My Castle of Quiet

Office-high-five palette cleanser.

2012-01-27T11:18:00.009-05:00

Anything I can do to help—quite seriously—to wash away the tedious and cringe-inducing norms of the workplace. It's all quite accepted, and largely goes unnoticed, save by you, the Castlehead who says, "THIS WILL NOT STAND!" Well, of course, it will, but you can complain to me, and I'm a more than sympathetic ear. That opening set of cream-of-the-crop doom was somewhat formulated with YOU in mind, SiHV, so take that for the appreciative nod it was meant to be. Tracks from Moloch, Thou, Ride For Revenge (new full-length Under the Eye), Aluk Todolo, and Utarm, all pieced together like a doom set of matryoshka nesting dolls.

Also, some playlist comments (and much appreciation from your DJ) for a track by Nihilobstat, from a new, self-titled tape (first press already OOP) on the Rhinocervs label. Gorgeously turgid and bleak, and hopefully going for a second press, as I'd like to actually own the tape, rather than play a downloaded burn. Some of these editions are so ridiculously slim, and I took it upon myself to write a (polite) email to Rhinocervs, letting them know that there was an acute interest in a second edition.

Kavra, our friends from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, got labeled "soothing" of all things, though it's been said that a lot of this heavy music we all revel in at The Castle does have pacifying properties for the right formulation of mood and psyche in certain, select individuals. Indeed!

Playlist big-ups for Castle favorites Wretched Worst (appearing live March 15!) and Moonknight (both of those artists have contributed exclusive tracks to this year's MCoQ WFMU 2012 Marathon premium CDr), and of course, the great new LP on Throne Heap by Sewer Election.

See you in two weeks; the highly capable, free-form superhero Jeff Mullan fills in next week, as I'm off to see Dust Belt and Dual Action (K.P. solo projects) as part of two weeks' of Hospital Productions-curated shows at The Stone in NYC.

Click on that eye-poppin' VHS clamshell art for Eddie Romero's Mad Doctor of Blood Island above, to access the audio archive and playlist for last night's horrorcast™.

You know I am bumping the ill conceived jams.

2012-01-20T04:41:00.015-05:00

And by ill-conceived, I am sure that Osvi meant, "conceived while illin'," or otherwise born of a state of dysphoria. Rather than "conceived poorly," or without forethought. Of course.

Get ready, because I have a question for the lapsed Catholics in the MCoQ listening / reading audience—one I've wanted answered for years. I could just look it up, hell, you can look up ANYTHING these days, but I thought it might be more fun to get some more-personalized, non-Wikipedia-type answers. Here goes—what is a Sacristan? Or rather, who is the Sacristan?

I ask because, in Michele Soavi's film The Church, one of my top-ten Italian horror offerings of all time, that frightening little critter up above is what the Sacristan in the story becomes. The character seems to be the caretaker of the church, though with no ecclesiastic power bestowed upon him, and he also plays abusive Dad to Asia Argento's character, so maybe he had that demonic transformation coming after all. "The Sacristan!" "The Sacristan's gone mad!" Well, who the hell IS he?

Many heaps of praise on last night's playlist for my choices, and for the show in general, on a week when I especially needed it, so thanks Castleheads. Your wanton praise and participation via the comments board is always, always appreciated by yours truly.

I had several weeks of accumulated punk / black / thrash / hardcore welling up inside of me, so the show's first hour was made up of that blast of energy, kicked-off by The Who's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," a John Entwistle song and a long-time favorite of mine, retrieved from the memory banks thanks to the BBC Jekyll show, its first and only series, a decent little piece of entertainment, though far from flawless.

Many of you reveled in the blast of 'core, including tracks by Axnaar, Vordr, and a great many others, in addition to enjoying the pressure wave of chunky, mind-warping collage noise that followed later on, from the likes of K.P., Dust Belt (a K.P. side project), Death Factory and others.

Upstate NY was representing hard, King Penguin even giving us a play-by-play of his journey by car listening in to The Castle (we were a bit concerned, as driving conditions were far from ideal.) How oddly gratifying to have this group of beautiful humans who have rallied around the show, and who I've come to care about, their weekly comments filling a necessary void, and making the show feel more like a community, than a presentation for a passive, impartial audience. Many thanks to you all!

Back next week with more thoughtfully structured mayhem.
Thanks for tuning in!

mind blank, no thinking - this stuff works!

2012-01-13T12:06:00.008-05:00

Wow. Stupidity can be scary. It's one of the things that I find truly frightening, surrounded daily as I am by all this "horror" stuff. I won't name names, but in the course of trading (happens a lot when you run a small record label), I've come in contact with people who cannot write English, don't understand punctuation and its usage, and generally cannot read Web sites, look at links and absorb information. Last night, when I should have been paying better attention to segues and such, I was instead answering and reading emails from a guy who seemed to have a pre-middle-school education. Now THAT is horror! Amazing that these people can also navigate the world of getting a few recordings into the marketplace, as I often find it daunting myself. Maybe the numbskulls of this world truly have a leg up, functioning-wise. Something to consider. Here I was, all these years, thinking that logic and easy information absorption, a good vocabulary and writing skills, were advantages to making it in this world, clearly, I was somewhat mistaken. Still, wow, this guy must have asked me three or four times which of Prison Tatt's releases were tapes, where one look at the Web site would have made it clear that none of them are. Sorry—I know it's absolutely poisonous to be bitching all the time as I do, but I grew up in this world with expectations, and am only now realizing that they are a great detriment to a happy existence.

Despite this distraction, the show flowed like butter, and I had the great time that I always do.

While we're on the subject of releases, records and such, I've been thinking a lot about the absolute hatred that permeates the universe of noise music especially, for compact discs. Less so in metal. I personally have always just cared about music, being a voracious consumer of all types for my entire life. I always, as is the case with most music fanatics, considered vinyl to be the ultimate format, and I still do, but beyond this one caveat, really just want to have the music to listen to, and have never been particularly against one format or another. The anti-CD sentiment is rabid, and I truly struggle to understand it. I don't at all like jewel cases, disposable and easily broken packaging, that lends nothing positive to a CD release, but assuming CDs are packaged attractively, creatively—what truly is the problem? I'm not being facetious in the slightest, I really don't get it. If anything, CDs are an easy to use and store, high-fidelity music-delivery option, and where I can see the point of digital downloads being somewhat disposable, there are even mp3s that I searched long and hard for, and would be disappointed to lose. So please, in all seriousness, what is the beef at the core of the anti-CD backlash? (I expect some snark in response to this query, though I truly am seeking an insightful response that will broaden my understanding of this phenomenon.)

On the playlist this week, much praise for Cripta Oculta, a tape I acquired through the Seed Stock online store, the interest in which was also generated by Seed Stock's proprietor, RB, who was a guest DJ on The Castle last year. (Though the CO tape seems to be out of stock, the store is a great place to go for all your extreme, underground metal needs.) There was also praise for the Filth and Violence label, and the Nyrkki & Kyrpä II collection, and the several selections I played from tapes on the great Legion Blotan label (Rife, Axnaar, and Vanyar.) Castleheads are also (understandably) looking forward to Wretched Worst's appearance this year on the show on the Ides of March. I'm also in the midst of arranging a visit from Philippe Petit in April, and several other surprises.

As always, thanks for listening; click on the pic up top (the fallen Findlay) for access to the playlist and audio archives of this week's horrorcast™.

Ten-plus Great, Resonant Films (Mostly Horror); and an Even-More-Ridiculously Long Music List Than Last Year.

2012-01-06T20:13:00.004-05:00

The Possession of David O'Reilly - An insulated, small-scale horror tale from the UK, which can perhaps be seen as a response to Paranormal Entity, or the Paranormal Activity films, but if I may wax Anglophile for a moment, The Possession of David O'Reilly is indeed possessed, of much greater subtlety and mystery, where many aspects of the story are never fully explained, only shown. For example, as the movie starts, the young couple have already installed a motion-activated camera in their flat, though the reason why is only very passingly discussed. The couple's friend David shows up, uninvited, and clearly in distress—his girlfriend, Sarah, is seeing someone else, though the implication of more sinister reasons for his untimely visit are immediate. Did David harm, or even kill Sarah? We never find out. As the story progresses, David quickly goes from distraught to downright loony, referring to a mysterious "they" who may "get in" and cause the trio some kind of harm. There are so many clever, unforgettable, haunting elements to this film, like the newspaper-and-shot-glass spirit board, the upstairs neighbor (a pregnant woman that only David can see), and some of most horrifying, non-CGI monsters ever conceived since Lovecraft set pen to paper. The paranoia knot tightens exponentially, as David's mania seems highly catching, and builds the film to an exhausting climax.

YellowBrickRoad - In the canon of tales that describe or depict a theoretical journey, such as Barbet Schroeder's film La Vallee, Tarkovsky's Stalker, or Rene Daumal's great, unfinished novel Mont Analogue, YellowBrickRoad stands as an intelligent, complex, horror version of such a tale. A group of experienced hikers and friends decide to attempt to duplicate the journey of a group of New Hampshire townsfolk, who, 70 years earlier, set out on a trail called the Yellow Brick Road, many never to be heard from again, while a great many others turned up brutally murdered. Five days into their expedition, they start to hear a distant, prevalent music, that seems to come from everywhere around them, an endless cavalcade of pre-WWII hits echoing through the forest. The music has different effects on each individual, creating torment in some, dependency in others. Psychological breakdowns occur, and things go from very bad to much, much worse. In stories such as these, the "destination" becomes an individual experience for each explorer, the getting there being of equal significance to whatever "Oz" colors their eventual demise. As one character says towards the end of the film, "there are many endings." Highly recommended.

The Films of Michael Findlay - Michael Findlay (aka Julian Marsh) is the kind of preternatural animal that only New York City could have produced. A thorough discussion of his life and films takes more than a paragraph within a blog post . But this year was MY year of the Findlay, and much like taking LSD, it's an experience you can't turn back from; once you've viewed The Ultimate Degenerate, the Flesh Trilogy, Sin Syndicate, Satan's Bed, or even his latter-day, hyper-bizarre attempt at a "Bigfoot movie," Shriek of the Mutilated, your DNA has been altered, such that you'll find yourself thinking about these films at odd times of the day, referencing them constantly, and divining some much deeper meaning within the sleaze. Championed by Something Weird Video, who have re-released many of his works (he made 24 features in 12 years, from '65 to '77), Findlay's movies were made for the Times Square soft-core market, but with innovative content and cracked ideas that far transcend the slap and tickle, hump-hump of most soft-core pornography of any era. Take The Ultimate Degenerate, for example, where Findlay cast himself in the lead, as a wheelchair-bound deviant named Spencer, who runs a house where dope-addicted women trade sex for cash, and are primed and "trained" for their work by way of Spencer's hack sexual science, involving electrodes to the labia, and huge plates of corn on the cob, among much else. If you're the right kind of person (or the wrong kind) you'll be sucked in by the over-the-top oddness of these features, and will be possessed by a craving to see everything of Findlay's you can lay your hands on, just to inhabit that universe—the one with the sedate, slow-motion go-go dancers, outrageous dialogue, giant machetes, and Findlay's own hypnotic gaze and New-Yawk twang. Explore at your own peril; there's been much talk of a "Findlay curse," as the director died horribly, decapitated, and otherwise made into human sushi, by the spinning rotor blades of a helicopter atop the Pan Am building in 1977. An obsession with these films may derail your once-placid existence, however pleasurably. The brassy refrain of the stripper's music will echo in your brain while you're trying to concentrate. You've been warned.

Colin - Just when I think that I can start to shovel the dirt over the zombie mythos in film, a new movie comes along to tell the zombie tale through a fresh set of eyes. Colin is a young man, "turned to soon" you might say, and through his gradual decline into irreversible zombiehood, we experience his struggles and the tragic dissolution of his human consciousness. For example, in the requisite scene where an outnumbering horde of zombies overwhelms a group of human victims, our Colin seems to be wondering if he's at the wrong party, and feeds only reluctantly. The film has true pathos, and we sympathize as Colin struggles with his memories, which will soon be wholly unavailable to him. He seems desperate to piece together how he got here while he still has the chance. A reluctant zombie, who doesn't just rise to a complete transformation within a matter of seconds—that alone is really something new! But Colin has even more to offer, with believable acting and a visual palette that is deceptively low-budget, and very appropriate to the proceedings. Lots of muted blues, off whites, and a generally grainy twilight pervades the film, as Colin briefly reunites with family, wards off anti-zombie vigilante attacks, and seems to generally mourn the collapse of his life as a human being. Perhaps my favorite film on this year's list.

Five Across the Eyes - One terrible, terrible night in the life of a half-dozen or so high school girls. Riding around in a parent's minivan, they ram the wrong car in a convenience store parking lot, hit and run, and end up pursued, terrorized and eventually tortured, by a shotgun-toting, psychopathic middle-aged woman. Much is made of the unfortunate dynamic between two disparate social classes of female—a woman who's been wronged, and it's thrown her off the edge of sanity, WAY off, and a group of relatively carefree adolescent girls with nothing but a promising future before them—prior to this night, that is. Played for realism with a shaky, handheld camera, and very well-acted, despite an obvious minimum of means, Five Across the Eyes is an effective, "small" tale about one, unforgettably bad night.

A Horrible Way to Die - Told in non-linear chunks is this story of a compulsive serial killer and his live-in girlfriend. The acting is superb, with AJ Bowen as the killer, who's by far the best actor working in independent horror today, this starring role coming on the heels of brilliant turns in The House of The Devil and The Signal, both films featured on my best-of lists in previous years. Bowen's killer is a sad figure, out of control, who hates what he does but cannot stop himself, and the significant parallel of his girlfriend's alcoholism will not go unnoticed by the astute viewer; both addictions inflict inner and outer pain, though one causes more immediate and intense harm to strangers than the other. A moody and dreary drama, but with horrific murders aplenty, A Horrible Way to Die plays out a human tragedy, more neo-realist than coy genre film. In fact, this film is a downer in the best sense of the word, owing more to a story like Five Easy Pieces than any serial-killer film that comes to mind.

The Troll Hunter - Who could resist a movie with the title The Troll Hunter? Not I. One has to at least see how the filmmakers go about backing up that enormously potent title, I would think. Yet another handheld-camera, POV tale, The Troll Hunter springboards from its medium to tell an engrossing tale of some hack documentarians, determined to capture the day-to-day activities of a real-life troll hunter, a now-elderly man, living in a trailer, who's made a lifetime of this bizarre under-the-radar career, and it's the government who secretly signs his paychecks. Yes, trolls are REAL, and did you know that some of them are not really all that small, either? In fact, some of them are absolutely HUGE. It's a credit to the filmmakers that The Troll Hunter never once descends into silliness, nor does it abandon the viewer by resorting to the tongue-in-cheek. The troll effects are also excellent, very convincing and minus any obvious computer-graphic help. Much to my great pleasure and satisfaction, I put aside my prejudices and doubts incurred via the title, and you should, too. Take the ride, as it's everything you'd want a film called The Troll Hunter to be.

The Horror Films of Norman J. Warren - Terror / Prey / Inseminoid / Satan's Slave / Bloody New Year - Though I've been into them for some time, it's taken me until this year to gain a heightened, broad-scope appreciation for the films of British director Norman J. Warren, and it all started with WFMU's acquisition of a soundtrack CD. Warren often worked with a unique composer named Ivor Slaney, and it was the disc for the Terror and Prey soundtracks, released in 2009, that got me jonesing to reexamine Warren's movies (I had seen Terror and Prey, his two most notable films, previously.) Though Warren's films decline in quality from the 70s into the 80s (as so many things did), even the later ones are a dynamite combination of sophistication and cheese, and almost all of them feature above-average acting for "B" films, and boldly weave in adult themes (Prey, for example, features as its centerpiece a very mature and realistic lesbian relationship.) Inseminoid (aka Horror Planet) draws heavily on Ridley Scott's Alien, though it's possessed of its own gloomy atmosphere, and you likely won't be laughing when Judy Geeson is impregnated by a cleverly calculating and physically revolting alien beast. Bloody New Year, though it is on its face the standard group of celebrants being picked off one-by-one in imaginative ways, features innovative themes, and some very bizarre makeup treatments. Terror and Prey are the best of the lot, and the obvious place to start, being the smartest and most mature of Warren's work, though if you're like me, you'll be led to Inseminoid, Satan's Slave and Bloody New Year as well, left craving for more of Warren's campy-yet-chilling and ultimately original "B" universe.

God's Lonely Man - Yet another film inspired by Paul Schrader's Taxi Driver screenplay about the social decline and psychoses of one man, a tortured Catholic with a haywire, seemingly random moral code. Like Taxi Driver, there's a sympathetic teenage girl (the Blessed Virgin), men who must be punished (merchants in the Temple), guns, pornography and the backdrop of New York City. Unlike Taxi Driver, the antihero of God's Lonely Man abuses drugs, worsening his situation, and eventually (or so it's implied) takes advantage of the sexual charms of the young nubile. His morality is less clearly cut than DeNiro's characterization, and hence this film takes many a flight of fancy and indeed can be said to have an ending that may or may not be based in the characters' external reality. In fact, the entire film takes a bit from Gaspar Noé's I Stand Alone (another Taxi Driver-inspired film), in that the whole story may indeed be taking place in the internal, hellish fantasy world of the character's own, roiling monologue.

The Last Exorcism - Handheld-camera POV horror is abundant these days, though a great many of the films offer great conceptual promise that is only partly delivered upon (Skew, for example.) TLE is a sneaky, apparently benign tale, that plays at first almost like a comedy, and by the time it's become most decidedly a horror film, the creep factor has risen to a point of no return. A completely self-aggrandizing and generally self-absorbed sham exorcist and faith healer has decided to abandon his bogus "exorcist training" practice, but wants to go out with one, final big bang of an exorcism to cement his reputation. He answers a letter from a small, Southern town, a letter that pleads for his help in the demonic possession of a local adolescent, and from there onward, The Last Exorcism plays like a low-rent Wicker Man, as the sinister townsfolk don't seem to really want him or his entourage there, and by the time it becomes clear that their lives are in danger, our "hero" has come to fancy himself as a "real" exorcist, determined to see the trouble through, though from the very beginning, it was already too late. Echoes of both The Devil's Rain and The Brotherhood of Satan will give 70s horror-film fans a warm fuzzy.

Honorable mention -

The Ceremony - A hapless student falls into spiritual peril, simply by lighting a few candles and reading out loud from a book one of his roommates left behind. Trapped in student housing he is, and weird things start to happen. All this from reading a few passages in an ancient language. In order to be able to ever leave the building, and / or continue with his life at all, he must pass the curse on to someone else, but who?

The Entrance - In a full-scale parking garage on the Williamsburg, Brooklyn waterfront, people are being captured, and forced to engage in a series of simple games until one of them loses. They are then shown a film of their greatest wrongdoing as it occurred, before being flung off to some demon-maintaned eternal hell. Baal-Berith leaps from person to person to get his foul work done, and The Entrance is a nice, creepy little nighttime mood piece.

2011, The music I loved this year (CD unless otherwise indicated) >>>

I hate sequels.

2012-01-06T18:56:00.016-05:00

I want you all to read the movies and music year-end post above, so I'll keep this short. I always enjoy doing the My Castle of Quiet radio program, and perhaps I've come to take the opportunity for granted. I throw words around like firebrands, and I fail to consider that other people are sensitive as well. I've already suffered tremendous loss in my personal life, due to "bad behavior," and I certainly hope that it stops here. There's few things I value more every week, than bringing you three hours of horror-umbrella'd music, audio and talk—my time with my son being the one thing that rises above all else.

So, what did you like this week, enough to comment upon? The Ov / Pleasure cassette; buy yours from Primal Vomit Records here. The new Nuit Noire CD; buy direct from the band at their myspace page, or write tenebras795@msn.com; The new Dead Reptile Shrine double LP on Weird Forest; A.M.S.G., the dirty devil-worshipers; the Menagerie of Suffering v/a compilation from Grimtown Records (free download!); of course, a Castle favorite - Lussuria; and the Rife cassette on Legion Blotan (Rife on YouTube.)

Thanks as always for tuning in, and for your comments. Now please read my year-end list, and get back to me with your thoughts and opinions. Much appreciated. Link to this week's archives and playlist by clicking on the messy, damned soul up top.

PRISON TATT JANUARY RIOT SALE!

2011-12-31T11:47:00.005-05:00

All our vinyl releases, for the month of January ONLY, will be available at the low, low price of $12. CDs are $7. All prices are post-paid. And, if you buy five items or more, I'll throw in one of our CD titles (my choice) absolutely FREE!

