you're updated 13 December 1999(voice of ring announcer Howard Finkel) : "And now ladies and gentlemen, Nikolai Volkoff asks that you rise and show respect, for the Russian National Anthem." (cue sound of lumbering, giant moaning unintelligbly over canned music. Cooler audience shifts uncomfortably in their seats).
(the Iron Sheik grabs the microphone) : "USA, twa!!!! (spitting), Army of Ghosts, twa!!! (spitting some more), Air Traffic Controllers, twa!!!! (lots of spit that time). Russia, number one! Iran, number one!"
(a very young V. McMahon Jr. hears the Iron Sheik describe how he can't wait to get really old and put the Camel Clutch on Claire. In the background, a genuine Camel wonders where he can get some decent corned beef)Finkel : "And now entering the ring....at a combined weight of 300 pounds, from the Lower East Side....the Air Traffic Controllers!"
(Cosloy and Pannell limp down the ramp, still in serious pain from the last time they did this. Gerard is distracted by a heckler brandishing a sign that reads "Pedals R Gay". He doesn't notice Volkoff hitting Claire with a steel folding chair, nor does he see the Sheik preparing to spear him in the midsection with a flagpole.)
GORILLA MONSOON : "Even the most casual observer would conclude that the Air Traffic Controllers are overmatched in this competition. Why doesn't the referee ring the bell and put an end to this massace?"
JEDI THE BODY : "The people paid good money for this massacre, Gorilla, and they can buy more $6 bottles of Rolling Rock while they're here."
(celebrating with the King of Men. Not shown : Air Traffic Controllers being taken to the emergency room).
Rehabbing serious injuries takes time. I'd say something about how "paybacks are a bitch", but I don't think we owe anyone any money (and besides, that's kinda sexist). So we're recuperating in different places at differing paces. Claire has moved to Australia where she'll be involved in so many artistic endeavors, we'll have trouble keeping count. I'm only involved in 5 or 6. One of 'em, the newfangled Air Traffic Controllers, have begun recording new material for release next year. The oldfangled Air Traffic Controllers (harkening back to a time when we could say "paybacks are a bitch" and everyone would know exactly what we meant) have a newfangled CD, Existence Period, that's available directly from Parallelism, or from Midheaven or from the Rough Trade shop. the new thing vs. the old thing? The old thing, as exemplified on Existence Period, is still pretty fucking new. Musique Concrete Floor. Is it still improvising if we're playing instruments we've touched before? Existence Period is the album where our vaunted "musicianship" (please stop laughing) goes on vacation and things start getting seriously Knobby. "Seriously, Knobby", by the way, is the title of an upcoming Farrelly Brothers comedy that we may or may not be providing the score for. OK, we may not. the new thing does a 180, naturally, and with the help of drummer Jon Steele, tries to answer the musical question "why couldn't This Heat and Solgar just unite as one band?" Actually, you don't need music to answer such a question. The two have nothing to do with each other, the twain shall never meat (and we have even less to do with either). As we struggle to provide a sexy story for you, dropping names and historical preceedants is useful only as cynical marketing. The real answers are for each person to come up with on their own. I'm weary of correcting anyone anymore, 'cause if you stayed in the room for our 45 minutes, you're entitled to any conclusion you want.
also on the horizon : Hollywood Blondes 12" (PAR 006), either this is a no-guitars paen to wig fetishers or it is a no-guitars tribute to a tragic tag-team. But I'm dating myself a bit ---- this has absolutely nothing to do with the recently exiled WCW couple Lenny & Lodi, aka "the West Hollywood Blondes". Just because a successful businessman pulls over on Santa Monica Boulevard to ask a young person for directions, the police jump to all kinds of conclusions. If you've gone around the block 45 times in 45 minutes, they're entitled to whatever conclusion they want. also in spring/summer 2000, Parallelism will be releasing The Tuesday Night Music Series U-Sound, Vol. One (PAR 007). Culled from last spring's free concerts at NYC's Pink Pony curated by Tom Greenwood, this compilation will feature new recordings from Jackie-O Motherfucker, Army Of Ghosts, Hall Of Fame, Tower Recordings, Michael Hurley and many others. Tom has started up the series again, starting this Wednesday, December 8. It's all taking place at 176 Ludlow St., NYC, 8pm, and in no particular order, you'll see performances (some in real time, others not) from A.R.E. Weapons, Monoract, Hall Of Fame, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Actress, Angelablood, the Glands of External Secretion, Double Leopards, Alan Licht, Dean Roberts and many others who ought to think about staying in every now and then. For more info, you can get in Tom's ears or eyes at tgreenwood60@hotmail.com If anyone would like to jump to the conclusion that the Pink Pony Tuesday Night Series is in any way shape or form a "response" of sorts to the Cooler's wildly successful Monday Night Music Series, that's just the craziest thing I've ever heard. Why would anyone want to "respond" to the Cooler's altruistic efforts, least of all the musicians who are so well compensated for their efforts.
We have no updates on Army Of Ghosts activities. Once again, they are putting the "secrete" in "secretive". A.R.E. Weapons, featuring people who resemble members of Army Of Ghosts, will have many shows in crowded rooms with glamorous people. We wish their clothing well. another update will be coming in a few weeks, complete with the all-star cast chewing their way through the year past (the decade/millenium review is cancelled due to long term memory loss).
Global Events You Are Invited To :
Thursday, 9 December - Si-(cut)db, BitTonic, The Sprawl, Global Cafe, London £3, 0207 2872242
Thursday, 9 December - Veryan Weston and Caroline Kraabel, Frakture, Liverpool
Saturday, 11 December - Haley Newman / Kaffe Matthews, DIYplc Commercial House, 43x Commercial Street London E1 t: 0207 502 0814, Admission: £3.50/£2.00 concessions. tube: Liverpool street / Aldgate East
Sunday, 12 December - Jerome Noetinger & Lionel Marchetti, Phil Butcher & Phil Durrant, Spitz, 8pm, £7
Tuesday, 21 December - John Butcher & Phil Minton, Tony Wren and Chris Burn, British Music Information Centre, 10 Stratford Place, W1N (Bond St. Tube)
Thursday, 13 January - Capitol K, The Sprawl, Global Cafe, London
Tuesday, 18 January - Ryoji Ikeda / Zoviet France, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London Thursday, 20 January - Ryoji Ikeda / Zoviet France, Contact Theatre, Manchester
the other part of the Globe :
Friday, 11 December, The Ex / Don Caballero, Knitting Factory, NYC
Sunday, 12 December, Bardo Pond / Pelt, Knitting Factory, NYC
Sunday, 12 December, Roads To Space Travel, Brownies, NYC, NY
Recorded artifacts that make the time go by so much faster --- Gimmick - "Random Access" 12" (Worm Interface), David Patton - Some Things Drive (Pacific Standard) Angus MacLise - The Invasion of Thunderbold Pagoda (Siltbreeze), Herrman & Kleine - Transalpin EP (City Centre Offices), Charles Curtis - Ultra White Violet Light (Squealer) Roads To Space Travel - Ballad-Jazz Waltz (Amish) Magazine - "Shot By Both Sides" (Virgin) Test - Live/Test (Eremite), State River Widening - s/t (Rocket Girl) Human Hands - Bouncing To Disc (Grand Theft Auto), Desert Sessions - Volume 5 and 6 (Man's Ruin) ,The Shadow Ring - Lighthouse (Swill Radio)
over and out and over again, Gerard Cosloy
(this is not the new Air Traffic Controllers album)
newsed up, 22/9/99
I'll keep it brief 'cause I realize all of you need an appropriate mourning period to get over the Kula Shaker breakup. Truly The Day The Music Died. Or maybe not, no one shot the guy. Plenty of time for that, if we have any volunteers.
