(12/2/98] RUSE VS. REVUE News from the Army of Ghosts camp is that the recording of their Parallelism CD is nearing completion, and March of '99 is looking quite likely for commercial release. Photos and biographical materials will appear soon at this site, as soon as we figure out how to pay Bruce Weber, Richard Avedon and LeRoy Neiman for all their work. Air Traffic Controllers have begun work on their 4th CD, probably for Spring '99 release, but who knows. Recent rehearsals and gigs have been recorded under the tutelage of noted engineer Dick Urine III, who promises that the next ATC recording will mark a major departure from the prior batch...however, reports that ATC are collaborating with MC Overload, AKA "The Subhuman Beat Box", are entirely false. You share a sauna with a guy and people make it out to be such a big deal. The next 2 Air Traffic Controllers NY appearances will take place after the first of the year. On January 10th, we'll be at Baby Jupiter along with Robert Dennis (Tono-Bungay) and the M.V. Holoscanner Exhibition. On the 17th, we'll be at the Downtown Music Gallery (5th between Bowery and 2nd Ave.) at 7pm, free admission. The most recent Air Traffic Controllers performance at the Cooler (November 23rd) should've been a happy evening. A star-studded bill, including Alan Licht & I Sound, Dean Roberts, Loren Mazzacane Connors and the Electro-Putas, combined with an appreciative audience, would ordinarily be enough to bring a smile to our faces. Alas, there was sadness at the end of the night. Jedi, the Cooler's kindly booker/benefactor, glumly told the assembled musicians (his "little ruffians") that the bar take that night was so paltry, there would only be $150.00 to split between the five groups (that's $30.00 each, for those of you who attended New York public schools). This was incredibly depressing --- we had assumed that more of our fans were serious alcoholics. And besides, isn't the ambiance of the Cooler enough to ensure a large crowd any night of the week? We have no quarrel with the soundman, bartenders or any other members of the Cooler staff making more than $30.00, 'cause after all, that's who people showed up to see. Anyhow, in the spirit of the Christmas Season, Parallelism is donating the Air Traffic Controllers' $30.00 back to the Cooler. We cannot bear the thought the we failed in any way to help this wonderful venue make more money....and we encourage the other musicians who performed that night to do the same. The more we think about it, the Cooler is hardly alone in its struggle to make an honest buck. There are SEVERAL deserving New York venues who have been generous enough to allow groups like us to borrow their stages and fill their rooms with people who don't drink. Certainly the AlterKnit comes to mind. We will dedicate the new year, 1999, to doing everything in our power to help these venues gain what is rightfully theirs....and if it takes benefit performances, compilation CD's, burning a place down so someone can collect insurance, etc., we'll do whatever it takes. It absolutely KILLS us to imagine that a place like the Cooler didn't do well on any night, let alone one dominated by self-indulgent musicians and their tee totaling followers. And if that weren't enough politics for you....yes, I am still slapping myself on the back for the not-so-small role I played in the recent upset election of Senator-Elect Charles Schumer over fascist incumbent Alphonse D'Amato. For obvious reasons, Schumer cannot thank me publicly, and that's quite all right. Knowing that federally-sanctioned gay marriages will soon become MANDATORY for all persons over the age of 12, is thanks enough. We were recently informed by the acquisitions director of U.K. distributor Shellshock, they would not be carrying any of the Air Traffic Controllers titles, which they described as "too marginal". We are hardly offended by this characterization....many of the great artistic minds of the 20th century were derided as "marginal" at one time or another....Punky Meadows, Mark Gastineau, Joe Don Baker, Robert Wuhl, Stu Spasm, etc. Did any of these great thinkers let a little criticism stop them? Marginal? If that think that's marginal, they ain't seen nothing yet. It has been noted previously that Parallelism titles are available online via http://www.othermusic.com. In addition, clicking on http://www.midheaven.com and entering "Air Traffic Controllers" in their search engine, is another quick and convenient way of ordering your CD's online. According to all the magazines we've been reading, online commerce is supposed to be huge this Christmas season, and while an ATC CD might not be exactly what the kids want