Here's how it works—since my drop-down menus on the main site are not set for sale prices, simply PayPal funds directly to wmmberger@comcast.net, making sure to indicate in the PayPal "comments" area the code "MCoQ blog" and what you're buying. Browse for your selections at our main site >>> http://prisontatt.com/

I'd love to see some of our excellent catalog titles sell out, as well as create space at P-Tatt headquarters for the 15-or-so releases that I have planned for 2012. Supplies of T.O.M.B.'s Xesse (25 pcs. remaining) and Sesso Violento's Pacificador (~35 pcs.) are especially low, and due to sell out. Our releases have never been available for less, so act now!

WET HANK YOUF OR YOURP AT RON AGE!

another outstanding year in the Castle!

2011-12-30T12:31:00.012-05:00

Year's end; no more a time for reflection than any other calendar parcel, really. But I'll look back anyway, and see that it's been a year when the My Castle of Quiet radio show has really hit its stride. I thought the show was great right from the start, personally, but then I'd better, I suppose, otherwise why do it? In the last year, I've witnessed an exponential rise in appreciative comments and emails, and a growing membership in both our Facebook group as well as this blog. For a show that was designed to be difficult, to challenge the sonic palette of all who tuned in, this is somewhat more of an achievement, compared to programming that aims to please the most people as often as possible, and even in the fringe universe of WFMU, most folks are still generally looking for a good time, whereas my goal was to make those who tuned in have a rough time and enjoy it, and I think in the past year, it's become plainly evident that I've done so.

At the same time I found my tribe, ever-growing one hopes, those of you who I knew for sure were out there, and would understand how horror films and their soundtracks, black metal, sludge/doom, noise, eerie soundscapes, occult electronics, creepy prog and psych, all fit together and please the same mindset.

In addition, the live performances that I was able to arrange for MCoQ this year surprised even myself, a definitive who's who of the genres I attempt to coalesce and harmonize every week. On the hard side, of metal, punk and beyond, remarkable, timeless performances were rendered by Castevet, Raspberry Bulbs (in their first-ever live performance!), Baltimore heavies Lady Piss, and naught but the entire touring lineup of the Black Twilight Circle graced WFMU's Studio B with thoroughly inspired and inspiring sets. Whilst in the realm of contemporary electronics, noise, and sound-scapery, the year began magnificently with the dark, cinematic world of Lussuria, followed in short order by pure, heady dynamite, in the form of sets by Kyle Clyde, Instinct Control, a conceptual colaboration between myself and Long Distance Poison, a wonderful, long-form head trip by Rust Worship, two sets of deadly neo-concréte by J. Soliday, a psych-improv opus by Decimus, the triumphant, solo return of champion electronicist Mister Matthews, and finally, a patriotic, free-form, scrambling escapade in the equally triumphant return of FUN ("proper" set archiving on mp3 and blog post t/c.)

Many thanks as well for the enhanced programming provided by the guest DJing and co-hosting contributions of Jeff Conklin of EVR's Just Music, RB of Seed Stock, Bob Bellerue, and C. Lavender.

Again, much to my own surprise, I actually managed to get a genius from the world of horror and cult film to drop by the Castle, director Frank Henenlotter of Basket Case and Bad Biology fame, with his friend Mike Hunchback in tow. We all discussed Frank's films, as well as the work of Herschell Gordon Lewis. We laughed, oh how we laughed, and it was probably one of the most memorable radio programs of my personal history.

Then of course, there's YOU—the listener-reader-Castleheads, who each week, tune in live or in the archives, comment, participate, and generally prop up what's happening. It's wouldn't be much of a show without all of you.

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As to this week (link to the archive options and playlist by clicking on the charming young man in the horrifying mask, above), I had the usual fucking blast, and am at the point where the show almost seems to play itself, as I am, guided by some gentle but sure hand of the creative gods—it's no less informed and entertaining, but happens even more automatically than it has in the past. Set two, in particular, which started with L'Exorcisme and ended with Sadistic Bliss was one of those "perfect" sets I always strive for, the ideal mix tape for that special her or him that you're trying to impress. Special playlist notices also went out to Thou and Oaks of Bethel. And my first comment of the night, from listener Justin Mc, went, "I love this show. It's music that I know little to nothing about, but through this show I'm introduced to the best of it. Thank you Wm."

And so the tribe continues to grow. Much more to come, a great marathon-premium CDr, surprises and special programming aplenty, in 2012.

Keep it murderous.

2011-12-23T13:50:00.009-05:00

WILD show last night. I was deeply distressed about some matters relating to Prison Tatt Records, to be completely frank, it boiled down to a second set of lousy test pressings from Rainbo in L.A., on a record I've been trying to release for months now. My mood of combined disappointment, frustration and anger was provoking all kinds of emotions, prompting "last show" threats, "I will die tonight" promises, and other assorted anger-turned-inward emanations. Regardless, I soldiered on, and thanks to FUN providing some excellent special programming, some devoted listeners in PDX and elsewhere, and my own unstoppable passion for doing the My Castle of Quiet radio show, it turned out to be one of the more intense, roaring Castle broadcasts in recent memory. Fuck it, you know, I GO ON, and if I can't let it all loose on the Castle, where then?

Major praise went to our special guests FUN, and their endlessly inspired and creative approach to their music-making. Their two sets will post to the Free Music Archive within a fortnight, via my curator portal there, and maybe on Beware of The Blog as well—still unsure, though, as the new "two paragraphs and then fold" rule has me a bit bugged. I'm a big advocate of quality over quantity in all things, and don't really like working as hard as I do on my posts, only to have them truncate on the home page, after the now-requisite 2/3rds of a page maximum, before providing a continuation link. My personal feeling is that many a great post will get lost in the Bloomberg-TV-like clutter; hell, I almost missed Steve Witchbeam's GREAT post this week on Technicolor Skull. Gotta look hard and careful now, folks, though the powers that be @ BoTB seem to love the new format. I've also got a "10 horror films and year-end music list" post brewing, which I know are much-anticipated by our reader-listeners; remains to be seen where that will land. Beware of The Blog is so heavily trafficked, that it's tempting to post everything one writes there; as an author, one knows the greatest amount of possible readers will in theory see it. As followers of WFMU in general, I'd be really interested to know YOUR thoughts on this general topic.

In addition to FUN's two raucous and sonorific sets, major praise was extended via the playlist comments to a great many selections. They were: Moondog's mournful "All Is Loneliness," perfect for the season, and of which we heard two versions; Two tracks from Hæðenfolc by the mysterious Satanhartalt, pricked up ears, and came to the Castle thanks to our good friend Todd Watson; two selections by Ov, another great project brought to us exclusively on cassette by the Primal Vomit Records label, man that tape kills (two copies available, by the way, though not yet listed, from the Prison Tatt Records distro, which carries most of PVR's releases, including five copies of the deluxe new Pest tape, all titles are $7 ppd in the continental U.S.); and lastly, a seasonally apropos piece of mid-60s improvisation from Angus & Hetty Maclise, truly stunning, from a new LP of old recordings, Dreamweapon II (sold out, of course.)

Most gratifying to me personally, on a night when I really needed some good cheer, was the suggestion by some Portland, OR-based listeners that some My Castle of Quiet listening parties be held at a venue in their area. Wow! I'm deeply honored, I hope it happens, and it goes a long way toward proving that many devoted listeners really do get a lot out of this show, look forward to it every week, and would miss it if it were gone. I can only hope, that in addition, the powers that be at WFMU are picking up on the continual and cumulative appreciations for the show, and that I have a long life to look forward to on their airwaves.

Surely, I will see you, or more precisely, you will hear me, next week. My death threats were empty, as per usual. In the meantime, you are cordially invited to join our Facebook group.

Fun, fun, FUN!

FUN's Go! America! Performance Series on My Castle of Quiet, TONIGHT!

2011-12-22T10:34:00.008-05:00

Above we see Kevin, sometime member of the Philadelphia-based combo FUN. A man of quiet majesty—a man, watching a phone! Tune in to My Castle of Quiet tonight, and you'll understand why.

FUN, a name so simple, and yet so indicative of the project's inventive and whimsical approach to experimental, improvised music. And why shouldn't experimental music be FUN? Out of the conservatory and into the street, please! The Philadelphia-based ensemble's first, very enjoyable session from My Castle of Quiet, almost exactly a year old, was then followed by an engaging selection of remixes that following February, which, in addition to being one of the MCoQ live sets with the most hits on Google, also speaks to the band's seemingly irresistible proclivity to mess around with stuff, their sound creations being an endlessly malleable piece of clay that's constantly under attack. As part of their Go! America! Performance Series, FUN returns to WFMU's My Castle of Quiet, for a session recorded on the very day that the great state of New Jersey entered the Union, December 18. This is the third year and third performance in this series. For NJ's 224th anniversary, FUN paid sonic tribute to the Garden State on the 18th, not only in our Studio B, but also on the very streets of the Jersey City waterfront, and the sets will be broadcast tonight.

I pull the stake out of the impossibly hot female vampire, and say "oops," at midnight.
FUN @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

Doomed! ... a Prison Tatt records update, and MCoQ horrorcast™ review.

2011-12-17T10:27:00.018-05:00

Doomed because listeners and I were envisioning mushroom clouds Friday a.m., when the EAS issued a "Civil Emergency from a Civil Authority." Sounds scary, right?!?! Although serious, it turned out to be an almost-state-wide Amber Alert, another disgruntled Dad nabbing his kid and driving off, leaving a hysterical wife, girlfriend or ex-wife behind. Why not SAY "Amber Alert," EAS, instead of potentially causing widespread panic? Testing the system, they were, yeah that's right, getting us prepared for an "actual emergency." I imagine the flood of expletives covering the state that night, as apparently these non-specific warnings were also forcing their way through people's DVRs as well. Nice. Do I even have to say "God Bless America," anymore? What could be the country with the best standard of living in the world continues its rapid, vapid decline. Enough! By clicking on everyone's favorite miner, above, you can check the My Castle of Quiet playlist for listeners' responses, and some of my own craaaaaazy ideas about what's really wrong and how to fix it, also known as "shit that will never happen."

Behind me on the Garden State Parkway this morning, another driver was going ballistic, gesticulating wildly, so much so that I thought my own car was on fire. He looked like Cheswick from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and he was sure going cuckoo about something. I wish I had a rear camera on my car, as his wild motions were the perfect soundtrack to what was playing on the stereo, the forthcoming Prison Tatt record by The Communion, A Desired Level of Unease. The Communion are a band that I felt the energetic importance of the very first time I saw them play, and make no mistake, this one is the recording that they were meant to make, and I say humbly, that Prison Tatt was meant to release. It's an absolute mass murder of a record, with their now-trademark excellent songwriting, and stylistic hybrid of blast beats, hardcore flights, and sludge anthems. Fuck yeah, I'm bragging. Hope to have this one out by early next year, though finding the right pressing plant to meet PT's relatively high standard has been difficult. Silly me, I want records to come from the factory without what sounds like several years of usage-oriented surface noise. Silly me.

Since I've been tending to release things in twos, up next are two great records, Haare's Rautapilvi, a magnificent, atmospheric, ritualistic, occult-mood record, with some source material culled (with permission) from Circle's Forest LP. Almost simultaneously, should be coming the one-sider from Josh Lay's Glass Coffin, Haunted By The Ghosts of the Damned, a murky, chilling exercise in slow-kill black metal. Rarely has a record sounded so cobweb-laden, as though it were recorded in the most fetid of basement torture-dungeons. Bravo, Josh! Can't wait for these to hit the street.

All other titles, excepting PT 001, Grasshopper's Calling All Creeps, remain in print, though supplies are dwindling on some. Our most-recent twosome, Husere Grav's Myths, comprising four slabs of thoroughly haunting funereal drone, and Ives' Abandon, the best black-metal demo tape of 2010, quite gloriously reissued on vinyl, continue to sell, but the rate of consumption could always be better (especially on the Ives—what is with you people??) I believe in these records so much, and I simply don't put out anything that provokes naught but a white-hot emotional reaction within myself, that I am sometimes mystified at the dragging nature of sales. Fuck the economy, these are records you need to have! Big sellers in recent history include Sesso Violento's Pacificador, absolutely one of the best raw black metal records of the past year, and T.O.M.B.'s Xesse—the hardest, scariest, most-nightmarish blackened-occult-noise record I've ever heard; both of these titles are still available, though not for much longer.

Also keep an eye out for our arresting new print ad in the latest issue of Yeti, due to hit the stands very soon. Coming later in 2012, The Bog Nebula by Long Distance Poison will likely accompany The Communion, as to relative street date, records by EID/Anthony Saunders (Non-Conformance and Corrective Action o/s LP), Demonologists (as-yet-untitled, though fucking GREAT o/s LP; some of their best work that I've heard), in all probability the CD by Chaos*Majik will see the light of day, records by Rust Worship, Isa Christ, C. Lavender, Tomhet, Kavra and many, many more tba—I ought not get too ahead of myself. Suffice it to say, 2012 will be the Year of the Prison Tatt. We also have a great distro, always growing. Visit our online store and primary site, here.

This week's horrorcast proved conclusively that I can't do any better than my best, and I'm having a great time, and it would seem that the listeners are as well. So much great new music from so many great labels and artists makes my job easy, and again, you can check out the playlist by clicking on the MBV miner, above. Some favorites this week were a 1999 track by Mortiis, the now ever-present Cult of Daath, and the equally can't-get-quite-enough-of-them Demonologists.

Coming up next Thursday night/Friday morning, a New Jersey-themed performance by returning heroes FUN, to be taped this Sunday, as part of their ongoing, year-by-year FUN Go! America! performance series. More details about that later this week; for now, you can view the Facebook event announcement here.

As always, thanks to all Castleheads, the old die-hards and new converts, for listening and for your endless and viable support. Back soon.

Maybe Gandr just needs a hug.

2011-12-10T10:19:00.007-05:00

Perhaps, perhaps he does, but only from a white person would such a display of physical comfort be accepted, I fear. More of my thoughts on the topic of NSBM here. And for an informational overview of the black-metal subgenre that, somewhat frustratingly, combines Pagan idealism and black-metal energy with neo-fascist messages and separatist "values," see this Wikipedia entry. Here's hoping Gandr gets that hug, from a person of color, and likes it, though it's not bloody likely. For the record, he's not officially listed as an NSBM artist, and equal-opportunity haters are alright by me. It's when one starts to blame individual races for the world's many problems, parsing out responsibility by cultural i.d., that I have to scoff at the ignorance so nakedly on display.

Enough of THAT. Tree-trimmers from my city woke me up promptly at 8 a.m. today, unnecessarily cruel, as that mini-auto saw they use sounds like a giant insect being slowly strangled, and fills every vacant sonic parcel of my home. If all they'd needed to do was slice up an unfortunate co-ed, their work would be done by now, and I'd be cat-napping instead of writing. Anything, though, to push down the page that shot of me speaking no evil, like a silenced monkey saying "oops!"

I wanted to like Pieces (from which was taken the above still), and I kind of did, if only for its clearly Giallo-inspired inserts into the heartwarmingly standard 80s American-slasher-film template—bad dubbing, Goblin-esque music, and a marginally comprehensible plot, that abuses that reliable equation of childhood trauma + sexual perversion = grandiose serial killer. Genre fans will surely get a kick out of Pieces, revived on DVD (and in public screenings) by those three, lovable trash-cinéaste millionaires, Eli Roth, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin T.

On to this week's horrorcast™, there was a lot to be thankful for, all these weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday, and though I've moved away from live performances for the moment, not to worry. In 2012, My Castle of Quiet's live schedule will return with a vengeance. For the meantime, newer listeners and devoted Castleheads seem pleased with music-heavy, talk-light programming, and I'm only too happy to deliver, as there is simply so much good new stuff out there.

Endless thanks to C. Lavender for tipping me off to Cult of Daath, who combine thrash and black with some great songwriting; we heard this week from their most-recent release, a powerful cassette issue called Doomed by the Witch. Welfare State & White Noise's "Silence Is Requested..." is always a crowd-pleaser, a hard-driving, psych-collage terror piece that I pull out once every two years or so. Castle favorites Villains, Nuit Noire (new full-length!) and Demonologists continue to enthrall the minions, and deservedly so. (Look for a Demonologists one-sided LP on the Prison Tatt label in the near future; it's some of their best material yet!)

And "The sound of rodents eating my face, while a helicopter circles overhead!" - I can't help but think that that description applies to the track we heard by NRIII, so perfectly rendered to that piece it is, called "Suffering," from the new Solus Patoir CD, a shoo-in for my end-of-year favorites list. And, as always, a track by Hex Breaker Quartet closed out the program with haunting beauty, as music from that camp of performers has and always will, define and encompass the My Castle of Quiet sound and aesthetic to some major degree.

Thanks for listening in, week after week; you may click on that mess of a girl up top to reach the playlist and audio archive for this week's show.

Satan Baby, advocate my devils tonight.

2011-12-07T10:11:00.007-05:00

As I carried on a conversation, again on Facebook, that dreaded vessel of loose lips, with my friend and long-time supporter Ray Brazen, it occurred to me that perhaps some clarification was in order. I've been riffin' negative for the past two weeks, as I will do, and it's important to me that some critical distinctions are made.

WFMU is, and in all likelihood, shall continue to be, one of the best, if not the best, radio station on the planet, and there's a big reason for that—the sheer and ultimate freedom that it affords its broadcasters. Nowhere else could I do a weekly program quite like My Castle of Quiet. And as with any arts-based, idiosyncratic organization, it's the staff members, as well as the organization's most-devoted advocates, who are going to have the most-broiling criticisms. The very nature of the beast is that it's the insiders who will be the most impassioned about how things are done and run.

If my posts the last two weeks were decidedly absent of gratitude, it's only because that was not the issue at hand. I assume WFMU to be a democratic organization, where I've spent several decades, both on the deep inside as well as the periphery, and I assume that I can express myself freely as regards that organization of which I consider myself to be a part. Let's hope so, anyway.

Here's what I wrote to Ray, as I think it warrants re-posting here, for those who may not be privy, or may not be paying attention to—or may not give a shit, let's be honest—about my semi-private, semi-public, Facebook conversations—

"Well, there are many factors in play, not least of all my own persecution complex, but I did feel that I had some legitimate beefs that needed to be expressed. At the same time, a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that leads to my being simply off the air, does not serve my listening community, nor myself. I still enjoy doing MCoQ week-to-week, and would hope that I am able to express myself as I have, in a mature and educated manner, without "repercussions." I'm not backpedaling, not at all, but like any system, the one [already] in place at WFMU must be lived with. I am grateful for the fact that I have a show, as well as almost 100% programming freedom, and this should be noted, above all."

That pretty much covers it, and to all Castle listeners, my continued gratitude for your continued support. Whatever time the show is on the air, it's still ON, and I'm not blind to the fact that it's a rare and amazing opportunity.

Listening from the soup line. ... I gotta do Illegal.

2011-12-02T10:59:00.024-05:00

So much to say. The accolades for the My Castle of Quiet show* continue to flow in, from new converts as well as long-time listeners. I swear I get at least three emails per week, mostly through Facebook, in addition to a weekly avalanche of positive playlist comments. Which reminds me, if you haven't already, please join us at the MCoQ Facebook Group, for additional commentary from your host, notices on upcoming events, and ridiculous photo uploads. Members are more than welcome to participate as well, provided that the material is "Castle-friendly," i.e., not the same crappy forwards you see everywhere else—and please keep it relevant to the show's content, if I may be so bold. (I will remove impertinent and/or irrelevant posts.) And * by the way, I'm not bragging, but per some of the statements I made in last week's post, which continues to inspire a flow of support (thanks!), it's a wonderful feeling to have ever-growing listener support, especially when the very station that fosters the show's existence seems hell bent, again and again, on denying MCoQ admittance to the "prime-time" club. In my view, the focus should be on quality of programming, not whose turn it is. I work LAMF on my show, I can tell just by listening who does and who doesn't, and that should be the criteria, not how many times a staffer has racked up volunteer brownie points, and/or waited patiently to be on after work and not too late. Even more important than getting to sleep at a decent hour, which is what everyone wants, I want to be on when folks in the NY area can hear me in real time. I'd be napping right now, if they weren't digging up my neighbor's sidewalk with a backhoe. I'll back off of this topic, at least until the next time Crap Rap with Shmoopie and Moopie gets a prime-time slot, and I don't.

The world is designed against sleeping during the day, by the way, and by the very attempt of such an act (as I do every Friday), one is immediately ostracized from society (all the GOOD folks are at work!) There's also a lot of fucking NOISE going on in the world, and not good noise like Demonologists, either. Even in Suburbia, there's infrastructure development (read: the result of corrupt real-estate deals), trucks, loud cars, and a lotta guys just yellin', 'cause it's the middle of the fuckin' day over here. So, instead of sleeping, I usually end up doing battle with the elderly in a variety of scenarios—the pharmacy line, which exists only to serve their whimsy of imagined prescriptions that may or may not be waiting there, shopping-cart attacks aplenty (I say "EXCUSE ME" so loud that even their feeble ears can hear), and the worst of all—the phantom farting (when you can no longer control your sphincter release, stay the fuck home, please.) My 98-year-old Grandma, dare I say, was an exception, she had 100% of her wits about her right to the end, and also had people to do stuff for her. What's with all these lousy adult children who stick Gradmama on the bus to go and get all confused and flustered at the Mini-Mart? Oh right. Those GOOD people are at work, so their elderly (and potentially deadly, at the wheel) parents are on their own. Workity-workity-work. Makes the world go 'round, so our "progressive" President can think of more things to ask God to bless in his speeches. "Religious vomit," indeed. I'm not even that mad, you see, just indignant at the lack of justice everywhere I look, in every situation. It makes me do what I'm doing right now, which is, I acknowledge, kind of firing in a spray formation at the whole money-God-football bogus propriety of our ridiculous social norms.

When I'm really mad, I can't even think or speak, much less type. I'm white hot and I want blood. What you witness here is merely "mildly irked."

The juxtaposition of her soft, malleable flesh, against the cold immobility of the sheet metal-covered walls, was a striking contrast. She begged for her life, they all do, and it strikes me that serial killers are a cowardly lot for the most part, never giving their captives a fighting chance, and often plucking the same from the world of street prostitutes, easy prey to say the least, and the least likely to be missed (though some of them have a good fight in them, IF they are able to see what's coming.) As the oh-so-quotable Jello Biafra once said, "trash a bank if you've got real balls." And there are so few out there with real balls, people who will look you in the eye and tell you the truth, and all of it at that. Don't Go in the House, for which I had high hopes, as an "undiscovered" gem from the golden era of trash filmmaking, turned out to be not much more than a lesser Maniac, and instead of the great Joe Spinell, an actor of immense range and versatility, we get a perpetrator who could have been an extra on Welcome Back, Kotter.

On to the show, accolades for the second week in a row went almost solely to NRIII, a band that has reached a striking plateau in their work, and their new CD (that's right, kids, noise CAN work on one of those dreaded compact-disk thingys, despite aggressive scenester insistence to the contrary) is a visionary, innovative work, that largely defies categorization. I cannot stress strongly enough that you support the band and pick up a copy (if you love The Castle, you're damn sure gonna love NRIII.)

We opened this week with two new tracks from Nuit Noire, one of the bands that in my mind best defines the MCoQ aesthetic, and I've played their stuff constantly since the show went on the air. They're punk, they're black metal, but most importantly NN is a band that will outlive the trendiness of any genre, and make music that crosses many barriers, and they certainly get a lot of play in general from the diverse programmers of WFMU. They're ambassadors of the dark, but also of the gentleness of the night, and their "message" is idiosyncratic, phantasmagorical but also ultimately positive—a potential no-no in black metal, but who cares? The songs are pounding, catchy, and almost always hit the right note with their ever-growing group of listeners. Their new full-length CD (there's that pesky, ostracized format again), The Gigantic Hideout, is available by writing directly to the band (tenebras795@msn.com) for a mere 7€ postpaid, worldwide.

Thanks as always for listening, and for reading my diffuse, rambling scribble. You may click on the bound and burning wrists of misguided love, to access the playlist and audio archive of last night's horrorcast™.

putting the BLACK in Black Friday!

2011-11-26T10:05:00.015-05:00

Two listener-friends of the My Castle of Quiet program were discussing the show, and myself in specific, yesterday on Facebook. (I was privy to the conversation because I was tagged in it.) One of the two posited that I was perhaps "put through the ringer" by WFMU over my program, the things I dare to say, the music I dare to play, etc. The truth, however, is far, far worse—I am almost completely ignored! The occasional or frequent greatness of the show (depending on one's perspective), its challenging programming, contributions to the ever-expanding MCoQ curator page at the Free Music Archive, and the unique, devoted and highly specialized listener base that I serve, are mostly, sadly, non-existent in the eyes and minds of the WFMU powers that be. This then, is my "punishment," not to be "put through the ringer," which would lend the show some significance, at least, but to be a distant blip on the station's radar, like Pluto—maybe not even a planet.

No, the next step for me is likely, and eventually, off the air completely, either by determination of the powers that be, finally swatting that pest off their shoulder, who keeps asking, undeservedly so, to be back broadcasting in east-coast prime time, or, by my own very choosing. Show-i-cide, because one can only continue in this situation for so long. Instead of being between a rock and a hard place, I am sandwiched instead between my loyal and appreciative listenership (who, let's not forget, raised all of my $1,000 goal for WFMU's stealth fundraiser in the month of October; so at least in the case of MCoQ, the station's fundraising "experiment" was a complete success), and you reading this, and tuning in, either live or in the archives, are a BIG part of why I continue to do the show, make no mistake, and then there's the other piece of bread, an almost complete lack of appreciation, significance lent, or sincere acknowledgement by the program's parent organization.

One needs only to view my weekly comments board to witness that I must be doing something right. And these comments get fairly specific, and it's clear that I have to a large extent reached my public by what they say, so in this I am satisfied, because when the show itself is long gone, replaced no doubt by a safer, more "WFMU-type" show, styled almost solely using materials from the station's new bin, (and sorry, but if you're doing this, you are barely trying, dear colleague) I am satisfied that this show will be remembered by all of those who truly enjoyed it, supported it, and nurtured its existence over the years. And it's largely for them, and my own personal enjoyment, obviously, that I am not packing things up just yet, as there is still more work to do, and more great music to represent that inasmuch has no other voice on radio, terrestrial or otherwise.

Aside from the grousing session, I must note that much appreciation was given this week to the new CD by NRIII, Solus Patoir, a magnificent full-length from a band that I knew from the first time I heard them would reach such a plateau. And this is part of the joy of My Castle of Quiet, sharing a real camaraderie with upcoming artists of a rare stripe, and feeling as though I give a voice to the fringe, where such a focused and urgent voice would not otherwise exist.

Thanks as always for listening. I'm quite proud of this week's screen capture, from the film The Sister of Ursula, a quick, bizarre and unexplained insert that itself lasts only 1-3 seconds, and required some pause-button mastery to ensnare. Click on it, to access the audio archives and playlist for this week's horrorcast™.

Ahhh, yesterday.

2011-11-18T22:10:00.024-05:00

They can use tools, and ironic, iconic ones at that. ...The county was encouraging us here, via the EAS ticker, to make sounds that would counterbalance what their little truck-mounted gadget was doing—making insect colonies fight 'til death like Crips and Bloods. Authorities thought that by playing Hive Mind I could get them back on track, as it were. Too bad bugs like da killin'. Also too bad that their gadgetry had the unfortunate consequence of rousing all the recently dead back to functioning, enough at least to inquire as to "what's for tea?" Me thought, though, and I ain't done told them yet, is that there be some sooopa-natural forces at work, such that my sets gonna have no bearing, yah? And human flesh and blood gonna still be on the menu. Still, I tried. Do ya see any walking dead around now? Yeah, I know, same here—it's kinda hard to tell.
Unwashed, matted hair and a rumpled dress suit could just be Williamsburg chic. Then again, if they pick up a stone cross, pull it straight outta the ground, and start chasin' your ass, it's probably time to go.

Thanks to Jeff Mullan for filling in for The Castle last week. It doesn't happen too often that I miss a show, but it's nice, and preferred, as Pseu would say, to have "quality coverage" in one's absence. So how did he do? ... "Betta," you say? Fuck all y'all. He he he. This week, back to business as usual, with viciousness and a vengeance, for no particular reason other than that when I do miss a week, I really miss it, feeling it in body and mind. Plannin' and plannin' I was. Then, mid-week, a surprise—an excellent packet of materials from the mighty, mighty Universal Consciousness label, which ended up dominating the weekly horrorcast™, with more yet to come next week. Also in the mix, some odd and engaging contributions from the No Visible Scars label, oh hell yeah. More of those next week as well.

So, the notices, and aplenty they were; Cult of Daath, Akitsa, the new Hive Mind long player on Spectrum Spools, Glass Coffin, and the Moonknight tape (one of the UC releases.) I have to assume, though, that you liked it all, as I did for sure, and me with a week off between shows is some serious fuel to the fire. Fuel to the fire, young men and ladies. And still, like most weeks, I could have easily gone another hour. I blame (read: attribute) the show's sonic success to this being perhaps the best time in history for underground music, metal and noise, etc. It's a great time, and all I need to do is have my antennae set on high/receive. It's that easy, America. My filter, applied to the wealth of great, new sounds, and bang!—it's another Castle to remember. And if this reeks of arrogance, I sort of apologize, though not really, as I can feel the radio show experiencing positive growth by the week, and you,the listeners, are a huge part of this, otherwise I'd be able to voluntarily dislocate my shoulder from constantly patting myself on the back.

You spread praise like soft butter on a hot bagel, and you keep me humble when necessary. You are the zombies in my purgatory, just hangin' out. When I transition from metal to noise, or back, however abruptly or gradually, you are there. I salute you, the music makers and the music listeners (sometimes one in the same), for helping me to continue to build My Castle of Quiet into something of note, and value.

Click on that very able-bodied undead, up at the top, to reach the playlist and audio archives of this week's program.

Prison Tatt Showcase #1, in review.

2011-11-15T22:09:00.025-05:00

Songs with discernible lyrics got you down? The latest paeans to love, loss, heartache and the human condition leaving you in a pool of your own tears? You can always escape into the world of mystery, horror and enchantment that is the Prison Tatt catalog.

So far, we've had eight releases (one, Grasshopper's Calling All Creeps, is out of print, with a repress being contemplated; the band themselves have a few copies remaining), with two more coming very soon, and a veritable avalanche of releases (for a small, independent company, anyway) coming next year.

In local terms, we held our first showcase in the physical world, on the eve of November 10/11, 2011. Attendance was modest, but not too thin, with good friends, true believers, and actually more than a few people whom I didn't know personally, in the room.

The sights and sounds were excellent, as I knew they would be, though even my high expectations were exceeded by the four, standout performances. That's right—I said four, as I wasn't looking to pack the house with performers, each one doing a quick on/off, like some modern version of a Motown review—blast through your "hit," and then off. In many ways, Prison Tatt just has to be different, and as I always say, we're a "hard" label and a "head" label, and I want for our artists to have room to breathe, room to express, and I'll break convention for sure with the noise-scene standard of quickie sets for this reason alone, among others.

So, starting things off, we had NY's The Communion, whose one-sided LP, A Desired Level of Unease, will be out early next year, and in fact, their set was made up mostly of songs from that forthcoming P-Tatt release. It was really important to me that The Communion play this event, they were on my mind from the earliest planning stages, firstly because they're a great band that gets better every time I see them, and secondly because metal is huge part of Prison Tatt, and most of our metal artists are not local. It was critical to me that this aspect of our catalog be represented. Here's "Marble Husk," slated for release on their Prison Tatt record.

Second on the bill, and visiting from San Antonio, TX, was an artist that effectively bridges the noise-metal gap, sonically as well as in spirit—Husere Grav. Todd W's set was phenomenal, with layers of dense, rumbling graveyard action surging about the room. A bit like Roland Kayn, after a year in a cave with the Burzum discography. Husere Grav's Myths is one of Prison Tatt's newest releases, we're proud as fuck about it, and we hope you'll all buy yourselves a copy. Here's an excerpt from Husere Grav's brief-but-astounding performance.

Third came the majestic, mind-expanding, electronic worlds of Long Distance Poison. It was a personal thrill to witness time stopping, even and especially for many of the metalheads in the room, while LDP plied their very unique approach to modern synthesizer music. They're too melodic and long-form to be noise scenesters, and too engaging, and interesting, with layers of dissonance and constantly shifting interplay, to be Emeralds. (Sorry, if only as a contemporary touchpoint of comparison it needs to be said.) Unlike so many others, LDP do this sound right and with innovation, such that notions of "retro" never, ever come to mind. Their Bog Nebula one-sided LP is coming soon on Prison Tatt. Here's most, but not all, of their thoroughly absorbing set.

Closing out the evening, a performance by Chaos*Majik, for this performance the duo of Todd Pendu and Jesse Gelaznik. From the very beginning, I've employed Klaus Schulze as an easy and appropriate reference point for Todd's sound, though as Sarzan noted after seeing this clip, "Irrlicht, with big, hairy balls on it." CM makes a huge sound, whipping and swirling about the room, low and high frequencies set on assault, while subtle, melodic lines make a calming appearance and then just as quickly shuffle off, with the gait of Lovecraft's Old Ones. Engulfing, occult electronics of the highest order. CM's Telestic Madness—Magickal Music will mark Prison Tatt's fourth release on compact disk, coming very soon.

All in all, our evening was a creative and social success. It felt especially good to hear Bianca Ala Muerte say, "YOU did this!," as we looked around the room at the collective gathering. I tend to naturally want to hang back, not be the "star," and not take credit in person (though I'm happy to do it here in this article), and I still feel that the label has a long way to go towards being what I truly want it to be—financially successful, critically and creatively respected, and banging out at least two releases a month. My personal standard will be met when it's my filter that's the star, and the records really start to sell in large numbers, thereby paying for Prison Tatt's continued and productive existence.

Tremendous thanks to all who played (for, as it happens, not a dime in remuneration—so much for the Cameo Gallery and their "expenses"), and, played extremely well at that, as these video clips evidence. What I learned here will be beard-stroke fodder, as I contemplate PT showcase #2.

Title Sequence of the Day - The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

2011-11-14T21:54:00.015-05:00

Alan Alda in pre-Hawkeye-Pierce mode, as a classical-music journalist who's charmed into the company of a wealthy, acerbic pianist and his foxy-but-glacial daughter. They've got plans for ol' Hawk, all because of his "wonderful hands." Haunting in a way that films so rarely are anymore, fugue states and nightmare sequences abounding, The Mephisto Waltz also ties in wonderfully with David Lynch's more modern and abstract meditations on identity, and goddamn if it isn't a Quinn Martin production, too! Enjoy this lovely opening sequence, with music by horror-score pro, Jerry "The Omen" Goldsmith.

BREASTS!!! ...and The Prison Tatt Showcase #1, TONIGHT.

2011-11-10T10:37:00.006-05:00

I keep hanging these up around the radio station, and they keep disappearing, by the following week. Perhaps I started posting too early, though it seems that someone there is always promoting something, or perhaps, and more likely, a woman's bare breasts make more than a few people uncomfortable, in a variety of ways. Unfortunate, as breasts are one of nature's great aesthetic gifts. Here, our model has a wonderful pair of medium-to-small softies, with the coveted "puffy" nipples and areolas. She's a Prison Tatt girl, all the way, with that sleazy grin—you know that if there had been black metal in her day, it would have been spinning on her close'n'play. "I dunno, I just like it," she'd say. "The guys are cool." My flyer was and is intended as an act of exhaltation, never exploitation.

So, tonight is Prison Tatt Records' first live showcase, featuring a great selection and cross-section of artists. Doors open at 9 at the Cameo Gallery, which I'm told is a good place to see a show, and The Communion go on as close to 9:30 as possible—we are starting early, for real. Details below, and I hope to meet you all there.

Time
Today at 9:00pm - Tomorrow at 1:30am
Location
The Cameo Gallery, 93 N.6th St., Brooklyn, NY, USA
Created By
Prison Tatt Records

We're proud to present Prison Tatt's first public event, ever, as it's high time, and we bring an excellent line up that represents both the "head" and "hard" aspects of the P-Tatt experience, as follows >>>

9:30 The Communion
Their one-sided LP, A Desired Level of Unease, is forthcoming on Prison Tatt. One of the best bands in NY right now. "No-faking, gut-churning angst, great songwriting, and an obvious interest in creating something of quality ... Dramatic, hooky sludge-metal, classic hardcore/thrash, and hi-speed black metal are all easily referenced in The Communion's repertoire, these styles employed naturally and with the apparent ease of just doing what they do, without sounding at all forced or postmodern. "

10:30 Husere Grav
The Myths one-sided LP is OUT NOW on Prison Tatt. "...soundtracks to pain, frustration, and ill intentions—the "music" of haunted evil. ... a maelstrom ... thunderingly loud, it was swirling, and it felt dangerous; nothing less than a genuine conjuration." "Low rumbles and sub-strata murmurs that conceal much more than is evident on a first listen. Otherworldly, Lovecraftian music that represents a new plateau in cohesiveness for this Texas-based, one-man monster project by black metal and noise veteran Todd W."

11:30 Long Distance Poison
Bog Nebula one-sided LP out soon on Prison Tatt. Brooklyn's finest post-Kraut, post-Carpenter, meditative, expressive electronic pulsators. "...an irresistible concoction of convergent psychedelic and analog electronic energies, everything from a love of nature, and Rothko-like visual aesthetics, to musical influences like Sky Records, John Carpenter soundtracks, minimalism, and a less-hyper Mother Mallard or post-Phaedra Tangerine Dream."

12:30 Chaos*Majik
The Chaos*Majik CD, Telestic Madness - Magickal Musick, is coming soon on Prison Tatt. ""Klaus Schulze in a suitcase! I can dig this!" No longer does the performer need to be buried in impossibly tall racks of heavy keyboard gear, that which obscure his very view, to be able to touch other worlds, to taste the unseen, and to take the listener on a significant journey. ... arcing and shifting dynamics; there is tension, resolution, warnings of danger, absolute peace, contemplation aplenty."

The above times are REAL SET TIMES, as we want for every artist to have the chance to play a full set. Besides, your resident mogul is an older man, and I don't keep Acheron hours!

All in-print Prison Tatt merch will be available at the show.

ATTACK! ... You and C. Lavender are cracking me up.

2011-11-04T12:43:00.015-04:00

What great fun it was to have C. Lavender make a rare return as co-host, engage in some hilarious banter with me, and perhaps most importantly share some of her wonderfully concomitant musical selections with myself and Castle listeners. As with all of the guest DJs I've had on recently, a buying jag on my own part has already ensued.

C. Lavender especially makes a great co-host for the Castle, as we share many common interests in film, music and culture, and both have no need for popular culture whatsoever. We became fast friends back in the early days of the radio show (Summer '09), and I've always felt that these and other factors bring a natural, easy humor to our rapport, and I only wish that she lived closer to WFMU, so that co-hosting on her part could be an option more often. It's rare that a natural outcast such as myself, full of opinions and bile, should find the perfect foil in a radio co-host, but in Lavender I seem to have found just that. You can keep track of Lavender's artistic activities at her Web site, right here. "Meet Me at the Station, buddy."

There was only one playlist shout-out for a specific piece of music this week, a track by the excellent NY band Occultation, reminding me that I must contact the band tout suite about an on-air appearance. In the meantime, here's a live clip of Occultation by (((unartig))), featuring one of the the tracks from their absolutely excellent 3-song CDr demo.

In other, non-Castle-related matters, the Prison Tatt label presents our first showcase this week, at Brooklyn's Cameo Gallery, featuring artists that have, or are soon to have, releases on the label—The Communion, Husere Grav (you can buy HG's Myths one-sided LP right now at the Prison Tatt site—it's a gloomy, Lovecraftian winner, comprised of four tracks of great, graveyard soundtracks), Long Distance Poison (their Bog Nebula one-sider is coming soon), and Todd Pendu's Chaos*Majik, whose CD, Telestic Madness—Magickal Music is an outright masterpiece (the release has experienced some artwork-related delays, so we won't have them for sale at the show, but not to fear—it'll be well worth the wait!)

This all happens Thursday night @ 93 N. 6th St., with The Communion opening the evening at 9:30 sharp (these are real times, as we want all the artists to have the chance to play a full set.) Please note that all in-print P-Tatt titles (and as many distro items as I can carry with a somewhat f-dup hand) will be available at the show.

Hope to see you all there.

So, this means that WFMU's bright new(-ish) star Jeff Mullan hosts My Castle of Quiet this week on the radio, as I'm still working on being in two places at once. I have no idea what Jeff has planned, but I also have no doubt that it will be good. Not just anyone gets asked to fill-in for The Castle.

