A Triggering Myth

[Zeuhlmate]

I just discovered them recently and noticed there wasn't a thread.
Great band, draws inspiration from a lot of different sources, Henry Cow, Italian Prog, Canterbury...

[rcarlberg]

Great band, too little discussed and recognized.

https://youtu.be/z7g2k7LDArE

[moecurlythanu]

I remember back in the day, Ken had signed them and was releasing their discs on TLE. From his descriptions, I always expected I'd be unexcited by them, and never bought any. A few years ago, I picked up The Remedy Of Abstraction, and I think that it's quite good.

[mogrooves]

Some nice ideas well executed.

[interbellum]

Their first album was a bit Happy The Man-like, but more abstract.

It was nice to see them work with jazz-rockers like Scott McGill and Vic Stevens.

And: always great album-covers.

Their website http://www.atriggeringmyth.com/ hasn't been updated lately...

[rick eddy]

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Tim and I are both alive but some of you may know that I've had MS for about 30 years and around 2007 it progressed in my hands to where I can't play anymore, so that was it for ATM. By the way, we're both going to the Prog festival in NC in September to meet up with Alberto Piras and the boys from Deus Ex Macchina. He spent 5 glorious weeks at my house almost 20 years ago (both he and violinist Bonetti played on our 4th album - "The Sins of Our Saviours") working all night, every night in the studio with us and we're really looking forward to seeing them again. If you see us there feel free to say hello. Remember, I've the taller one...................rick eddy, ATM

[rockcup]

You made some good albums.Damned MS.

[Sputnik]

ATM has been one of my favorite bands for a long, long time. I consider them criminally underrated, but I understand why they have a somewhat lower profile with no gigging, and obviously no albums for some time. I'm a proud and happy owner of all their CDs, some of which I have had to track down used because I stupidly passed on them when released. What was I thinking? For me, they combine the very best elements of the classic Prog sound with a modern, forward-thinking approach - without ever going over the bleeding edge. All their albums are a little different, and all have some amazing material. For me, one of the truly best Prog bands to come along since 1990, especially given the size of their discography.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Tim and I are both alive but some of you may know that I've had MS for about 30 years and around 2007 it progressed in my hands to where I can't play anymore, so that was it for ATM. By the way, we're both going to the Prog festival in NC in September to meet up with Alberto Piras and the boys from Deus Ex Macchina. He spent 5 glorious weeks at my house almost 20 years ago (both he and violinist Bonetti played on our 4th album - "The Sins of Our Saviours") working all night, every night in the studio with us and we're really looking forward to seeing them again. If you see us there feel free to say hello. Remember, Ican trac've the taller one...................rick eddy, ATM

Hi Rick, great to hear from you! I might see you in NC, still pondering going down to Prog Day depending on how a few things go this summer. Hope you are well as can be and enjoying life! You mention Sins of Our Saviours, and if I had to pick one of your albums as my favorite, this would be the one. Piras and Bonetti definitely contribute, but I just love the compositions on this one. Top notch stuff! Fortunately, I don't have to pick among your albums, because I love them all.

Hope folks who don't know this band try to do a little digging to find their stuff. Really great stuff, imo!

Bill

[mozo-pg]

I own this one! Excellent musicianship and great execution. Sorry to hear you're not able to record now. What great music.

[moecurlythanu]

ATM has been one of my favorite bands for a long, long time. I consider them criminally underrated, but I understand why they have a somewhat lower profile with no gigging, and obviously no albums for some time. I'm a proud and happy owner of all their CDs, some of which I have had to track down used because I stupidly passed on them when released. What was I thinking? For me, they combine the very best elements of the classic Prog sound with a modern, forward-thinking approach - without ever going over the bleeding edge. All their albums are a little different, and all have some amazing material. For me, one of the truly best Prog bands to come along since 1990, especially given the size of their discography.

Hi Rick, great to hear from you! I might see you in NC, still pondering going down to Prog Day depending on how a few things go this summer. Hope you are well as can be and enjoying life! You mention Sins of Our Saviours, and if I had to pick one of your albums as my favorite, this would be the one. Piras and Bonetti definitely contribute, but I just love the compositions on this one. Top notch stuff! Fortunately, I don't have to pick among your albums, because I love them all.

