Well, time for Donald Fagen and Irmin Schmidt to form a band—while they still "can!" ...The most "in" and "out" of 70s rock music, colliding in a studio—how could that NOT get everyone queuing up hours in advance??
Autumn rebirth, it's here; the air is lighter, with cool snap to every breath and breeze. All things seem doable, possible. Just look at Carol Kane, above—is she not in perpetual "harvest mode"?
Our live music schedule shifted some ...with Sire canceling / postponing, and a door opening that very same day to a live collab set from Rodger Stella and Sean Ragon, on our October 3-4 program- with Pulcinella still scheduled for the following week, 10/10-11.
Click on Cissy above, this week's mad goddess, to reach the accuplaylist, streaming audio, and listener comments for this week's horrorcast™.
And that's the idea—bliss. Large-sized, fat slabs of noise, to wrap and soothe your head like a sonic turban. No. 7 this week, and they will keep coming, as My Castle of Quiet continues on its bloody rampage into WFMU's new schedule...
On that topic, expect a live, in-studio set from Pulcinella (10/10-11), with more to come.
I swear these posts will get longer with the onset of Autumn. Looking back, I used to write things that were like "micro-lit" here. Just waiting out the end of Summer, busy with "life stuff," and not feeling terribly inspired to extrapolate, beyond a program rundown and a movie recommendation or two.
AND ON THAT TOPIC...
Apart from some titles already discussed on this week's program, I just last night watched what just might turn out to be one of my favorite viewing experiences of this year—from 2011—but new to me, and freshly available to scrubs with a Shudder account: The Oregonian, directed and written by Calvin Reeder, who you may know better as having small parts in some great 2000s horror films (as the cop who arrives at the sploshy ending of You're Next, or as Gary, the head thug in "Tape 56," the wraparound story from V/H/S the first.)
The Oregonian hits the ground running (appreciated, in horror especially), and is deftly filmed & edited to incorporate modern shaky-cam techniques (when scene-appropriate) with a "70s psychic-surreal road film" aesthetic. Think O'Brien's The Third Policeman, with a female protagonist, set very decidedly in the Pac NW, with a recurring and disarming frog-furry costumed character.
Up top, the chillingly amoral Ryunosuke, from The Sword of Doom (1966.) Click there to stream this week's horrorcast™ in full.
The centerpiece of our horrorcast™ this week was a barbarous live set by SCREECH, their FIRST LIVE SET ever, as it turns out, though neither myself nor anyone listening would have known. Tight and mincey—clearly solidly rehearsed—they plied us with older songs, newer, unreleased songs, and several favorites from their outstanding full length The Color Greed, the record that led me to them in the first place (first via the Mister Mincer channel on YouTube, then to their bandcamp.) Very pleased that I was able to do my little part to bring SCREECH's music to the airwaves, and hopefully to a wider audience, with greater things to come for the band.
I'm in a heady, on-edge, ready-to-snap mix of "too much caffeine," and "fear of nuclear war," with the joy of knowing that I'm getting tattooed later this afternoon mixed in. Can't really add much more at this time.
Our screen cap this week returns us again to the great South-Korean film The Wailing; a scene from the near-end—that still won't make sense to those who haven't yet seen it—click there to stream this week's full horrorcast and the SCREECH set in full.
Sweating to the oldies, quite literally...which I'm fine with, as long as it's "22 Going On 23" and "Brained By Falling Masonry." While 80s popular culture was biting it big—big hair, big belts, bright colors, and white Englishmen playing pop reggae—the musical underground (as viewed by me, then a newbie @ WFMU) was churning with vitality.
Also lined up for praise: new Wiccans | Glue | vintage Smegma | another great excursion from the upcoming Breakdancing Ronanld Reagan full-length | Argholsent | Bill Orcutt | new works by Sects | R. Nikolaenko | Orphan Swords ...
We laughed, we shuddered, and my dog barked on mic. As my old running buddy R. Cuevas used to say, "Billy man, I'm tiiied," and I am, tired as fuck, and braced for an evening airport pickup, so I'm gonna keep this short. Suffice it to say that this week's horrorcast™ had an even-better-than-usual gelling of content, reflected by much praise on and off our playlist comments, which I humbly accept. If I can please myself, and please YOU at the same time, then it was all worthwhile. The ol' radio reach-around. Bam Bam, Bam Bam Billah.
For this week's playlist capture we returned to the oft-visited Joe Spinell and William Lustig's Maniac, just about as good a slasher movie as there ever will be, scalps on mannequins and whatnot. Click there to stream the full horrorcast archive, view song info & album-cover art, and read the heady swirl of listener comments.
My sole film recommendation this week is something Castleheads are likely already on top of, Ben Wheatley's Free Fire, the latest feature from the ever-surprising, can't miss British director—not a horror film at all—but a raucous, grimy, funny and frenetic shootout film, set in a warehouse in 1970s Boston, with an International cast of miscreant types. High-low entertainment.
'Twas a briny night in The Castle, with 3/4 of Couch Slut in attendance, and their inviolable new album taking center stage. What the band have done, far from simply avoiding the sophomore slump, they have created a nonchalantly powerful, ferocious hard rock record—each song loaded with multiple, rousing riffs, moments of melodic, energized subtlety, and some off-brand instrumentation—with no sacrifice of the bite. Obviously, I can't say enough good things about Contempt, which releases today on Gilead Media.
My right index finger got a delete-button workout, and I'd guess that very few of you listening even knew what was happening, so seamless were the random edits, harhar...and so it goes, with musicians / artists I truly admire, the conversation should and did flow freely, winding down many a tangent. I don't "do" Q & A—much too tedious across the long table—I'm happier to just "clubhouse," and see where the night takes us. It was different for the band, even different for your horrorcast™ host. Thanks again to Theo, Megan, and Kevin, and the good people at Gilead, for making this LP premiere happen (Kevin W. was there too, in holographic, hearts 'n' minds form.)
We also heard from Led Zeppelin's Presence | Screech (our live guests on the upcoming 8-9 Aug. Castle show) | new Impalers | our good friends and former guests Yellow Eyes | new Brainbombs | Bill Orcutt | Sunk Cost ...
In movie-revelation news, my highest recommendation this week to Hostiles (2015) , a French out-of-sequence nail biter, wherein a reprobate couple, in betwixt flashbacks of their socially discomfiting behavior (the female lead reminding me a little too much of a former girlfriend—watch out for the ones with the naturally curly dark hair and angry eyes, all's I'm sayin'), take a floppy biking / camping trip, all the while unknowingly circling both a wild boar and a mysterious gravedigger. Stuff happens, to be sure.
Our screen capture this week comes from Amat Escalante's Heli; Escalante being a bold and brutal, wholly original new voice in Méxican cinema. Click there to reach the streaming archive for this week's show. Back next week, with more blistering musical truth and blackened comedy.
Kevin Corrigan, (uncredited) as the soft, hairless, and dull-witted-but-lovable Mercutio to Vincent Gallo's aggro Romeo in Buffalo '66, will take you to the streaming archive of this week's My Castle of Quiet horrorcast™. I don't have to tell YOU that Buffalo '66 is an absolutely perfect movie, a 70s-style Cassavetes homage in tone, with unexpected musical numbers and frozen scenes like pages from one character's book of life; I just watched it again recently, so I'm excited, ok? Plus, any good director shooting in the city of their birth is near-guaranteed to strike gold—it's the home-turf rule of film.
I've also been on an Oshima kick, filling the holes in my viewing of the proto-trangressive Japanese director's filmography, having this week watched both Japanese Summer: Double Suicide and Violence at Noon, the latter being my favorite of the two, but they're both worth watching, if you favor that sort of mid-60s, postwar, b&w Japanese cine-madness.
Next week, special programming; the full-album premiere of Couch Slut's Contempt, their new LP on Gilead Media; thanks to all who helped make this happen, and do join us!
I promise not to get preachy this week, at least not here. Getting preachy, it just wears me out—do I get a few "Amens"? Sure. Do I change anyone's mind? Almost definitely not. Most have already chosen a narrative (or wisely chosen NOT to choose a narrative), and my singular voice is not going to take down political correctness or flip anyone's script in a single blow, or even a few blows. Life experience will get you there, if at all. Many seem so married to hard-left or hard-right stances, at least those are currently the loudest voices, not realizing that all the nuance (not to mention most of the population, here and abroad) exists in the massive grey area in the middle, the unconfigured soup, the lengthy festoon that hangs both between and connecting the fixed obelisks on either side.
Did I get preachy after all? Ah well... news a of a Tarantino-ized film adaptation of the Manson story has me riled, and I'd rather get mouthy about film at this point than social politics. I'm displacing, please excuse me.
This week's horrorcast™ was "dirty," so said The Countess, and yeah, I was working out a lot of stuff, with a big fat dose of grind, and noise...and thanks to everyone for not only indulging, but encouraging, my ongoing weekly Butthole Surfers time-capsule, because ah, it just seems so like the right time for that.
Enjoyed the lively discourse on cult film, New Jersey towns, hipsters and other nonsense on the My Castle of Quiet comments board; always a distinct pleasure to engage with the tribe!
I can hardly see to type through filthy glasses (a summertime affliction), but I'd have to say this week's Noise Bliss-Out #6 (linked through the capture above) was an unqualified success. Why? Because not only did I fold a mere 14 selections into a three-hour program, but in addition, Unsustainable Social Condition's "Barricade Coercion" earned us the unimaginative, tried-often-but-not-true "this is not music" comment. Oh, if only I had a hundred bucks for every time a listener's limited expectations led them to say that!
Listeners really seem to enjoy the Noise Bliss-Outs, and well of course, I do as well; it's quality immersion, great for the head, and from my DJ's chair, it's "working smart, not hard." Below are links to every other NB-O My Castle of Quiet program thus far, for your crunchy enjoyment:
Atop our playlist, the talented, gorgeous (and so often cast in deliciously grotesque roles) Béatrice Dalle. A bit more on the film depicted, Trouble Every Day, and the actor's outrageous personal legend, here.
Back next week with more mayhem. Thanks for listening, enjoying, and for your robust dialogue on our playlist comments....
Someone recently referred to My Castle of Quiet as a "legendary" program; I mention this because going back, reviewing and assessing my accomplishments, and the history thereof, is something I don't really do. I do enjoy a comment like that, of course, but quietly. It's not as if praise or support or sincere appreciation of what I do, both on and off the radio (as with the Prison Tatt Records label) is something I don't soak up like a Brawny towel, I do indeed, though I am most often stymied for a personal response of any kind. Praise makes me look at the floor and go silent and not know what to say. Which brings me to the Rise William Rise digital collection on Opposite Records.
Some of you may know that I suffered a stroke late last year, and/or that a host of other health issues were unleashed by that incident. The whole house of cards of my health came crashing down in one day. Since then, I've had short-term kidney failure, upper & lower back pain and numbness, trouble holding my head upright, chronic hiccups, and worst of all, ongoing gastrointestinal issues that led to surgery just over one month ago. I'm very much on the mend from most of this now, but there were multiple hospital stays, a crazy amount of tests, and so much blood extracted from me that I could have stocked a Harassor tour.
Shortly after my first hospital stay, Don Sigal, longtime friend and supporter of my My Castle... and Prison Tatt Records, organized and compiled a benefit compilation to help with my medical expenses, and the contributors' list honored and moved me in a way that's so personal, I won't even attempt to describe how I felt. Contributions from good friends, many of whom have been live performers on the show, and/or artists whose music has been featured, even celebrated on the program, add up to a very satisfying compendium of sound art/rock-noise/what have you—a great compilation that I'd like and promote even if its purpose was not to benefit me personally in a time of poor health and unanticipated financial stress.
You can view the contributors and track list, and stream the collection in its entirely here, and I'll embed the bc player below, just to make it easy for all. I'm somewhat restricted, by WFMU's not-for-profit norms, from drawing special attention to the release, a perhaps unfortunate catch-22, though both playing the occasional selection, and promoting/encouraging listeners to buy via the Web are within my prerogative, and most importantly, I'll say again that it's a compilation I'd enjoy and purchase regardless of whether or not it was created in my name. Special accolades to Don, who not only seized upon the most-appropriate title, but also grabbed an image from Beyond The Living, aka Nurse Sherri for the cover (the film that supplies most of the audio for MCoQ's much-beloved weekly show-opening.) I'm humbled, and send tremendous gratitude and love to all involved.
Now, the best movie I watched this past week, perhaps in months, is The Wailing, an anything-goes South-Korean horror epic from the director of the great The Chaser (an absolute classic among Korean thrillers); dark magic, horrid disease & death, demonic possession, occult & demonic forces at war, and one terrifying reanimated corpse (pictured up top) all feature in the crazy quilt of The Wailing's greatness. Click there, on our weekly screen capture, to stream this week's horrorcast in full.
Next week (maybe, still juggling ideas): Noise Bliss-Out #6
M. del Rio is a champion collector / archivist of black metal, and his visits as guest-DJ to My Castle of Quiet are always invigorating. This was visit number four, perhaps one of the most stimulating shows of Seed-Stockery; with artists that will send myself and listeners (one presumes) into weeks of research, hunting and Discogs purchasing.
Each of his mixtapes (and yes, these were actual mixtapes) was devoted to a different nation: Svensk, Norge, and Hellas, and though we ran out of time on the Greece tape, materials were left in my care, such that we'll be hearing selections from that one in the weeks to come on MCoQ.
Every song was essentially a "hit"—wild, creative and complex, a must for enthusiasts of the genre, though standouts included: Svartsyn, Arckanum, Wulkanaz, LIK, Azhubham Haani, Armagedda, Unpure (!), Sorhin, Helheim, Troll, Kvist, Virus, Legion of Doom... see that's nearly the entire playlist. And just look at the encapsulating rundown of black-metal tape and record sleeves! A heaven for the eyes, naturally for the hell-minded.
Can't thank M. and Ning Nong enough for stopping by; the on-air selections were prime, and the off-mic discussions also a treat for me, just to be in the company of those who have an "investment" in black metal, such that discussion-in-depth flows naturally.
Films that resonated strongly with me over the past week were L'autre Monde (English title Black Heaven), a film directed by the writer of two great French mind-fuck classics, Harry, He's Here To Help and Lemming; and Among The Living (Aux Yeux des vivants), a bloody, fast-paced horror thriller that nearly defies adequate description. Trailers below.
Thanks for listening and for your comments, back next week.
Anyone out there remember how I've said in the past, "once you care, you're fucked"? Well yeah, that ship has sailed—many times obviously—but this time, things are a bit different.
What I'm caring about this time is free speech, which has taken so many hard hits recently, you'd think it was married to Ike Turner. See, I think we can all agree that spousal abuse is not in the least bit funny, but my point here, in this context, and context is crucial, is that I have the right to make that joke, and you in turn have the right to chuckle at it, or not.
62% of American University campuses would really rather that you NOT have that choice, and that's where I'm headed here.
Harvard admissions are being rescinded over students' use of "offensive" memes; careers of ordinary people, and celebrities alike, are being forestalled or ruined outright—over words, written or spoken, simply because someone would prefer not to read or hear them. You have the choice, always, in a free society, to simply LOOK AWAY, or to use your free speech to publicly disagree. This is serious shit, and I could never have predicted, even 10 years ago, that these hits to our freedoms would come from the Left, that is to say, the collective social-media hive mind of the Liberal and Left-leaning, the so-called politically correct.
The rules against free expression of unpopular ideas, on the majority of college campuses, right now, are even more restrictive than outside of academia. This is the opposite of what I grew up believing, as a child of the 70s, because college was the place where critical thinking and free-spirited debate was not only supposed to happen, but widely encouraged. Higher education was where you tweaked your identity and began your path to adulthood, a "safe space" for all—feminists, Black Panthers, Communists, yes, but also the Young Conservatives, Randians, literally everyone...and no book open on your lap on the quad would be ever questioned, or even open to criticism, whether it was Mein Kampf or The Female Eunuch.
As someone who's been in broadcasting since 1984, I pay special attention to censorship, FCC rulings and the like, and I have always been hard-line anti-censorship, because I want to assume that the public is free, intelligent, and discerning enough to disseminate any and all information, be it written, spoken, or in the form of visual or performance art. Seek out the ideas you find relatable and palatable, and leave the rest, or even better—find people you disagree with, those who are saying what you don't want to hear, and engage them, in open, respectful debate.
People like to say nowadays that "1984 is happening right now," the problem with this notion usually for me is that it's automatically assumed that this control of what we say and ultimately think will come from the corridors of power, from government, from the idiot in charge, the Right wing essentially; but what we see happening now is individuals in our free society being bullied into apologizing and kowtowing to popular opinion—neither via regulation nor legislation—and many of us (myself included) are simply self-editing, so as to not lose friends, or have our livelihoods or creative pursuits questioned, boycotted or denied.
Make no mistake, this war on free speech is a tragic and urgent matter, and it's coming from places you might least expect, like Twitter and BuzzFeed. As Simpsons bartender Moe Szyslak once sang, "Sorry Marge, the mob has spoken." Indeed, the mob has spoken, and it does not want hear words, or see pictures, or experience your irreverence, lexicon and conditions notwithstanding. I for one am scared. Free speech, protected by law, is not being curtailed or limited by the authorities, but by every Dick and Jane with a social media account.
Rant over, but I implore you reading this to consider my words, and to not simply follow a narrative, but to truly and always be a free thinker, rather than a media parrot. Seek out those with opposing beliefs and opinions and humanize them.
I also did a radio show this week! Popular tracks came from Mortuary Drape | The Frogs | The Stranglers | The Dead Boys | Krieg | Devil Master | J. Soliday | Blank Spell | Nurse | Oven | Black Urn | Tony Conrad ... and special high marks to new work by Hatchers, my personal high point of the horrorcast™. You can stream the whole thing by clicking on our weekly still, this time from the elevated zombie trash of 1981's Burial Ground, known both for its simply awful, low-effort special effects, and for one very-memorable character, an underdeveloped manchild that just looks a whole lot like Mark E. Smith.
I return next week with a total blackout—our fourth guest-DJ visit from M. del Rio of Seed Stock Records, Raspberry Bulbs, et al. Should be a great time, as black as we ever get at My Castle of Quiet. For more information, to comment or join, please visit our Facebook event listing.
"We're calling to arms, and it's shields and swords people." —me
And if you don't have iron, make a torch, grab a pitchfork. Arguably, those who are driving the spaceship set the tone for the behavior of the crew at large, and all I see when I make the mistake of leaving the house is bad behavior. Tampons (used) on the ground in the parking lot; if that doesn't say (scream) "I don't give a fuck," what does? We have a Chief Executive who tweets utter nonsense at 3 a.m., unchecked by any staff or family, offending the global community daily, and that now-perpetual instability is empowering every idiot with a bad idea, a selective memory, and nothing positive to contribute. That's my real objection to Trump, the celebration of stupid and proud.
I try most often to make My Castle of Quiet a glory-filled, horror-movie fantasy escape, free of social politics or otherwise, but it just seems to get more difficult over time. The herd feeds on propaganda like McDonald's, their senses are dulled to the extreme but I'm sure they feel sharp; "fucking dumb" is to be celebrated, "ghosting" is the new etiquette, and even the good people are pulling inward, playing the "look at me and my problems" game at the expense of anyone else's real, non-social-media-shared feelings—it's the me, me, me generation, and even stepping outside, I check the bushes for personal slights.
Half a tear for Manchester, and right back to hobnobbing the complexity of midgets talking backward in the new Twin Peaks. Jim Morrison's "You're all a bunch of slaves!" from the ill-famed Miami concert comes quickly to mind. You're familiar with how the NRA aggressively campaigns in regions that have just experienced a mass shooting? That's how I see the cries of "Islamaphobia!" in the immediate wake of a terror attack. I'm only asking that if you truly consider yourselves to be Leftists, Socialists, collectivists, that you traverse in actual facts rather than follow the narrative. Not everything on the Left is right, not everything on the Right is wrong.
Also, I did a radio show this week...the horrorcast™ careens into summer, and listeners seem to be enjoying the less-predictable eclecticism of more-recent Castle playlists.
This week, we started off with electronic cinema scores from Goblin and Chris Burke, heard more from Angel Marcloid's Fire-Toolz, danced in YET MORE Butthole Surfers fetish territory, lapsing into mind-melt from new releases by Haare and Incapacitants. Later on, Anasazi, Drezden, The Stranglers ... holy aggression from Special Breed (M. del Rio, our guest DJ in two weeks, visit no. 4), Dauðyflin, Toxicology, Ancestors, and Psychic Limb, among many others. Our final noise-punch was made up of tracks from Stroker, Blood Rhythms, and an excerpt from the nothing-less-than-astounding new Peter Brötzmann-Heather Leigh.
Thanks for listening & partaking. Fighting the good fight against widespread stupid, I shall return next week.
Yes, I went for it and chose a praiseful headline from this week's listener comments, because well, I don't get those every week; a real connection with some listeners is always assumed, but it's great to hear. I'm forever trying to raise the station of what I do, never sleeping on the job, trying to listen to myself, to my gut, and have a more-natural flow, rather than do a "metal chunk," then a "punk chunk," then a "space chunk" ... which honestly gets unchallenging for me too, and I can see by listener reactions this week, that leaning a little bit toward the past, toward the style of The Hip Bone show (my weekly stint on WFMU from 1984-1999) is a good thing, and I can still maintain the integrity of the My Castle of Quiet filter while doing so. I never want to just come in and play records, because hey, we can all do that at home. In brief, thanks for listening and liking!
Much of our first and second sets were singled out for praise, notably: Crazy Dreams Band | yet more 90s-vintage Butthole Surfers | black-space mess from Arkhtinn | pre-"dungeon synth" classic occult organ blobs from Jacula | new Pharmakon | newly released late-70s gems from Ju Suk Reet Meate | SIRE [again and again!] | Forteresse | Cult of Eibon... and heavy, heavy praise for our old friends Metal Rouge, with whom I admit I lost touch a bit, and was excited to find that yes, they've been working consistently since our two shows together in the earliest years of the horrorcast™. Their linked name above will take you directly to their bandcamp page, with lots of releases since the one we heard [from 2010]; I'll be there exploring, and you should be too.
Our last hour was all big chunks; more from the new 8-cassette Âmes Sanglantes box, and a full tape side by Warden, looming and quiet and draped in mystery, from a split cassette on Tour de Garde, still available. More great improvised sounds from Arrington de Dionyso & San(s) Kazakgsacar next week, as our time wound down and only a brief excerpt was heard.
I could comment on world affairs certainly, but since almost everyonedoes these days, why would my comments be a revelation? Better to just title this week's show I Dream of a Secular Utopia, as I do quite earnestly. "Religious" thugs have been running roughshod over the world and its populace for centuries now, and we are still early in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius (Hair soundtrack aside); I won't live to see The Age of Reason sweep the planet, but hopefully my son can enjoy a taste of the world as based on empiricism, science, and humanism—rather than arcane theology from old books, woefully misinterpreted over and over....
In film, what impressed me most memorably this week was an intricate horror-drama called The Blackcoat's Daughter, originally released in 2015 under the title February; I'll watch it again and like it even more I'm sure.
My Castle of Quiet stays with you through WFMU's summer schedule, at its current night and time. Lots of special programming still in the planning stages, but I can tell you for sure we'll be treated to another visit by M. del Rio, of the Seed Stock and Personnel Records labels, founder of Bone Awl and Raspberry Bulbs, on our June 13/14 show. An upper-echelon black metal collector, M. has joined us before, but not since 2014, so if you'd like to brush up, you can find those programs here, here and here.
In 1993, Gibby Haynes already had "the answer," and those Capitol-era, ascent-to-fame Butthole Surfers albums have a value that I didn't fully appreciate at the time; solid, crafty rock records that in their way still channel the bacchanal of earlier masterpieces. The continual thread of Haynes being a master songwriter could provide me with horrorcast™ openers for a few months at least, and maybe I'll go for it. ...and though at this point in history, the Butthole Surfers have become recognizable, they are not "ugh" recognizable, and I doubt they could ever be.
We also heard a moldy slab of funeral doom from Germany's Frowning | 1982-vintage M.B. stirred hungry souls | the SIRE full-length gets better every time I listen to it | ...also: Necroscythe | Pill Hag excellent 2-song demo | outstanding solo noise from Stroker | I'm only just cracking the surface of Crackdown, Âmes Sanglantes' massive, 8-cassette box on Hospital Productions (with similar offerings from (past Castle guest) Lussuria (already sold out!) and Dust Belt making a set, and for those who had $255 to drop, I'm sure quite worth it) | ...our show finishing on your belly with a great new piece from The Gate, and a new Alga Marghen LP of Ju Suk Reet Meate (Smegma) solo works from 1975-1980.
Probably the most worth-talking-about horror film I watched this week was Nathan Ambrosioni's Therapy, though not quite the jarring amazer that is the director's more-recent Hostile (discussed here previously), I'm just peripherally rapturous that someone with ideas carries on the tradition of 21st century French-language horror cinema; both features are well deserving of your time.
Take a break from the relative horror of the news, and envelop in something fantastic—pop out of your lock box, and DON'T BE GUTTED. Back with another My Castle of Quiet next week.
Vengeful ghosts, vengeful ghosts, VENGEFUL GHOSTS! If one believed classic Japanese literature, and the over-hammered plot trends of post-Ju-On J-horror (ugh), they are EVERYWHERE! No innocent soul is spared, doesn't matter what you've done or haven't done, these spirited spirits are pissed!!
And another thing—long, lustrous, black hair—nearly all of their women are born with it, so why is it so easily transmuted to the ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING?!? I'm not scared of the hair. Maybe Japanese men are scared of their women. Hmmm?
At least with Kwaidan (1964), you know you are getting the OG Japanese terror, though even then, long hair is still not as scary as a tribunal of a dead clan and their attachment to one blind Biwa player. ...
There was a lot more too, music and er, TALK, but nothing I could say or play now would match or challenge the in-the-moment. AND ANOTHER THING...
When did the Conservatives take even our opiates away?! Father Burroughs would be A-PALLED. Now, a good old pain slog is the province of West Virginian unemployed coal miner/Trump supporters? I think not. This week's Castle was brought to you by 10/325 Percocet and Bubble Kush, so fuck that noise. NO political subset has a commodity on any escape from the world-at-large, especially in its current, new state of FUCKIN' DUMB is the currency/rule of law.
In movies I wish you would see: Applesauce (we heard the trailer this week), Onur Tukel's 2015 Woody-Allen-meets-severed-limbs horror comedy; Always Shine (I've got two sisters, I love 'em both the same, sort of identity-politic horror); and not for nothing, but The Visitor (1978) is newly streamable on Shudder and still kicks ass, in both visually glorious and unintentionally funny ways.
Back next week, and hoping to stay with you through WFMU's summer, we'll see, as I'm already racking up the tentative special programming for same.
Meanwhile, click on "The Woman in the Snow" above, from the aforementioned Kwaidan—blue lipstick, yah!...to enjoy this week's horrorcast™ archive.
Listeners seem to appreciate the expanded, perhaps more-adventurous horrorcast™ playlists that have honestly just naturally occurred in more-recent months, that "Quiet side of the Castle" traditionally reserved for our last hour, and sometimes receiving the greatest accolades, I'm spreading out that material more intuitively, trying to roll forward with what I really want to hear in the precise moment, worrying less about genre blocks.
Hope you like our playlist-topper image this week, not a screen capture, but a b&w production still from The Loveless (1981)—one perfect little moment not actually in the final film. Katherine Bigelow's first feature is most often discussed as an homage to The Wild One; for me, I see nods everywhere to Anger's Kustom Kar Kommandos and Scorpio Rising. My Castle of Quiet returns in two weeks; thanks as always for lending your ears.
This week saw a Cabaret Voltaire-minded opening, the premiere of a new Kenneth Anger / Brian Butler's Technicolor Skull track (tape out on Walpurgisnacht from Arcana Machine), new Rope Sect, old Sixx, new Snakehole, and Bauhaus holding up exceptionally well as it has. More new Cult of Fire and Black Cilice, Vanyar, Deathgod Messiah and Barghest, and unearthed greatness on 7" from Curved Blade. New Skullflower (!), Jason Lescalleet, and krautrock dreams with Planes rounded off our last hour.
Still in ill health, I remain not terribly verbose, but I can tell you these:
1. What to know about the Unicorn frappucino at Starbucks? You can't get one. Not at any location I tried. Starbucks is poison; don't go there.
2. From theoretical poison to real poison, a new study shows diet soda TRIPLES your risk of stroke and dementia. I told you so. Have a little of the real thing; always better than a frivolous dose of the laboratory-derived imitation.
3. Dollars to donuts the Paris shooting was perpetrated by a follower of Islam.
I-I-I-I-I-S-S-S-S-L-L-A-A-A-A-M! "The Religion of Peace," the only one globally that still kills people in its name.
4. Someone should do a double-feature screening of the great Living Doll (from 1990) and Love Object (newly added to Shudder.) Trailers below.
Much obliged to IDES, who brought a more intense/focused version of the band I loved just as much in 2012 (their first appearance on The Castle); their songs and arrangements are great, their fury and sheer enjoyment intense. I only wish I could have provided more room for singer Jillian K. to tear it up! Treat yourself to their late 2016 cassette & digital album Born To Run In Place, and keep an eye here for upcoming live performances.
This post comes two days late, as I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday couch- or bed-ridden, in pain, not your problem but by way of explanation there it is; I was pretty much incapable of doing anything. Now I know what people mean when they say, "at least you've got your health." Is that idiom ever really appreciated until one doesn't?
Other than that, my viewing week included several pleasures, mostly thanks to the Shudder streaming service; an oddball, low-cost-but-very-enjoyable sex-doll fetish horror/drama called Love Object (with none other than Rip Torn is a supporting role!), and if you want to be scared, and I know you do (so rare for me, and a distinct pleasure for me when a movie can get under my skin), see Hostile, a Frenh film from 2015; both trailers below.
Gotta keep moving, lest the twin weevils of laziness and anger take hold and tether me to the ground (or at least the couch.) 'Twas an indulgent blast indeed, engaging our first horrorcast™ post-
WFMU marathon, but it's important to note that this year's was a record-breaker, and I personally want to again thank all who pledged to My Castle of Quiet, especially those selfless souls who pledged off-air and within the past week, after our second and official "last" fundraising show on 3/14-15. The support and dedication you demonstrate to our program is most deeply appreciated!
As is the case with many of our DJs, marathon shows necessitate a slightly different approach on-air (more talk, and familiar, shorter selections), so what happens with many of us is that THOSE IDEAS start to build like a rush of water against the dam of our creative souls, so the week(s) of programming that immediately follow the annual fundraiser are typically a real kicker.
Though comment chatter was light, I know you were out there (both in the literal and figurative sense), and new material and releases dominated, from DARGAR (coming soon!) | Moloch (reissue on the Argento label) | Cold Fell | Vanyar | Barghest | Moros | Circle | Ride For Revenge | Occulted Death Stance | C. Lavender ... hope you enjoyed our mostly blackened and positively chilly fellowship. Want to say a bit at this juncture (larger post to come) about the Rise William Rise various artists digital compilation, released only a few weeks ago, lovingly compiled by Don Sigal of Opposite Records, and featuring almost more friends of myself personally and more stars of our horrorcast than I can count (22, to be exact), the whole release designed to benefit ongoing medical expenses, tests and treatments resulting from the stroke that felled me last November. I couldn't be more humbled and grateful to all involved. Due to WFMU's norms and nonprofit regulations, my hands are tied a bit from promoting the release on air, but we did hear the diobio selection this week, and I do urge you all to check it out, as all purposes aside, it is a damn fine collection.
We heard once again the title track from IDES' Born To Run In Place, and I'm very pleased to announce that the IDES live appearance (rescheduled from December 2016 due to my health house of cards collapsing) is again ON, scheduled for My Castle of Quiet's April 11-12 broadcast (Facebook event to come.) Born To Run In Place is quite the achievement, one of the best punk albums of any year, and I'm excited to host the band for the second time and feature their great new material live and in person.
Click on the picture/screen capture up top, to stream the full archive for this week's horrorcast.
Here I am...a day late, though definitely not a dollar short! My deepest thanks to everyone who pledged this week; 'twas a nice steady flow of pledges & other assorted good will, with "music appreciation" and talk of Sacramento, CA on the comments board (where apparently there lurks a respectable cadre of Castle folk) ... Marcel Mirbeau, learning the way we do things (but try hard not to) on WFMU, pulled a six-hour air shift, co-hosting first for my show, then hosting his own.
Please help push WFMU toward our marathon goal of $1.3m, through this Sunday, when the fundraiser concludes with the Hoof & Mouth cracked-karaoke party finale. ...You can (and should) still pledge to My Castle of Quiet as well, simply by clicking here -
The usual good time pervaded this week (just with more talk than usual, and therefore less music), with "a tender Butthole Surfer tune" (as per listener upsetter5001); a personal favorite, plus heavy music and giveaways from Grafvolluth, Our Place of Worship Is Silence, Moros, Alexandra Atnif, The Gate, Drew McDowall, et al. ...yet more thrills with classic Germs, Witchfinder General, the trailer for Sleepaway Camp, and multiple selections from this year's My Castle of Quiet premium CDr (still avail. for a pledge of $75 or more)—Shrieks, a collection of horror and cult film music and cinelogue.
Back next week with relative business as usual; more new and old black metal, punk, and noise (hint: a wealth of fresh material tends to build, like a flood behind a dam, over that two weeks of fundraising.) Thanks again & as always for your continued support of free-form WFMU, and our horrorcast™.
I'll be joined by co-host Marcel Mirbeau, partying within and without the local storm. As always, lots of great new black metal and punk, horror themes etc. ...and speaking of "horror themes," you can pick up a copy of my premium CDr collection (made exclusively for the WFMU 2017 fundraiser) Shrieks, a collection of cult- and horror-film themes and dialogue ripped from home video, cautiously curated, for your pledge of $75 or more.
To pledge directly to My Castle of Quiet, at any time: click here
I love marathon time @ WFMU—I get to hang out with some of my favorite people, many of whom I don't see nearly often enough the rest of the year, and the atmosphere station-wide is that of a continuous party with a serious goal. Ribald and righteous—what could be better?
It's also always a pleasure and journey of re-discovery for me to recall marathons past, and revisit old My Castle of Quiet premiums, and we began last night's horrorcast™ with a wonderful song by Nuit Noire, a donation to my 2010 premium...how long ago it seems....
Jonathan Herweg & I brought the blue; I can't quite map out how that happens, but it happens, and the phone room was alive with giggles, and good cheer, thanks to your pledges, many of which came in the form of between-show interval & pre-marathon donations, so we started off the night kicking down the door considerably. Thanks for that, heads!
As always, music and context are the most important elements of our program, and favored selections included those by Arkona | Narcos | Moros [though we gave away a copy of their debut demo last night, Moros have a great new split available ^ check that link] | Uniform | Burnt Skull | DA | Leah P | John Wiese | and multiple selections from the 2017 My Castle of Quiet Marathon premium, Shrieks (available for a pledge to My Castle of Quiet of $75 or more; a curated collection of horror and cult film themes and cinelogue.) Click the link in that last sentence to donate, or simply use the dog & cow Flash widget above this post.
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It seemed like the right week to rewatch Larry Cohen's It's Alive—I always forget what a bleak, serious film it is, and in turn what a sterling filmmaker Cohen was; a class act who always endeavored to make a good film, sailing above the obvious pitfalls of playing the killer infant tale for camp or laughs. Ah, Larry Cohen. So I hope you enjoyed last night's screen capture—the It's Alive baby looking almost poignant, peeking through that tall grass....
Thanks again to Jonathan, for helping me raise the roof and for being a perfect complement to our Castle-style banter, to the auteurs of horror and cult cinema for their craft, and to the musicians and labels for their music (and prize donations!), and to you, the My Castle of Quiet and WFMU listener for your support. All great reasons to live! You can even pledge to adopt one of us; see here. The WFMU 2017 Marathon continues; I'll be back next Tuesday night late, with co-host Kelly Jones. I'm so glad we had this time together.
It's a great "is that all there is?" moment at the end of The Revenant, works for me, though my one point of contention with this otherwise excellent movie is that we are reminded a bit too often that there's a fourth wall in the 1800s American hinterland—could've done without the bear's breath, other bits of condensation and light blood spatter—I mean, this is a movie, right? Feed my fantasy! But then suddenly it works, at the end, with that pleading look you are finally quite willingly pulled into the world of The Revenant. ...
You see how contemporary my concerns are, mildly obsessing over last year's Oscar favorite, or was it even the year before?
Ridiculously short today, creative energies reserved for putting the spit-'n'-polish on Shrieks, an audio compendium of musical high-points and dialogue from home-collection horror and cult DVDs and VHS, hope you enjoy.
The 2017 WFMU Marathon begins in just a few days (see that dog-and-cow Flash widget above this post to donate directly to My Castle of Quiet), and I'll be back next Tues. night/Wednesday morning, with co-host Jonathan Herweg, to tickle your fanny and your fancy, to entertain and inspire you to pledge your $ of support for freeform radio obelisk WFMU—a public programming and out-music giant since the late 1960s, and still listener-supported—that place we here like to call "home."
Why thank you, listener goober, that's high praise. I'm channeling Michael McDonald over here! ...or perhaps Walt Whitman is the classier reference to glean from your comment, yes definitely. Perhaps I was channeling Grandier. Perhaps I flatter myself.
This week's horrorcast™ traversed a well-heeled, familiar Castle cascade of soundtracky>grind>punk>black>heady electronics, the 3-hour mixtape approached flawlessness (and I'm my own harshest critic), so I can only assume Castleheads were all so enthralled, fingers too weak to comment, or out in the unseasonably pleasant weather, tripping the light fantastic, only to join us later in the streaming archive. I had fun, always do.
Our appreciated "strong start" featured a 2014 piece by Mega Drive, one of the finer 80s-horror-score retro projects around, and something brand new from Italy's Adamennon. Mincey masterpieces by Skuz and Thætas followed; remember, both are part of what looks to be a sweep-away grind show Monday, March 13 @ Brooklyn's Silent Barn. Other fan favorites included "Robot" by Pack, from an album chock full of hits, circa 1978, re-released by Ugly Pop in 2015 (glad I grabbed one before it seemingly sold out from everyone.) Contemporary rough edges came from Narcos, and Ohyda, Uniform and others. Healthy black servings, allowing me to stretch a bit, some served by Wither, Alkerdeel, Neptune's Inferno, and something great from the new Dumal full-length followed. Our last hour got predictably woozy, with something great I've been meaning to play on the show for three years by Panos Alexiadis; new work on Midwich from Viki; Monolake's "Cyan" (which actually prompted a phone call—which I answered!); and an excerpt from the progressively amazing Alexandra Atnif, the new tape, Session.2 is not to be missed.
It's more than timely to mention that the WFMU 2017 Marathon starts in less than two weeks (check that link for more info, to donate, and set your eyes on some swag previews), and I've got great things planned, including two shows co-hosted by two of my favorite people at WFMU; Jonathan Herweg (I referred to us as "The Rowan and Martin of Evil") and the quick-witted and charming Ms. Kelly Jones, with both I enjoy a free-flowing and damn funny rapport.
The My Castle of Quiet premium CD for 2017 is called Shrieks—something different, perhaps—a collection of cinelogue (dialogue and musical themes) from some of my favorite horror and cult-cinema oddities; hope you enjoy and are inspired to pledge therefor. Guess I better get to work on compiling that bitch! More info here as marathon time approaches rapidly.
Our screen capture this week was culled from the slow-to-build, but ultimately quite enjoyable Night of The Devils, another cinematic adaptation of Tolstoy's Wurdulak tale (we saw Mario Bava's in Black Sabbath), and when the kids with the pale complexions and bloodstained fingers are laughing at you, you're pretty much AT ODDS with the world.
Socks blown off this week by the obscure, French extreme-horror oddity Baby Blood, from the improbable year of 1990 ... Highly recommended, so enjoy!
One week old, but keeps without refrigeration! ... Many of the kids I grew up around (some of the adults, too) would say, "Valentime's Day"—The Countess, Texas born and raised, had never heard that one; so, a Northeast (?) regional lazy-speech peculiarity, perhaps. No love was promoted (or harmed) in the context of our broadcast, holidays for me at least, not ever being a factor that drives My Castle of Quiet.
Posting the archive here now for sheer consistency, for any lack or gap... I was just too goddamn sick and weak to write anything last week.
Notes: 1999 vintage Lightning Bolt provoked a reaction; Neptune's Inferno, a BADASS "discovery," from 2014; R.I.P. Tony Särkkä, known to us all as It, visionary behind Abruptum, their CD-length dungeon rituals somehow making perfect, glorious sense—timed as those records were alongside the original 90s Scandinavian black-metal explosion—he'll be missed; the new Uniform LP continues to stand in front as one of the best records of 2017 so far, simply amazing; and last year's Total Abuse LP still wildly a favorite of this DJ. We ended last week's horrorcast™ (the concluding 90 mins. plus) with more of a bed/magic carpet of sound works, selections both harsh and melodic, even beat-based, dipping into my one Ambush 12", as well as works by KK Null, Leah P, Richard Ramirez, FRKSE, Hive Mind, and OPPONENTS live on our show in 2010.
That's it, really...the archive repost of LAST NIGHT'S horrorcast™ is coming later today. Thanks as always for listening, for your live comments and PMs [castle@wfmu.org], and please remember that WFMU's 2017 Marathon begins 5th March, more details coming soon as to how our program will be staking its unique territory in the two weeks plus of festivities and fun-raising. It's always a party, and an exercise in camaraderie between our staff at large, and WFMU's wonderful and iconoclastic listeners. ...
Rock 'n' Roll and demons have always married well, and last week's screen capture comes from the movie Black Roses, a great slice of 1988 "good cheese"—those knucklehead rock boys never learn to properly vet those "willing" ladies that bounce happily back to the hotel room after the show, obviously, as shown above. Enjoy—