Thanks, Jeff!

I'll shoot out a reminder about the Prison Tatt event later this week. As always, thanks for your support, your ears, your eyes and minds. I return them, hopefully in somewhat-electrified condition....

Click on the image of that nasty, shape-shifting seductress up top, to access the playlist and audio archives of this week's horrorcast™.

TONIGHT on The Castle—The Return of C. Lavender!

2011-11-03T08:25:00.007-04:00

Sounds ominous. Like a sequel that's going to be better than the original. She's going to rip out my esophagus, and tie off her pretty hair with it. One can hope.

One of the earliest friends and most consistent supporters of My Castle of Quiet, sound artist C. Lavender returns tonight, not to perform—though you can hear her magnificent set from the show last year at this link—but to co-host with yours truly, as she's done before, bringing her dour wit, casual charm, and some musical selections of her own for y'all Castleheads. Perhaps we'll also premiere a track from her new tape on Spectral Evidence, Meet Me at the Station. I'd say definitely. Don't miss it; C. Lav is bestowed the dubious honor of being the most complimentary co-host the show has ever known, which is to say that she digs the music (though not ALL of it), "gets" the show's reason for being and has from day one, and tends to give me scolding and praise in just about even measure.

Don't miss it; we start at the witching hour.

Also, tremendous, hearty HAILS, my goblet overrunning with mead, to all the devoted Castleheads who were able to contribute to the show during last month's WFMU "stealth" Web-only fundraiser, putting MCoQ's individual show-total at 100-fucking-percent. You've all done me proud, and I dive in this week with renewed vitality (though I always give my absolute best.)

Seriously, thanks! We'll see you tonight on the playlist.

Darkly simmering. ...Last night's horrorcast™ in review, and Prison Tatt joins the Festival Circuit.

2011-10-28T10:37:00.010-04:00

Our præ-Hallowe'en broadcast last night opened with the megalithic gloomscape "Supplication," by Akhlys, one of my favorites of recent discovery. Released in 2009, the single-track CDr is packaged in a minimally adorned DVD case, and is a steal at $8 from Hells Headbangers (though I don't see one doing much headbanging to this one.) The piece's truly frightening, ominous textures brought several notices on our playlist.

What else received honors? A track from the new LP by Barghest, black metal from Baton Rouge; the I Am EP by Swedish greats Armagedda (now split-up); a track from the excellent new full-length by Maledicere (thx, Todd!); another song from the flawless new Tukaaria tape on Rhinocervs, coming out on CD later this year from Profound Lore; and, lastly, two lengthy pieces of noise-brut that I've been meaning to play for weeks, from Peele & McGee, and Andrew Quitter, respectively. That was the show. Click on the souls in torment, above, to stream the full three-hour horrorcast, and/or view the playlist and comments.

In addition, enormous, hearty HAILS to all who have pledged this month as part of WFMU's stealth fundraiser to show your love for My Castle of Quiet. We're currently at 85% of our goal for the month-long drive, and I'm already pleased as a life-affirming punch; if we make that 100% goal of a solid grand within the few remaining days of October, it's icing on the proverbial, jaw-dislocating cake. Thanks again!

Onto new business, my label, Prison Tatt Records, hits the festival circuit this Saturday, for one day only, as part of WFMU's grand 2011 Record Fair. We'll be at table F-4; look for us next to the midget horse, the bearded lady (actually, she looks more like Scott Weiland with breasts), and the wax statue I got cheap of the great Vincent Price (was left too close to heater; now looks more like Victor Buono.) Doors open Saturday at 10 a.m., at The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues.

What will I have for sale? A staggering overview of musics new and old, domestic and foreign, rock collectibles, and that dusty old LP you've been looking for since you were 10? Uh, no. I market to the niche, baby. So comfortable in the niche have I become, in fact, that I've unfolded a lawn chair, mixed up a jug of piña coladas, and gingerly placed cucumber slices on my eyelids.

What I will have, is 20-25 copies of every in-print Prison Tatt title, $1 stickers, and all PT distro items, everything discounted from our Web-store prices. You may also see our pal Bob Bellerue signing KILT CDs, maaaaaybe.

Now I must sleep; the sleep of the damned, until tomorrow's event takes over my consciousness fully and irreversibly. See you there, fuckers. Come on up say high.

Stones in the hands!

2011-10-21T20:28:00.019-04:00

...and you're gonna get it! Being "in the gang," does not necessarily ensure one's position amongst the living; in fact, it can often enhance the openings for one to wind up dead in one's boots.

Last night's show was a horrorcast™ of horrorcasts, and we've been having a lot of those lately. As my personal self steadily declines, my propensity to make good art rises exponentially. "Rise, William, Rise" in-deed. It would be a "bummer" to suggest the inverse, but what goes up....

Our good friends Bobby B., and Mister Matthews, at this point regular Castle residents (I pass them in the morning, in their tattered, stained terrycloth robes, dunking a teabag in one of our massive skull-and-crossbone teacups, leaning against the marble, as woozy "hey"'s are exchanged across the massive kitchen) helped to make it a program to be reckoned with, an extra special of specials. MM's solo sets, strikingly diverse from one another, delivered and then some, and Bob's programming choices made for a crowd-pleasing (and host pleasing) middle set.

>>> THIS JUST IN—My Castle of Quiet's individual pledge total for WFMU's October 2011 "stealth" fundraiser just today leapt to 81% of our goal. Someone(s) out there likes us. Apparently, it IS important to have a regular radio home for "[b]lack metal, dark hardcore, modern "noise," occult-kosmische electronics, soundtracks, and horrorscapes™ galore." Seriously chuffed. Thanks a million, Castleheads! <<<

In comments-board accolades, our special guest, Mister Matthews, reaped the lion's share (and rightly so.) From Bob's excellent array, Night Burger, Black Leather Jesus, Concern and Crank Sturgeon all received tips of the hat, on and off the air. Kudos, Bob. Come back any time. Back to my final horrorcast set, both Kavra (one of my favorite bands of the moment) and Portugal's Vetala (whom I "discovered" via Seed Stock's guest-DJ stint a few weeks ago, both pleased the horde.

Can't thank you all enough for listening, and to those of you who were also able to contribute, thanks for bringing us so perilously close to full, tumescent goalhood. Only 19% to go for our show to meet its goal total, and since the world is ending, and you can't take it with you—well, tra la la! Have at it!

Next week—the show as usual, what you mostly come to the decks for, though all the special programming and live performances obviously add their own zazz and pizazz, not to mention that I fuckin' love it. Mister Matthews' sets will be shared on mp3, within two weeks' time, by way of WFMU's Web portals.

For now, you can hear the full, three-hour horrorcast, by clicking on that damned member of Kakihara's gang, askance in a world of white feathers though he is. The head through the TV comes later.

TONIGHT on The Castle >Mr. Matthews' True Color of Venus Revue, with High School Confidential, and special guest Bob Bellerue

2011-10-20T11:53:00.007-04:00

Mister Matthews has been a friend, cohort and "responsible party" for the My Castle of Quiet program nearly since its inception. As a member of Telecult Powers, The Hex Breaker Quintet, and a performer of The Modern Rites of Pei with Telecult Powers and Lala Ryan (during WFMU's 2010 fundraiser), MM is one of players who's made our Studio B a second home, and it's high time that he was invited back to The Castle to put forth his remarkable solo work as High School Confidential. Stretching his legs a bit (as all good friends of the show are invited to do), he also brings Mr. Matthews' True Color of Venus Revue, in the artist's words, "another kind of thing I have been working on, caustic tripped out new age music"—which promises by its very definition to be appropriate to the usual, meta-occult electronics that are an indelible and near-constant parcel of Castle programming. Also on hand the same evening, another good friend—composer, improvisor, and Anarchymoon Recordings label head Bob Bellerue (Diablo, KILT) who, in addition to engineering the live session, will be co-hosting and co-DJ'ing with your regular, weekly Bastard of Ceremonies.

Three friends, raising a different kind of hell; don't miss it.

Angry villagers attempt to carry me off to my fate on the Judas Cradle @ 12 midnight.
Fun begins almost immediately.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web, with live accu-playlist, message board and pledge "widget" for WFMU's Web-only October fundraiser (see below.)

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/pledge.php?pr=WB" target="_blank"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Support Wm Berger on WFMU!&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Rise em well.

2011-10-14T11:53:00.017-04:00

Above-depicted is the she-creature, the spreader of the demonic-possession/homicidal/blood virus from the [REC] movies, and well, I have a few things to say. I know you don't get out much, okay not at all, but still, put a bra on those floppers, honey! They're more horrifying than your ability to spread baby-arm-size infectious "control" larvae by mouth. As we say here in Jersey, "just sayin'." Second, it was ultimately a nice touch by the writer-producers working in the demonic-possession angle in the sequel, as otherwise, there would have been no reason for a sequel—The Crazies, set in a Barcelona tenement once, was once enough. Other than these items, carry on. More than a few "YAHHHH!" moments in [REC]².

So much shit going on; but busy is good, don't get me wrong....

First of all, WFMU's "stealth" fundraiser marches on, and this week, The Castle officially hit 35% of the way to our goal for the month of $1,000, though that's still ultimately a long way off. If you've ever got your jollies listening to the show, and/or feel that there should be a reliable radio home for black metal, contemporary noise, horror-film soundtracks, and all the other "bad vibes" we spread, please consider pledging whatever you're able to give. You can do that right here, or at any one of our playlist pages. Black candles burning (you can smell the wax) aplenty to all those who have pledged thus far.

On to Prison Tatt Records business, we have two great, new titles for sale at the site, Myths by Husere Grav, and the Abandon 2010 demo vinyl reissue by Ives. Available reasonably priced and postpaid at $15 in the continental U.S. If you live in the NY area, or are planning to visit for the WFMU record fair, I'll be running a Prison Tatt table (Sat. 10/29 ONLY), where most label and distro items will be available, further discounted from the Web prices. These discs are so hot, and I'm so fucking proud, I kind of thought they would surely sell themselves, but here I am, making an effort! For further convincing, see our site yet again for song samples, and .png files of the LP-insert art.

We'll also be holding our first live event, a Prison Tatt Records showcase of sorts, featuring released and soon-to-be-released artists The Communion, Husere Grav, Long Distance Poison and Todd Pendu's Chaos*Majik (whose Telestic Madness - Magickal Musick CD releases on 11/11.) This event takes over The Cameo Gallery, @ 93 N.6th St., in the Northside neighborhood of Williamsburg/Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on the eve of Thursday, November 10th. See fleshed-out details at this Facebook event page for the show. Please note that WFMU-FM has nothing whatsoever to do with the Prison Tatt label, financial or otherwise—it's only that I work at both places, and that several of the artists originally celebrated on the My Castle of Quiet program quite naturally came to be Prison Tatt artists.

Back to radio business, next week we present Mister Matthews' True Color of Venus Revue, featuring High School Confidential, and special guest co-host and co-DJ, longtime Castle friend Bob Bellerue. More special programming to separate your webbed toes and get the blood flowing. And speaking of special programming, the Black Twilight Circle sets from last week's horrorcast™ will post within the week, as downloadable mp3s, to WFMU's Web portals; this is seriously some of the best music I have ever had the pleasure to present on our airwaves.

This week, or last night to be most precise, it was I who was "Stained, Tainted"—in too many ways to reasonably or thoroughly discuss in a single blog post. But on I go, fearless. A cracked mirror, that which reflects a distorted image, is my life. Not surfing. And what did you like? Castleheads chimed in unison for the Vesicus tape, one of the best left-field black metal tapes I've heard in a while, and I hear quite a few. Buy that one from Graceless Recordings. Also—the new Grasshopper LP on Baked Tapes, a stunner, and the Wulkanaz 7" on Seed Stock (I called it; black metal single of the year!)

For now, I leave you with miss femininity; click on that too-close-for-comfort portrait to access the playlist and streaming-audio archive of last night's horrorcast. I got a saw troat from awl dis typing.

Dark Hallucinogenic Black Metal!

2011-10-08T10:15:00.014-04:00

I envisioned a dusty parking lot, not here, perhaps in the part of N.J. where things are a bit more spread out, where they actually have fields and forests—where the name "Garden State" was earned. And in that wheezy lot, a pickup truck, parked strategically for maximum highway view, and slung over the bed a banner, made with maximum care out of a white bedsheet and a can of Krylon, a banner that reads, "Welcome Black Twilight Circle."

Of course, it didn't happen that way; it happened with hastily texted PATH directions, and a mass of hearty-looking, black-clad musicians appearing at WFMU's door in downtown Jersey City some time later. Wary smiles and hearty handshakes, it became slowly clear to me that these guys had immense humility to match their immense talent. Who would think of forming a collective of black-metal musicians, consequently strengthened by their unity, and a certain quality standard that you knew was being brought to the table? Artist collectives were a thing of the 60s and 70s, right? Well, the music was never like this.

This was, without doubt, one of the most historic radio events I have ever been parcel to presenting, creativity and artistry abounding around the room and onto the airwaves. Immense and powerful sets by Arizmena, Volahn, Shataan, The Haunting Presence (a personal favorite; unholy, dark guitar!), Kuxan Suum, Kallathon, and Dolorvotre (who were able to blast out only one, earth's-crust-shattering song, as three hours does eventually run out, remarkably so.)

I'll save my deeper observations and musings, perhaps, for the larger post, on WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive, where these historical sets will be shared on mp3 for all to download and enjoy (an idea, by the way, that I did not at all have to oversell to the BTC, their notions of collectivism and community again coming into play, exemplifying their honor.)

So listen, for now by clicking on the voodoo priestess above, because I still can't wrap my head around what happened, and I was there! These sets awe me in their greatness, and in the extraordinary diversity and range of human expression presented from group to group. Though many projects in the BTC share members in common, depending on who is driving the bus, the musical context and feel represented by each project is totally different. They call this black metal? It's great American music, based in metal, but with no boundary not worthy of knocking down.

Two people outside of the BTC deserve huge thanks—RB from Seed Stock Records and Raspberry Bulbs, for setting up the event in the first, and Diane"Kamikaze" Farris, for translating the brilliance with her own expertise, and the help of WFMU's mighty mixing desk.

In the regular order of business, playlist notices also went out to the Phantasm Theme by Fred Myrow, newly released 1992 recordings by Christoph Heemann and Jim O'Rourke, and Sleep of Ages (thanks, Travis J.!)

One week from Thursday, My Castle of Quiet presents ""Mr Matthews' True Color of Venus Revue featuring High School Confidential" as the show, now deeply energized, goes on and on. Special guest Bob Bellerue also engineers that evening, and co-hosts and co-DJs with yours truly.

My thanks seem meager in light of what's presented here, but I give them nonetheless, to Eddie and the rest of the Black Twilight Circle, for sharing with WFMU and The Castle their incredible gifts. This show was one for the ages, and I'll proudly present it to my grandkids, or anyone else who asserts that I "don't do anything." Fucking great, beyond all measure.

The BTC is, I'm sure, in no small part responsible, for our program being 23% of the way to our pledge total / goal of $1,000 for the month of October, as it's only the 8th, and WFMU's stealth fundraiser is largely a Web-only, non-intrusive affair. Thanks to everyone who's pledged so far! You too can participate, by employing the pledge widget atop any Castle playlist page.

We move on, from the horrorcast™ to end all horrorcasts, it seems, forever ready to wage war with the future, strengthened by our experiences here. Listen, and be truly amazed.

TONIGHT - The Black Twilight Circle invades MCoQ!

2011-10-05T14:13:00.006-04:00

Without question, the most innovative black metal coming out of the U.S. today is created by the mysterious collective known as the Black Twilight Circle. Based in Southern California, the grouping of ~a dozen bands release their material for the most part, though not exclusively, on their own Crepusculo Negro records, representing a nearly self-sufficient creative organization. The many, talented bands in the BTC run the gamut from hardcore punk to more traditionally inspired bm, at the same time weaving in elements of psychedelia, Mayan folk music and lore, and new, expansive powers so fresh as to defy description (for example, how does one pin down with words the magnetic and mighty essence of a band like Arizmenda?) As part of their first-ever East Coast tour as a collective, the Black Twilight Circle visit WFMU's My Castle of Quiet, where each of five (or perhaps more?) bands will give a brief but salient representation of their material. Expect to hear short, surging sets by Kallathon, Arizmenda, Dolorvotre, The Haunting Presence, and Volahn.

Altar technicians give the thumbs-up @ midnight.
Bands go on a.s.a.p.
By 3 a.m., we are all knee-deep in Christian blood.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web, with live accu-playlist, message board and pledge "widget" for WFMU's Web-only October fundraiser (i.e., no awkward, heavy-handed pitching.)

My Castle of Quiet is, at this point, 7% of the way to our pledge goal for WFMU's show-specific October fundraiser. You can pledge right from the top of our playlist page, easy as Archaeopteryx pie. Let WFMU know that programs like our special with the BTC are appreciated, and are something you'd like to hear more of.

stay frosty

2011-09-30T12:34:00.011-04:00

Ahh, October.

She rise, she rise. Her skin is pale white, and cold. Our Miss October—Ingrid Pitt...to submerge in her tresses! And my invocation is answered, and all women's fashion, hair and makeup comes to an abrupt halt sometime in the late 1960s, generously 1971. No Jordache jeans, no disco tits. No flattened perms, no satin dresses. All is go-go boots, cleavage, mini-dresses, pointy little fangs, and hair, hair, HAIR!—thick and bouncy, rich and shakeable.

The Castle marches on. With every horrorcast™, a few more celebrants join the party. And I was thinking...why this music? No discernable lyrics, melody only in the sense of our beloved film soundtracks, and in the frantically strummed baroque figures of "depressive" or "symphonic" black metal. This music is for us, those who know that things are definitely not all right, and that it's O.K. The ones who desperately cling to their pop and other "nostalgic" music are unwilling to admit that we are at the end of the road, and the view, the view actually isn't half bad. I've set up my chair, the autumn breeze cools my scalp, and no other music will any longer be suitable. The soundtrack to the apocalypse is damn GOOD, and you can get it from The Castle every week. Chaos is bliss.

Two big thoughts for you to ponder, if you wish. Lust (a perennial), and a kind of aesthetically based social elitism. Onto the music.

Comments-board notices this week for Brisbane's Lustration, the great Tukaaria, that crazy-ass Wretched Worst tape on Chondritic, Century Plants, Zombie Zombie, and the *new* out-fucking-standing Wulkanaz 7" on Seed Stock (RB mused last week that it's his best release yet.)

A wealth of special programming assaults us this month, both on The Castle and on WFMU proper. Next week, next Thursday, the Black Twilight Circle tour tromps through our heavy doors, to present sets by Dolorvotre, Arizmenda, The Haunting Presence, Volahn, and Kallathon. Will BHL and Kuxan Suum perform as well, as the tour poster would seem to suggest? Tune in and see. The tour hits our area for live performances as well, with shows on Monday, 10/3 @ Brooklyn's Acheron, and Friday, 10/7, the night after the My Castle of Quiet broadcast, at one of my favorite grimy hot-spots (perhaps because I used to live across the street), The Charleston, on Bedford Ave., in Brooklyn's Northside.

AND...Coming up on the eve of 10/20-21, our friend Mister Matthews, of both Telecult Powers and the Hex Breaker Quintet/Quartet, brings his solo project High School Confidential to the show, along with special guest co-host and co-DJ Bob Bellerue.

The month of October also brings you a unique way to support WFMU and show your specific appreciation for the My Castle of Quiet show, by participating in our non-invasive, Web-only fundraiser (we're trying something new.) There's a new t-shirt design, as well as limited CDr of Sun Ra remixes, to which many staff members contributed, myself included. Perhaps most of all, this is the first time in WFMU history when each individual show has its own pledge-total goal for the month, establishing a make-no-mistake scenario, wherein each listener can individually support the show or shows that they like. It's as easy as few clicks, and you can view the mighty "widget," and contribute NOW by visiting The Castle's main playlist page.

Now have at it, do me proud, and make sure to check http://wfmu.org/ to see what special programs my colleagues at the station have to offer this month as well.

For the moment, lovely, icy Ingrid will take you with a click to the playlist and audio archives of this week's horrorcast. Stay tuned.

this is good bedtime music.

2011-09-23T21:52:00.007-04:00

As I wrote in the promotion for last night's broadcast, "[Seed Stock is] One of the best stateside labels dealing in black metal, its antecedents and children, with a far-reaching eye on the genre, marketing titles from both dead center and the experimental fringe," and that certainly more than held true for our last two hours, entirely programmed by RB of Seed Stock.

From a personal perspective, and as a collector maniac, the show provided me with a wealth of dark corners to explore, releases to seek out, and money to spend in the hungry pursuit of same. Black metal is the genre that keeps on giving, and has opened up to the point where each individual project, fronted by creative nihilists and misanthropes from all over the world, can crank out releases—demo cassettes, vinyl and CDs—with the energy of a one-stop spiritual freight train.

As much as there was perhaps a 15% familiarity overlap between Seed Stock's selections and my own personal library of knowledge, the genre is so vast, and globally spread out, with an almost impossible breadth of sub-sub-sub genres, dedicated labels, and one-of-a-kind entities, that much of RB's selections were entirely new to me.

The first hour, "standard" Castle fare (if such a thing exists), brought playlist notices for Jabladav (great, new homespun release), Sudden Infant (stunning new tape on Robert & Leopold), and Grisâtre (a band that always grabs attention on the show, this time from a 2010 full-length, L'idée de Dieu, on Dusktone.)

The latter two hours, which incidentally will be edited down, effluvia-free, and offered as a podcast (keep an eye on WFMU's Web portals), brought much praise in general, as well as individual notices for Jazigo, Nenavist, Tomhet and Tomhet (the North-American Tomhet was heard during my hour), Villains, Ashdautas and Bone Awl.

Thanks again to RB and Seed Stock; I highly recommend checking out their online store, as prices are quite reasonable and the selection speaks for itself.

In two weeks, the Black Twilight Circle east-coast tour hits The Castle, speaking of one-of-a-kind black metal events. For now, Eddie Romero's Beast of Blood (above) will take you to the archive and playlist for last night's horrorcast™.

equal opportunity scythe

2011-09-16T10:34:00.009-04:00

I go to sleep, and I dream of massive car accidents. Unwarranted hostility and chaos. Sometimes, the images are positive >>> I dream of living somewhere else, with lots of space, a big house, different environments, a different life. Someone else's life.

At least here, in the Northeast, density of population is no joke, and I can't even muster up the energy to shrug and laugh it off anymore. When I can't leave my home without the assurance of some degree of a bad time, I become agoraphobic, and I am slowly morphing into a textbook case.

Do I really want people to die a fiery, painful death? Sometimes. Mostly I just want them out of the way. I have bore witness to other ways of living than what we have here, and I'm about ready to actually be the person who receives the visit, rather than the visitor, on temporary leave from the chaos for semi-good behavior.

Anyone wanna take me in? I require somewhat more care than a houseplant, some what less than a puppy or an infant. I'm full of funny things to say, natural charm, barbed cynicism, and good taste in all things. The barbed cynicism would naturally diminish gradually, as I flourished under your care.

I am at a loss as to where my next stop on this green globe should be, though I know I don't much care for humidity. Hooray for long pants, jackets, and a cool breeze. At 47, I am in ways older than my years, beaten down by time; in another sense, I never developed internally past 19—and why should I?

As one can tell from the above, I'm through playing it cool, not being "too personal," 'cause that would be "TMI." I need, we all do, and yet we devote so much time to acting as though we don't; we're good, and everything's copacetic. I am fucking lost, and as much as I persevere and I get things done, the person inside is deeply unhappy and dissatisfied. It's this inner turmoil that grows, like a snake with no limits, into a pure, seething hatred of humanity—but that's not where I want to be, necessarily. There are other options, of course, but they require financing, and/or the "kindness of strangers."

Are you a kind stranger?

Until such an encounter drops from the sky, here I am—cutting through the populace like a thresher, cleaving the radio dial like a sabre to butter. I'll burn out fast, spontaneously combust, leave an admirable legacy, if you make me—but I could do SO MUCH MORE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~enough.

The heroes of our continuing saga this week were >>> Sissy Spacek, Violent Pink, Good Stuff House, Kjeld, Daniel Menche & Anla Courtis, Pregnant Spore, Andrew Quitter, Decimus and Demonologists. All relatively new releases, should be easy to look up, assuming one has an Internet connection and the will to research...I am so very weary of linking everything, and have even read that links within a blog article can distract from, and diminish, the key points, and the last thing I want to do is cheat myself out of a cool drink on YOUR porch, as a welcome breeze blows by.

It's far too late for the all-seeing eye in the windshield, but it will nonetheless take you to the archive and playlist for this week's horrorcast. Thanks again for listening.

Next week, not to be missed—Seed Stock Records co-hosts My Castle of Quiet, same bat time, and that's a hickory baseball bat, leaned protectively near the front door.

William, you are on a whole other unfathomable level. Thank you.

2011-09-09T12:49:00.006-04:00

This is Mr. Mascaro. When you've got a guy like this doing your butlering for you (looks like he snaps necks for recreation, never smiles, always wears clown makeup), even armed motherfuckers are going to think twice. It's a great working relationship, that can really free you up to chip away at those plans for world domination. Just make sure to always give Mr. Mascaro his dignity; he's already got the clown face on, so do use some common sense, and don't press your luck. Mr. M. is pretty much the best feature (though there are many) of Blood Dolls, producer Charles Band's attempt to further extend the Puppet Master empire, and I would have accepted the franchise, in the form of about four or five sequels, as many of my Saturday or Sunday afternoons have been satisfactorily wiled away chomping on Full Moon fodder.

The passing weeks continue to leave me with a great sense of satisfaction, as WFMU and My Castle of Quiet approach their very-busy month of October (record fair, special programming, more surprises.) There's simply so much great, new music, and I watch the artists I favor, those I know personally, and those I relate to on collector terms, surge and rise and produce magnificent and memorable works, with the surety of more to come. For example, to see Baked Tapes rise to the plateau of releasing vinyl, and debut that endeavor with two full lengths by two bands that have shaped my reality since 2009, Telecult Powers and Grasshopper, is an odd personal best, considering that I really had nothing to do with it, except to provide encouragement via meta-fandom, airplay, and live, on-air performance opportunities (or, in the case of Grasshopper, releasing their now sold-out first vinyl on the Prison Tatt label; Telecult's PT record is in the works.) Still, it feels GREAT just to see this all happen and to hold the records in my hands.

In general, I have so much outstanding material at my disposal with which to craft each weekly horrorcast™, that I never worry—quite the opposite, the opportunity is so relished that it has for a long time now been my established and steady art therapy session.

But before I get all choked up...
I wish I'd recorded my neighbor saying "fuck you" and "fuck you, Ma" alternately, about 6-7 dozen times. It was quite an odd and destabilizing sound to wake up to the other morning. (Yes I am a substance elitist, and yes, alcoholism sucks.) Sarzan and I have been churning it into humor for the past days, though it was actually quite disturbing. At the same time, the pain of strangers never fails to make me feel a little less horrible about myself; such is human nature, I suppose.

Back to the radio show...
Playlist honors this week to Sound Out Light, the new Jabladav Ayr CD, Cripta Oculta, Smoke (that amazing improvisational black-metal band from the Netherlands), Depths, the great Demonologists, Hive Mind, and of course Grasshopper.

Weary of the circle of self-promotion, I leave you in the able hands of Mr. Mascaro, who will take you to the playlist and audio archives for this week's horrorcast. Thanks for listening.

This is the best part of Thursday night....

2011-09-02T17:20:00.017-04:00

Why thanks, listener Howard. Better than whatever party these gloomy fucks above are attending. They're really only happy when rolling their lumpy frames around on the floor in some barely comprehensible immortality rite, caressing one another's greying flesh. Brings the song "Villier's Terrace" by Echo and The Bunnymen to mind. Leave it to director Aldo Lado, who created this blink-and-you-missed-it visual environment I grabbed from his film Short Night of Glass Dolls. As I said to Sarzan, there were NO GLASS DOLLS, neither was it a particularly short night. Such is giallo-logic.

I, for one, had a fucking blast last night putting the horrorcast™ together, I mean I always do, but last night felt especially special, maybe because it was Castle #111. Maybe it was because listener SiHV (the Castle barometer, as I like to call him) was tuning in, in real time. Perhaps it was because the night was taking my sentiment, "forever charmed, forever gutted," and holding it to its breast, for it is when one begins to care that one is truly fucked. THE human mistake, and we rejoice in making it over and over again, and I think you all get my meaning. "YouknowwhatI'msayin'?", as the hip-hoppers confrontationally declare.

Accolades all around for the opening track by Wende, surprisingly a one-man project from the States, though the song titles are all in Deutsche, and the sound strikes me as particularly Swedish, or maybe Swiss, ala Darkspace. Then again, is there really any "ala Darkspace"? I only know the Wende releases are particularly good.

There was a flood of message-board commenting during our first hour, so I know now for sure, though I had always suspected, that a blast of roaring cold is the way to start things off.

What else? Lots. Lugubrum, a perennial favorite of mine that only the nation of Belgium could truly produce, Good Stuff House (Root Strata 2009), Kavra (on Wohrt Records, my new favorite label), Hive Mind's Under Old Earth cassette ... then a beyond-esoteric gibberish discourse with a mysterious listener "ex," and the transmitter/receiver cycle completes itself, having fully read my mind.

As always every week, I am blessed by the music, a gem-thief's cache of exceptional hues, and by your ears, for lending a listen. The evil they, an immortality cult disguised as a chamber-music appreciation society, will take you to the audio archive options and playlist for this week's horrorcast.

MCoQ dates to remember >>> 9/22-23 Seed Stock co-host/guest DJ
>>> 10/6-7 Black Twilight Circle east-coast tour visits The Castle

Hey - those pants sold out in pre-order!

2011-08-26T13:30:00.012-04:00

Yes, this week I claim the headliner for myself, as the most laughable line of the night; a bit "inside," but if you know the party or parties involved, utterly hilarious.

The Castle Freak should never have come out of his basement lock-up. To view the full physical extent of his body, his visage, and those all-but-gone genitalia—it would be too much for even the most damned of souls. And he tried to compensate, with the young lady, for his lack of proper equipment, but it all ended up a bloody mess, truly. Truly yes, and no exaggeration, neither for the young lady or for Castle Freak himself. Had her hands not been bound, she could have given him "the tap," but even then, things may have been too far gone. Lousy head indeed!

I had an extra-good time putting last night's horrorcast™ together, hardly consulting my "notes" at all; it's true enough that sometimes one only needs a few good starting points, for any creative venture. So it was last night.

The Roland Kayn piece, to contemplate Kayn in the first, a composer that has inspired me so much, and yet his works rarely grace the Castle airwaves, largely because of their duration, but also because I'm cautious of wallowing in music I truly like that much, so that it may never, ever become routine. The expected enthusiasm followed in the listener comments. (Kayn passed away in January.)

As listener ami ad noted "good tunes" on the playlist at the very stroke of 1:47, I am unsure as to whether this applied to Kavra or Desastrious—both are deserving; grimy black metal of the very highest order—the very sonic equivalent of gloriously ill-fitting pants. Ha!

In addition, after two weeks and as many selections, listeners are already on track with the new Half An Abortion full-length being one of the best noise records of the year. It's called Naked Math Machinery, and is available on Ilse Music. Ho-Lee-Fook, it's good!

Like all of dir. Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft adaptations (Castle Freak is based on the short story The Outsider, which can still inspire tears some 40 years after I first read it), Castle Freak amps up the gore, and takes great liberties with the story, but the still the basic core of the tale remains. Gordon is a smart man, and knew that Lovecraft was quality writing, not meant to be merely "mined" for its skeletal parts. The Outsider is punk literature decades and decades before such a thing existed, before Darby Crash ever thought to write a poem; the ultimate parcel of human alienation, and a spot-on expression of the dusty solitude of our lives within these neato flesh-prisons we carry around. Here is a larger-scale appreciation I wrote of H.P. Lovecraft for WFMU's Beware of The Blog in January of 2006.

Please remember that Professor Dum Dum and I will be at Clifton, NJ's Clash Bar tomorrow night (39 Harding Avenue), starting at 9 p.m., as part of a WFMU "Meet the Listener" event, as well as a Bill Zebub DVD-release and screening party for his film, Antfarm Dickhole. I imagine the event will go on as planned, hurricane be damned; and while we're at it, damn the newscasters and broadcast weathermen too, for so delighting in whipping up general hysteria, and drumming up business for the supermarket chains and property insurers.

Castle Freak will take you to the playlist and audio-archive options for last night's horrorcast, but, uh, best to guard your privates.

Full of wonder tonight!

2011-08-19T08:13:00.035-04:00

LOST ENTIRE POST WHILE TRYING TO LINK BLACKDEATH HAHA THEIR HOMEPAGE LINK TRULY EVIL HAHA JUST KEPT PASTING ITSELF OVER AND OVER HAHA ERASED ALL MY PRIOR CONTENT HAHA HAD TO COMPLETELY START OVER HAHA RUSSIANS HA.

Wonder >>>

—as in a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable
—as in why is it that I inhale, and by the time I've exhaled, all new releases on Youth Attack have sold out
—as in the little boy (filthy bunny-bonnet optional) removed his finger from the hole in the dyke, and a great flood of amazing new music surged past my door, as I reached out to grab what I could, all the while "yoinking" like Homer Simpson
—as in I wonder if that's a real cat

Completely wowed by the new Half An Abortion full-length on Ilse (yes kids, it's true—great noise can come out on CD!) Also receiving heavy notice on this week's playlist were Smoke and the aforementioned Blackdeath, both on Wohrt Records, Arizmenda's new tape, already in second press, Cripta Oculta, Throudos (2006 demo is a free download at that link), the Aghori split tape (with Gitche-Anahmi-Bezheu, their side was heard on last week's horrorcast™) on Existential Cloth Recordings, OPPONENTS (as always), and Norwegian BM legends Tulus.

Next Saturday, the 27th, I'll be a semi-luminous presence at this event, a WFMU listener meetup and Bill Zebub screening and DVD release party for his film Antfarm Dickhole, at The Clash Bar in Clifton, NJ, with fellow DJ Professor Dum Dum also in attendance, his Deutsche intellectual superiority in full display. Bill's movies always deliver more than they might seem to promise at a glance, thick with gnarly wit and social satire, and gloriously politically incorrect. It should be a fun night (Alice Cooper cover band inclusive, so turn out and meet your two most-favorite WFMU air personalities (let's be honest, now.)) Bill says I'm "lovely and talented"—he hath EYES, to see; you can, too.

It's been many a year since I watched Gummo, in fact I had to take the original shrinkwrap off of the DVD case to get the capture above (from the film's final scene.) I bought the DVD, and then kind of "forgot" that I owned it, if that speaks at all to Gummo's true status as a horror film, if not a genre film. It's difficult viewing, though it achieves a certain aesthetic/visual perfection, aided by the mostly grindcore soundtrack, and Harmony Korine's chillingly spot-on depiction of middle-American, white working-class, "idle-hands" conduct.

Click on Bunny Boy to reach the audio archive(s) and playlist for this week's horrorcast. Thanks for listening.

mine eyes are open

2011-08-12T20:12:00.022-04:00

This week's Castle show was of the class I always endeavor to put forth—a powerful, dramatic live guest performer, a wealth of great, contemporary black metal and dark ambient sounds, soundtracks, trailers, and a flood of my beloved horrorscapes™.

And at the risk of being "tacky," or "proud," if I don't sound my own trumpet, who will? I have never been, and likely never will be, one of the "celebrity" DJs at WFMU (you know who they are, they know who they are.) I'm not out to please most of the people most of the time, or to get the most playlist comments, or the most praise. I don't disparage the hard work of any of my colleagues at the station, certainly not, though it seems my lot is to be appreciated fully by the enthusiastic few, and that's just fine. If my grapes taste the least bit sour, it's only because I'm such a fool that I actually believe the music I support should be "popular" music, if not "pop." I use only the best materials to dress my canvas, and expect some notice for it, though it's acceptable all the same that my mood is not the mood of the masses. If there were no "thesis," there would be no need for antithesis.

The Decimus live set was strikingly accomplished, brilliant, exquisite—you'll see. You can hear it as part of the full horrorcast™, by clicking on the hanged priest above, or wait for the mp3 download to appear on WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive.

Also receiving notice on the listener-comments board was the music of the late Conrad Schnitzler, Throudos (new album can be downloaded for FREE), Guilt, Tomhet, gitche-anahmi-bezheu, and the Epileptinomicon/HIJDRA cassette.

A show so tight you could tie a bow around it, and I do say so myself. Pride is the lion's sin, and I'm a lion who doesn't give a shit what the trendies (Martial Canterel? Really?) and the nostalgia freaks are after.

No special guests next week, but lots of great shows and night callers coming up this Autumn (Black Twilight Circle tour, anyone? See Oct. 6 at that link) and many a pending event yet to be inked and announced.

Thank YOU for listening. It's you the listeners that truly make the Castle turrets spin 'round.

Decimus ABSOLUTELY LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, TONIGHT!

2011-08-10T14:28:00.008-04:00

Decimus is the name for the solo creations of Pat Murano, a sonic journeyman of many stripes. A long-time member of the No-Neck Blues Band, Pat also formed the outstanding two-man collaborations K Salvatore and Key of Shame, in addition to forming and fronting Malkuth (who played on The Castle in Jan. of 2010), one of the most important and highly original black metal bands in NYC history. Pat is a player with a lot to offer, the music apparently shuffling for position within and without him.

The Decimus works are gloriously patient and long-form, not "noise" at all, but melodic, even "psychedelic" at times, the individual pieces ranging anywhere from 7 to 45 minutes in length. Were it not known that Pat was working multiple keyboards and a mixer from a tabletop vantage point, one might presume, based on the sound of things, that Decimus were some sort of progressive electronic ensemble of four-to-five persons. These pieces flow, surge and subside, with melody, counterpoint and polyrhythms bouncing off the walls, not unlike the works of Bianchi and Schnitzler (the latter, R.I.P.)

My Castle of Quiet is pleased to present a live, in-the-moment performance by Decimus.

All giallos suddenly make complete sense @ 12 mid.
Decimus @ 12:30 a.m. approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web, with live accu-playlist and message board

make your own damn pizza

2011-08-05T11:32:00.009-04:00

If you spent any time growing up in the Northeastern U.S., you know the jingle that ends, "Shop Rite has the answer," and though I'm almost positive that they were referring to the "answer" for dinner, with this graphic above, the larger implications become immediately laid bare. Either that, or some drug pusher had a real sense of humor. The "answer," indeed.

Our special live musical guest, Lady Piss, took the high honors Thursday night, no doubt whatsoever, though several items on the playlist also made indelible impressions—45 Grave's first single, "Black Cross," Tinsel Teeth, Odal (again!), Velaad, Wolfmangler, Vanyar and Ash Borer all took home the silver.

The great times just never seem to end on The Castle, and much thanks must be extended to Diane "Kamikaze" Farris, for making the magic happen; she's the woman behind the curtain, and in this case there's no need to ignore the all great and powerful, as Diane made last night's
Lady Piss session, and the Raspberry Bulbs performance and recording two weeks ago, something(s) truly special. Lady Piss' set will post as downloadable mp3s to WFMU's Web portals, Beware of The Blog and the Free Music Archive, sometime within the next two weeks. In the meantime, you may check out my curator portal at the FMA, to review the many past performances and sessions that have graced the Castle airwaves on WFMU.

For now, check out those unbeatable values for yourself—the SHOP RITE logo will at least take you to the audio archives and playlist for this week's horrorcast™, if not to some values of your own. DO NOT BE TAKEN IN BY THE FAMOUS MYTH OF QUALITY.

On a personal note, thanks for the deluge of birthday wishes from friends old and new.

NEXT WEEK~~~DECIMUS, LIVE!

My Castle of Quiet, Movie Night #2, tonight in Nyack.

2011-08-05T05:21:00.010-04:00

Do join Don Sigal of Opposite Records, Richard of the NVT, and myself, tonight, for MCoQ Movie Night #2.

To be screened >>>

Bug - William "Exorcist" Friedkin's 2006 feature; a brilliant treatise on the horrors of the mind—maybe drugs, maybe bugs. The tension builds perfectly, as the camera swoops around the room, plotting the characters' ascent into madness. Reality slips away, and the scratching is almost unbearable. Starring the excellent Michael Shannon, with a hagged-out Ashley Judd at her absolute best. Many thanks to R.W. Hessler, for his insistence that I see this one, now one of my favorite films of the decade.

-in-between the features—The cheerfully gory short Staplefahrer Klaus, and early music videos by Kraftwerk.