(Brain Army and Ryan Noel, contemplating who is tougher, Westmoreland or MacArthur)
The Horror, the latest CD from the trio, then duo known as Army of Ghosts, is finally available (PAR 004). £11 direct from Parallelism (cheques payable to G. Cosloy), or you can find this classic in any number of clued-in record shops. In North America, distribution is being handled by North Country Music, Revolver and Matador, while in the UK, Cargo and Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers are on top of the situation. When we return from the exciting Borbetomagus 20th Anniversary show (I could've swore it was 18 or 19), more Army of Ghosts stuff will be up on this site, including a review in the latest issue of the Wire that cost us at least $160.00 (we haven't received the invoice yet).
If you're looking for the Army of Ghosts CD and are scared to send us money in the mail (?), there are a number of outlets that have the album available for purchase online, including http://www.midheaven.com and http://www.roughtrade.com. Just type "Army Of Ghosts" into the appropriate search engine. On foot, you can find The Horror at Other Music (NYC), Downtown Music Gallery (NYC), Rough Trade (Covent Garden and Talbot Road, London) among other locations. If you want to procure this classic at the cheapest possible price, be advised that Mondo Kim's on St. Marks Place (NYC) has it for $7.99, about $5 less than anyone else is selling it for. Kim's can offer these massive discounts because Brain Army sold his personal copies, and yes, we'll be sending him a bill.
The new Air Traffic Controllers CD, Existence Period, is coming in October. Since the artwork for this monumental release is a closely guarded secret, you'll have to satisfy yourself with a photograph of former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Coop. Actually, I think it was the Coop's successor who got into trouble for advocating self-satisfaction, but we couldn't find a photograph of her. At least not a good one. A new lineup of ATC played in London for the first time recently, bringing love and happinesss to the patron's of this year's Terrastock festival. The guitar player, whathisname, was joined by drummer Jon Steele (State River Widening) and the results can be heard (Real Audio style) at http://www.rnsd.com/terrastock.html, along with a number of other performances from Terrastock.
The Hollywood Blondes debut 12" has been delayed while we search for a pressing plant who aren't a complete bunch of fucking assholes.
Upcoming events of note :
London :
John Fahey, Royal Albert Hall, October 2
Fridge, Purcell Room, October 4
Fourth Quartet, Upstairs At The Garage, October 6
Di Lacuna / Sigur Ross, Sausage Machine at Po Na Na, October 19
Wire, Royal Albert Hall, October 20
Caspar Brotzmann / Rhys Chatham Quartet / Supersilent, Embassy Rooms, November 16
Mouse On Mars / FX Randomiz / Vert, Embassy Rooms, November 17
New York :
Roads To Space Travel, Brownies, October 3
Tom Verlaine : Music For Film, October 15, St. Ann's Church
Faust, Knitting Factory, October 18
some of the following can be found on the Parallelism stereo. If they aren't removed soon, they might melt :
Joel RL Phelps & The Downer Trio - Blackbird (Pacifico)
Geto Boys - "Read These Nikes" (Def American)
Jega / Capitol K split 7" (Planet Mu)
Dettinger - Intershop (Kompact)
Gerard Cosloy, 30/9/99
news 29/7/99
Come summer time, the birds are singing, the bugs are biting and Parallelism goes into a very deep slumber. Possibly clinical depression, or maybe its a virus of some sort. Perhaps it was one of those bugs, the one with the sharp teeth. Whatever the case, "business is about to pick up" as Jim Ross would say. The most delayed album in recent memory, Army Of Ghosts' The Horror (PAR 004) will be available by mail or in snazzy shops at the end of August. We apologize for all the confusion, but since at least half of it was the band's fault, maybe you can go yell at them too, just to be fair. Brain, Matt and Ryan were recently immortalized in a Music article about the fledgling "Null Wave" scene (kinda like a No Wave nostalgia thing, 'cept everyone is much better looking, especially the women) and many offhand remarks were made about their clothing and musical roots (to the point where Army of Ghosts weren't even mentioned amidst the 2 or 3 dozen other bands these guys play in). Which would be fine with us, if the magazine was called Haircuts. Anyhow, the Ghosts with the most are still playing around town, sometimes as ARE Weapons, other times under guises that spell surprises. If anyone would tell us about the dates before they happened, we'd post 'em!The almost-as-organized Air Traffic Controllers are about to resume activities, but with a different look and sound. Gerard and Claire will no longer be playing together, political differences being cited (Claire is a staunch socialist, Gerard favors a monarchy), but will each continue to confound & amaze while going their seperate ways. In addition to playing with Chris Lauterbach and travelling around Eastern Europe (fact-finding mission), Claire has alligned herself with the Transformers art collective (http://www.transformers.to) Meanwhile, in the rich tradition of Creedence Clearwater Revisited (minus Elliot Easton), GC will be retaining the band name and all of the lucrative merchandising rights (we never sold many CD's, but the embrodered denim jackets were a big hit). Step one in this posthumous commercial gambit is the late September release of the Air Traffic Controllers Existence Period CD (PAR 005), culled from late '98/early '99 live performances and radio broadcasts, and featuring guest appearances by saxophonists Chris Lauterbach and Ryan Noel.
If that weren't thrilling enough for you, the debut of an all-new Air Traffic Controllers (kind of like ELO II without the spaceship) is scheduled for Terrastock 3 (http://www.terrascope.org/t3.html), , taking place at London's ULU, August 27 through 29. We cannot tell you which day we're playing, but rest assured with a lineup including Broken Dog, Bevis Frond, Bardo Pond, Hood, Sundial, Tom Rapp, Azusa Plane, Spaceheads, Silver Apples and countless others, there should be something for everyone (especially if you're stoned). Ticket information is available at the url listed above, and at £45.00 this is either the most affordable 3 day fest you've ever attended, or the most expensive Supreme Dicks gig of all time. Either way, you can't lose.
Not much other news until September....there's a new Jackie-O Motherfucker album coming on Ecstatic Peace, and if Tom and I can actually get on the phone one of these days, the Jackie-O/Army Of Ghosts Tuesday Night Series CD might make it out before year's end.
listening listings:
Pluxus - Fas 2 (Slowball)
Various - The West Coast Electro Sound of Holland (Bunker 3000)
Alan SIlva / William Parker - Hero's Welcome (Eremite)
Kaffe Matthews - CD Cecile (Annetteworks)
Mice Parade - upcoming album (Fat Cat)
Gunter Muller / Jim O'Rourke - Weighting (For 4 Ears)
Esther Brinkman - 20' to 2000 (raster/noton.archiv)New York events of note:
Aug. 1 - Kenta Nagai - Downtown Music Gallery (free)
Aug. 1 - The Frogs, Knitting Factory
Aug. 5 - Dylan Group, Knitting Factory
Aug. 6 - Susie Ibarra Trio, Tonic
Aug. 14 - Colin Newman, Knitting Factory
Aug. 14 - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, Tonic, 1:30pm
Aug. 28 - Gold Sparkle Band, AlterKnit Theatre every friday in August, Roy Campbell at the AlterknitLondon events of note:
Aug. 12 - Add N To (X), Scala
Aug. 14 - Echoboy, Upstairs At The Garage
Aug. 18 - Spectrum, The Garage
Aug. 26 - Worm Interface night at SPRAWL, Global Cafe (0181-568-3145
Aug. 27-29, Terrastock 3, ULU, Malet St. (Goodge St. tube)Derek Bailey and John Fahey are doing a September-October UK tour culminating in a London show at Queen Elizabeth Hall on October 2. For more information, go to http://www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/ps/efi/ehome.html
Until next month...I'm really tired.
GCupdated & upfront 28/5/99
a happy hello to everyone and sincere apologies for all the delays that have kept this update from your hungry eyes. Like the rest of the Western World, I've been consumed, obsessed, agog etc. with anxious anticipation , planning & waiting for the cinematic event of the decade, if not the millennium. I'm pleased to announce that you can BELIEVE the hype, the wait has been more than worth it.I'm of course talking about Michael Winner's "Parting Shots". I know what you're saying, how could this film possibly live up to the promise of any of the 3 "Death Wish" movies? Isn't this film just a flimsy excuse to launch another merchandising tsunami? What about all the sad, lonely losers who attend all of those "Death Wish" fan conventions in full costume, shouldn't they all be shot?
I'll leave the answers to all of the jaded critics who never really understood the majesty and mystery of the "Death Wish" trilogy in the first place. I don't want to give away the plot twists of "Parting Shots", or the incredible surprise ending, suffice to say that Michael Winner will remind you just why you love going to the movies (and watching people get shot) all over again.
Though I was occupied by camping out overnight to purchase tickets to the opening of "Parting Shots", I did manage to come up with some music-related info for this edition of the update.
The oft-promised "where the fuck is it?" album of the year (if not the millennium), The Horror by Army Of Ghosts, is finally in production and should actually exist by the time of the next update. CD's are available for $11 (North American mail orders) or £10 (UK and Europe, see mail order section) with preorders being taken now. Things have been a bit quiet in the Army Of Ghosts camp, with Ryan being out of New York for a spell, but activity should pick up again very soon. You can hear a selection from this amazing album by heading over to our MP3 page.
The above link is also the place to go to hear a preview of the upcoming Air Traffic Controllers CD, Existence Period, a concept album characterized by our press officer, Sgt. Mulrooney as "a peak inside the mind of an estate agent" (I'm pretty sure the Sarge is working on borrowed time and you might see a change in label staff by the next update). A contest was held to pick the title of this fourth album with help from our close friends at Hellenic Metal Hammer. None of the entries were deemed suitable, but some of the notable rejects included the following :
IV
If It Ain't Dokken, Why Fix It
Assistant To The Assistant To The AssistantObviously, that's the last time we do any sort of co-promotion with Hellenic Metal Hammer.
The new album was recorded late '98/early '99 in a bunch of Ludlow St. basements and overground locations, as well as featuring live performances from the Cooler, Pink Pony, Downtown Music Gallery and a WFMU live broadcast. Chris Lauterbach and Ryan Noel make guest appearences.
Other Parallelism releases are in the works, including a compilation album culled from the Jackie-O Motherfucker/Army Of Ghosts Tuesday Night series at Pink Pony (featuring Jackie-O, Ghosts, Hall Of Fame, Tower Recordings and many others), and the mentioned-so-often-you're-sick-to-fucking-death, Hollywood Blondes debut.
Not much to tell you about in the way of live ATC stuff....we played back on May 1st at Double Pleasure (NYC) next to the beautiful Port Authority. First time I've ever performed in that neighborhood....with my trousers on, at least. Sort of a mixed bag, Claire and I not having played together in so long. I think we lost part of the crowd with our version of Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good To Me", or maybe it was the fact we were only wearing silver duct tape. Or maybe that was another group, so hard to remember all the details! The dj's promised for that evening turned out to be a CD player...and I bet that CD player could make $500.00 a night with the right agent. Either way, thanks to everyone who turned up, talked loudly and stared at the floor. There is no audience like a New York City audience!
That will probably be it for the live stuff for a while, not 'til late summer at least. But look for some London action with a swerve or 2 along the way. It was pointed out to us that Assistant To The Assistant received a favorable review in the latest issue of Popwatch, a respected rock tome from Somerville, MA. There are so many great things to do in Somerville. Like, visit Medford. Anyway, without sounding like a fucking ingrate, what good are these reviews to us? I mean, can we actually pay the rent with them? Can good press be traded in for a blow job, or at the very least, a Solero (note to U.S. readers, substitute "Solero" for "Chipwhich")? I seriousy doubt it, but Sgt. Mulrooney seems to think he's worth his $3000.00 per project retainer, and I'd like to know for sure. Starting this month, I'm going to be conducting a experiment ; trying to use Air Traffic Controllers press clippings in lieu of genuine currency. This experiment cannot work properly if I have actually money in my pocket, so I will be spending one week wandering around Central London, armed with nothing other than ATC reviews and a letter of reference (forged) from Tom Smith. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a very bad feeling about this, but I'll do anything for science.
Finally, news has reached our mailbox that the Knitting Factory will be opening a new performance space in Southern California. Now you can be taken for granted on both coasts. When is Gazzari's reopening? I'm also trying not to be too grief stricken that I wasn't around NYC for the opening of Manitoba's. Everyone tells me it's exactly like that place "Shooter's" on "Melrose Place", only the clientele is much older and the music is slower. Right up my alley.
'til next time, ring the bell ten times (and keep your feathers out of the harness)
Gerard Cosloy,
the current listening pile :
Doctor Rockit - 10"
Kaffe Matthews - CD Anne (Annetteworks)
The Cranium - New Music For A New Kitchen (Slowdime)
Replikants - Slickaphonics (Kill Rock Stars, upcoming album)
Sonovac - EP (Output)
Goem - Dertig CM (Mego 12")
John Butcher / Phil Durrant - Secret Measures (Wobbly Rail)
D'Arcangelo - Shipwreck (Rephlex)
Couch - Fantasy (Kitty-Yo)
While -12" (Musik Aus Strom)
Grain - Untitled (Fat Cat 12")upcoming London events of note:
Eddie Prevost / Viv Dogan Corringham / Michael Ormiston + Phil Wachsmann / Matt Hutchinson, Chateris Community Centre, N4, 7:30, £4
Chris & Cosey / Oval / Labradford, Union Chapel, N1, May 30, 8pm, £10
Tobias Delius Quartet / Disinformation/ Mondo Chadbourne 2000, Monday, May 31, Festival of Experimental Music at Purcell Room SE1, 7pm, £12, 0171-960-4242
Add N To (X), Scala N1, June 2, 7pm, £7.50
John Butcher / Phil Durrant / John Russell & Vernon Weston / John Edwards / Mark Sanders, Vortex, London, June 10, 8pm, 0181-740-1349
European Audio Relevance - turntablism, digital processing and live electronics from Nomex. St. Giles Crypt, London, June 23, 8pm. http://wwwc8/adverse
Rephlex All Stars - Aphex Twin dj set, DMX Krew, Cylob, Bogdan Racynski and more. Scala Theatre, London, June 11.
Rothko / Jon Tye, Lift Club, Brighton, June 16, 0123-779411
Times 4 (Veryan Weston, Eddie Prevost, John Edwards and Tom Chant, Union Chapel, London, June 12
New York, New York, the place so nice they spell in with seven letters :
K.K. Null, The Cooler, Monday, June 7 (free admission)
David S. Ware Quartet, Knitting Factory main space, June 10
William Hooker/ Lee Ranaldo, Knitting Factory main space, June 11
Tim Berne's No(h) Bag, Knitting Factory Old Office, June 13
The Cranium, The Cooler, Monday,June 14 (free admission)
also, Michael Schenker is at Tramps on June 2, but you already have tickets for that.
news chewed 27/3/99As mentioned last time, Parallelism has relocated to London. We've got amazing new corporate offices in West London, and the only drawback is that we're right next door to X-Ray Records. Some pretty suspicious characters running that place --- all kinds of tough looking guys w/out necks coming and going at all hours, the occassional gunshot, that kind of thing. But they make a mean cup of espresso, so it could be worse.
The new mailing address is PO Box 20132, London,W10 6ZA UK. If you have sent anything to the old New York address (mail order or otherwise), don't worry, everything is being picked up and forwarded. Mail orders are still being taken through the U.S. address, so you have a choice of currencies, a choice of addresses and twice as many reasons to give us your money.
I've been asked how I'm adjusting to life in England, what's it like, are you having difficulty with the language, etc. The following are the best things about England so far :
1) they spell pedophile ,"paedophile"
2) they spell hemorrhage, "haemorrhage"
3) the Exploited are auditioning new guitar players (I saw the ad in Kerrang)
4) extensive darts coverage
5) very cool how they have John Peel doing all the "wear your seatbelt and get a receipt" recordings in the taxis, who thought of that one?
6) practically impossible to find any Bobby Bonilla updates on TV or radio
7) General Pinochet likes it.
8) if you pretend you're Canadian, you can drink for free
9) we met the guy from Bush's cleaning woman
10) The Exploited aren't English.There are many other great things about England, but I've only been here a few weeks and haven't found time to write all of them down. It's not like New York is that awesome --- they still haven't shut down the Cooler.