Hope folks who don't know this band try to do a little digging to find their stuff. Really great stuff, imo!

Bill

Given that you own them all Bill, could you put them into a rough order of favorites? 1) Sins Of Our Saviors... Might give me some insight on where to go next.

[JKL2000]

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Tim and I are both alive but some of you may know that I've had MS for about 30 years and around 2007 it progressed in my hands to where I can't play anymore, so that was it for ATM. By the way, we're both going to the Prog festival in NC in September to meet up with Alberto Piras and the boys from Deus Ex Macchina. He spent 5 glorious weeks at my house almost 20 years ago (both he and violinist Bonetti played on our 4th album - "The Sins of Our Saviours") working all night, every night in the studio with us and we're really looking forward to seeing them again. If you see us there feel free to say hello. Remember, I've the taller one...................rick eddy, ATM

Nice to hear from you, Rick! I didn't know about the MS - sorry to hear that, that sucks! I remember talking to you at the Progfest that Deus ex Machina played at - in the hotel lobby, and I think maybe once or twice elsewhere in real life, and online (Jed Levin). I look forward to seeing you and Tim at ProgDay! As someone said here, it might be a bit of a reunion!

[Gravedigger]

they combine the very best elements of the classic Prog sound with a modern, forward-thinking approach

Bill

I think Sputnik nailed it; all their discs are excellent!

I had the pleasure of jamming with Tim Drumheller a few times over the last couple of years. I like that they have they have their own sound...
hard to draw comparisons to others. If pushed for one, I told him that *maybe* if Lyle Mays went in a really dark direction, but even that isn't
quite right. He appreciated that.

[Sputnik]

Given that you own them all Bill, could you put them into a rough order of favorites? 1) Sins Of Our Saviors... Might give me some insight on where to go next.

Ouch, tough one because I like them all a lot. I dug our Forgiving Eden for a listen over dinner tonight, and forgot how good that one is. So really my favorite ATM disc is the one I spun most recently!

But seriously, here's how I'd order them, in terms of strictly personal preference, not any reflection on quality because I think they're all great:

Sins of Our Saviours
Remedy of Abstraction
Forgiving Eden
Between Cages
A Triggering Myth
Twice Bitten

Since you have Remedy of Abstraction, I'd seek out Sins of Our Saviours and Forgiving Eden, which should be comparatively easy to find. See how you feel with those three, and if you're liking them then Between Cages can probably also be found with relative ease. The other two will be more difficult. But that's how I'd approach it. In general, I think ATM got better with each album. Something about Sins of Our Saviours just resonates strongly with me. That's the first album of theirs that really got into my brain and opened me up to what Ric and Tim were doing, and I had to go backwards to pick up the earlier stuff. So I rank it highly for personal reasons, and because I really dig it, but I think the two albums after that are every bit as good in their own way.

As it happened, it was easy for me to get the debut album and Twice Bitten, because Mark Cella was a fan and he happened to stock both in his shop. Mark and John McNamara from Pye Fyte played on Twice Bitten before Mark helped form Eccentric Orbit. Rick himself was kind enough to furnish me with a CDR copy of Twice Bitten until I finally tracked down a used copy.

Think I'm going to binge on ATM this week, it's been awhile since I spun any of their albums. Now that they're all sitting in front of me, I figure I just won't put them away until played.

Bill

[Oreb]

I enjoyed Forgiving Eden, but explored no further.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Tim and I are both alive but some of you may know that I've had MS for about 30 years and around 2007 it progressed in my hands to where I can't play anymore, so that was it for ATM. By the way, we're both going to the Prog festival in NC in September to meet up with Alberto Piras and the boys from Deus Ex Macchina. He spent 5 glorious weeks at my house almost 20 years ago (both he and violinist Bonetti played on our 4th album - "The Sins of Our Saviours") working all night, every night in the studio with us and we're really looking forward to seeing them again. If you see us there feel free to say hello. Remember, I've the taller one...................rick eddy, ATM

A close friend of mine is dealing with MS with the courage and dignity of so many people with the condition. All good wishes to you.

