooze & Rejuve" room to the Caveman's Crib website. If you click on the blue cell phone lying on the coffee table you can hear "Ravish" playing in the background on the fourth video clip.

Buy "Ravish" on iTunes here:

If you have arrived here from Prep & Party, here is where you can get the tracks from the Caveman' iPod:

Feel the Love (from the album Troubled):

Or it is available from itunes:

And just to demonstrate where I fall on the art vs. commerce spectrum, the track Boogie Bonnie Bell is a free download at archive.org.

IFI Music Live

2007-08-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

I was thrilled to be the guest on IFI Music Live August 21. The show is broadcast from a basement in Wheaton with dozens of parakeets and three dogs. Talk about a captive audience! Here are the links to listen to the archive:

Dame Bassey

2007-08-08T19:31:00.001-04:00

I have been a huge fan of Shirley Bassey since I was a child and was thrilled to see that Podshow Radio Dance Party played ALP's "Feel the Love" after the Propellerheads' "History Repeating". What a tough act to follow!! Speaking of Dame Bassey, check out her new video below. You would never guess she just turned 70!!

Virb Action

2007-06-30T13:57:00.000-04:00

Yet another social networking site has emerged but this one is better designed and less buggy than myspace. Check out www.virb.com/arthurlovesplastic where you can listen to a steady stream of Troubled and Beneath the Watchful Eyes.

I Can Dream

2007-06-03T10:42:00.000-04:00

Technical difficulties prevented this video being shown at Queering Sound last night, so I will post it here. It consists of footage I took with my cheap digital camera at Walt Disney World last Christmas. Enjoy!

QUEERING SOUND 07: dis lo ca tion : subverting contextual analysis

2007-05-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

Saturday June, 2 2007 at @ Warehouse Next Door
1021 Seventh Street NW,
Washington, DC
Cost : $8.00

Please stop by! I will be there with CDs to sell. More info here.

LIVE + DIGITAL CONTRIBUTIONS
from BLK w/ BEAR [ loops + turntables ]
Northern Machine [ audio : http://www.hc3music.com/nm.htm ] VJ Poppins [ live video mix ] .
Doug Poplin [ cello + effects ]
PD Sexton [ Athens GA : audio : http://myspace.com/embryofile ]
Arthur Loves Plastic [ audio/video ]
Ultra-red [ Los Angeles CA : audio ]
RH Bear [ NYC : electric bass + effects ]
Minibloc [ Montreal : audio/video ]
Dan Vera [ words ]
Nick Lopata [ video ]
Marc Manning [ Portland OR : audio ]
Fabiano Kueva [ Ecuador : audio/video ]
The Shakey Orchestra [ audio ]
JR Logan [ words ]

Arthur Loves Jersey

2007-05-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

Tonight I decided to check out Amazon Unbox, a video-on-demand service with the added temptation of one-click ordering. I couldn't resist spending $1.99 to see a title I recognized from one of my BMI checks: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, "New Jersey". The episode turns out to be a humorous homecoming for the host, who fled New Jersey after high school. During the course of a tour through Soprano Country he gains a new culinary appreciation for the state he initially describes as "a punch-line to a joke." I was pleasantly surprized to hear over a minute of the ALP track "You Won't" playing about two minutes into the show.

[update: I have removed the amazon link because of this.]

Underground Sounds of DC

2007-04-11T20:16:00.000-04:00

ALP is featured on the new Underground Sounds of DC CD:

TRACK LISTING

1. Live at the Majestic - Deepsixteen
2. D.C. Cab ride - Johnson and Burns
3. Love | Fear - Aurora and KayaZ feat. Sitali
4. Into Me - Thomas Blondet feat. Apple Rochez
5. In The Presence of... (Jasinski Remix) - Jette-Ives
6. Naughty - J-Punch
7. The Heart's a Lonely Hunter (Thievery Corporation Remix) -
Thievery Corporation feat. David Byrne
8. Winged Tip Shaker - Dex Dubious
9. Super Jam - All Good Funk Alliance
10. The Big Score - Fort Knox Five
11. Sonic Conduscer - Kid Gusto feat. Mustafa Akbar
12. Something New - Arthur Loves Plastic
13. Keep the Rut Out - Seroya
14. All Out - Quartermaine

Proceeds will benefit Whitman Walker. Read more about the artists here.

CD Release party:
When:
Thursday Apr 26, 2007
at 8:00 PM

Where::
BeBar
1318 9th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States

The Underground Sound of DC CD Release Party will feature DJ performances by Quartermaine, Deepsixteen, Sam "the Man" Burns with John Johnson, and All Good Funk Alliance.

$5 min suggested donation. All proceeds benefit Whitman-Walker Clinic.

New CD: Beneath the Watchful Eyes

2007-04-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Special thanks to everyone who attended ALP's CD release for Beneath the Watchful Eyes at the Montgomery College Planetarium. It was a packed house!

The Silver Spring penguin gave the release a plug here.

You can order the CD here. Or get it on Itunes here.

Virtual Snooping at the Caveman's Crib

2007-01-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

Two Arthur Loves Plastic tracks are on the GEICO Caveman's iPod. Check out the caveman's crib where you can read through the caveman's e-mails, flush the toilet while he is in the shower, and help him choose an outfit while he gets ready to party. If you have arrived here from the crib, here is where you can get the tracks:

Feel the Love (from the album Troubled):

Or it is available from itunes:

And just to demonstrate where I fall on the art vs. commerce spectrum, the track Boogie Bonnie Bell is a free download at archive.org.