Wm., your contributions to the station are so vital. Irreplaceable in my opinion. ... Don't go!!!!!!!!!!! ... A TOAST... TO WM, YOU DARKEN OUR NIGHTS.

Bad-da-ba deet-dat-doot-dat da-doot-doot. ...

Man, I should quit every week! The playlist was as lively as the cheap seats at Yankee stadium, people throwing shit, and hollering—my "obituary," as listener blee put it. A roast, minus the faux-insults. Thanks! I have always thoroughly enjoyed the accu-playlist comments, and the ensuing discourse. Every show should be a party, an interaction—this is my "getting out of the house," after all; an interaction where I'm at my very best—controlling the music, at the helm, relaxed, confident and overall, enthused. I really cannot thank all the My Castle of Quiet listeners who've supported the show over the years enough; a Castle, though still a Castle, can be a very lonely place if empty...the Lord just mopes on his throne. So thanks again for making my castle a very full one.

One other thing I was reflecting upon; the position has afforded me revived friendships with the two broadcasters I was sandwiched between, Dave the Spazz and Stan, both very true-blue music lovers whom I go way back with, and who approach their art and express their enthusiasm in the most contrasting of ways. Will miss those guys!

WFMU is such a rare place, and at this point has been such an enormous part of my life—a rag-tag home for misfit, hardcore music lovers, all given the amazing opportunity of unfettered self-expression with very few limitations—WFMU is a box of perpetually hot matches, bright and lively. ... I knew not when I knocked on that door in the basement of Froeberg Hall in the Summer of 1983, how my experience would be shaped and propelled by integration into this amoebic, gutsy and thriving organization.

Anyway, my third home (San Francisco being the second) calls to me always, and I hope to return in the not-too-distant future, with yet another artistic metamorphosis, so please stay tuned! I'm happy to report that the Thursday / Friday midnight-3 a.m. slot will be taken over by Professor Dum Dum's Lab, a great, unpredictable show that always challenges radio convention, and reveals its layers of cleverness the more one listens. Cheers, Professor!

At this point, I'm wheeling out the favorites–High Tide, Sabbath, Lugubrum, Alberich (playing tonight at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn!), and Voids (aka Decoy Jews)... Many more Castle "hits" to come next week, and so many more I won't get to, but have been paid severe homage in the program's solid, four-year run. All the archives for MCoQ will remain online @ wfmu.org, in addition to 30 some-odd fill-in shows dating back to 2001, all available here.

If this week was the obit, next week's show will be the funeral, the corpse's adornment and (un)holy burning, with mighty live guests Psychic Limb. Can't wait. An epic throwing down of arms, but as the great phoenix, I will again rise, bla fucking bla...as Sam Kinison once put it, in reference to Christ's resurrection, "Ahhh! The dead LIVE, the DEAD FUCKING LIVE!!!."

Click on the inscrutable, telekinetic child, Monkey, from Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, to reach the archived audio, playlist and comments for last night's penultimate horrorcast™.

Chamber music for the black plague.

Subject: Wm. M. Berger
Age: Depressed 19-year-old
Actual age: Subject feels old and tired, like he has lived too long, seen too much. Somehow commands a measure of respect and admiration through his many creative projects.

Yeah, so I let it slip out last night that the My Castle of Quiet radio show on WFMU will be ending, at the very least for WFMU's next schedule, to start June 10. The last thing I want to do is make a big deal out of it, or provide a litany of reasons like it's some important plate-shifting occurrence or something. That said, MCoQ radio has meant a lot to a lot of people, myself included of course, and I feel I owe it to the listeners to at least make clear that the show as we've come to know it will NOT return, though I myself will return to WFMU, or at least that's the plan. My personal taste has changed pretty dramatically over my decades-long association with the station, so this won't come as too much of a surprise to the people and listeners who know me well.

During my initial tenure with WFMU (1984-1999), the show went from being a Barrett/Ayers/Minutemen/Meat Puppets love fest, to a deep house and dancefloor monotony show, to a hard drones and Krautrock doper-pie. Those are the big chunks, with a lot of room for variation in between.

For the last four years I have been WFMU's "black metal and noise" guy, and I've loved giving a voice to a community that has never had a huge presence on terrestrial radio (with the notable exception of some great KFJC programs), and in the NY area, no less. I've tried to make that presence HUGE, with continual live appearances by some of the genres' most important artists, and exclusive content, and then there was that great Frank Henenlotter interview that I'll never forget.