[moecurlythanu]

Thanks for the overview, Bill. That you rate The Remedy Of Abstraction highly leads me to think we may be on the same page, and your opinion should make a good guide. Thanks.

[Sputnik]

Thanks for the overview, Bill. That you rate The Remedy Of Abstraction highly leads me to think we may be on the same page, and your opinion should make a good guide. Thanks.

Happy hunting!

Bill

[mellotron storm]

Seeing the band's name made me smile, it's been a long time since I spun Remedy Of Abstraction but it's a real good one. I think I picked this up from Laser's Edge back in the day. Guests included McGill on guitars, Tsuboy(KBB) on violin and Manring on bass. Was the drummer a guest? Anyway I didn't explore the back catalogue but should have. Thanks for the recommendations Bill I'll try to track down Forgiving Eden and Sins Of Our Saviours.

[Fracktured]

Forgiving Eden is also one of my favs. Thanks for bringing this band up. I'll have to play them in between my Mahler fetish right now.

[LASERCD]

Seeing the band's name made me smile, it's been a long time since I spun Remedy Of Abstraction but it's a real good one. I think I picked this up from Laser's Edge back in the day. Guests included McGill on guitars, Tsuboy(KBB) on violin and Manring on bass. Was the drummer a guest? Anyway I didn't explore the back catalogue but should have. Thanks for the recommendations Bill I'll try to track down Forgiving Eden and Sins Of Our Saviours.

Vic Stevens was the drummer on Forgiving Eden and Remedy Of Abstraction.

[mellotron storm]

Vic Stevens was the drummer on Forgiving Eden and Remedy Of Abstraction.

Thanks Ken! Manring on bass reminded me of another excellent band called AT WAR WITH SELF from your label, especially that first one with Zonder on drums. Great memories.

[jgprogbear]

Not generally a fan of instrumental bands, but for some reason these guys really did it for me. Wonderful gents(got to speak to them several years at Nearfest) who made some stellar music that sounds not quite like anything else at the time or since. Sorely missed.

[Sputnik]

As part of my A Triggering Myth binge, I listened to their self-titled debut album and I was really pleased how much I enjoyed it. This album pretty much lays the blueprint for what ATM would explore on the rest of their catalog. I think Rick and Tim got better at rendering their ideas on later albums, but I think the compositions here are very strong and I also think this album has very good production.

This album is surely hopelessly OOP, which is too bad because I think people who missed it on the first go-around might really enjoy it. I wonder if there has been any thought to putting the early ATM material on Bandcamp, CDBaby, or other digital services?

Bill

[Scrotum Scissor]

I still listen to The Sins of Our Saviours and Forgiving Eden. The 'chamber-symph/rock' antic catches a near avant-progressive vibe there (sometimes vaguely reminiscent of oddball Russian ensemble Horizont), and it's even today an idiosyncratic and challenging listen. Must play them again soon.

I'm sorry to hear about the illness.

[rick eddy]

As part of my A Triggering Myth binge, I listened to their self-titled debut album and I was really pleased how much I enjoyed it. This album pretty much lays the blueprint for what ATM would explore on the rest of their catalog. I think Rick and Tim got better at rendering their ideas on later albums, but I think the compositions here are very strong and I also think this album has very good production.

This album is surely hopelessly OOP, which is too bad because I think people who missed it on the first go-around might really enjoy it. I wonder if there has been any thought to putting the early ATM material on Bandcamp, CDBaby, or other digital services?

Bill

Thanks for your comments Bill. It's been a long time since someone talked about the first one. As we look back on it, we think of our first album as an audio documentary of us learning how to make an album together. When I think of it or listen to it, all I hear are the occasional technical recording glitches and production issues but, I think there are some very good musical ideas on it so thanks for bringing it up. Not our best work but an essential developmental stage. Thanks again Bill.................rick

[Dok]

After reading Bill's post I pulled the first one out. Probably hadn't played it in 2 decades. I was pleasantly surprised as well! A lot to be proud of there Mr Eddy! It took me right back to those early '90 days.