Haute Tension (2003), dir. by Alexandre Aja, who's yet to top it, though he's tried. A brutal and merciless killer is roaming the French countryside—or is he? "Twist" endings aside, this is one of the best horror films of the 2000s, a real seat-jumper; the first film in many a year to make me gasp and/or feel shocked. We're screening the original, subtitled French version, a much better viewing than the somewhat thoughtlessly dubbed version that ran in U.S. theaters.

We really need a good turnout for this one, so that Don and Richard can continue to present alt. culture events at the NVT. Turn out, see the films, and wish me a happy birthday!

Nyack Village Theatre
94 Main Street
Nyack, NY
films start at 9 p.m.

LADY PISS - a LIVE splashing on the airwaves - TONIGHT on The Castle.

2011-08-03T05:20:00.007-04:00

The band Lady Piss make their first venture northward, after dazzling local Baltimore audiences for some time, with their pummeling hooks and angular, infectious riffage. Progressive and wild, one might compare these B-more sensations to The Jesus Lizard and that's fair, sonically speaking, but only as a baseline—their deft, intricate arrangements and great songwriting take flight into new, cascading zones that are uniquely the band's own. Lady Piss have an outstanding pedigree in their hometown, as the project features former members of Triac, Fight Amp, Carrion, Dactyl and Flowers in the Attic, and current members of Multicult, The Wayward, and Murder.

Their debut 12" vinyl e.p., Streaming, has done quite well, especially for a first, self-made release (hear and purchase the digital version at bandcamp, though the vinyl does come w/a free download code), and you can pick up a copy and hear for yourself, not only on the air but live in person as well, as Lady Piss' My Castle of Quiet radio appearance coincides with a NY-area show, at The Charleston in Williamsburg, Saturday, August 6th, with Ancient Sky, The Catalyst and Tournament. From a trickle off the curb to your radio, this week on The Castle.

I hand over my show opening to Dave the Spazz, my features splayed from a good session of "Hogs of the Road," @ midnight.
LP @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

mop mop mop

2011-07-29T04:14:00.008-04:00

It's been a while since I saw The Black Pit of Dr. M., so I don't really remember what's going on above. It seemed to me, though, an adequate metaphor for my own midsummer. Don't look at me, don't see me...and I'll just about see you with this one, exposed eye (for emergencies.) My life has never felt more on hold, more "waiting for the next, big thing" than it does right now.

I don't really want to be alive, not that I want to be dead; just need a break. But not "doing stuff," ceasing to move amongst the others and get a few things done, well you practically have to shoot off a leg for that to be acceptable.

How was the radio show? Just fine, thanks. I always have a good-to-great time, a plan, and an execution. Oaks of Bethel, "Giratina Battle Music," Tomhet ambient works, Rust Worship, and Lady Piss all received notices on the Castle playlist.

Of those events I must remove the head-gauze for, most notably, the above-mentioned Lady Piss, Baltimore's finest, from a trickle off the curb to your radio, NEXT WEEK ON THE CASTLE.

The following night, at the Nyack Village Theatre in Nyack, NY (a really pleasant, cozy place to sit and watch a couplet of disturbing movies) comes My Castle of Quiet Movie Night #2. In all seriousness and sincerity, I hope to see YOU there, it's my birthday, and there's nothing I like better (considering I'll be awake and de-gauzed) than to see some good friends, make a few new friends, and screen some of my favorite films. Click that link for more info.

Click on gauze-head above, living the life of which I can only dream, to hit the playlist and audio archive of this week's horrorcast™.

Fools dont understand the love in the pit!

2011-07-22T12:00:00.013-04:00

One radial saw, with ridiculously large blade; made for cutting through auto windshields, and that last spot of hope for a desperate young woman, whose whole family has very recently been slaughtered. YOU GOTTA HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB. "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, screeeeeeeeee (like an obscene dentist's drill times 10)—splatter, scream."

People think that I make this shit up, but I have yet to sleep since last night's horrorcast™. The unacceptable, dastardly humid air cuts through my paltry A/C window units, and my head is like a wellspring—not my mind, mind you, but my HEAD, the ring just under my hairline spilling over as though it were trying to fill a glass. I can't really stomach any solids apart from breakfast cereal. Unacceptable. No God would be this irresponsible, though I'm still flipping "Him" the bird at regular intervals.

Thank goodness the package from Tomhet came; we'll definitely hear some sounds from the formerly Canadian California wizard next week. But I get ahead of myself. Feels like a day for a Mario Bava home-bound film festival, Lisa and the Devil and Hatchet For the Honeymoon inclusive. Fingers becoming too sticky to type. There are definitely those with larger issues on their plate, though—the good people over at The Silent Barn, for example.

What dazzled the faithful this week? That staggeringly great Vomikaust cassette single, ltd. to 50 pcs. (though there may well be a vinyl issue coming soon-ish on Prison Tatt.) Please check out the Prison Tatt distro for other Primal Vomit releases, and other beauties currently collecting dust on my desk and shelves.

The Smoke Sententiën collection of rehearsal demos is also wanted for murder; available on Wohrt Records, out of sunny (and one presumes more so or equally sticky) Florida. A personal favorite last night was Senthil's Crypticorifislit release, and Castle listeners can expect more long-form black metal explorations in the weeks and months to come, as track times get daringly longer, and compositions and arrangements get progressively more elaborate (for some artists, anyway—the 1:30 blasts of Malveillance will never disappear.)

Alexia, the blood of a man she'd just met now matting her hair and salting her mouth, surely thinks these are her final moments. Grab one of them to get to the playlist and audio-archive options for this week's horrorcast.

Killing it, killing it, killing me!!!!!!

2011-07-16T10:04:00.012-04:00

"Mommy and Daddy are really good at playing dead!"

Me, too. And sometimes it's a necessity that I "play dead" for a day or so after a Castle broadcast, oh, mostly because of the hours of the live broadcast, but also because of the dynamic spectacles I sometimes witness through the double glass, and the extremely influential, pervasive energy that's released both on the part of myself and the performers. This week, probably more so than ever before.

'Twas all about the 'Bulbs—mighty, mighty. I didn't even realize the humor in what I said, about the band being "ready to burst" in the adjoining room, at least not until my next-day review of the archive. All that raspberry jam all over the live room would have been a disaster; I'd still be there cleaning it up...but no, all went finer than fine, and the RB live debut was truly jaw-dropping, as one commenter on this blog put it. Everything went right, and at the right time.

When I wrote to RB/Seed Stock all those many months ago, maybe more than a year, it was really a strike in the wind; I never thought I'd actually be hosting Raspberry Bulbs' live debut for all to hear. And man, it's great. Where "punk" and "black metal" bisect one another for all the right reasons, and none wrong. Incredibly well-rehearsed, and infused with passion and expertise just waiting for this moment to escape, the session sounds fucking great. For now, you can click on the unwittingly triumphant duo of Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve (aka Bay of Blood) to hear the full, three-hour horrorcast™, and view the accolades and obfuscation of the listener comments.

In other good news, the RB set will be shared, via WFMU's Web portals in due course (i.e., don't rush me.) I strongly suggest you also avail yourself of the next-nearest opportunity to see them live (Red Light District, 7/30), because, as they say, "hearing is one thing; seeing is believing."

I have not much more to say (still recovering), thought the new Arizmenda tape continues to dazzle the faithful, and I only wish that it were a little more available, or that maybe a vinyl issue would surface, because honestly, there's a demand, and it's not that uncool to be able to reach your audience, the ones with baited breath who are only waiting to shell out a few $ to own your latest release. In terms of the full programming of this week's show, I've always a few gems up my sleeve, as I jump in with both feet and research, research, research the music I love that stimulates my existence (you'll find those gems if you listen.) But this week, I'm more than pleased, I'm..."finally burst," shall we say, to allow Raspberry Bulbs' outstanding, powerful performance to rattle center stage.

Sow These Bulbs, That They May Grow; TONIGHT, LIVE, on My Castle of Quiet radio

2011-07-13T23:47:00.011-04:00

Rescheduled from last week, the Raspberry Bulbs' live world debut goes on tonight (7/14-15), on the My Castle of Quiet weekly program on WFMU.

Over the course of two short years, several cassettes, and one full-length LP, Raspberry Bulbs has quickly established itself as a unique and powerful voice in black metal, a project to be reckoned with, and one of the best in the now-quite-extensive American black metal universe. Their lurching, screaming, mid-tempo anthems, insanely catchy and possessing, have rapidly set the band apart from what some may have originally viewed as a "Bone Awl spinoff project." He Who Crushes Teeth (long-time Bone Awl drummer and RB architect) is a serious, cornerstone figure in black metal, also having established the excellent Seed Stock label, which has brought an admirable selection of brand-new and older BM titles to the fans on vinyl and cassette. Raspberry Bulbs' My Castle of Quiet appearance marks the first RB live performance anywhere, as most of the cassettes as well as the LP were created by RB alone via multitracking, and only recently has RB established this combo, which we'll hear on the air. MCoQ is proud as hell to present this absolutely live session, a long time in the planning (interview to follow post-set), and a milestone for black metal fans everywhere (If I may be so immodest.) (Sorry, this is a closed-door, broadcast-only event; no guests.) More RB live shows will follow soon.

"5 minutes, Berger."...as I awkwardly extricate myself from the role of Lucky Pierre between John Savage and Bronson Pinchot, @ midnight.
RB @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

If anyone sees Franken Berry, will you please tell him that I miss him.

2011-07-08T12:33:00.008-04:00

Life ain't all it's snap and cracked up to be as a breakfast-cereal icon. The kids are fickle, to say the least. Remember what happened to Quake? Fuckin' hard-on, he had it coming anyway. But Boo Berry, that was plain unjust, shit luck. Like when the somnambulist brings the wrong girl back to your lair. Balls!

Last night was a Castle show to be sure, but of a different shade. I was not quite cleansed of the usual, weekly demons. Where was the brutality, the hate, the anger, the Weltschmerz? There, but in more-easily digested cosmic doses, and that's fine. If you wear the same hat ALL the time, it develops a horrible sweat stain.

Never-forgotten old faves Amon Düül, Anima-Sound, rarely heard recordings by Kraftwerk and Con Schnitzler, and the under-celebrated Adelbert Von Deyen (serious mullet alert!) all received notice in the listener comments this week. I was more than a few Km beyond the wall of sleep, and well, let's just say those jump-to-time markers won't really be working for you this horrorcast, my apologies. But hey, you're supposed to listen to the WHOLE THING, anyway. Don't miss out on personal favorite Seesselberg, and the live Tangerine Dream Frankfurt recording. Kraut-bliss leaves a mark, and I suppose soon enough it will be time for #2, but not too soon.

I need the roar and the soul-munching angst of a regular-run Castle show. And angst we shall have, next week, at the hands of Raspberry Bulbs. Also confirmed for this summer are Lady Piss (8/5, my birthday) and Decimus (8/19.)

Getting back to Caligari's somnambulist, he's all following orders and shit, but not minus a human SOUL, and that, my friends, is the cloth we are doomed to weave here at The Castle, that time when sleepy goes and falls for the girl, all wrapped up in tragic flaw. That dismal scene, depicted above, will take you to the playlist and audio-archive options for this week's Kraut-a-leptic horrorcast™.

Tonight on The Castle - Kraut-Out #1 - A Kosmische Slow-Tanz Party!

2011-07-07T12:23:00.007-04:00

In light of Raspberry Bulbs' need to reschedule their debut live performance, originally slated for tonight's Castle broadcast (and rescheduled for next week's show), I'm whipping out something I've had in the mental works for a long time. Not nearly enough classic Krautrock (60s-70s ursprünglich-type) gets played on the radio, though WFMU, if anywhere, sees it sprinkled into its freeform programming fairly liberally, and I've been devising an all-Krautrock show for the minds curious, and the minds not yet fully blown. Krautrock has been a favorite of mine since the early 80s (when the genre itself was actually dwindling in importance), and it's high time The Castle devoted a substantial three hours to its greatness. I'm not necessarily reaching for the rarest of raritäten here (though you can expect a few), merely a celebration of that unique, post-hippie Germanic take on "Innovativ Schwingungen," for your enjoyment.

Tune in at Mitternacht.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

Complaints are HIGHlarious.

2011-07-01T15:34:00.015-04:00

People. A necessary evil. Be ready with the machete when your options for dealing with them dissolve. April functions best on her own, despite the occasional bout of tears, and she ends "the movie" in much the same way in which she started it. And isn't this really a microcosm of how we live? You can't merge souls, for chrissakes, unless you're John-and-fucking-Yoko. Like many of the better zombie/plague films, new and old, The Dead Outside is a gorgeous metaphor for how we deal with one another in this human zoo. Zombies aren't real—but isolationism, fear of relating, and a frothing herd at your heels—these are all things that ring a bell for most of us.

J. Soliday and I were just touching upon the topic of EVPs when the bell tolled and we had to wrap it up, but I want to know, what would YOUR ghost say on repeated, electromagnetic loop, when the rag-tag band of "paranormal researchers" came a-callin'?, 'cos mine would say, "don't leave"—followed after a few heartbeats by "get away!" Prone to terror at the very thought of loneliness, but also quick to shout away anyone who gets too close, my life is a zombie feature.

Much praise on the playlist comments board for our live performer Mr. Soliday, who danced with the circuits like a pro, no manual required. What magnificent self-expression we were treated to! Jason's two sets will post as mp3s to WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive, once I've had my chance to come away from the moment, listen more deeply, and figure out exactly why the work was so magical and made us all tingle.

Other notable selections inculded the new, limited Lussuria LP on Hospital Prod., the new-and-already-on-second-press Arizmenda full-length tape on Crepusculo Negro (these CN releases REALLY need vinyl documentation!), and the new OPPONENTS 2CD on the Opposite label.

April is a simply lovely young lady (if you can get to that level with her, it's far from easy), too young to have seen and have coped with all she's been through. She wields that machete only because she must. Survival is the key. She, in a rare moment of generosity, will guide you to the playlist and streaming audio options for this weeks' horrorcast™.

Thanks again to Jason Soliday (and to Bob Bellerue for engineering!)

Next week, the live debut of Raspberry Bulbs! (Sorry, this is a closed, broadcast-only event.)

J. Soliday splits the audio atom LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, TONIGHT.

2011-06-29T17:48:00.007-04:00

First, a personal note: Thank you for the write up on your site, J., regarding your appearance on The Castle; if I'm appealing to your personal tastes, well those are mine as well, and let's just hope our legion continues to grow. I knew I was doing something when I started the show in 2009, that it would all fit together somehow. Chuffed.

One might be tempted to refer to Chicago musician Jason Soliday as a "real electronicist," inasmuch as his staggering and prolific talent bears out evidence of a driven and unstoppable artist, with more projects at work than one has appendages. Hell, the guy has a project called "I ♥ Presets," so he's won me over already. I first heard Jason's music through mutual friend Steve Witchbeam, who loaned me the Again CD, and sometime later through a collaborative mini CD between OPPONENTS' Joshua Slusher and Winters in Osaka, another of Jason's (or J.'s) impressive branches of activity. So, he's had one degree of separation from the My Castle of Quiet show for a long time, and a live, on-air visit was more than simply inevitable, more like "pre-ordained by the gods." Sonically, Soliday is a pro, his recordings and style melding apocalyptic pounding and drone with multiple, sudden bursts of concréte-style collage and psyche-clearing power electronics, without the messy "I had a bad day" vocals that often tether such a journey to the solid ground. Visit Jason's site (linked above) for a lot more info. His latest full-length work, Shivering Disorganizer, on a par in both complexity and power with his many other releases, is available for free download at Soliday's soundcloud page. Jason's Castle visit comes at the end of a round of NY-area appearances, including the Ende Tymes Festival at Silent Barn (6/26) and Port d'Or (6/29.)

J. Soliday @ Discogs.

I blast three zombie hookers away from the door and fling myself inside @ 12 mid.
J.S. @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

I'm disappointed to hear that the condition isn't permanent.

2011-06-24T12:17:00.019-04:00

Freudstein's condition was permanent. Amd when your insides are made up of worms, maggots and black muck, where is the QoL? Nowhere, mon frere! (And just a tip, it's always a good idea before closing on a house to make sure that an immortal, rotten-banana-faced cannibal doesn't reside in the basement. This way, the seller absorbs the cost of removal. Sadly, inspectors can be corrupt, and one may be required to take a more hands-on approach prior to closing.) If this is going to be a long story, I'll wait outside, as I've seen House By The Cemetery 10+ times. The little kid's name is Bob, which is just weird (why not Bobby?), and in the English-dubbed version, the character of Bob is voiced by an actor clearly several years his senior—VERY distracting. Still, it's a favorite Fulci, perhaps the "last great," as Manhattan Baby blew chunks big enough to fashion an appropriately nasty chef's salad.

You mention Hendrix? I'd rather surrender a finger joint than hear the 27 live versions of "Machine Gun" that are out there, again. Slow, electric, blues bunk. I've more rock sacrilege where that came from, if any of you have been following my anti-Patti Smith musings @Mycastleofquiet. It begins and ends with "Redondo Beach," and even there, "woman all standing with shack on their faces," Really? "SHACK"? Someone once wrote, "Kill Your Idols," but then I think I live by that better than most.

So wha'appen last night? Not too sure, as Shaq was on my face most of the night. Y'all reveled in the Mothra soundtrack (as did I), someone "liked" Defuntos (I think), and Dad They Broke Me, Cirrhus, Tomhet and Cadaver In Drag all rallied you up off of your hemorrhoid pillows.

NEXT WEEK: Jason Soliday
THE WEEK AFTER: Raspberry Bulbs
later in July: Decimus
and later this summer and/ or fall, possibly: Lady Piss (Streaming, great record!), and The Black Twilight Circle tour. (Yes, you read that correctly.) York Factory Complaint? Decoy Jews aka Plagues? High School Confidential? Ladysmith Black Mambazo? I suppose I should talk to the artists FIRST.

Click on Freudstein to view the playlist, and audio-archive playback options for this week's horrorcast™. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for coming out tonight.

2011-06-17T04:09:00.011-04:00

Every Thursday night/ Friday a.m., we explore challenging new sounds, hopefully palatable to more than a few of you in part because of the context and flow within which they are presented, which is to say, I try—more than a little. In addition to the "experimental" music that has been my passion since the 1980s (these days, they call it "noise"), always my first love, the genre that really has me juiced, as it continues to expand and surprise, is black metal. Fell Voices, Altars, and the somewhat-elusive Tomhet all got well-deserved notices on this week's playlist.

And what is my will, that which will be done? To be happy (surprise!), to navigate the unprovoked hostility of the herd, and to not let it eat me alive—my reactions for the most part being white hot and severely internalized. Financial security, psychological security, and to have those I love know that I mean it. And to remember, that in life, through all the failings, foibles, missteps and outright fuck-ups, I endure. I buoy my self, my interests, and the music, loved ones and friendships that impassion me, always with the most integrity possible. To lie to oneself is to fail, but to lie knowingly to others, to deceive willfully, is unforgivable. I wish to be known, and dare I say rewarded, for being myself and doing what I do. Not terribly different from many people, I must admit.

The "little devil" in me knows, so-called evil is just a means, a way to work through the above-stated goals, without getting too badly fucked over. While others may hibernate in winter, it's the summer that sends me into hibernation, with the unbearable heat, and the smaller minds out there set to slow-cook. But I read your emails, and I notice the number of "followers" creeping slowly higher, and I thank you all, for reminding me that I'm doing the best I can do, every week.

So black metal it's been, for at least the past few weeks, dominating the show, as it empowers me with the will of the different, the struggle of the few, to punch through that uncooperative membrane that clouds all, and makes my tiny efforts feel hopeless. But the noise, the comforting chaos, is always there as well, rumbling under the bedrock, and feeding the figurative.

That's about as philosophical as I get.

Recent film recommendations include the great Colin (known in the UK as the 45£ zombie film), the impressive, darkly comic Night Watch / Day Watch films, and what must have been a Hollywood-marketing nightmare, the odd, unsettling mix of teen comedy and ultra-violence called Kick-Ass. These, in addition to the almost constant flow of 60s-80s classics which, not only stand up to repeated viewings, but when coupled with a few reliable AC wall units, make staying home extremely tempting.

Some great shows coming up on The Castle, to make the damnable east-coast summer life worth living, including Jason Soliday (7/1), Raspberry Bulbs (7/8), Decimus (8/19), and others still in pencil that would blow your freakin' mind anyway, so I'll keep mum for the moment.

Click on dashboard-fetish Satan to view the playlist, and hear the archive of this week's horrorcast™.

bring forth the winter

2011-06-10T16:41:00.009-04:00

Oh yes, please do. A little unseasonal 40° weather would do me right just about now. "Summer Is Not My Friend," as Woods of Infinity have charged. This is the time that I get to see a lot of horror films, and just generally catch up on things of an interior nature. Who can stand to go outside? My body will crawl with insects when it breathes no more—but not now—not if I can help it in the slightest.