As a coda to the show, I'll be recording live sets in July with the great Québécois band Verglas (!!!!) and the Black Twilight Circle 2013 tour, their third time on the East Coast, this time with Volahn, Ashdautas, Bilirubin and Blue Hummingbird on the Left. These performances will be aired as my schedule allows, and as fill-ins are offered by my WFMU colleagues, the sets also posting on WFMU's Web portals.

Why end it, you may ask? The big answers are personal ones; family obligation, and my general state of mind, typically held together with string and chewing gum, and crying out for maintenance. I need to pull myself into the new era of being myself, YET ANOTHER "FINAL ASCENSION," a responsible adult who is not awake and entertaining people at 3 a.m. on a Thursday night/Friday morning, as sad as that may seem to some. The smaller answers are a shift in tastes, away from ultra-confrontational music into elemental / analog electronics, Krautrock, 70s progressive rock, and inspired improvised music—so really, upon its return, the reconstructed Castle, which may in fact be completely re-titled after all, will not be so much strikingly different, as much as leaning more "that way" than "this way," the new filter allowing for some other sounds and feelings to pass through, and a few to be stopped at the sieve-hole. If you've been attuned to the content of the last 3-4 weeks of Castle programming, then you have a pretty good idea already of what's to come.
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Last night's horrorcast™, to which I arrived un-enthused and tired, came rapidly into lively motion as the bell tolled midnight; it's a show that at this point plays itself, with me as the medium / channeler, and I need never worry that anything's going to "suck." ...It did "suck" that one of our intended live performers, Dried Up Corpse, aka Mr. Stan Reed, an artist for whom I have logged many hours of admiration, respect and fandom, was grounded by the demon of air-travel and wasn't able to join us. We nonetheless heard some of Stan's great D U C recordings, and reveled in the crunch.

And the treat of all treats, two dramatic, enveloping sets by Tom Carter and Pat Murano, were played live, and graced us with melody and scratchy beauty; yet another MCoQ live appearance to remember, harming us with harmony. Tremendous thanks to Pat and Tom for playing their hearts out—they sure can!

In addition to the well-deserved hoopla for our live guests, you noted praise for Dried Up Corpse, who can be caught live this weekend as part of the massive, celebratory Ende Tymes Festival @ Silent Barn (Stan plays on Saturday); it's the best lineup in the festival's three-year history, with a great many rarely seen and über-special artists performing, many of whom have also graced the Castle airwaves with their presence. A now-classic track in the first set by B.A.L.L. also drew attention, and the legendary Shimmy Disc combo are also playing this weekend, a reunion of the original quartet minus David Licht, but featuring the immensely talented Bob Bert, at Bowery Electric Saturday night.

There are still two My Castle of Quiet shows remaining, including the finale in two weeks with the mighty Psychic Limb, live. ...

Click on the never-explained clawed hand, from Fritz Lang's Moonfleet (young John Mohune's fearful hallucination?) to reach the playlist, archived audio, and comments board for last night's horrorkaste.

Until next time, read books!

TONIGHT on My Caslte of Quiet radio, a live double-bill—Pat Murano / Tom Carter and Dried Up Corpse!

As of this performance, Pat Murano will have appeared on My Castle of Quiet on WFMU more than any other individual (in addition to appearances on other shows with other projects.) A founding member of the No-Neck Blues Band, Pat has shown Castle listeners his versatility as an improvisor with K-Salvatore, his outstanding solo project, Decimus, in addition / contrast to the passionate fire of the black metal band Malkuth. We're excited to welcome Pat back, this time in the superb duo with guitarist / improvisor Tom Carter, of the legendary and much-loved Charalambides. Together, Murano and Carter shape the sonic space like painters, with the introspection / complexity of Mark Rothko, and the spontaneity and passion of Jackson Pollock. These are eerie, contemplative, psychedelic sound-works of the very highest order, a perfect fit for MCoQ's "lighter" side; music to lie on the roof to, looking upward, contemplating the cosmos.

