However long the day it still ends in the dark

Daddy likes his "dragon music," and Daddy likes Cape of Bats a whole hell of a lot. When you connect with a band as people, and find those people to be as amenable as the work itself, well that's just about as good as it gets. So genuine and unassuming in person in fact, that it adds weight to the band's incredible chops—in playing, in songwriting, in arranging; the care shown to every recorded piece, every live rendering...I could go on, and I will, for a bit. Their songs (written mostly by mmrs. Cassidy & Francis(?)) average 2-3 genius riffs per 2-min. opus, everything used sparingly for its emphasis and then quickly discarded, or perhaps revisited (sometimes in terms of a variation on a theme), solid bass and rip-roaring melodic-metal leads worthy of Mercyful Fate keep level the deceptive chaos, and occasionally the two guitars opt for harmony, and when it happens it's ecstatic. Punk 2/4 maintains a forward careen for the most part, except when things suddenly break for a few breaths, and a different statement gets made.

Some people cannot even approach black metal, or punk for that matter—it all "sounds the same," is too noisy or "absent of melody"—well, Cape of Bats are proof that in the best bands, there is a fuck of a lot going on, there's a GODDAMNED PLAN to the proceedings. These people are deliberate, whether by nature or by meticulous planning, doesn't matter; everything from a brief acoustic-and-synth break, to the overall aesthetic presentation of the band, has coherence and purpose. Part of the reason I continue to love black metal is its malleability; the potential shapes made by talented individuals of the genre's basic stuffs seems infinite.

Stepping down off pulpit... exuding charm and gaining praise also were Nick Cave (a perennial) | Dark Blue (hopelessly addicting) | Wounds ...I quite enjoyed Finnish d-beat dirge form Incriminated (thanks Andorkappen, for the tip-off) | new Red Mass | new Wet Ones ...ahh, I pretty much love the whole thing—otherwise, why do it? Not for the glory. For me, and for you. Speaking of rewards, it seems timely to mention that WFMU's 2016 two-marathon fundraiser soirée begins in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, always great listening that sounds more like a party than a "fund drive." I've got a primo premium planned; Anthems, a collection of themes from classic videos games, interwoven with "kvlt" dark ambient and some inspiring classical dirges. Perfect listening for a moonlit survey of your kingdom. 

Two great co-hosts are on deck as well (won't spoil the surprise), and I'll be privileged myself to co-host / MC two excellent programs. DO JOIN US!

Finally, as an extension of the movie talk with CoB members last night, wanted to share a link to the great Spider Baby, and also emphasize my recommendation that listeners see The Houses October Built, a film which got better for me on second viewing, and while a perfect piece on conception, execution (literally), visuals and scares, if they had only painted a more-interesting cast of someones besides the humorless douchebags we get, who seem to be the wrong people entirely to take on this particular adventure, we might care when horrible things happen to them, which I think is supposed to be what happens. ...

Hear's this week's full horrorcast™, with Cape of Bats complete set, by clicking up top on the image from Ich Seh Ich Seh (aka Goodnight Mommy) (The literal title "I See, I See" being so much more appropriate to the story and generally compelling, but hey, that's world cinema dumbed down for the punters!) Enough. Click on the creepy kid in the mask with the candle to be transported to The Castle's Great Hall.

i agree with everything everyone said.

It came back to me, last night after the program, that "hentai" literally translates as "pervert," but has been linguistically overwhelmed by common usage, as the umbrella term for Japanese cartoon porn, such that (based on what I read) it's not used too often today to point at individual perverts, in favor of the commercial collectivism of their fetish. As a word person, I find this highly amusing; just imagine if we had a porn subgenre here in the west called "pervert" ... Just in general, I like to follow up on the shit I say on mic, my late-firing synapses often failing me. Considering it's from 30 years ago, I waited way too long to watch Entrails of a Beautiful Woman, such a deliciously unhinged, ultra-colorful and downright filthy little piece of cult-cinema insanity that it is.



Yet again, I feel uniquely privileged to have a forum wherein to present some of my favorite musical artists live, and meeting and hosting Hiroshi Hasegawa was no small matter for me. Outstanding, powerfully engaging sets from both the Astro-man himself, as well as Castle familiars Desiccant dominated our horrorcast™; enthralling modern music, sound sculpture at its absolute finest, a reason to live, and to keep doing what I do as "niched" as it is, as that niche deserves a voice.

In our last hour, got into some great new punk records—there is simply so much these days, it's overwhelming; more good/interesting bands than there are trad./predictable ones—some new releases I'm pretty tuned up on are the new Red Mass one-sided vinyl, the Wet Ones s/t, Flowers of Evil, Death Index, Condition ...and of course the great Sesso Violento & Black Cilice songs from 2015 were personal highlights. You can stream & enjoy the live sets, and the totality of last night's horrorcast, by clicking on the titular character from Cyclo (1995) above, in his moment of happy-pill-induced self-sploshing and gun play.

Until next time, here's the trailer for Here Comes The Devil, a 2012 Mexican horror film that for me got substantially better with a second viewing, all things unsettling, Satanic, sexual.... More great live music next week on My Castle of Quiet with Cape of Bats!

My Noise Valentine; Desiccant & Hiroshi Hasegawa on WFMU!

A monumental, momentous occasion is upon us, as Hiroshi Hasegawa makes his first visit to WFMU's My Castle of Quiet. A living legend of Japanese long-form/improvised/psych-noise, Hiroshi Hasegawa co-founded C.C.C.C., cementing a near-Krautrock approach to Japanoise, one that had been hovering over it since Magical Power Mako, and later Merzbow, but C.C.C.C. really brought it home—with disk-long compositions/performances, that allowed listeners to float off on a cosmic bed of multicolored squeal and rumble. Hasegawa has continued this creative arc, through such projects as his solo Astro material, and the glorious, long-form Astromero collaborations with Damion Romero (Speculum Fight.)

Returning to our show are two seasoned and celebrated Castle guests; Mat Rademan (of FUN, Newton) and Andy Borsz (of Slasher Risk & countless collabs.), playing together as Desiccant; both of them natural improvisers, intuitive players who work at ease with unconventional sounds, their union sure to be full of excitement and surprise.

Live sets, recorded exclusively for WFMU and My Castle of Quiet, air Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, February 16-17 @ approx. 12:15 a.m.

WFMU 91.1FM

WMFU 90.1FM (Husdon Valley)

91.9FM (Rockland)

wfmu.org live stream

Facebook event

HH / Desiccant tour

Felicitations on #300 WM

Rolling with the My Castle of Quiet-favored "party continuum" option, which should see us straight through to the WFMU 2016 marathon and beyond, show #300 saw us privileged to host an artist with whom I've shared years of mutual support, Sandor GF aka Andorkappen, the wild creative force also behind such projects as Lord Time, member of KILT and 1/3 of the mighty Harassor.  >>>



So, what just blew my mind in the post-experiential hearing (it was overwhelming enough in person, but it's often that next day where a rager really hits home, fully consumed) was a live-rendered, improvised-around-a-plan Andorkappen piece "Endless Endings", and you can hear / download the the "official" version here.

Stream our entire horrorcast™ (live set, interview, the usual tatty array of black metal, movie trailers, and those clean-pressed dark hxcx lads) by clicking on Chester Turner's Black Devil Doll above (I won't feed your anticipation of this one at all, just to say if you have never seen it, see it...trailer below.)



You can catch Andorkappen LIVE THIS WEEKEND; Friday, at Silent Barn /w Hiroshi Hasegawa, as Dead Wolf Black, collab with our friend Bob Bellerue; Saturday at The Omega Order HQ (94 Bogart St., Brooklyn.)

More top-shelf, live, soul-crushing sound next week from Dessicant (Andy Borsz & Mat Rademan) and Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C., Astro, Astromero !!!)



My most sincere thanks all of you for your kind support & hearty hails for our 300th show on last night's playlist; Castleheads unite, always! Kick against those Grand Pricks, and I'll hear from you next week, you'll definitely hear me.

UPON WORD OF YOUR PASSING WE SHALL ERECT A GOLDEN ALTAR IN YOUR HONOR UPON WHICH WE SHALL SLAUGHTER 70 VIRGINS

Good idea to have that shit READY. That said, my "people" tend to live well into their 80s, sometimes 90s, but you never know, there have been exceptions. Still, probably excessive to waste that many perfectly good virgins on my passing...I'll surely get burnt out on the whole thing by 20, maybe 25.

I caught up with the show around the time Cherubs were playing; some old guy was doing the show up until then. Good music always; I just wasn't driving, I was distracted by the cigarette lighter.

Mercyful Fate / King Diamond always prompts a positive reaction; historically, their best work seems to unite metalheads, punks and popsters alike. ... Also new Dark Blue | Mondo Macabro DVD | Black Panties | general accolades for black-metal-saturated set #2 | Solo Organ ...I enjoyed it all as usual, lots of exciting new and recent punk, grind/death, black etc.

Having a blast with WFMU's playlist-db image uploader; always been a lover of great album-cover art, and based on the positive listener response, I'll keep plugging that aesthetic identity into My Castle of Quiet's weekly cavalcade.

Thanks also for all your comments / contributions / participation—a lively comment board always helps to keep me thrusting forward, makes it feel like a party, a group interaction. To view the playlist, stream the archived audio and view comments, you can hear last night's full horrorcast™ by clicking above, on that somewhat disconcerting image from The Poughkeepsie Tapes, a faux crime documentary that was a seat-squirmer, even for myself, seasoned viewer of cinematic torment that I am.

Super-excited about our February at The Castle, with a maddeningly good lineup of live performances—starting next week, with a live, in-studio, in-the-moment set from Andorkappen (Lord Time/Harassor, KILT, Universal Consciousness Records)—it will be A TIME.