To exemplify, last night's Castle broadcast, #99, was a cryptogram of sorts, some titles meaning nothing or little at all, but if you could lay them out, flat like a circular diagram, and draw lines from one significant title to another, a not-so-mysterious answer would reveal itself. Those who know me, really know me, have the answer already.

Summer is my season of emotional desperation; where everything seems like it's about to crack, break, the fissures sending vital fluids running to the gutter. The only welcome postulate is that it rain, rain rain, as in our opening selection from Jabladav. (And I'm really glad that we've seen the last of those who complain about synthesizer presets—stop missing the point! It's all about what you do with it, not what "it" is.)

California's great Ash Borer turned ears and heads on last night's horrorcast™; check both their blogger page and Metal Archives entry, as both a vinyl reissue of their self-titled full length (from Pesanta Urfolk, those who gave us the Hell reissue, gloriously remastered for the medium) as well as a double cassette of their complete recorded works, are available now or soon to be.

York Factory Complaint also blew minds (as they do every time), reminding me that I must get on the can-and-string to Ryan Martin about a Castle appearance asap.

Listeners should also investigate Malus, Lady Piss, and new releases by Pygmy Shrews and Shaved Women.

To summarize, in the "Circus of the Worker," snake lady is certainly playing through the pain, and perhaps she has done so a million times, which would make us contemporaries. Click on her resolved countenance to reach the playlist and audio archive(s) of this week's program.

Luv ya.

OH HELL YES! This sounds like a fucking nightmare!

2011-06-03T15:27:00.008-04:00

Gravity can be quite "punishing" at times. Its judgments are final and impartial. Were it that nature took care our punishments for us, but no, it's often the weak, the innocent, the good-hearted and true that suffer that impartiality. In the world of film, a violent misogynist can be forced to live forever on the ceiling of his flat, his feet never resting on the floor, always below.

And where is my punishment? Self-inflicted, I'd say. Heavily. Bad dukkha Joe, I like to joke. That feeling of never quite being in on the joke, summary and lifetime rejection from the "popular crowd," in whatever venue or universe we may be discussing at the moment, macro or micro. Always just shy of "great." For three hours a week, WFMU allows me to imagine that I am great, in that I take over the airwaves, control the program, however you want to put it. My debtors have paid up, as much out of doing what's right, as for fear of my reaction. My lessons have all been taught, people have listened; they can deride, criticize, but for those three hours, still I sit in the master's chair. I like that very young men are often addressed formally as "master," for it's my "master" that will call the shots and dictate how it goes, most likely. We know best then, in a certain instinctual way, prior to social programming and poisoning.

Where was the praise this week? Hard to tell in some cases, partially b/c playlist commenters were purposely oblique. Not into the voice of modern hardcore? Well shut up, then. Maybe give a good listen first, before you mouth off. I like it better NOW than I did in the 80s, having been around for both. Could it be that there's something actually good going on, your rush to criticize aside? Bands like The Kill, The Ropes, and City Ropes go beyond mere genre ident., into just making good, pure music.

Denmark's Narcorgasm need to be found and shaken, made to realize how unique and exceptional that tape of theirs is. Sarzan and I heard it immediately. Recordings by Sombre Présage, Sleepwalkers Local, Lussuria and Kakerlak all pricked-up ears this week, very deservedly so. That's it.

Lots to come this summer on The Castle, including live visits from J. Soliday, Raspberry Bulbs, Lady Piss, Decimus, and others.

-----------------------------------------

Personal: Harry, it is for ourselves that we mourn. This world is a shit pile (not all of your making, surprisingly!) You were always too good for it.

New Releases in the Prison Tatt Web store, May 2011

2011-05-31T20:10:00.029-04:00

Those of you who follow our Facebook page, or the label in general, may know already about these releases, but since every release at Prison Tatt is a work of pride and not-quite joy, schadenfreude perhaps, we find no shame in praising them aggressively in all available arenas.

Newest to uh, drop, is the Pacificador one-sider by Brazilians (now based in the UK) Sesso Violento. I was fortunate to establish a relationship with this band shortly after their first demo, a digital-only release that broke new ground in the realm of crust-punk black metal, with great songwriting and the band's own curious element of sci-fi guitar noise and other shadowy effects. The 20-min. side works as a suite of sorts, a blistering ride through treacherous, modern-urban horror; the striking image of a Brasilian police tank on the sleeve pretty much saying it all. 100 copies pressed; available for $16 ppd within the U.S. You can hear two full tracks, and view pricing for other regions at the main page of our site.

Also intense, violent and striking, though completely on another plane from Sesso V., is the new release by KILT, Kitchen Sorcery, marking the first silver-CD digipak release for the improvisational duo/sometimes trio. The disc features two cleanly recorded, crisply in-your-face mastered studio sessions, as well as a live set from Texas 2007. Though electronics and processing gear are amply employed, part of what's striking about KILT, and these recordings in particular, is that everything they do feels decidedly organic, and it's not without intent, as the name KILT is meant to conjure up thoughts of pipes, reeds and green plains. Hear a healthy track excerpt, and purchase ($10 ppd U.S.) at the PT site.

And selling fast (for a release of 100) is PT 002, a long time in the planning and making, Xesse, the one-sided LP by T.O.M.B. Similar to the Sesso Violento release in that it works as a suite of shorter, connected pieces, Xesse stands as this mystery band's creepiest work to date—not metal, not really noise in the expected sense either, but a study in disturbing frequencies and performed passages, much of the source material recorded under the cover of night at "damned" locations. Xesse is monumental and truly horrific, and one will not be able to listen passively. A new type of music unto itself. $17 ppd within the U.S.; song excerpts and pricing for other regions at our site.

Also still available are two very "large" releases (both on digipak CD, with hi-gloss UV-coated artwork), one by Brooklyn's OPPONENTS, Together We Will End The Future, the answer to the question, "where are contemporary electronics going?"—a mighty release from one of the most-prolific and constantly surprising hard electronics outfits working today, infused with horror power and 80s styles tastefully mined. More info, song extracts, and online shopping at our site. And last but by no means least, White Fire Laudanum, the ONLY terrestrial release by Dhampyr, the despair-munching, human-suffrage pumping, depressive black metal artists from Rhode Island. Two full songs can be previewed here. You may also download Dhampyr's latest work, Blestwater Elegies, absolutely free at this link.

As I contemplate the pros and cons of a label bandcamp page, though most likely it will happen, Prison Tatt goes into production this week, on Husere Grav's eagerly anticipated Myths o/s LP, and the o/s vinyl reissue of Ives' Abandon cassette.

come deadly

2011-05-27T15:22:00.010-04:00

Hide your scars, Barbara, under that swooping bang—I will love you still. The rot you endeavor to conceal only seasons your magnetic beauty. Barbara Steele is the everywoman of gothic horror film—alluring, mysterious, sexy, vengeful, cloying, scheming, and most importantly, looks great even beyond death—like every woman I have or ever will love.

Paul Haney, as Rust Worship, turned in the performance of performances—a rolling, sonic masterpiece, that reveals new layers and subtleties with each listen. He's worked hard, gigged often, and continues to do so even as I type this. That mighty Rust Worship set, like several walks through several graveyards at twilight, will post to WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive in 1-2 weeks' time, as I listen and review, and craft the praise-filled, analytical text that will accompany. Serious thanks are due, both to Paul, and engineer Bob Bellerue, for making the magic happen. In the meantime, one can hear the Rust Worship set, incorporate in the three-hour horrorcast™, by clicking on the image of lovely-even-in-death Barbara above. For an overview of all the live music and special music programming I've presented on The Castle since 2009, you can visit my curator portal at the FMA, and trek backward through the abundance of posts there.

What else? Australian grindcore, for one. Tracks by The Kill and Doubled Over "made" the horrorcast, as they made my personal week this past; they're on to something there in Oz. My suggestion? Grab whatever you can find by these bands, The Kill having several releases out, and were bound for Maryland Deathfest when I saw them (today in the "main room" @ 4:10 p.m.), and Doubled Over a remarkable split 7" with Roskopp.

Noting personal favorites, the Decimus LP side which opened our show this week (Pat M., with any luck, will bring the project to Castle airwaves this summer), the Nondor Nevai LP continues to dazzle and mystify, the new Facialmess tape on Rainbow Bridge is a killer, the debut Lady Piss LP is massive (look for a summer Castle visit from them as well), and just about anything on House of Alchemy is worth yours or my time. Great shit all around; I love doing this show—can you tell?

Oh Barbara, Barbara, how ultimate the woman you are—I could sharpen my knives on your hips, and lose myself times over in your eyes. If not for you, would there even be a Castle? Sure, perhaps, but a palmist/ reader once told me that it would be the women in my life that would guide my path, and in my fantasy, you are one of them.

Rust Worship, thoughtful choices and brave stabs LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, TONIGHT!

2011-05-26T11:43:00.007-04:00

Rust Worship has always been such a fascinating project name to me; as a word-a-tarian, I can do so much with it. "Rust Never Worships, Do One?" "The Sleep of Rust Begets Worship." I can't help but throw in that memorable Neil Young phrase somewhere, but mostly, what Rust Worship means to me is the glory of oxidation, the decay, of tape foremost, but also of vinyl, and well, everything. Oxygen gives life as it fosters decay. And what might that all sound like? Why, the music of Paul Haney, of course.

Paul Haney is one of My Castle of Quiet radio's recurring characters, like Leo McKern's Number Two on The Prisoner, or Joel Murray's drunken client rep on Mad Men. Having appeared first as a guest DJ, then again as part of the trio lineup of Towering Heroic Dudes (still one of my personal-favorite live Castle sessions, though I love them all.) these appearances still give only a glimpse of the wall of vibrating chaos that is Paul's solo project, Rust Worship. Using and abusing an array of sources, including cassettes, LPs, turntables, guitars and glass, Rust Worship is most often a polyrhythmic assault, where loops and delayed phrases collide and tumble over one another, sometimes clean and subtle, then rising to a distorted crescendo, like someone trying desperately to fight their way out of a bad dream. Cassettes on Obsolete Units and Cryptic Carousel tell only part of the Rust Worship tale, as part of the fun is the process, that of watching and hearing Paul make thoughtful choices and brave stabs in real time. I've had the pleasure of seeing Paul grow the project since 2009 (though he started a few years earlier, I believe), so Rust Worship's Castle visit is a long time in the making, and it's highly likely that Paul will pull a magnum opus (or two) out of his track bag, as so many live Castle guests have in the past.

Don't miss this one.
Simply smashing photo of Rust Worship by your host and author.

Barbara Steele opens the door a crack, looks left and then right, and yanks me inward by my lapels, "C'mon!" @ midnight.
RW @ 12:30 or so.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

This show is the Brown Hobo spider of WFMU's schedule. I love it. ... Goddammit I wish the world was ending tomorrow. But it fucking won't.

2011-05-21T15:08:00.009-04:00

Self-obligatory playlist re-post title double header this week.

I'd been laying low after my self-pitying screed posted here a few nights ago (since taken down.) If you saw, just do me a favor and lie and say you didn't. I need to put on fingerless mittens, and secure them with duct tape, when I get deep into those moods, so that no typing is possible. Sarzan also wasn't here to stop me, or be my barometer of shutupingness. What's done is done; hopefully collateral social damage was minimal.

Nothing stopped me from serving the faithful (plus others) on this week's horrorcast™, nor from attending an absolutely life-affirming grind show last night in the neighboring hamlet of Montclair, NJ. In fact, that same tour hits Shea Stadium in Brooklyn tonight (20 Meadow Street), and if you want to be blown back by a powerful spirit with the essence of a sidewalk hammer, you'll mosey over there and catch the bill that includes Castle favorites The Communion, and visiting Australian new Castle favorites Doubled Over and The Kill. The Communion just get better and better, exploring their new material with cojones intact, while the Oz bands, being a rare treat headed for Maryland death fest, must not be missed—both bands easily embody that which is the power of truth, making weird, fucked-up phenomenal grindcore that easily and casually redefines the genre, and uh, makes you want to bore through a concrete wall head first.

Back to this week's show, notices on the playlist for perennial favorites Beherit, UK grind/noise monsters Cthulhu Youth, the now-rare Dais release by Whip and the Body, and post-Burzum frozen-north atmospherist Brocken Moon. 'Twas a show of shows, and the regulars and visitors were alive with pleasure on the playlist, much appreciated! To hear the full 3-hour archive of the weekly horrorcast, click on the ominous and grammatically imbalanced headstone up top.

So that be the answer to the question, "SERIOUSLY, WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT?" - and it's a multifold answer, to make the banker across from SF Spike's office close his door in dismissive repulsion, to continue to plant the seeds that grow the obscure nation of fringe, "extreme" music lovers bit by bit, to be the Burgess Meredith with the now-broken glasses for all the other Burgess Merediths with now-broken glasses out there. Well put? Hope so, 'cause I'm keeping it brief this week, and the "no-typing" mittens are close at hand.

NEXT WEEK - improvisor, deconstructor, noise-collagist Rust Worship, performing absolutely LIVE for Castle listeners. Berger out!

I'm totally tweaking.

2011-05-14T13:20:00.015-04:00

I love it when people comment about how high they are, be it naturally or chemically induced—it's the kind thing that many will groan and roll their eyes upward to, "oh, how, childish!"—but since My Castle of Quiet is all about the inner child, my inner child—and yours too, this type of exclamation is wholly appropriate. We are foolish, fallible, and finally human. And since there is so much expression of good feeling in the universe, and on WFMU (which is, like any good broadcast entity, and the bad ones too, a microcosm of our population) I was begotten, to provide a reliable home for contrast, and for those of us who feed on that contrast, those "bad vibes," this show actually makes quite a few, more than a few people, happy. It feels good to be aggressive, to have a safe place where one can, literally or figuratively, express their angst and frustrations; anger and wall-punching is allowed. We can't all smile, gently stroke our acoustic guitar and express our tenderness all the time, and in fact, some of us NEVER want to. My Castle of Quiet is your radio home away from home, nihilists, misanthropes, those lacking the proper attitude to function "correctly" in our twisted society. (Just don't fuck with ME, the gatekeeper and master, THAT will get you nowhere, as has been shown.) Sit down, cross your legs, fill a goblet, and enjoy as the brutality floweth free.

What a treat to have Jeff Conklin visit this week, to contribute some dynamite selections and steer me into more than one questionable conversation. Great sounds he brought, as Jeff is always onto more than a few things that have slipped past my radar, and though we've arrived at this music for somewhat different personal reasons, we both get our souls fed by it in much the same way. So, eternal thanks are due Jeff for his contributions to The Castle, and it's my deepest regret that the Port Authority's "rapid" transit made his (and his lovely companion's) journey home something much less than pleasant.

You can hear the entire 3-hour archive of the weekly horrorcast™, and view the playlist, by clicking on the damned soul above. (And if that's Brazilian 60s hell (ala Coffin Joe), well, it ain't so bad after all, at the very least, it's COLORFUL.) Another regular listener, Rory, commented, "I have a feeling that I'm going to keep coming back to this show on the archives for weeks." And yes, 'twas a doozie. Thank you Rory, Jeff, and all the other Castle faithful, for acknowledging that The Castle is in fact GOOD, THOUGH NOT NECESSARILY GOOD-NATURED. It doesn't have to be a happy, sappy, beer-swillin' pop tune, in order to enrich the human condition. No it does not.

Notices on and off the playlist for Drunks With Guns, Hoax, and Jackie Kennedy.
Feel you next week.

Why Is Jeff Conklin So Happy?

2011-05-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

Those of you who have been following the My Castle of Quiet radio show since its inception in June 2009 know that I long for a good foil. Fencing sword? Yes. But also, the occasional good co-host. Someone to converse with, bounce ideas off of, scold me when I'm bad, laugh at my jokes and make a few of their own.

First there was JH, he who would now see me dead, he who spews hateful bile and threats every time I shoot him an email. Still, I keep the bastard's music up on my curator page on the FMA.

Our good friend Paul Haney dropped by once, and dazzled all with gems from his extensive collection of rare noise recordings.

Then, the charming C. Lavender, perhaps the most complimentary personality with whom I've shared the microphone; she's quite wisely up and fled the Garden State.

Now, I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Jeff Conklin of East Village Radio's Just Music, a true music lover with heart to spare. I'd say we've known each other a while, but I think the bond came at the Magma show last year. Proud prog dorks were we.

Tune in tonight @ midnight, as Jeff shares the mic with me, and some gems from his collection with Castle listeners. RAT OWN!

It's 8.14AM here, in Copenhagen, and your show is making my morning!

2011-05-07T10:04:00.013-04:00

Some people wake up with The Castle, some drift off to dreamland with it, and a great many others don't listen at all. I would never want to do a show that was everyone's cup of tea. Where's the fun in that? Still, life on the eternal fringe does get disheartening.

My 98 year-old Grandmother passed away this week, Evelyn Berger, and my prevalent thought at her funeral was, "she accomplished so much, she touched so many, and then quietly moved on to a better place." Were that I could live such a fulfilling life. Evie spent 22 days in jail for something she believed in, back in the 70s, whereas I, her wretched spawn, just about manage to get off the couch once a week and do this radio show, for a few hundred very appreciative fans, one imagines. That's something, I guess. Doomed to a life of purgatorial obscurity—but dammit, I wanna make my big fuckin' mark as well.

Then, at Evie's funeral, I heard the Rabbi say that one of my Grandmother's biggest regrets was that she didn't start teaching until she was 50. Fifty! So there's still hope then, for me to be the ambassador of the dark for all. My humble goal—to unite all horror film- noise- and black metal-heads, a global occult-Kosmische community, gathering more members as it rolls, until all the good-time pop people are forced to respect us, accept our work as art and valid human expression. Fuck the haters—we will roll over them like Emperor Caligula's head-mowing machine.

Lots of citations on the playlist this week >>> the great and mysterious ensemble Cadaver In Drag, Brown Angel, Raspberry Bulbs (live appearance on The Castle in June or thereabouts), Hell (what a seriously great fucking record; Hell II coming soon on vinyl from Pesanta) and the eternally great Hex Breaker Quintet.

I give credit where credit is due, and thanks must go to Todd -Husere Grav- Watson for turning my attention towards Sole Survivor, basically the same tale as Carnival of Souls, but told in sci-fi supernatural 80s creepoid style. A still from same adorned our playlist this week, poor Kristy, post-zombification, and you can click on her now-bluish countenance to hear the full 3-hour archive of this week's horrorcast™, as well as view the playlist.

Next week, my very special guest and co-host will be Mr. Jeff Conklin of East Village Radio's Just Music show, likes him some noise and metal too, he does, even though he's a FREAKIN' HIPPIE. Luv ya, Jeff, see you all next week.

Dhampyr - White Fire Laudanum AVAILABLE NOW 4/30

2011-04-30T10:19:00.004-04:00

Out now and perfect for your Walpurgisnacht giving, riddled as it is with misanthropy, opiate abuse, and absorbing, possessing songs composed at the very darkest corners of the human soul—White Fire Laudanum, the new full-length (and first physical release) for RI's Dhampyr.

Purchase yours here.

jesus, william, i'm trying to do some work here...

2011-04-29T16:56:00.017-04:00

Here in this archival photograph, one A. "Pop" Phagus seems to be saying, "you think you got me? No, I GOT ME!" A reclamation of one's own demise, of such pulchritude, has rarely if ever been seen. A man already possessed of nothing left to lose cannot really ever be "bested" in battle, only exterminated.

We waxed, unflinchingly for two hours, accelerator stuck, and then a glorious wane for the final hour, which included the outstanding new Shingles tape (our friend Jesse from Grasshopper; on the 905 Tapes label), and a live track by Demonologists (indeed, SiHV!) from a compilation on Teen Action Records.

Which brings this thought to mind (as a Demonologists record on the Prison Tatt label lurks somewhere in the future) >>> in order to preserve my ability to do a WFMU show, and WFMU's not-for-profit status in general, I need to keep the business of the radio show and that of Prison Tatt records as separate as possible. I will not be airing my own releases, nor will I discuss Prison Tatt-related matters on the air. See the site linked at the start of this paragraph for information on Prison Tatt (and yes, the Dhampyr CD, White Fire Laudanum, is newly released and available.)

I'm off now to play a set with Terrier, on a bill that includes the great Sick Llama, at Port d'Or in Brooklyn, USA. Gotta make time for the traffic (now there's horror!) and I'll see you all next week! More info here.