Stan Reed's Dried Up Corpse is a bird of another sonic feather, peering downwards, with rotted wings, encircling a mass grave. Stan is a founding member of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, a My Castle of Quiet and WFMU favorite / staple, a harsh-sound project of many years standing and global reputation. Stan and BSBC are unquestionably this generation's New Blockaders, abrasive-yet-soul-infused, achingly human; if Murano and Carter recall Rothko, then Dried Up Corpse, Stan's breakaway solo project from BSBC, is Rothko's blackest canvases, the ones you could stare at for hours and always see something new at every glance. Through a series of tape, CDr and vinyl releases, Dried Up Corpse has been established as a major force, and a unique shade of "dark" removed from the mother project. WFMU catches up with Dried Up Corpse, while in town to play the massive Ende Tymes Festival of Noise and Experimental Liberation, which WFMU's experimental-music-listener fans are strongly urged to attend, with many great performers performing!

I rise out of the pit, a little worse for wear, but alive @ 12 midnight.
Murano / Carter @ 12:30 approx.
D U C @ 1:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
in Rockland County @ 91.9 FM
wfmu.org live on the Web, with real-time accu-playlist and message board.

Everywhere's a fracking toaster party

"Great craic" indeed, Pine. Todd / HG is a good friend that I rarely see, we could "craic" as the day is long, and then some. The best material was on cutting rooom florrrr, and for our ears only; he's one of those chaps that I can really talk to; a modest man of quiet and obvious strength, and a true artist, one whose bullshit detector is set on 11.

Conversation is a human art, and the finest humor in life is not forced, but rather shared between friends in the most casual and unassuming of ways. Not that I don't appreciate a good Black Books episode, or Bananas, but I think you all know what I mean. I can appreciate talk radio most in that form, when it's just a few friends jawing, as opposed to the "we're here, to make you laugh" brand.

Husere Grav proved to be an excellent guest in this context, our kinship obvious and natural. His live recording from earlier this year at NY's The Stone, a dynamic capture of his sound art in action, drew lively praise on our comments board.

You also liked:

The main titles from Devil's Nightmare (aka La plus longue nuit du diable), music by Alessandro Alessandroni | OK Putrid (new CDr + tape combo on Rainbow Bridge) | Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit | Stink (one-man black metal from Netherlands; on the great tape label Zwaertgevegt)

Click on Tony Todd's iconic Candyman, to reach the archived audio, playlist and comments for last night's horrorcast™.

NEXT WEEK: Live music, a double-bill; Pat Murano and Tom Carter /// Dried Up Corpse (Woo-hoo! Much more info at that link.)

Thanks as always for listening!

ADRIENNE!

This is so truly awesome! Many thanks to Witchbeam!

"walk once more with us"

Trying to review last night's horrocast™, as my neighbor blasts the local classic-rock station, LOUDLY, a complete lack of any social grace / consideration, or mere mercy—does anyone really need to hear Boston, again???

Bludded Head were undoubtedly the stars of the night, their set was strong, organic, nicely "human"—love the new songs more with every listen. I STRONGLY suggest NYC locals catch them tonight at the Silent Barn, with our friends C. Lavender, Bob Bellerue and Greg Fox also on the bill. All my selections were somewhat spontaneously woven around our guest, their sound and essence—the inspiration to open with a Codeine track was a late-breaker—now THERE'S some "classic rock" for you!

With the weather getting warmer, it seems natural to slow down a bit, revel in the rebirth, and conserve one's energy as well. Long and slow-burning seems to the order of the day; music like a beat-up-but-treasured easy chair. ...

In addition to the wealth of positive comments for Bludded Head, much deserved, their set running the range from subtlety on an Art Bears par, to the full-blown, doom-crush of their record (still in print and available at their shows or here on bandcamp), listeners also waxed positive on the playlist for selections by:

YOGA (from the great Skinwalker album; a master-work that I'm still discovering the power and craftiness of) | ENCOUNTERS (from the Rooms cassette on Pop Nihil; an exciting new collaboration between Husere Grav and Ryan Reno of NRIII)

It's timely to mention that next week, my special guest co-host will be good friend Todd W., aka Husere Grav, sharing the mic and possibly bringing a few musical selections of his own. Below is the HG live Castle set from 2010. Todd has, through many generous burns/donations/tips over the years, provided me with some of the great music I've showcased on The Castle. ...A noise gentleman and scholar, to be sure, and maybe we'll jaw about the Manson mythos and some of our other shared interests, we'll see....

In two weeks, live music again, from Tom Carter and Pat Murano, and Dried-Up Corpse (aka Stand Reed of BSBC), and possibly another artist tba. Here's an embed of a great Dried-Up Corpse live set on YouTube, a really mighty live performance that I've linked before, but just can't get away from...serious HAILS!


Click up top, on the gorgeous/hideous creatures from The Pack—a smart, eerie, must-see French horror feature from 2010—to reach the archived audio, playlist and comments for last night's show.

Bludded Head - Hyper-creative TX DOOM, live on My Castle of Quiet, tonight!

Not all doom bands are created equal, not by a long shot. Some are just trying to set downbeats as far afield from one another as possible, with lots of hard-guy posturing in between. Bludded Head first came to my attention in WFMU's new bin; handmade packaging and good silkscreening always catch my eye, and little did I know that I would come to love the record inside even more than its shell, and then subsequently see them play a great outdoor set at the Summer 2012 Voice of the Valley festival in WV. The band also generously donated two LP/t-shirt/poster sets to our fund drive this year, so if you're one of the lucky Castle listeners who pledged and won one of those, mazeltov!

Bludded Head play an earthy, artfully composed and deftly executed brand of doom, with electric cello serving as the bass instrument, and Nevada Hill's vocals, a wild wail that could crack drywall. Their lengthy songs don't sit in one place too long; they keep changing, evolving with each new passage, and subtle, pregnant sections thoughtfully divide up the crushing power. BH take the doom sound to places it's not been before, and MCoQ is pleased to catch up with the band on tour, with a local show at Silent Barn, Friday 5/10, also featuring Greg Fox (of Guardian Alien; former drummer with Liturgy), and previous Castle performers/friends/co-hosts C. Lavender and Bob Bellerue.

Bludded Head have a new drummer, and are now a four-piece (originally at trio), and we can't wait to hear how they've evolved, and what new steamrolled delights and mind-expanding explosions they have for us.

I pass my own mortality, on the stairs @ 12 mid.
BH @ 12:30 a.m. approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
in Rockland County @ 91.9 FM
wfmu.org live on the Web, with real-time accu-playlist and message board.

>>>Bludded Head on bandcamp<<<

fleep: totally wrong. G: legitimately concerned.

Beauty and horror, all rolled into one. Beauty = horror = beauty. The softness of a woman's calf, and the "unpleasantry" of forced alien insemination—both, fodder for a lifetime of torment. Yup, I said it. And I'll always give credit to Judy Geeson, an actress of no little sophistication, veteran star of To Sir, With Love, for taking on the unsavoury role in Horror Planet aka Inseminoid; perhaps she imagined that Sigourney-Weaver-in-Alien-type fame was in her stars. Alas, 'twas not to be, but I've watched Inseminoid over and over (not only the "dirty" bits), and it never disappoints. A visually striking, odd and unsettling little sci-fi tale, with not heaps of imagination, or budget, but a high watchability factor.

A good week we had, eh? Live guests unquestionably make The Castle something special, but it's also often just as good to play-play-play, unburden my 50-lb. record satchel, as the backlog of material I wish to air on the show is always voluminous, always almost unapproachably vast. I could be transmitting constantly, from my house, a neverending stream of dark wonders of every stripe and sonic derivation. Welcome to my world—now do you have the rest of your life to listen?

Playlist shouts went to:

Night Bitch | Onkunde | Congenital Hell | Wipe Hour | Mr. Matthews

NEXT WEEK: BLUDDED HEAD are here LIVE, with a new lineup built around the core of Nevada Hill and Darcy Neal.

TWO WEEKS AFTER THAT: Tom Carter and Pat Murano /// Dried-Up Corpse /// a favorite mid-Atlantic-based harsh-sound artist that's tb almost likely a. All in all, should be an amazing night.

TWO WEEKS AFTER THAT: Season Finale, with Psychic Limb, LIVE!~

Thanks for listening. Click on those yummy-colored alien eggs up top to reach the playlist and audio archives of this week's horrorcast™.

...AND SUPPORT ENDE TYMES!!!!!!!! In three weeks, an historical event in the history of experimental / industrial / noise music call-it-what-you-will will be happening for the third time, and they need the funds to pay for artist travel expenses, to pay the artists ... silly little stuff like that. It's an amazing lineup this year, featuring many artists that have played live on our show, or been played on record. Organized by our friend Bob Bellerue, and not to be missed! FULL ENDE TYMES  LINEUP HERE.