...the blistering musical truth of today.

'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.

this show cathartics me resplendently every week

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.

Lots of lively chat and gracious praise on the playlist comments this week, notably for: Breakdancing Ronald Reagan | R. Nikolaenko | Wasteland Jazz Unit | Goblin's dirge from Zombi / Dawn of the Dead (RIP George A. Romero) | Huoripukki | Osculum Infame | SCREECH (LIVE on our show Aug. 8/9) | new Flowers of Evil | Irradiated | Superjoint | Developer | Abstructum | Arca | Jackie Ransom | ...like I said, lots of favorites this week on our different kind of hit parade, and the indulgence of my Butthole Surfers crawl under the covers continues, thanks!

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!

Listening amongst the hipsters

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.

Other listener favorites included: the great Theologian piece from the Rise William Rise v/a collection | always stellar improv from the unclassifiable Moth Cock | older & newer favorites from Bleak, Vexx, Irradiated, Screech, The Kill, and Friendship. Also, always happy to share anything by Jason Lescalleet | anything by Bloodhammer | Panos Alexiadis | and the new Sects on Oxen.

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!

Upcoming special programming:

Couch Slut / Contempt full-album premiere on our 25/26 July show

Live set from Screech on our August 8/9 show

Click on the gas-masked "pervert" from Michael Findlay's The Ultimate Degenerate to stream this week's full program. And for now, I leave you with this, the trailer for Joel Potrykus' Buzzard: