Loon jazz.

...Ever notice how ESL speakers, particularly central Europeans, always misspell the word "lose" as "loose," as in the compilation title Electrick Loosers (one presumes an intentionally humorous gaffe)? I've always found it funny, because so often those that society deem "losers" ARE "loose" in one way or another. ...An old Upsala College friend, a guy from Trinidad whose name escapes me, used to call me, "Bill mon, wid da loose clothes'" - so I guess I'm a "looser," too. You see how I did that? Fun with language. English is the best 'cause it's by far the most fucked-up. ...And as to "loon," the avian wonder aside, some of the core group of Krautrockers were/are pretty loony. If you're a fan, you know the personal histories of guys like Klaus Dinger and the guys from Faust, so I won't digress here, but it definitely took a certain, post-WWII combination of hot-mess, counter-cultural personality traits to make such extraordinary music, such that it did not mimic at all the "rock" that was then popular in the West (UK and USA), but bore a personality so distinctly German, for better and for worse, and all great in the end. They were mavericks all. "Muscle and viscera," as I noted on the air.

So last night's Kraut-Out v.2 was fun; oddly I think a huge mistake I made was veering TOO far away from Germany. I wanted to showcase some artists from Italy and France, and I think I just went 1-2 tracks too deep into it. ...That said, I very much enjoyed sharing selections from Eskaton and especially Jacula. ...There was appreciation of some sort for nearly every artist I played, which is great! The best information I can give on each is already there, in the playlist, most-recent releases, etc., so rather than bust out a link for every single item, I'm going to trust that you all have the ability to do a Discogs search, and to hunt these labels down; there are many great labels keeping this music alive and available, some with deluxe vinyl reissues, others with remastered CDs x bonus material, etc. So, apologies for being "lazy," but I'm never quite sure how many people actually read these posts anyway, so rather than write out and hyperlink 80% of the artist names, I leave it to thee. ... Keep your hubby happy, keep your hubby happy, mit Krautenspiel!

You may access the audio archive and playlist by clicking the link in the paragraph above, OR by simply clicking on the image above, from perhaps the finest German science-fiction film EVER, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's World on a Wire, recently restiored on double DVD by The Criterion Collection.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other matters. Prison Tatt Records fans can catch us this weekend at the Martyrdoom Festival, two days (Sat. & Sun.) at Saint Vitus Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with vendors during the day (many of the great labels/records/tapes played regularly on MCoQ will be there), and live bands at night. ... All Prison Tatt label titles and distro items will be available, discounted from their Web-posted prices. ...The BRAND NEW one-sided LP by Nuit Noire, A Beautiful Belief, arrived just in time, so copies will be available for the first time.

Hope to meet you all; see you there!

KRAUT (& PROG) RISING!

Though incorporated into the My Castle of Quiet horrorcast™, somewhat regularly, this week, for the first time since 2011, we'll be presenting a full three hours of mostly 70s (& some 80s) Krautrock, and other European progressive rock.

So...no metal, no modern "noise" etc., though a great deal of what happens weekly on the radio show can be easily, stlistically traced back to this hyper-creative period in European music, stretching far beyond the scope of "rock," in its myriad, seemingly endless permutations.

Kraut-Out #1, from July 2011.

We hope you'll join us, for seldom-heard tracks, and sundry mind excursions.
Tuesday night / Weds. a.m.

I blow the dust off my purple bellbottoms and red-velvet waistcoat, at 12 mitternacht.
Krautrock begins alomst immediately.
WFMU 91.1FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1FM (Hudson Valley)
in Rockland County @ 91.9FM
wfmu.org LIVE on the Web.

I'll carry the pessimism torch when you're gone

As listener blee put it, last night's horrorcast™ was "...different, in a positive way." I'm traversing in some lighter stuff, I suppose, though music that's not obviously hard and heavy can also absolutely have gravitas, convey leaden emotion, especially in the case of something like the much-lauded-by-Castleheads Guilty Feelings / Nest CD, or the classic Mayo Thompson track we heard, "Worried Worried" from 1970, which is one of those songs on my eternal, internal HD.

I really love what I do at WFMU, as much as it "ain't much" in terms of a more far-reaching popularity. I've always had this "dream" that black metal, and the other, much-more-difficult-than-average sounds we convey, could somehow, in the right context and at the right time, be as popular with listeners as any of the bigger shows on WFMU. But I'm a dreamer, and it just goes to show that I'm stupidly of an ironclad belief that the show I do could ring true with larger masses of people if they only listened, gave it a chance.

People, as a group at least, tend toward things that are put right in front of them and are "easy" to like, in radio terms that means talk, call-in programs, pop-rock music and the like—and to certain degrees and in certain cases I really enjoy those things too—but I've had this vision from the outset of My Castle of Quiet that more "challenging" or "difficult" programming could be embraced more widely, if listeners only heard it, or saw it, in the way that I do. Dreamer, like I said. ...

Lots of playlist-comment appreciation for all sorts of things last night; the above-mentioned Guilty Feelings and Thompson tracks, as well as - the new Eyehategod s/t CD; some more-recent Ulver (i.e., not black metal); the new Dama/Libra on Northern Spy; the trailer audio for Bug, one of my favorite films of the new millennium; a great, recent cassette by Croatia's Averzija (!); and some killer, atmospheric bm from Slovakia by Korium.

Anyone else zoom through Season 1 of True Detective recently, as I did? Often, HBO can be counted on to make quality television, and True Detective is deeply compelling and resonant, less for its serial-murder-mystery milieu, than for its stunning performances by M. McConaughey and "our brother in cannabis" Woody Harrelson, who always turns in a great performance. Soul-crushing, gut-wrenching, hyper-realistic roles from both actors, for sure. Some great music is featured on the series as well, curated / chosen by T-Bone Burnett; the opening, credit-sequence song by Handsome Family, and the many well-chosen songs used within episodes, and as credit-outro themes. 

Thanks as always to Caslteheads, both the devoted and the new converts, for keeping me company in the wee, wee hours, and for your enthusiasm and commentary.

Upcoming special programs include next week's "Kraut-Out #2," a long time coming, another three-hour adventure in some carefully chosen European progressive rock and Krautrock, all 70s, all the time. Link to stream Kraut-Out #1, from July 2011.

Also coming, for my birthday horrorcast on our August 5/6 show, a live set from NYC's Privilege, and a preview / sampling of some new projects by our friend J. Slusher. ...Hopefully, some kind lady also "makes it like my birthday" ... just putting that out there. A great time will nonetheless be had by all. 

Click above, on the curious, often-nude amateur sleuth played by Edwige Fenech, to reach our playlist and audio archive for last night.

Massaging my hate to sleep.

So, a relatively "quiet" night, on the playlist, but I never sweat those. People are out there, listening and feeling the music. ...In part, I gauge things by my own personal quality standard, though interacting with listeners via WFMU's accuplaylist in real time during the show is definitely a lot of fun for me. Plus, more comments (our post title here today, for example) trialed in after, as they so often do, due to our horrorcast™'s late hour, or early hour, for some.

Praise early on for the outstanding track by Puerto Rico's Cornucopia, and yes, it's true I've never heard a "bad" or "uninteresting" Cornucopia track—their considerable output has been generally outstanding, and that Ultima album is perhaps my favorite release on my buddy Bob Bellerue's Anarchymoon Recordings label. I just come back to that record again and again. But I'm predisposed, also, toward any LP where a "side" = "song" layout has been employed. ...The Ultima track may have also helped to make it a quiet night; a hovering, a 19-min., mind-daubing electronic piece will either put some people to sleep, or send the less hearty onward to more pop pastures.

CORNUCOPIA ON BANDCAMP - lots of free downloads, and others are "name your price"

Also, one CD-R that's never failed to get a positive reaction from Castleheads—and somewhat to my surprise, as we so rarely if ever play acoustic, melodious music—is the Nest CDr by Gulity Feelings. Castleheads, like me, must just really love this album—it's this kind of sound done very right, and the songs are all executed with sincerity and passion, and the lyrics are good and the melodies are like mind-glue; plus it's generally dreary and bittersweet, so ultimately Guilty Feelings DOES very much fit the mood of MCoQ.

This record has yet to make its full impact on the music world, and thus far Guilty Feelings, perhaps refreshingly, have no Internet presence whatsoever that I could detect.

Also, for my own, a high, high point of last night's show was the lengthy cassette track from Void Prayer (out now on The Throat)—emotionally stirring, with a wild build, and representative of the striking new direction of Netherlands black metal in general.

Thanks for listening this week! Click on the abomination depicted above, to reach our horrorcast playlist, audio archive and listener comments. ...I'm off to continue the drawn-out process of dying alone....oh, also, wanted to add that I really enjoyed this Norwegian period piece about a young girl on the run from barbarians ...

Hereness accomplished.

To reach the archive and playlist of last night's horrorcast™, click on the still above, from Alien IV: Resurrection (1997, Jean-Pierre Jeunet), featuring the gloppy spawn of Ripley and the Queen Alien, and a terrified synthetic, Call, played by Winona Ryder.

Listeners loved the track by Cave Ritual, and well they should, the band being one of the most exciting BM bands to emerge from The Netherlands in recent years. Cave Ritual @ Discogs | CR @ metal archives

Also noted, the Witchbeam tape side from the new split cs with Mr. Matthews (both of Telecult Powers fame) on Hausu Mountain, a label that's been celebrating / releasing some of my favorite artists.

Not much more to add at this juncture, a bit premature but we are hoping for a live visit from Nine of Swords, in July. Thanks for listening!