from Santa, you could always give them a live squirrel & suggest they've received a "deluxe Furby". With the money you've saved, you can purchase our recordings, as well as some other excellent new releases we recommend, including: Horse Opera - 3 Cornered Room (Planet Mu) Messhugah - Chaosphere (Nuclear Blast) Mice Parade - The True Meaning Of Boodleybaye (Bubblecore) Joe Morris Quartet - A Cloud of Black Birds (Aum Fidelity) Susie Ibarra / Denis Charles - Drum Talk (Wobbly Rail) Quickspace - Precious Falling (Kitty Kitty Corp.) Loren Mazzacane Connors/Alan Licht - Hoffman Estates (Drag City) Exhuast - s/t (Constellation) V/A - Marvelous Sound Forms: Twisted Village Archieves Vol. One (Twisted Village) Thrilling events in faraway places for you to observe: December 7 - Golden Showers, Flux Information Sciences, The Cooler, NYC, free admission December 9, SCANNER (AKA Robin Rimbaud),DISINFORMATION (aka Joe Banks),The Lux Centre 2-4 Hoxton Square London N1,£6/3 booking: 0171 684 0201 info 0171 684 2787 December 12 - Seam, Mercury Lounge, NYC December 12 - Ikue Mori, Roulette, NYC December 12 - Boxhead Ensemble, The Cooler, NYC December 12 - E.A.R., Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL December 16 - Pillow, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL December 16 - The Fall, Astoria Theatre, London December 18 - Silver Apples Benefit (artists TBA), The Cooler, NYC December 19 - Bowery Electric, Christian Marclar, Ikue Mori & Zeena Parkins, Knitting Factory, NYC December 21- Wharton Tiers, The Cooler, NYC (free admission) December 22- Vandermark Five, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL December 31 - Yo La Tengo, NRBQ, Jad Fair, TLA, Philadelphia December 31 - Unwound, The Cooler, NYC (More events updated on the message board) Wishing you a happy holiday season (non-denominational, we want those federal funds) Gerard Cosloy [11/2/98] ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO BE CALLED "NEWS" As you can see, there's some fascinating discussion taking place on the Parallelism Message Board. When the Founding Fathers made the preservation of Free Speech a paramount concern, I'm sure they had a forum very much like this one in mind. Thanks to everyone who turned up for the show at Bar XVI back on the 19th of October. As usual, we had a fun night, but the best part was watching Jackie O-Motherfucker do their thing. Their new album, 'Flat Fixed' (Imp) is still available via Forced Exposure and we can't recommend it highly enough. Supposedly there's a DAT of the Bar XVI show floating around, and yeah, we'd love to hear it, too. The next Air Traffic Controllers performance will take place on Monday, November 23 at the Cooler. Alan Licht, Dean Roberts and others will be playing that night. Admission is free. No other performances are scheduled until Sunday, January 17th, when we'll be playing a free show at the Downtown Music Gallery (211 E. 5th St., NYC) at 7pm. Since we're currently unable to sell you CD's directly over the net (and most of you are unable to break into our offices and steal them), you'll be thrilled to learn that you can order Air Traffic Controllers titles with your credit card at http://www.othermusic.com. Just type "Air Traffic Controllers" or "Van Morrison" or "Roxettte" into their search engine (perhaps not Roxette) and you'll find what you're looking for. We could go on and on about their terrific, multi-genre selection and excellent customer service....but doing so would violate the terms of Parallelism's pending marketing agreement with the planet's #1 on-line retailer, CDWhenever. The best thing about dealing with CDWhenever is that their built-in "intelligence agent" will analyze your purchases....and decide to send you something else. Says company spokesperson Norman Facial, "Anyone can rise to the top by giving the customer what they want. CDWhenever has dominated the industry by giving the customers what they deserve." Coming in February, Parallelism will be releasing an as-yet untitled CD of new recordings by the free jazz duo Army of Ghosts (Brooklyn via W. Mass), along with one other terribly secret project we're not at liberty to discuss....though we can deny rumors of a Keyshawn Johnson spoken word album. Likewise, anything you've read in the trade publications about a "Parallelism Books" imprint publishing a Ray Parker Jr. autobiography, is totally false. You have one dinner with a guy and people assume all kinds of things. Anyhow, more substantive Army of Ghosts information will appear on the next update. More evidence that the Parallelism Publicity Dept. is working overtime comes courtesy of the latest reviews of 'Assistant To The Assistant': (The Wire, issue #177) (CMJ, October 19, 1998) Now would be a good time to mention that I don't really care for Robert Fripp at all...though his singing on the Arcadia album is supposed to be great. But seriously, how is this site any more or less dense than the persons reading it? If you want to know whether or not something is a joke, you can always ask! Which reminds me, speaking of terribly serious subjects....this coming Tuesday is an election day in the United States. Through my role as head of R&D at Pfizer Laboratories, in the past I have spoken out against the futility of the electoral process. I have long believed that voting is a colossal waste of time and energy, and that the limited range of candidates to choose from almost always guarantees that you are forced to pick between the lesser of war criminals. This year, however, I must concede that there are several contests around the country that deserve your attention and mine. In particular, in the state of New York, incumbent Senator Alphonse D'Amato is facing a strong challenge from his Democrat opponent, Charles Schumer. While I find little appealing about the pandering Schumer, ANY opportunity to kick D'Amato out of office is one to be cherished. Of course, I haven't bothered to register to vote this year....but I will not let that stop me from performing my civic duty. The rest of you can act like SUCKERS this year and go for that lame "one man, one vote" nonsense. Using an array of fake ID's and disguises (most of them hardly necessary with the unskilled labor manning NYC polling establishments), I will be voting DOZENS of times this Tuesday....and in each case assuming the identity of a registered Republican and/or D'Amato endorser. For those of you who have complained "what can one vote possibly do?", that's exactly the point! One vote won't do dick! But 60 or 70 votes, all swiped from someone else, that could accomplish quite a bit. Ask not what your country can do for you....ask what you can do to take some moron's vote away. Anyway, don't thank me now. Thank me next January when Senator Charles Schumer lowers the age of consent to SIX. We're removed the Knitting Factory from our links page, and if you'd like to know why, write me a letter and I'll tell you all about it. In the meantime, we've added several more exciting sites. Here are some terribly exciting events you might want to attend: Gold Sparkle, Avenue B Social Club, 99 Ave. B, NYC, November 4th Alec Empire / Merzbow / Bomb 20, CBGB, NYC November 4th John Oswald / David Prentice, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, November 4th Add (N) To X, 5pm, Tower Records, 4th & Broadway, NYC (free) Bomb 20, in-store at Mondo Kim's, November 5th X-ecutioners, Downtime, 251 W. 30th St., NYC, November 5th I.C.U. / Add (n) To X, Knitting Factory, NYC, November 5th Mogwai / Prolapse, Brownies, NYC, November 6th (late show, caution --this one will sell out) Roads To Space Travel, Tono-Bungay, Hall of Fame, Baby Jupiter, November 7th (afternoon show) Joe Morris/Whit Dickey/Pyramid Trio/Other Dimensions In Music, Dharma, 714 Orchard St., NYC, November 7th Pole/Scion, 715 Harrison St., San Francisco, November 8th Michael Zerand / Ken Vandermark, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, November 11th Major Stars, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, November 12th Pole/Scion, location TBA in New York (call 212-631-5848 for info), November 14th E.A.R., Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, December 12th If you'd like to have an event listed on a future update, be sure to let us know AFTER it has already happened. More news coming in mid-November. Until then, sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jim Shepard. (From "Son of Sam Donaldson", V3 - Negotiate Nothing, Ropeburn, 1992) Playing through one speaker (while the other is busted): Spaceboy - Getting Warm On The Trail of Heat (Frenetic CD) rhBand - First Tone (Drunken Fish CD) 16B - Sounds From Another Room (Eye Q CD) Tim Berne / Michael Formanek - Ornery People (Little Brother CD) Tulkinta - s/t (Sahko CD) Farben - "Discfunction" b/w "Sexing Dean Martin" (Klang Elektronik 12") ICU - Chotto Matte A Moment (K CD) hugs not rugs, Gerard Cosloy [10/11/98] Contrary to a previous bulk e-mail, the next Air Traffic Controllers New York appearance will NOT be on October 16, but is instead scheduled for Monday, October 19 at Bar 16 (16 First Ave.). Also appearing will be our friends from Portland, OR, Jackie-O Motherfucker, traveling across the U.S. in support of their new double album Flat Fixed (Imp). Music should start around 9:30pm and admission is free. We had an exciting time in Philadelphia last friday night ----sincere thanks to everyone who turned up, as well as our hosts at the Astrocade. These folks have some great shows upcoming, including Caroliner and Cock ESP on the 16th, and High Rise/Bardo Pond two weeks later. What this country needs is more music venues that sacrifice expensive bar drinks in favor of fully operational Dig Dug and Pigskin 621 A.D. machines. Check out the Astrocade link elsewhere on this site....and while you're at it, we have some more new links too. The old message board was dismantled 'cause it had a built-in censorship feature....anytime you wrote the word "fuck" it came out as "f--k". If you wrote "shit", it was reprocessed as "sh-t". If you wrote "Taime Downe", it came back as "Derek Bailey". Needless to say, that kinda thing is not cool, and we've switched to a new message board that will let you-be-yourself (unless of course the "real you" totally sucks, in which case we're taking down your messages manually. Just like AOL, only much slower). Here is another recent review from a magazine we'd gladly purchase (if it weren't so easy to steal): (Ptolemaic Terrascope #25) Here is a confusing "jukebox jury" feature from the much maligned Time Out New York, in which Chan Marshall was given the old Manchurian Candidate treatment.... There have been a number of questions concerning the availability of the new _Assistant To The Assistant_ CD.....sad to say, the distribution thing is coming together slowly. If you'd prefer not to order one from us directly, there are a handful of independent shops carrying this title (along with our previous releases), and we'll let you know about more as we find out : Other Music (NY) Mondo Kim's (NY) Downtown Music Gallery (NY) Paul's (Pittsburgh, PA) Aquarius (San Francisco, CA) Amoeba (Berkeley and SF, CA) If you are looking to purchase copies from a distributor, you can contact Revolver (U.S.), Matador (U.S.) or Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, all of whom are OK with us (assuming they sell any). On the next update, there should be some news about upcoming Parallelism releases (surprises and predictables) and the long-awaited new feature in which we automatically take a picture of your mind every time you log on. The Parallelism Technical Dept. was thinking of something easier, like just getting your credit card number and sending you a bag of water (numbered, ltd. edition), but why stab the crossing guard when you can slaughter the entire village? Why eat broken glass when you can drink prime rib? When we say "jump", you say "I didn't hear you, can you please repeat the question." At Parallelism, our slogan is "Don't F--ck With Us...Unless That's What You Really Want". Here are a few upcoming events we can recommend October 11 - Chris Knox, Tonic, NYC October 11 - David S. Ware, Fez, NYC October 16 - Tom Verlaine/Jimmy Ripp, Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ October 17 - Glenn Branca (w/ Z'ev and Rudolph Grey), Knitting Factory, NY October 17 - Autechre, Jim O'Rourke, Arto Lindsay and more, Soundlab, NYC (www.othermusic.com launch party, tickets available at Other Music) October 17 - Caroliner, Cock ESP, Melt-Banana, Astrocade, Philadelphia, PA October 20 - Cradle of Filth / Usurper, Tramps, NYC October 23 - Tim Berne's Paraphrase w/ Drew Gress, Tom Rainey, Internet Cafe, 82 East 3rd St., NY (free admission) October 25 - Shellac / Chavez, S.O.B.'s, NYC October 25 - The In/Out, Brownies (all-ages, afternoon thing) October 25 - Barbara Manning, Knitting Factory October 29 - Tom Verlaine/Jimmy Ripp, Bowery Ballroom, NYC October 30 - High Rise, Bardo Pond, Astrocade, Philadelphia October 31 - High Rise, Bardo Pond, Mercury Lounge, NYCNovember 7 - Amish Records presents Roads To Space Travel, Hall of Fame, Tono-Bungay and more, Baby Jupiter, NYC (starts pretty early) This week's listening pile: Tarwater - Silur (Kitty-Yo) Bruce Russell - Project For A Revolution In New York (Siltbreeze) Sonic's Rendezvous - Sweet Nothing (Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts) Ganger - Hammock Style (Merge) * David S. Ware - Go See The World (Columbia) Photek - Form & Function (Astralwerks) The Consumers - All My Friends Are Dead (In The Red) ** Gorguts - Obscura (Olympic) * - be warned, if you go to K-Mart and try to purchase a hammock they will have no idea what you are talking about. ** - not so new, but if you have this laying around you really owe it to yourself to listen to it every few weeks. You'll feel so much healthier, rested, etc. goodbye, Gerard Cosloy [9/28/98] Hello again. Loads of info this time around, so if you're not sitting down....well, that's the first problem. If you're reading this stuff while STANDING, you've got serious problems that we probably can't help you with. So sit down already. The new Air Traffic Controllers CD, Assistant To The Assistant, is available NOW direct from Parallelism, and starting September 29 from better record shops around NYC and parts unknown. Artwork and sound samples can be found elsewhere, so please go look for them. Upcoming live events include October 2nd at the Astrocade in Philadelphia, with the Tower Recordings and Hall of Fame, and another NY appearance at Bar 16 on October 19 (joined by Jackie-O Motherfucker). We've added a message board for discussion of all things concerning Parallelism, ATC, our sex lives, etc. This board is unmoderated and uncensored....unless you say something we don't like, in which case we'll just dismantle the whole thing and pretend it never happened. But hopefully this will be a good way to get your intimate questions answered without ever revealing your identity. This board has some goofy advertising I'm sorry to say, but rest assured that Paralleism will not see one penny of the proceeds (much like everything else we do). Besides, ads for male hair restoration products are a GOOD thing (we're holding out for samples, or perhaps a barter arrangement for overstock on PAR 002). Thanks to everyone who attended our Cooler show this past Monday night, and special greetings to our friends Army of Ghosts, the Greg Hall/Rob Anderson Duo and Electric Chaircuts, all of whom did-their-thing and did it oh so well. We had a great time and were very happy with the turnout, as well as the large quantity of drink tickets (good thing we told Jedi we were an 8-piece). Unfortunately, not everyone could share in the JOY this evening generated. A columnist for Time Out wrote a pre-gig "pick" that left us baffled....referring to Claire's drumming skills as "rudimentary" and "hapless". Let's see, this "man" with a ponytail somehow knows more about drumming than any of the respected international analysts who have showered Ms. Pannell with acclaim? This is the second time in recent memory this sexually-challenged simpleton has inflicted his unique brand of venereal journalism on the Air Traffic Controllers....on both occasions, making some quip about the "between song banter." Sir (and I use the term loosely), if you'd bothered to see us play anytime in the past YEAR, you'd know that not only do we not SPEAK onstage, we'll have any audience member who as much as WHISPERS ejected from the premises. I'd love to reveal this person's identity...but for some bizarre reason, Time Out has insisted on preserving his anonymity. But we're pretty close to tracking down the name, address and home telephone of the man in question, and we shall be happy to provide it to you, the concerned public, along with intimate details of his sexual history....or lack thereof. There's been some more favorable notices from Ptolemaic Terrascope and others, but I feel like dwelling on the negative today. Good reviews do us almost no good whatsoever (though in the case of trade publications, they do result in some excellent junk mail from dubious "record pools" and expensive recording studios), but these other pathetic attempts at summing up what we're about, just fuel the flames that fan the fires that facilitate our fear so never mind. By the way, if you're not gonna be in Philadelphia this weekend, you can catch Hall of Fame and the Tower Recordings at the Cooler next Monday evening, October 5, along with the long-awaited return of the Strapping Fieldhands. Not neccessarily long-awaited by me or anything, it's just when a band is on an extended hiatus for whatever reason you're supposed to say it. How many drink tickets do I get now? On a non-music note, I'd like to mention that a few nights ago while attending a game between the New York Mets and Florida Marlins, I dropped a foul ball that was hit towards me in the mezzanine, and then fell down into the loge area. I would very much appreciate the return of this ball, but would like to stress that under no circumstances will I pay any "ransom" to the speculators currently holding onto it. I really believe that this ball means more to me than to whoever found it, and returning it to me would be THE RIGHT THING TO DO for the game of baseball. I'm not such a cur that I wouldn't acknowledge the ball's return in some fashion...perhaps an autographed shirt, or maybe an invitation to an Air Traffic Controllers soundcheck (if we ever get one)....but I'm not playing into the hands of these memorabilia skum. Thanks for checking in, and we'll have more news before long. - Gerard Cosloy New listening recommendations: Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky (Peaceville) Paddington Breaks - No Snare Too Loud EP (PIAS) Bobby Conn - Rise Up (Truckstop) V/A - Satellite Quartet (Satellite double CD) V/A - Stretch Armstrong Presents Lesson 2 (Dolo) Fourtet - Thirtysixtwentyfive (Output) Vainio/Vaisanen/Vega - Endless (Blast First) Trio Hurricane - Live At Fire In The Valley (Ermite) Golden - s/t (Trans Solar) William Parker - Lifting The Sanctions (No More Records) [8/8/98] Sorry there's been no news for so long, but we've been very busy being creative visionaries. In fact, that's the tentative title of our upcoming 3rd CD, Being A Creative Visionary Is Very Hard Work...unless of course someone else has already used this title (Art Garfunkel? Rob Halford? Vinnie Vincent?). But seriously, we have a new album coming the first or 2nd week of September, CD only (again) and artwork and sound samples will be up here before long. The new stuff was recorded with Greg Talenfeld at Waterworks (14th St., next to Dizzy Izzy's) back in June of this year, and the album's real title is Assistant To The Assistant. For those who enjoyed psuedo-apocylptic sounds of Women & Other Minority Groups or the lighter touch of The Art of Looking....well, you'll just have to find something else to listen to. (Greg Talenfeld's graphic depiction of our recording methods can be found here...) The new stuff features liberal amounts of treated sounds (live and otherwise), several human vs. analog synth disasters, the guitar freakout stuff you've come to know and loathe...and the introduction of a cow. No telling how we did it, but Greg says it took days to get rid of the smell. But really folks, we're very proud of the new material. Still all-improv-all-the-time, but we brought enough batteries and bottled water with us, so there was no need for interuption. We're also thrilled and chilled to announce that later this year, we'll be releasing a new CD by the NY free jazz group Army of Ghosts, formerly known as Ayler's Angels. You might seen their 2 vinyl LP's on the shelves of finer stores and now would be a good time to pick them up....so you can act all superior and well-informed when the Parallelism CD comes out. More Army of Ghosts news & background to come on this site... Friendly faces keep asking us "when are the Air Traffic Controllers playing NYC again?" We're not so friendly. We say, "if you want us to play so fucking badly, why don't you go round to ______ and assasinate _______." Sorry comrades, but the phone at Parallelism hasn't been ringing off the hook for gig offers. To which we can only give the NY venues and the toads who control 'em a big Al Goldstein-style FUCK YOU. Our previous appearences in New York (at least since Claire joined) have been well attended, well received and some of these dumps even made some money. But not to worry, we'll have a NY event to announce very soon...and hold the presses (always wanted to say that), the date has come in....Monday, September 14th at The Cooler (14th between 9th and Washington), ATC and some Parallelism-sanctioned superstars TBA. This event is free, which is good, 'cause when you see what this place charges for a beer you'll need the extra cash. Just kidding about that beer stuff. We realize that few of you drink....and we encourage you to bring an alcoholic friend or 12 to this event so the venue will have some reason to ask us back. Major thanks to the head musical curator at the Cooler, Jedi, for having the COURAGE to stand up to the SICK pattern of blacklisting that exists on the local circuit. It truly sucks to be persecuted for your political beliefs (or so we are told). In the meantime, those of you lucky enough to call Philadelphia your home can catch the Air Traffic Controllers on October 2nd at the Astrocade, along our chums Hall of Fame and Tower Recordings. If by some chance you don't want to go to these gigs and would prefer to stay home and listen to the radio like a pansy...that's just fine with us. The male half of ATC (not sure which one this is) will be playing records on WFMU (www.wfmu.org) this Monday the 10th, from noon 'til 3pm. If you live in London and think Real Audio hookups are for pansies....that is also just fine with us. The non-female half of ATC will playing records and moaning about the state of things on John Kennedy's XFM program, Sunday evening, August the 16th. The following reviews have popped up (funny how we've yet to receive a single mention in any American publication) courtesey of The Wire (UK) and Opprobrium...... Very kind, even if one of 'em couldn't spell my name (and the other guy was seriously deluded....it wasn't a Toy Dolls reunion....we were opening for Circle of Shit and