Speaking of which, I've already written about this venue's inconsistent payment policies at their Monday Night Series. While the Monday night shows feature free admission, said events do generate a far amount of bar business (and the drinks ain't cheap). Booking for these shows are often organized by the musicians themselves, and save for the occasional one-line ad in New York Press, any publicity efforts become the responsibility of the musicians as well. None of this is necessarily a bad thing, but there are inconsistencies. At a recent evening including performances by Dean Roberts, Arthur Doyle, the Tower Recordings and Jackie-O Motherfucker, everyone received a nominal sum....everyone that is, except Jackie-O. We don't know what formula was used to determine that everyone else on the bill deserved compensation of some sort (perhaps Tom Greenwood forgot to wear his "I'm An Ecstatic Peace Recording Artist" badge), but this is something for everyone to consider --- audiences and musicians. For the price of 2 drinks at the Cooler you can buy half a new record, or finance a taxi ride around the block.
In other Parallelism news, the upcoming Army of Ghosts album is now entitled The Horror (PAR 004, CD). We're expecting this album to be available by the end of May, and you can pre-order copies directly for £10 (UK and EU orders) or $11 (US)., checks payable to G. Cosloy. Photos and sound clips will be up on this site shortly. Throughout March and April, Army Of Ghosts, Jackie-O Motherfucker, members of the Tower Recordings, Hall Of Fame and others will be taking part in a series of free Tuesday night performances at the Pink Pony (176 Ludlow St., NYC). These performances, which feature more than a few special guests and surprise collaborations, are being recorded for future CD release on Parallelism.
In addition, there is a new Air Traffic Controllers CD, as yet untitled, being prepared for late spring release. This album will include some of early '99's live recordings, collaborations with other musicians and possibly some revisions/treatments of existing (though unreleased) recordings. While ATC activity might seem slow-to-invisible right now, there will be some performances in New York and London this June, possibly with additional players.
We'd like to tell you more about the upcoming Hollywood Blondes album, but we'd have to kill you.
At long last, MP3 files of each track from all 3 of the Air Traffic Controllers CD's are available. Feel free to download them, pass them around and contribute to the demise of our particular corner of the music industry. Anything is better than being filed in the "misc. A" section of the indie rock bin (except of course, being filed in the "misc A" section of the Used Bin, where a couple of our promos have ended up, thank you. We're more than willing to continue servicing journalists and radio programmers....as soon as they send us the money they made peddling our CD's.
The following are some upcoming performances you might be interested in :
London and UK :
Shock Exchange Trio (w/ Charles Hayward, Caroline Kraabel, John Edwards), Upstairs At The Garage, London, March 31Evan Parker Quartet, The Vortex, London, April 2 & April 21
Faust, To Rococo Rot, Console, Thomas Brinkman, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, April 9
Cha Cha Cohen / Pram, The Garage, London, April 16
Borbetomagus - 13th Note, Glasgow, April 18, Adelphi, Leeds, April 19,
Spitz, London, April 21 (London info, 0171-392-9032)
John Butcher, April 21 Workshop, Leeds, April 22, Solo and workshop, Leeds, April 24, Solo, Sheffield, May 16, duo with John Edwards , Mopomoso, London
Add N To (X) / Appliance, The Garage, London, April 23
Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Improv Theatre, London, April 27
Fridge, To Rocco Rot, The Water Rats, London, May 2
New York :
Jim O'Rourke, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Ikue Mori, DJ Olive, Prick Decay, Lee Ranaldo, Leah Singer, Tom Surgal and more, Bowery Ballroom, April 1
Test, Wharton Tiers Ensemble, The Cooler, April 12 (free)
Rob Brown / Daniel Carter, Alterknit, April 18
Charles Gayle, Knitting Factory Main Space, April 19
Tim Berne, Old Office (Knitting Factory), April 22-24
Lee Ranaldo, Christian Marclay, William Hooker, Knitting Factory Main Space, April 24
Bardo Pond, Acid Mothers Temple, The Cooler, April 26 (free)
Roy Campbell Pyramid Trio, Alterknit Theatre, April 27
London, Ontario, Canada:
No Music Festival, April 9 and 10, Aeolian Hall, with Ken Vandermark/Fred Van Hove, Solmania, Borbetomagus, Alan Licht/Michael Snow, Jim O'Rourke/Jason Bellchamber, Nihilist Spasm Band. For more information, http://www3.sympatico.ca/pratten/nsb/
the following are recomended new recordings:
V/A - District Six Presents Buckingham Palace (District Six double LP)
Monolake - Interstate (Monolake CD)
Chicks On Speed / DMX Krew - Smash Metal (Go Records double 7")
AMM / Merzbow - "For Ute" b/w "Tower Of Ghost" (Fat Cat 12")
Jeb Bishop (w/Ken Vandermark, Wadada Leo Smith, Mats Gustafsson, Hamid Drake) - 98 Duets (Wobbly Rail CD)
Child's View - Funfair (Bubblecore CD)
the following are recomended hairstyles to imitate:
Jerry Briscoe Gerry Francis Steven Van Zant (post-rock, his new "Sopranos" look sans bandana)
Finally, speaking as head of Parallelism A&R, after looking at the Slim Shady phenomenom, I can't help but think, if I could just find a white guy who sounded and looked like that....maybe we'd have someone around here who'd do some yard work.
shut your mouth/know your role,
Gerard Cosloy March 27 '99
Newsed and used [31/1/99]
Just a quick note to reassure all the desperate individuals lined up in front of our offices that the ARMY OF GHOSTS debut CD has finally been completed. The album is called 'The War Was Over Before It Started' (PAR 004) and it will be available for your consumption on May 3. More details to follow, so watch this space.
The other bit of news that might thrill you is that Parallelism is moving operations to London at the end of February. There are many reasons for this, most of them too personal to discuss in this forum. But when we learned that Nick Cain was moving there as well, the chance to copy his every move was too great to resist. Mailing/shipping addresses will be updated very soon, but anything you send to the NYC address (341 Lafayette St., #4155, NY NY 10012) will be received and processed, so stop crying.
Other than that, there's not much to report. The last update featured an invitation to anyone who'd like to make $32.50 the hard way. No, not that way (I'm a married man). Several persons have written that they would relish the opportunity to deliver a serious BEAT DOWN to music journalist Gil Gershman, but they are having difficulty locating him. Local and state laws prevent us from directly telling you where to find him, but if you check out the message board, you'll find a suggestion or 2. Don't do anything I wouldn't do (unless you're being paid)
Gerard Cosloy
News to chew through, 22/1/99
Another reminder that the Air Traffic Controllers will be playing live on WFMU's Stork Club program this Sunday evening at 7pm (eastern). WFMU is located at 91.1 FM, or via http://www.wfmu.org (real audio hookup). With this being the off-week in-between the Super Bowl and the Conference Championships, we're sure that you'll be desperate for entertainment of some sort (I know we will). We always plan these events perfectly ---- we noticed carefully how "Spice World" got off to a rough start when it opened on Super Bowl weekend last year, and made a solemn pledge not to let the same thing happen to us (i.e.. end up on screen with Richard E. Grant).
The last 2 ATC performances were a bit of a departure, as we were joined on January 10 (Baby Jupiter) by saxophonist Chris Lauterbach. For the Downtown Music Gallery performance on the 17th, Chris played with us again, this time accompanied by saxophonist Ryan Noel (Army of Ghosts). No one was more surprised than us, 'cause about midway through the first selection we noticed we had 2 guys playing sax instead of one. It worked out quite well (though if anyone is thinking of pulling a stunt like this again, we'll kill you) and the latter set was recorded, possibly for inclusion on one of the upcoming Air Traffic Controllers CD's.
"What time is Dino Bravo going on?"
In more Parallelism news, the Army of Ghosts album is staggering ever closer to completion. The CD should be available in the U.S. and U.K. by mid-May or whenever the new Stanley Kubrick movie gets finished (whichever comes first). The debut release from new Parallelism artists the HOLLYWOOD BLONDES will follow in early summer, or whenever Bobby Valentine gets fired (whichever comes first).
More reviews for the _Assistant To The Assistant_ CD continue to come in. Not exactly a flood, more like a slow, annoying drip.
(Strider News, issue #7)
(Magnet, issue #38)
Once upon a time, I would've read a review like Mr. Gershman's and reacted with anger and spite. Not anymore....now, I'm a more mature, centered person. I respect his right to have opinions that differ to my own, I shall channel this constructive criticism to a positive end. In other words, I'm putting a bounty on Gil Gershman. I want this guy TAKEN OUT of the music criticism game for GOOD. $32.50 (U.S.) is the prize for whatever individual succeeds in taking care of this mental midget. I don't care how you do it, break his hands, run over his word processor, etc., I don't need to know the gory details but I do want RESULTS and I'm willing to pay for 'em.
It has been suggested that the results of Parallelism's Year-End Poll reflected a "boy's club" mentality. Is it my fault that only one woman responded to the poll? Is it my fault that only one woman was asked to take part? Is it my fault that I hate women and consider their views on music irrelevant? Am I to be blamed for guzzling creatine & shooting pure andro in my ankles when I'm supposed to be conducting R&D work at Pfizer? What the fuck! Talk about scapegoating! Let's blame the real villains --- all the men who were too busy listening to women to hand in their polls on time.
Recommended Upcoming Live Events:
Rubber-O-Cement (Caroliner off-shoot)
Nautical Almanac (Hanson Records)
The Beast People (Hanson Records)
Wolf Eyes Maximum Cloud @ The Ridge (corner of Ridge & Stanton, lower east side nyc), Saturday, January 23
Arthur Doyle, Alterknit Theatre, 74 Leonard St., NYC, Sunday, January 24, 9pm Skull Session featuring Scott Getchell (trumpet) and Timo Shanko (tenor sax)-Mat Maneri Quintet feat. Tom Halter (trumpet) and Joe Maneri (keyboards), Sunday, January 24, Green St. Grill, Cambridge, MATEMPLE RECORDS NYC PRESENTS TECHNO PIMP,WITH ROTATING DJS SLAPIN¹ THE VINYL AROUND LIKE A WORTHLESS HO: DJ DIRTY,KHAN,REBECCA SWIFT,PLEXUS,DJ SILVER,MALIK.DJ SNAX,K-TEL& GUESTS TUESDAYS @ NEVER, NYC 10 PM - 4 AM
DAVID S. WARE Quartet's first performance of 1999 will be at The Knitting Factory, Thursday January 28, 8 + 10pm $10 advance / $12 door
Organic Trio & Steve Dalachinsky, January 29 Brecht Forum's Neues Karbartett, 122 W. 27th, 10th Fl., 8pm, $8, 212-242-4201
Test (Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Tom Bruno), Saturday, January 30, Brecht Forum's Neues Karbartett, 122 W. 27th St., 10th Fl., 8pm, $8
ALAN LICHT & DARIN GRAY with TOWN & COUNTRY, Saturday, January 30, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
OTHER DIMENSIONS IN MUSIC, @ Tramps, 21st St. between 5th & 6th, NYC, Friday, January 29 (with Yo La Tengo) @ tonic 107 norfolk st (btwn delancey + rivington) 212 358 7503 wednesday february 3 9 + 10:30 $10
Tim Berne/Hank Roberts Duo, Monday, February 1, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., NYC, 8pm
The Chicago Improvisers Series Presents THE VANDERMARK FIVE, Tuesday, February 2, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL ($3, 10pm)
Eugene Chadbourne, February 5-7, The Old Office, 74 Leonard St., NYC, 8 & 9:30 each night
Marc Edwards Quartet, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., NYC 8pm
Pharoah Sanders & Alankar,Sunday, February 7, 8pm, Alice Tully Hall/Lincoln Center, Broadway at 65th St., $35, $25
William Hooker/Sabir Mateen, Alterknit Theatre, Friday February 12 Tim Berne's No (H) Bag w/ Michael Formanek, Knitting Factory, Monday, February 15
The Ex, Knitting Factory, Thursday, February 18
Arthur Doyle, Dean Roberts, The Tower Recordings, Jackie-O Motherfucker, free admission, Monday, February 15, The Cooler, NYC)
Raymond Pettibon Only East Coast venue for the first museum survey of the artist's drawings from the late 1970s to the present February 20-April 10, 1999 The Drawing Center 35 Wooster Street, New York, NY 10013
Sonic Youth / David S. Ware Quartet, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, February 27
David Grubbs, Saturday, February 27, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
recommended listening:
Susie Ibarra / Assif Tsahar - Home Cookin' (Hopscotch)
Richard Youngs - Sapphie (Oblique)
Black Flag - The Complete 1982 Demos (Manson)
Cha Cha Cohen - s/t (Chemikal Underground)
Revolutionary Corpse of Teenage Jesus - upcoming album (best Alan Vega performance in about a million years) (Creeping Bent)to be removed from this mailing list, add me to a mailing list.
Gerard Cosloy
[6/1/99]
Happy new year and good luck with this YEAR 2000 bug I keep reading about. Assuming they figure out how to fix all the computers, life-support systems and ice-hockey scoreboards, what is going to be done about all the leftover stationary? I've got TONS of calendars, checkbooks, notepads, etc., that all begin with "19--" and they'll be obsolete quite soon. Hopefully our close friend Senator-Elect Charles Schumer will appoint a commission to study the effects of this dilemma and search for a solution....not that I'm calling in a favor or anything.
I wish I could tell you that we finally figured out many new features for this site, like free samples, animations of Claire Pannell hitting her roommate, etc., but I must plead guilty to terminal laziness. I keep replaying that Everclear "Rudoplh The Red-Nosed Reindeer" Gap commercial over and over again, and before you know it, it's 3am. I suppose I just dig that whole holiday spirit thing way too much.
In brief, here's the Parallelism related news. There are 2 Air Traffic Controllers shows coming in January, both of 'em in New York. On Sunday the 10th, we'll be at the horrible BABY JUPITER nightclub, along with our friends Anticlockwise and the M.V. Holoscanner Exhibition. Not sure what the venue will be charging at the door, but you are encouraged to sneak in and/or claim you already paid as it is unlikely any of the artists will see much of what came in. ATC will be playing 3rd on the bill, and if everything is going according to plan, the New York Jets will have been eliminated from playoff contention MANY hours before we take the stage and our close personal friend Keyshawn Johnson will manage to show up for once (you pay for a guy's college tuition and lend him a car and post bail I can't remember how many times and all of a sudden he's too good to hang out).
On Sunday the 17th of January, there will be a free Air Traffic Controllers performance at the Downtown Music Gallery (5th St. between 2nd and Bowery) taking place at around 7pm. DMG has a new website at http://www.DTMGallery.com/, and we encourage you to check out their vast selection.
A live Air Traffic Controllers broadcast on WFMU will take place on Sunday, January 24 from 7-9pm. If you live too far outside of NYC/Jersey City, you can listen to a Real Audio simulcast at http://www.wfmu.org.
The long-awaited Army of Ghosts album has been pushed back to April, but that's only because quality-takes-time, might equals right, we spill no wine on an issue of "Time", etc.
You might have read in the trade press that new Parallelism signing the HOLLYWOOD BLONDES recently took the bold of step of putting downloadable MP3 files up on their website. In accordance with the stance of the RIAA and our friends in the "Big Six" (or is it Big Five?), we have asked the group to remove these files until we come up with an encoded method that will protect our ability to sell the same crap over and over again. The joke was on us this time, as the MP3 files in question turned out to be selections from the upcoming Billy Idol album.
Many thanks to the talented and hardworking staff at X-Ray Vision for all their efforts in designing and maintaining this site throughout the year. I would thank them all personally, but I cannot remember their names. But if you are in need of web design/hosting, you are urged to click on http://www.xrayvision.net. I could not recommend their services more highly if I was sleeping with the owner.
We've invited some of our friends from around the world to submit their lists of favorite records, events, people, etc. from 1998. Many of the people we asked to contribute were either too busy, modest or incoherent to bother replying. Heartfelt thanks to the musicians, writers, dj's and members of the U.S. Armed Forces that took the time to respond.
best wishes,
Gerard Cosloy, January 4, 1999
Matt Harmon / Amish records
1. METABOLISMUS Terra Incognita (Blackjack)
2. ICE Bad Blood (In Bloom/ Reprise)
3. TOWER RECORDINGS Furniture Music for Evening Shuttles (Siltbreeze)
4. SIMON JOYNER Yesterday, Tomorrow and In Between (Sing Eunuchs!)
5. CAT POWER Moon Pix (Matador)
6. CALIFONE s/t (Flydaddy)
7. JURASSIC 5 ep (Rumble/ Pickininny)
8. SIX FINGER SATELLITE Law of Ruins (Subpop)
9. STARS OF THE LID/ JON MCCAFFERTY Per Astra Ad Aspera (Kranky)
10. NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL In an Aeroplane Over the Sea (Merge)
11. HAPPINESS by Todd Solondz
Russell "Rusty" Gragg, Music Director CJSW-FM, Calgary, AB, CANADA
A cursory scan through the crates of CDs piles round my desk reveals no fewer than 47 releases worthy of a Top Ten position. 'Twas a pretty damned solid year for jazz, with a coupla Brooklyn-based labels (Screwgun, AUM Fidelity) showing the big boys how to do things. The ten-in-one genre referred to somewhat derisively as World Music made some positive strides as well, now that the Peter Gabriels of the world are learning to keep their sticky fingers out of the production. Even the whole post-punk/indie rock thing is picking up steam now that some of these bands are listening to more Henry Cow and less Lou Barlow. And Canadian music is starting to feel like a breath of fresh air as artists are looking less to the happenings south of the border (viva the 63-cent dollar!) and more toward their own style.
Here then, are ten of the top 47 of 1998:
1. Godspeed You Black Emperor!/f#a#/Kranky
Ennio Morricone composes a postmodern soundtrack for a spaghetti western set in the graying backstreets of Montreal.
2. Gastr Del Sol/Camofleur/Drag City
The fifth and final outing for Jim ORourke and David Grubbs as a self-contained unit. All over both this map and the next one. Prepared guitar and Trinidadian steel drums meshed into pop songs.
3. Plastikman/Consumed/Mute
Windsor's Ritchie Hawtin revolutionized techno in the late-eighties/early-nineties (back when electronica meant Kraftwerk or Devo). He bumps and jostles his way back to the forefront with this gorgeously sparse, bleepy release. This could've been subtitled "Music For Spaceports."
4. Other Dimensions In Music/Now!/AUM Fidelity
When will people realize that William Parker is easily the best bassist of the decade? This is but one of at least six releases that he's appeared on this year, and features the sublime trumpet playing of Roy Campbell Jr.
5. Beans/Portage/Zulu
Vancouver-based group takes the meaning of power trio to a new height with their inclusion of horns, analog electronics, accordion and probly a musical saw.
6. Lotion/The Telephone Album/Spin Art
Most pop bands can either write great lyrics or great hooks and melodies. Lotion does it all. Do you mind that they do it while shamelessly ripping off The Who and Peter Frampton? I don't.
7. Pan American/Pan American/Kranky
Solo dub project from the main Labradford fella. Simultaneously dark and wistful, with the lowest low end frequency I've heard in a while.
8. Village Of Savoonga/Score/Communion
Off-kilter German duo, somewhere comfortably between minimalist and maximalist. Welcome to the Krautrock of the nineties.
9. Ratchet Orchestra/Ratchet Orchestra/Musique Corporelle
Gorgeous free jazz-meets-art damaged rock. Mmmm...shimmery!
10. Sackville/These Last Songs/Mag Wheel
Montreal's entry into the alt.country sweepstakes. Features an urban grit not found in many of this subgenre's purveyors. If a roots-rock band had formed out of the New York Lower East Sides loft scene, it might come across like this.The other 37 (space permitting):
Marc Ribot/Y Los Cubanos Positizos/Atlantic; Slow Fresh Oil/White Trash On Black Lacquer/Green Pepper Spatula/Despina By Land/Squealer; Black Heart Procession/1/Headhunter; Ui/Lifelike/Southern; Sabah Habas Mustapha/Jalan Kopo/Omnium; Tower Recordings/Furniture MusicFor Evening Shuttles/Siltbreeze; Dave Fischoff/Winston Park EP/Secretly Canadian; Roy Montgomery/And Now The Rain Sounds Like.../Drunken Fish; Tim/German Engineering/Vital Cog; Michael Formanek/Am I Bothering You?/Screwgun; Curlew/Fabulous Drop/Cuneiform;(EDITOR'S NOTE: sorry Rusty, but I fell asleep typing the rest of these and can't remember why I thought giving everyone unlimited space was a good idea. If anyone wants to know the other 25 record Mr. Gragg recommended, let me know and I'll e-mail you the list - GC)
Don't think I saw any movies this year. Don't think I met anybody this year. Don't think I wanna talk about Lewinsky.
Tim Midgett
a few things i was hipped to, 1998:
film: _don't look now_ (nic roeg, and i hated _man who fell to earth_) and the movies of atom egoyan
recs: the last gasps of bedhead and jessamine (r.i.p.)
book: _pale fire_ (vlad nabokov)
Jordan Mamone
In no real order:
1. Bobby Conn: Rise Up! (Truckstop-Atavistic)
Either the scam of the decade or one of the best-ever examples of recycled-pop- idioms-as-information-overload. The smart money says that this 5' prophet of the apocalypse isn't the headcase you want him to be, but his second record is nothing short of a jaundiced masterpiece, what w/arrangements that might please both Dennis DeYoung and James Chance (before the latter's walking-dead resurgence), and a mental outlook somewhere between D. Koresh, Iggy and Jim Jones. And not the one who was in Tripod Jimmy, either. Chicago natives with degrees in music have tried to call this "now wave." Please. The live show was a little campy, but Conn's buttery vocal histrionics, craftily-written songs and stylin' ways w/a faux-SG more than overshadowed the corny, drama-major theatrics. God knows what the fuck Bobby'll do when the millennium actually ends.
2. High Rise: II and Dispersion reissues (Squealer Revisited) and live
Say what you will about the stumbly hand-screened covers, but it's a goddamn treat to own domestic vinyl versions of the second and third records by this Japanese psychedelic power trio. Vinyl. Records. LPs. Fucking amazing.
3. Man Ray retrospective, Grand Palais, Paris, 5/98.
...with an honorable mention of Lee Miller and her neck.
4. Switzerland.
5. Pussy Galore: Live: In The Red (In The Red) and Right Now!, Dial "M"... and Sugarshit Sharp reissues (Matador)
The live rekkid is a fine eulogy for the band's most competent lineup, which never got a chance to make a proper LP. Groovy sound quality lets you hear Kurt Wolf's lucid metallic guitar screech run laps around Neil's even more impressive blues bumbling. Mr. Spencer is in form as well, all bitchy and pouty, referencing NWA and partying like it's 1989. Which it was. I think they smashed some equipment at the end of this.
6. Swans, final tour, 1/98, and Swans Are Dead (Young God-Atavistic).
One of the few bands ever that began and ended its "career" blowing minds. Though they spent about eight years simply blowing in between. Gira's certainly a goofball, but his devotion to intensity and musical evolution commands respect. As does his dictatorial hand with a rhythm section. It's a rarity to see your long-fallen heroes pull themselves up from suckdom.
7. Circle: Pori (Metamorphos), Kollekt (Bad Vugum) and split 7" w/DisCo (Zerga)
Why has this not caught on over here? Well, for starters, the only Finnish bands that non-Maximum Rock'N' Roll-reading Americans have ever heard of are Liimanarina--responsible for Drag City's worst-ever selling title--and those opportunistic retards the Leningrad Cowboys. And nobody can pronounce the word "Jyvyskyla." Kollekt amasses Circle's early singles and whatnot from 1991-94. It puts 99% of all math rock/noise rock/Albini rock to shame. Pori is the band's latest album, which drones with an equally hypnotic, if less aggressive relentlessness. Two drummers lay down the pro-forma polyrhythms, while alternately subtle and obnoxious guitars and electronics slowly mutate one or two riffs into infinity. Unlike the precise pounding of Kollekt, Pori gets a little dull, but it's beautiful stuff that would probably make Tortoise fans stick their heads in the oven. Expect a domestic release real soon.
8. Paska: live and on my couch 11/98
Mr. Shit took me out for Ethiopian food, spent 4 days drunk, and "wrote" three new "songs." He also performed the finest rendition of "Love Me Tender" I have ever heard. For three weeks in November, I was honored to play hostel-host to a true genius.
9. Ruins: Vrresto (Sonore-Magaibutsu) and Refusal Fossil (Skin Graft)
When you're this good, it doesn't matter that you've been making the same album since 1986.
10. Dirty Old Man River: The Saddest Movie Screen (Radial)
Julian "Hayley" Mills from Drunk Tank is back and ho, he thinks he's Tom Waits! Though most records with "prepared guitar" credits are pretentious pieces of crap, DOMR's second collection of dirges doled out the most radically customized sound of the year--thuggy, crawling rhythm section, cabaret-stylee piano, backgrounded noise guitar and creepy-guy vocals. Should have been called Music For Methadone Clinics.
11. The Rock*A*Teens: Baby, A Little Rain Must Fall (Merge), "Could've Just Died" 7" (Kill Rock Stars) and live
The only band I saw this year that inspired me enough to buy one of their t-shirts.
12. Peter Luger steakhouse, Williamsburg, Bkyln.
Why I'd never eaten here before, I do not know.
13. Various eateries throughout Italy, too numerous to mention.
14. Graduating from college. Finally.
15. Au Bascou, Paris, France.
Excellent food from the Basque region of southern France/northern Spain. Make sure to get the rabbit.
16. Pompeii.
17. Dynamic Truths: "You Take It All" 7" and demo cassettes
Bob Schick comes out of the woodwork with his best band since that other one he was in. DT's recall "indie rock" before it was a dirty word. You know, in the SST/Homestead sense of the phrase, and not like Neutral Milk Hotel or some faggy nonsense like that. Emotional vocals that won't embarrass you, thoughtful humanist lyrics, early '80s-style thump-thump rhythm section, barbed guitars, pop hooks...to paraphrase somebody stupid, "It's all good." 18. Mount Shasta: Watch Out (Skin Graft)
Chicago band grows up, big and strong, and finally learns to rock.
19. Dream House, NYC, Summer Solstace
I am forced to re-examine LaMonte Young's little experiment, thanks to 95-degree heat.
20. Restaurant Daniel, NYC
21. John Gavanti reissue (Atavistic)
The world's only no wave operetta. Once is more than enough.
Fred Maessen
beck - mutations
gitbox! - soulsharks
jurassic 5 - same
q-bert - all of 'm
cinérex - exit all areas, part 2
pernice brothers - overcome by happiness c
ut chemist meets shortcut - live at the futurprimitive soundsession
money mark - push the button
Brian Turner
Tied Tickled Trio (Bingo)
Special Moments/Songs of Whimsy EP (Kindly Cock) + Live on radio
The Notwist/Shrink (Zero Hour)
"When Pets Go Bad" - Fox Various/Ethiopiques Series (Buda France)
Prolapse/The Italian Flag (Jetset) and live at Brownies
Omit/Quad (Corpus Hermeticum)
Not falling asleep everywhere like I used to when I spent half my life commuting to East Orange
Various/Pat Waing-Drum Circle of Burma (Shanachie)
Being threatened by an eight-year-old with a mouth filthier than any Wu-Tang member on my machine at work for a reason too long to explain
EasSide Percussion/ESP (Avant)
reissues by Betty Davis, Creation, Alvaro, Peter Thomas, Taj Mahal Travellers, Johnnie Lewis Quartet, Don Cherry Genuine rock n roll singles by Clinic, Magro Kuso, Brainbombs.
The year in a nutshell: I was unnecessarily hassled by animals a lot. Roomates' savage cats, an obese, evil possum in Jersey City that charged at me whenever I left the house, various sea creatures while diving in the Keys, including nasty barracuda and a manta ray with some kind of problem. And I was attacked by that dog they keep on the floor at Other Music underneath the fixture (okay, I made that one up.) Perhaps I was being filmed secretly for a Fox special.
Tim Cook
Top Five Temp Jobs I "Did" in 1998
1. Wizards of the Coast, Inc., Production Assistant: Helped produce dozens of life-affirming role-playing games such as the Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules franchises. Loved the free cola (9 mos and change).
2. Evidence Discovery - Searched server files for deleted emails in an attempt to find incriminating evidence in a civil action between two defense contractors. Found some scary and hilarious stuff that copious non-disclosure agreements forbid me to repeat for about a year (1 month, seemed longer).
3. J&H Marsh & McLennan, Boring "intranet" database design: Wore a fucking tie for two excruciating months. Learned more about investment banking than I ever sought, which has nothing. Had to quit after they asked me start answering phones when the receptionist went to lunch. (2 months).
4. Large Outdoor (Camping) Gear Manufacturer, 4th Quarter Analyist: Great job, I do it every year. Work at home in my undies for two weeks listening to Give 'Em Enough Rope and Taking Tiger Mountain. They send me money immediately upon invoice, helping me pay bad debts accumulated from having started a record label in 1994. (10 days).
New records I played most in '98
1. Crust Bros. Marquee Mark Telemomo CD
2. Jon Langford Skull Orchard Sugar Free CD
3. Robert Wyatt Schleep Thirsty Ear CD
4. Shellac Terraform Touch & Go LP
5. Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Mercury CD
Roger Miller
Fave CDs:
Tomaz Grom: La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc
SyHaPa CD79001
Solo standup bass accompanying the silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc", using live looping devices. Very nice mix of modal and pure impressionistic soundscape playing. From Ljubljana, Slovenija.
Andrew Neumann: Live Electronic Music
Sublingual records
Live solo recordings using various customized synthesizer modules and processors. The controllers are two finger exercise machines for guitar players (clenched in Mr. Neumann's hands) which have been modified by Mr. Neumann to send MIDI information to his devices. His live performances resemble a boxer having at it w/a non-existant enemy.
Live shows:
Nov. 13 at Bad Girrls Studio, Boston. Kaffe Mathews: Live violin w/a highly complex digital looping system. The most advanced form of this type of music - capturing live sounds and modifying them - that I have heard.
July 12 at The Century Lounge, Providence, RI. Versus. Rocking as usual. The two guitar sound starts to make sense.
Dec.19 at Bad Girrls Studio, Boston. Daniel Carter & Saturnalia String Trio w/ dancer Christine Coppola Maneri. The usual brilliance of the Saturnalia String Trio interlocking excellently w/Daniel Carter's vibe.
Mover in the Boston area: Johnathon Lamaster. Promotes experimental, improv. and jazz shows, founded the Sublingual Records label, is leader and violinist of Saturnalia, performs in the Saturnalia String Trio and in many other contexts.
Michael Morley
Sound recordings of 1998:
Nuno Canavarro-Plux Quba (Moikai re-release )
Jack Smith-Les Evening Gowns Damnees (Audio Artkive/T.O.T.E.)
Lotte Lenya-Sings Kurt Weill (Masterworks Heritage Sony Classical)
Claudio Monteverdi-Duets and Solos (Carlton)
Aphex Twin-Come To Daddy (Sire)
1998 Twisted Village's Top Ten Store Events
January
Cops have to be called when customer loudly insists that Zappa is preferable to Moondog and is jumped and beaten by several onlookers and employees. Resulting lawsuit is avoided when Tom Lax tips Wayne to an obscure civil war statute dating back to October 1861 and the rowdy parties held on the store's land by the 20th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry upon their return from the "Battle at Ball's Bluff".