that Philly gig took place after a Ruin fan convention....y'know, one of those things were everyone gets together and trades Ruin paraphenalia, q&a with former girlfriends and roomates of Ruin, battle of the Ruin tribute bands, etc. A rough experience, but it beats playing with Hokenkeit. Maybe now would be a good time to explain how Claire came to join the Air Traffic Controllers. During the summer of '97, I got fed up with playing solo shows....there was no one else to carry stuff or blame when things sounded bad. I placed an advertisement in the Village Voice looking for drummers or "multi-instrumentalists" (like I even know what that means) and dropped the names of a few favorite bands (Dead C., MC5, Skullflower, Vinnie Vincent). The responding calls to my voice mailbox were horrible beyond my wildest dreams. The first guy to call somehow mistook "Dead C" for "Dead Kennedys" (?) and mentioned that he had been working on an industrial/spoken word thing with Jello Biafra. He and I should be getting together any day now. The second call was a man named Dudley who admitted that he "didn't really play an instrument", but thought the ad looked interesting and wanted to know if we could "get a drink and talk sometime". Please, no cheap homophobic laffs. I'm totally sympathetic to lonely people who need human contact...I'd just prefer that they stick to on-line chat rooms where they can pretend they're women. There were several other calls, all of whom sounded like men with long hair. Don't ask me how I knew this, but I did. I have nothing against men with long hair. I just prefer that they go to Coney Island High. I'm getting off the subject here. Most of these callers insisted on listing ridiculous resumes, none worse than the former drummer for Ruin (I won't mention his name because Rich Hutchins is a very nice guy) or seemed to have bad coughs or speech impediments. Claire was the only applicant to get a call back....if you're ever trying to join a band, it helps if you can string a sentence or 2 together without dropping names (which is why we don't take up loads of room on this site bragging about past accomplishments. Who gives a fuck. OK, maybe Claire does, but that's 'cause she's done something worth mentioning. Me, I'm embarrassed to admit that I ghostwrote the entire Circus of Power 2nd album.) It also helps if you're an amazing, multi-talented CREATIVE VISIONARY (and if you know someone like that, tell us and we'll replace ourselves). A tip of the hat to some of our friends in the retail world, specifically Mondo Kim's on 6 St. Marks Place (NYC) who became the latest smart shop to carry the Air Traffic Controllers CD's. You know, I once attended the grand opening party of this establishment some years ago and they celebrated by putting dollar bills in a boar's mouth. Incredibly, the boar was not a writer for NY Press. In other retail news, thanks but no thanks to the usually competent krew at Downtown Music Gallery. In a recent newsletter (obstensibly designed to SELL the merchandise they carry), ATC were described as "story-telling angst guitar" ...you've heard of damned with faint praise? How about damned with complete bullshit? There is no angst in this group ladies and gentlemen, the sounds of our CD's and performances are that of JOY. Do not be fooled by those who view us in the context of "noise" or any such nonsense. Would you call Vinnie Vincent an "angst" guitarist? Was Gene Kruppa an "angst" drummer? I really have no idea what this guy was trying to say. And he threw in a gratuitious mention of my day job. Like that has a fucking thing to do with our music. NO ONE with a half a brain cares that my "day job" is the head of Research & Development for Pfizer Pharmaceticuls, save for you cheapskates looking for free samples (get in line!). We're still not sure why Other Music had to put up a sign mentioning the Pfizer gig and a little sticker reading "featuring former frontman of Timbuk 3", but I suppose those are the sort of tactics you need to resort to in a competitive retail environment. Once again, we have nothing to do with Timbuk 3, Pfizer Pharmacuticals, Split Enz, Odin, or Millions of Dead Cops. The past is in the past....and our future's so bright you'd better walk around with a blanket over your head. Don't hate us 'cause we're beautiful. Hate us 'cause you're beautfiul. Gerard Cosloy August 3, '98 Recommended Listening: Lesser - Gigolo Cop CD (Vinyl Communications) V/A - 0161 CD (Skam) Slayer - Diabolus In Musica (American) Mogwai - No Education, No Future (Fuck The Curfew) EP The Tower Recordings - Furniture Music For Evening Shuttles CD (Siltbreeze) Mr. Epp - Ridiculing The Apocalypse CD (Super-Electro) Don Caballero - What Burns Never Returns (Touch & Go) [6/5/98] As you can see by the beautiful faces above, we now have photos of the band. If you hop over to the "about" page, there are others you can gaze at for hours on end. Be careful, your monitor is delicate and we wouldn't want anyone to be electrocuted. Audio samples coming soon (really). You can add Princeton Record Exchange (Princeton, NJ) to the list of intelligent shops carrying the ATC CD's. We're updating this list as quickly as possible, but it requires all kinds of espionage within the hallways of our distributors. And "espionage" is not the channel that broadcasts all those snowboarding competitions. That stuff sucks. Either you ski or you skateboard (preferably neither), but snowboarding is an abomination matched only by...fuck, I don't know, waiting for Hokenkeit to finish playing. The Texaco Jazz Fest is in full swing at venues big and not-so big around New York City, and a quick trip to www.knittingfactory.com will tell you everything you need to know. The Air Traffic Controllers are not performing at this festival because a) we don't really play jazz (neither do Cornershop, but it helps that they draw more than 12 people) b) we're not festive enough c) there's a big hangup over a Texaco charge card bill of $238.00 that we neglected to pay some years ago. So we might be recording this weekend. If Greg Talenfeld ever calls us back. Which reminds me, R.I.P. to our close personal friend, the Junkyard Dog. JYD sadly bit the dust the other day, the victim of a car wreck. You can read more about this tragic event at www.1wrestling.com, or can ignore this major story. au revoir, GC [6/1/98] Additional retail outlets smart enough to carry 'Women & Other Minority Groups' and 'The Art of Looking' now include: Etherea, 66 Ave. A, NYC (same location as Adult Crash, RIP) Aron's, Los Angeles, CA Paul's, Pittsburgh, PA Bent Crayon, Cleveland, OH Co-Op Bookstore, Lakewood, OH Meridan's Music, Brattleboro, VT. European (and other territory) information coming soon. We should have some snazzy photos of the Air Traffic Controllers up in a few days. No nudity, we don't want to end up in the New York Post. New musical recommendations : The Notwist - 'Shrunk' (Community/Virgin Germany) DeeJay Punk-Roc - "I Hate Everybody" from 'Chicken Eye' (Independiente UK) Mogwai - 'Kicking A Dead Pig' (remix album) (Eye UK) www.eyeq.co.uk crazy New Speaking Canaries 12" that I forgot the name of. FOR SALE: one ticket to the sold out Sonic Youth/Milford Graves show at Irving Plaza next Monday, 6/8. Will trade for decent foccacia bread or autographed photo of Jedi. Reply to desperate@parallelism.com [5/15/98] The CD's are out; look at the appropriate link for the all the information. If you don't want to order directly from Parallelism, the following record shops in the U.S. can help you out: Aquarius, San Francisco (and they do mail order, too). Other Music, NYC Downtown Music Gallery, NYC Oarfolkjokeopus, Minneapolis, MN Park Ave., Winter Park, FL We'll add more shops and distributors to the list, when and if they start carrying the albums! In other news, tens of persons were entertained and enlightened during the Air Traffic Controllers' whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest. A big hello and thanks to everyone who did so much to make us feel at home, specifically Kendo ICU, Calvin, Brian, Tony, and the most skilled tour promoter of all time, Tom Greenwood. Folks, if Tom Greenwood ever offers to arrange a bunch of gigs for you thousands of miles away, never mind the plane tickets, just hop in the car immediately and start driving.....in the opposite direction. Just kidding, Tom, we appreciate your help (and let us know when Hokenkeit are finished playing). Not much other news for you.....some bbq spare-rib loving character proposed marriage to Claire in Portland. She declined, but there is some concern that he might be relocating to NYC to take up the chase again (we'll update you on this fascinating story). Our friends the Army of Ghosts are playing the Pink Pony tomorrow night (5/15), and if that isn't thrilling enough for you, Whit Dickey will be playing the Internet Cafe (don't ask) along with Rob Brown the same night (www.aumfidelity.com for more info). The Vision fest is happening at the Orensanz Art Center (174 Norfolk St., NYC) starting Monday the 18th May through 25th, featuring Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, William Parker and many others. Call 473-0043 for more info. ATC live events, tba soon.   about gigs news records links home contact All content ©2004 Parallelism. Design ©2004 X-Ray Vision. Site produced by X-Ray Vision