February
Angela takes home her copy of Caravelles lp "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry". Many customers breathe sighs of relief as this marks the end of the Caravelles/Haley Mills sound battles held with Wayne in the store every Saturday morning.
March
Kate demonstrates the value of her horse hobby. A phone conversation between Justin the Michigan-70's-rock-fan and his girlfriend is overheard by the girlfriend of Justin the foreign-language-60's-garage-fan. Thinking herself betrayed by her lover, the mistaken girl steals 250 milligrams of altrenogest from a local stable and tries to poison her adversary as though she were an ovariectomized mare. Only Kate's expansive familiarity with equine intracytoplasmic injection history saves the day.
April
Christopher's changes their nacho recipe.
May
Stephan Jaworzyn suffers a wavering commitment to Torah values, and becomes jealous of Wayne's project to build the world's largest yeshivos. Jaworzyn writes an email to Jim O'Rourke suggesting that he's thought up a new way for the Major Stars to make a living... they should skin dead dogs. After the message is forwarded to droneon, Wayne, without missing a beat, shoots back that their representatives would never permit it. A puzzled Jaworzyn inquires, "Whose representatives? The Major Stars?" With a smile Wayne replies, "No. The dog deputies." Flustered, Jaworzyn and O'Rourke both skip the next WFMU fair.
June
Justin becomes so excited about the Monks' lp "Black Monk Time" that he shaves a bald spot in the middle of his head. He earns nickname 'monkhead' and so can finally be gossiped about without confusion as to which Justin is being referred to.
August
Channel 73's featured artists of the month are Doris Day and Ingmar Bergman.
September
Mysterious box Angela receives in mail turns out to contain all 16 volumes of the Glenn Gould video series. She is not seen outside her house again until mid-November, at which time she has aquired 11 new pairs of gloves and a working knowledge of Taktilaktuk wildlife migrations.
October
Anticipation of Father Yod box set's release causes local pot prices to rise sharply. Keith becomes convinced small seedlings planted in his afro would flourish if he just drank enough vitamin-enriched seaweed juice.
November
Channel 54's 11:30 pm slot switches from "Spin & Marty" to "Annette".
December
Huge celebration is planned to commemorate the release of Burl Ives' "Cheers, Cheers, Cheers". Everyone learns lyrics to their favorite tracks for performance in a milk fund benefit musical, but Wayne and Kate argue incessantly over who's going to get to sing lead on the version of "Tit Willow".
1998......10,000 miles and counting. tom greenwood
.....spent this last year in nyc and portland, or. and on the highways in between. not much extra $$ for buying records, but logged a bunch of listening hours none the less. the american underground music scene is alive and well, no ones listening, but.....the most inspiring gig of the year took place in chicago on oct 2(?) at robi's jackie-o opened the night, we played an o.k. set, but were blown away by the malstorm to follow. NAUTICAL ALMANAC sputtered out a whirling puddle of tweakery using a strange pile of thrift store sound toys. next up, the UNIVERSAL INDIANS, proceeded to deliver the wildest set of freeform punk spazz that i've witnessed since harry pussy. NEIL CAMPBELL closed out the night. droning, rumble escalating to an ecstatic din that swirled around the room for a solid hour, he was joined on stage by sticky dave, and members of the indians...the audience was catatonic. i kid you not. .......other highlights of 1998...folk absurdist MICHAEL HURLEY live at the living room nyc...the genuine article, backwoods yarn spinning, completly unique, personal tales of woe and joy, accompanied by his fantastical pickin' banjo, git.and fiddle, doc snock, cornbread too! watch for his new cd WEATHERHOLE on FIELD RECORDING CO. should be out in the spring. similar bizzare folk wanderings in the west...STANLEY'S 50th bithday party on the oregon coast, the semi secretive meeting of HURLEY collaborators DAVE REISCH and ROBIN REMAILY with various portland musicians. moss dripping, way stoned....WILLIAM PARKER live at context studio, nyc. mind blowing...COOPER MOORE on piano SUZI IBERA drums...transporting. just go see 'em... .....i just came across a FRED NEIL reissue on collectors choice, called, the manny sides of... two cd set with the first record, capitol stuff, and some unreleased tracks, way hip. also, on FAT POSSUM anything by JUNIOR KIMBROUGH, mississippi blues, bent. blown wandering, out.... .....for a good read, you can't beat SPACE IS THE PLACE, the SUN RA bio, it just came out softbound, at SEE HEAR, 7th st bewt. 1st and 2nd, nyc...i,m a few years behind on this one, but ROBERT GORDON'S.. IT CAME FROM MEMPHIS is an incredible read, find it if you have'nt already....that's it. over and out there....
Claire Pannell
I'd have to say that my fave gig of the year was Alastair Galbraith
Fave guys: our friends from the Neon France/Army of Ghosts scene
wankers: People that hand around dusted joints... and trust fund babies that live off their poor roommates...WELCOME TO NEW YORK FUCKING CITY
Mark Raap
1)Leila:"Like Weather"(Rephlex)
2)Biosphere/Deathprod/Nordheim: "Nordheim transformed" (rune grammofon)
3)Bola:"Soup" (Skam)
4)Schlammpeitziger: "Spacerokkmountainsiquaritersomething" (A-Musik)
5)Gastr Del Sol: "Camofleur" (Drag City)
6)Boards of Canada: "Music has the right to children" (Skam/Matador)
7)The Tragically Hip: "Phantom power"
8)Smithosonian Anthology of American folk music box set(Folkways)
9)Philus: "Tetra" (Sahko)
10)Christoph Heemann: "Magnetic tape splicing" (Robot)Best release I don't have the technology to hear yet:
1)Gescom "Minidisc" (Or)Best singles:
1)Massive Attack:"Teardrop"
2)Diskono compilation singles #1 & #2
3)Bjork/Funkstorung:"All is full of love"
4)Raymond "s/t"
5)Pluxus and Iota singles onSnowball Movies:
1)The Wedding Singer
2)The Big LebowskiBest shows:
1)Michael Moore's Available Jelly
2)John Butcher
3)Dave Douglas
4)David Grubbs
5)AutechreWorst band name in a while:
1)Limp Bizkit (associated with Korn by some strange coincidence)
Best assorted stuff:
1)rediscovering Gordon Lightfoot
2)Boston :"s/t" (the half-speed master edition)
3)Canned Heat
Gerard Cosloy
musical:
Roads To Space Travel - s/t (Amish)
Jackie-O Motherfucker - Flat Fixed (Imp)
Lesser - Gigolo Cop (Vinyl Communications)
V/A - 0161 (Skam)
Slayer - Diabolus In Musica (American)
Quickspace - Slowly, Falling (Kitty Kitty)
Silkworm - Blueblood (Touch & Go)
The Tower Recordings - Furniture Music For Evening Shuttles CD (Siltbreeze)
Cha Cha Cohen (Chemikal Underground)
Leila - Like Weather (Rephlex)
ICU - Chotto Matte A Moment (K)
Autechre - s/t (Warp)
Sonic's Rendezvous - Sweet Nothing (Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts)
The Notwist - Shrink (Community)performance :
Slayer, Roseland, October
Joe Morris Quartet, Old Office, December
Mogwai, Reading Festival, August
Jackie-O Motherfucker, Army Of Ghosts, Hall of Fame, multiple occassionsbest celebrity sighting :
Bill Walton, in an elevator, Westin Hotel, Bostonworst celebrity sighting :
Mick Jones, HiWay HiFi, Edgeware Road, Londonworst likealike :
Mets utility guy Matt Franco, WWF superstud Val Venis
films:
"Rushmore", "Buffalo 66", "Henry Fool" and the first 30 minutes of "Solider" (I fell asleep after that)actor :
Paul Giamatti, perhaps the Dan Hedya of the next generation. His moments in otherwise unwatchable films like "Winchell", "The Negotiator", "Private Parts" and "The Truman Show" are almost enough to justify the time spent (he also had a great spot on a "Homicide" episode as a not-so-bright pitbull owner).(Music Monitor, December 1998 / January 1999)
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