And oh yeah, click on A. Phagus to get to the playlist and audio archive of our three-hour weekly horrorcast™.

Riff on all you young dudes, RIFF On! Rage against the coming of the day. Ply your trades of musicianry!

2011-04-22T14:28:00.006-04:00

Agreed.

And I would add... that in their wisdom, Castevet have not ignored or shunned any of the potential arteries that might empower them. Yes, it's definitely black metal—but when you've heard as much music as myself, and the members of Castevet—it's also Yes, Magma, Ligeti, and post-hardcore apocalypse rock like Fugazi and Godspeed You Black Emperor!, among so many other things. The portions feed a new whole. To the listener go the spoils, I guess, and the more prepared you are for the rhythmic twists and turns, and the fluid complexities of rhythm and timbre, that a band like Castevet offer, the more enjoyment for your ride and bang for your buck.

Castevet played to a praiseful playlist, and their set is sure to be a favorite on the Free Music Archive and WFMU's Beware of The Blog, where the tracks will post as mp3s in less than a fortnight. Deepest thanks to Ian, Josh and Andrew for whipping it out, and for engaging me in one of the more esoteric discussions I've had on black metal in some time. For now, you cna hear the entire 3-hour horrorcast™ by clicking on that sad pier above.

The boats they go, then come back empty. The polished hair and porcelain skin of the young maidens that travel out—never to be seen again. They have worn their finest, every nuance of their youthful perfection in place, and for what??? TO WHAT?!?!?!

Also a big hit with Castleheads last night were the lengthy orchestral/synth piece by the multi-talented Moloch, quickly becoming one of the most interesting one-man BM projects on the globe, as well as tracks by Demons (reissue from 2007) and the hypnotic pounding in the dark of Clandestine Blaze.

Past the windmills lie a world no young woman should have to endure ... a horror beyond belief.

Castevet LIVE and ON BLACK FIRE tonight, on My Castle of Quiet

2011-04-21T10:51:00.014-04:00

Once one has grown accustomed to fielding as much underground metal as I have, it becomes a process akin to panning for gold (or silver?)—eyes and ears become acutely tuned to the good stuff, what bears the true stamp of originality and innovation, which artists lead rather than "follow" or "carry on" sonic traditions established by others. NY's own Castevet are one such powerful frontrunner.

Tonight, My Castle of Quiet radio is proud to welcome Castevet to WFMU's airwaves. The band creates introspective, complex black metal, with gutsiness intact—that is to say, they're neither as oppressively brainy as Deathspell Omega, nor as lunkheaded as Carpathian Forest, with force aplenty. Their debut full length on Profound Lore, Mounds of Ash, is a loaded document, with one great song after another, songs that take you through the band's considerable chops, with that extra touch that comes only when the musicians can really manage their instruments with expertise. Death/grind heads often make the blanket statement that all black metal is overtly simplistic, but you'd be hard-pressed to make that accusation with Castevet. Without question, the songs on Mounds of Ash are grimy, riff-laden and monstrous—making Castevet somehow "pro" and "dirty" at the same time. What more could one ask of their black metal?

As with the overwhelming percentage of My Castle of Quiet guests, Castevet have also opted to play absolutely live and in the moment, no pre-recording, do-overs or alt-takes. Don't miss a night of groundbreaking, modern black metal, as MCoQ continues its trend of bringing great local underground metal to the airwaves.

Thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, who'll be lending her considerable expertise to engineer the session, and to Johanna Lenski, for putting me in touch with the band, arranging their appearance tonight, and baking a damn-fine peanut-butter cookie.

Tear gas canisters rain from the heavens at midnight tonight.
Castevet @ 12:30 a.m. approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

SO GOOD THIS PLAYLIST! BRING THE HARSH

2011-04-15T11:32:00.016-04:00

"You just caaan't believe me, when I show you what you mean to me. Confusion! Confusion!"

When I first came to WFMU and Upsala College in 1983, everyone, stalwart veterans of our airwaves even, were leaning hard on this new New Order single, and the endless remixes and versions. Wow! Even I, in my very un-jaded state, new to virtually everything, could tell that it SUCKED. I'd been listening to WFMU since 1979, and it was in fact this remarkable oasis, this seemingly bottomless conveyance of oddball artistry that led me to apply to Upsala as a student. But hell, "Confusion"? What a shit song. So what that it was New Order, who had been Joy Division? What a trite lyric; it sounded like a dumb dance song that someone had dreamed up in 30 seconds; like I'd heard it before, and didn't need to again. If this indeed was the same personnel (I regarded even that fact with some skepticism), it was a rapid and perilous downhill slide from "Atmosphere." Shit. I just had to get that said; it's been so long I've been holding that in. My bullshit detector is set on "ridiculously intolerant," and I never, not ever, worship my idols blindly. You're only as good as your last achievement. I expect no less in return.

Last night's show was a blast, always fun, a hammering of hardcore, grind and black metal basically accounted for the first two hours, and then things got loose. No one really commented on specific artists, they did so only on the music in general (and that they enjoyed it.) Some notable highlights of the horrorcast™ include Cthulhu Youth, Butcher Cover, Psychic Limb, Cumming Jehovah, Dhampyr, Haare, Flesh Coffin, and Isa Christ.

Personal note, to listener Rory >>> I can't say that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre soundtrack is really worth owning; I got it this week as a burn, and I'd say "good," but not "great." See if you can get it cheap. It's sort of an artifact, as much or more than an OST. I didn't want you to think that my playing it was necessarily an endorsement to purchase, and then be left shouting "Bergerrrr!" on a street corner, your fist shaking at the clouds.

Next week, My Castle of Quiet is proud to welcome Profound Lore recording artists Castevet live to the airwaves. Outstanding NY black metal!

My Rear Bumper and Trunk

2011-04-12T11:53:00.007-04:00

As I tool around Northern NJ and NYC, my car reflects wanton lust for all manner of transgressive culture. It's a wonder that I'm not subject to random stops and beatings by the local authorities.

The oldest stickers are on the far right and left; Blasphemy's man-goat and Obituary's pile of skulls. What remains are two nods to Relapse Records, and one apiece to Robot vs. Rabbit (the Rasputin image), FUN, The Rita, Harrassor, Hivesmasher, WFMU, a very thin strip that says "PIG DESTROYER," Regimental Records, The Free Music Archive, Sissy Spacek, aTelecine, Bastardised (now Universal Consciousness), Tasty Soil, Gnaw Their Tongues, Important Records, Rainbow Bridge, blackmetal.com, Pendu.org (Pendu NYC), and Baked Tapes.

I still have room! Send me your sticker!

A Maelstrom of Hindsights and Loathings: Dhampyr - Vieillesse (2011)

2011-04-10T01:07:00.003-04:00

A Maelstrom of Hindsights and Loathings: Dhampyr - Vieillesse (2011)1. Needles & Pitted Ski...: "Dhampyr - Vieillesse (2011)1. Needles & Pitted Skin2. Vieillesse(9:40)Here's a treat - just for you. DOWNLOAD HERE -X"

Dhampyr's newest full-length, White Fire Laudanum, goes into production this week, to be released in a digipak edition of 300 on Prison Tatt. In the meantime, here's the band's latest work, FOR FREE on the Dhampyr blog.

Ok, I see, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial. ... Another great show, another great night on The Castle. ...

2011-04-08T12:46:00.010-04:00

Why thank you, Rory. I align my fingertips like a Bond villain. Extremely pleased with last night's roar, rumble and shriek. I've said this before, though I often forget, and then return to it—a blast of punk, grind, sometimes archival crust punches starts the show off well each week. Must do it always, except those weeks when I feel like leading with a 20-min. Sickness album side, which might be next week. Instant contradiction. Still, this aggressive burst helps listeners and myself settle in, get charged up—ready release, instant gratification. I'm told often (by friends, family and healthcare professionals) that I obsess on instant gratification somewhat more than the average person. Part of what can make the Castle good, I guess; from the on-wall and private messages I rec'd last night, I'm doing okay.

So... Circle Jerks' Group Sex, always good for a spin. I heard this album first on WPRB's Sunday-into-Monday 12-5 a.m. punk show; must have been running when I was in Jr. High. Some of these songs still awe me. Ives, a current fave, more often than not causing a stir on the playlist—great, Florida crust-black. Australia's Portal—Swarth may be my favorite full length of theirs' thus far, Portal's deftly held-together tuberculosis chaos growing more astounding with each record. What else, what else??? The new Burmese. The theme from Sekirei. Aaron Dilloway's Spine Scavenger, always a favorite. (mta) Tony and I rapped about the growing discourtesy in our society, 'tis true.

Above hovers the doc. (Not to be confused with "The D.O.C.") This is a "licensed" physician, gripping your fate, to be decided by the sweep of a pen, mostly. That's ok, I'm too sort of not feeling good to worry right now about the gatekeeper's keys, and that door slamming shut behind me. I'll hop the fence (or hope the fence) when the time calls.

I've been turned on to so much great music of late, new and reissued, I must also note my personal favorites on last night's list >>> Solid Attitude new 7" (buy the record, it's that good) | Lake of Blood | the Lovecraft-obsessed Brown Jenkins | Hell | Occultation | Jason Zeh & David Reed | new Lussuria | Demonologists, and everything I played, really. This is what I do, every week—attempt the best possible radio broadcast, based on my own unique filter and faves of the moment, which I guess is what many of us WFMU stalwarts do.

In two weeks—CASTEVET, live!

THAN KSF OURLIS TENNIG!

SICK TRACK!!

2011-04-02T16:15:00.001-04:00

She seems to be saying, "Yeah, I'm a zombie. Love me anyway, you big jerk." Looks like being a zombie is just one big bad hair day. 'Course, the silver crumble on her face is actually kind of cute, but, as JW once said, I'd "have anyone."

Word to Art Schnurple - you turned a few heads on the playlist this week, and that's good; when FACIALMESS comments, "SICK TRACK!!" one had better feel honored, as FACIALMESS pretty much invented sick tracks. Also noted were Norway's Detritivore, who've crafted a decidedly different kind of black metal/noise album...and that dynamite Kakerlak side of the split picture disc with Macronympha (That release is a fucking hit. Go Dada Drumming!)

Good shit. I always have fun.

That's all for now. Last week's Long Distance Poison set coming very soon, in mp3 format.

I'm old, and in need of a lie-down.
Last time? Fingers crossed.

Click on the zombie dream date above, to see the playlist and access the audio archive of this week's Castle show.

TONIGHT, IN NYACK. FOOL.

2011-04-01T16:18:00.009-04:00

Tonight, Bob Bellerue and myself perform as Terrier, part of a flawless bill that includes Castle favorite Isa Christ, among several other mind-bending performers. Come out and see the show! The NVT is a comfortable venue with great sound, the perfect place to get your noise on in luxury! 94 Main St., Nyack, NY, 9 p.m.

More info here.

If you can't make it out, the event will be Webcast on http://www.rocklandworldradio.com/

DISTURBING, BUT WORTHWHILE.

2011-03-29T23:31:00.011-04:00

Lately, this seems to be the header on my cineast's dance card—films that engage, even entrance, through all-too-believable depictions of human frailty and psychoses. These are far from horror films, in the traditional genre sense at least, the horror in these stories being all too potentially real. As the self-appointed chronicler of "bad news," My Castle of Quiet presents these recently viewed recommendations, though I say without jest that one should watch these films at one's own risk and discretion.

The Free Will (2006) - Visually unadorned, like the films of the Dogme 95 school, The Free Will is a bleak tale of love on the fringes, that between a serial rapist, a repeat offender in and out of prison, and a woman he meets through his work, the daughter of a print-shop owner who has quietly endured years of sexual abuse at the hand of her own father. The pair are drawn together, amounting to the most "normal" love the other has and likely ever will know, though inevitable tragedy hovers throughout even the most hopeful moments of this film like a patient buzzard.

The Living and the Dead (2006) - Through a series of coincidental mishaps, a very ill woman must spend several days in the care of her adult son, who is himself plagued, by complex mental retardation, with hallucinations and severe OCD. Though he tries his best to look after "mummy," while the statesman father of the family is off on an emergency, desperately trying to save his crumbling career, James the son is simply too ill-equipped and medication-dependent to manage his own life, much less that of a severely ailing woman. A devastating story, nonetheless extremely well done.

The War Game (1965) - Deemed too intense and disturbing in its day to air on the BBC, this 45-minute docu-drama depicts the potential effects on London and the surrounding areas in a nuclear air strike. Done in newsreel style, with minimal indication that it's actors we're watching, The War Game is an unflinching, blatant horror, guaranteed to stir your anti-nuke sentiments to a boil, more even than a listen to the entire Napalm Death discography. You can view The War Game in its entirety on Google video by clicking here.

Troubled Water (2008) - An understated, earnest and powerful performance by the lead actor, and a grand style of almost Kubrickian photography, make this perhaps the most readily palatable of this particular quintet of films. At the very least, there is something "full" or "complete" about Troubled Water, though one would be hard pressed to call it uplifting. A soft-spoken man of about 30 is released from Norwegian prison, and pursues his only possible career direction—one established before his incarceration—as a Church organist. Though he's quite talented, most in his little home town would just assume not have him back, considering the nature of his past crime, albeit committed when he was still an adolescent. It's a small story about big problems, in a way an interesting companion piece to The Free Will, as both films deal with the desperate attempts of individuals to reintegrate into straight society despite the aberrant psychotic behavior of their past.

Primo Amore (2004) - A rigid and solitary goldsmith initiates a romance with a lonely but charming woman he meets on a blind date. There's just one problem, she needs to be "about 10 kilos thinner" in his view, and through subtle manipulation that evolves insidiously over the months into torture and self-denial, the need for love and companionship locks both parties in an eventually explosive cycle of abuse. It's one of those films you'll feel bad saying you "liked," but it's nonetheless strikingly human and effective.

For lighter fare also viewed recently, might I also suggest Roger Corman's The Tomb of Ligeia, yet another one of Corman's stylish Poe adaptations from the middle 60s, starring Vincent Price at his grooviest, in stovepipe hat and light-sensitivity shades. If this lushly photographed tale of death, obsession, haunting and witchcraft can be considered "lighter fare" to the titles above, it speaks first to the stark neo-realism of those films, as well as the "warm-fuzzy" that can now be achieved by some of us through watching these older, more straightforward genre tales.

For extra credit throw on the pile Salvation's DVD of the little-known Bloody New Year (1987), a UK production, directed by Norman J. Warren, more well known himself for British B classics like Alien Prey, Terror, Satan's Slave and Horror Planet. Bloody New Year would appear at first to be an imitation of the American slasher films of that era, but quickly evolves into a wildly supernatural tale of old ghosts and the living dead in a seaside hotel. Bloody New Year borrows from both The Evil Dead and The Redeemer, but Salvation almost never serves us up crap, and this one has enough original ideas to keep horror diggers pleased and engaged, with some extremely oddball makeup and several thrilling kill scenes.

Entirely prime realms of the unreal THANK YOU!!

2011-03-25T09:54:00.011-04:00

OH, YOU'RE WELCOME! Take the pa-aison now, do so. It has traveled a long distance, after all. Go all sleepy bye-byes.

Praise aplenty for this week's musicians in the Castle court! Long Distance Poison! Dare to stand close to them, and listen, as did your host and author, and did your session engineer. (Of course, we loaded up on antidote, just to be safe.) You can hear the full, three-hour archive of this week's My Castle of Quiet show by simply clicking on the most-devoted lovers above, and um, choosing your poison of streamed audio. A succinct but enthusiastic playlist-comments board showed naught but love for the live sounds, interwoven with somnambulic apologies - "SO SORRY WE MUST GO NOW, OF ALL TIMES TO LEAVE." —which session will post as one giant mp3 to WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive next week.

Also noted seemingly every time they grace the Castle airwaves were left-coast brethren Physical Demon (this time from their CD Hyperdrift) as well as Sixes, Pulse Emitter and The Cherry Point.

Love can be a little cold sometimes. This post was delayed due to internal problems with blogger; my apologies to anyone who might wait upon these things. 'Twas a very enjoyable episode in the Castle canon, with great music and painless banter (even funny!) All my best to the band; more praises a' comin' as I become gradually one with the recording of Sisu, which I myself did get to collaborate upon with said LDP. Many thanks!

Killing You Softly, and from Some Measured Interval; Long Distance Poison on My Castle of Quiet radio on WFMU, Tonight.

2011-03-23T17:21:00.016-04:00

I like the way the picture above assigned different color schemes, or "tones," to each member of Long Distance Poison; very appropriate. It came about by complete accident, in Photoshop, as I stumbled about, with one of the photos the band has up online in my twisted hand.

Long Distance Poison present an irresistible concoction of convergent psychedelic and electronic energies, everything from a love of nature, and Rothko-like visual aesthetics, to musical influences like Sky Records, John Carpenter soundtracks, minimalism, and a less-hyper Mother Mallard or post-Phaedra Tangerine Dream. They've released some excellent tapes, on Life Like and Cryptic Carousel, releases that capitalize on the band's strength in long-form electronic composition with a wealth of improvisational wiggle-room. (Yet more can be heard at the band's soundcloud page.) There's a "ground" concept for each section of each piece, but that merely serves as a taking-off point for LDP's pulsating extrapolations, typically about 30 minutes in length total, or longer. They've been wowing local Brooklyn audiences for some time now, and part of the fun of their shows is the opportunity to experience the band finding their way in the moment, watching the clay of their ideas take on form and urgency as they go.

Long Distance Poison now bring their live power to My Castle of Quiet in a performance that's not to be missed; I'm honored to say that it's a collaboration of sorts between myself and the band, inasmuch as their live set will be a score to an imagined film, one I conceived at their suggestion—a Nordic romance entitled Sisu (...you see, there was this Finnish exchange student in sixth grade...I never really got over it.)

Don't miss the premiere.

With my last decrepit reach, my hand bloodied and shredded, I turn the latch that flings open the Castle door @ midnight.
LDP @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

I am pleased

2011-03-18T05:36:00.012-04:00

And this means that I too am pleased, for here at MCoQ, LLC, we live to please the dour. Among all the countless reasons why The Castle lives and persists, another day for your host to not power-serve the straight razor, and/or take a megabucks hot-shit shot, one HUGE reason is that we make the glum a little less so. Temporarily pacifying sounds for troubled minds, not least of all that of the DJ.

Wanna see a list of all the things I didn't get to, but so sorely intended to play? Just for laughs? I'm gonna do it anyway..... new Decoy Jews tracks, a pre-release burn of the new Decapitated Hed on tanzprocesz (kudos, Tim!), as-yet-unreleased album side by Darvulia from a forthcoming split, new Cthulhu Youth full-length (the grind hat for members of Sesso Violento and Coprophagic Substratum), a new Lussuria tape on Hospital Productions, and a 4-way split tape from Ives, Hot Graves, Nak'ay, and Cellgraft. That's what I DIDN'T get to, and this is one of those things where I just need to write it all down, and it makes me feel a little less bad to rub the belly of the OCD kitty in the brain.

Still, something happened in those three hours. Arvo Zylo's 333, new to compact disc ("this is the craziest song i've ever heard" ... "what genre is this???") boxed some ears, as did a Kakerlak cassette selection from 2007. And...NEXT WEEK'S VERY-SPECIAL LIVE GUESTS, Long Distance Poison, got a positive reaction from Castle playlisters, as they most often do. Looking forward to that. Sisu!

To hear last night's horrorcast™ in all its seedy glory, simply click on the blood-soaked traveler above. It's the only way to go.

In the labyrinth of amazement that is WFMU; The Castle is my black acid!

2011-03-11T16:06:00.016-05:00

We did alright, considering last year's relocation of the show into late nights (which in some ways has been a boon—make no mistake—but the playlist action and marathon-pledge activity has been quite obviously minimized—not complaining, it's just a fact.) The faithful checked in, Pseu and I hung tight, and some great prizes were given away, and more than a few of you got copies of my Demo Hell collection.

I invented a voice to accompany the character of an elder colostomy-bag wearer, quite spontaneously at that. Some new friends (Os) and some old friends (GC) checked in with pledges, and that was uplifting, not to mention those giggly girl fellow staffers who popped over and made the Castle slightly less of a gloomy place than usual. (Understand, the gloom is my environment, I welcome it, I nurture it and grow it like a beloved seed. It is much of the reason the show exists.) I am, that said, not immune to giggly girl charms.

In these days where the whole marathon/fundraising experience puts me somewhat uncomfortably in the hot seat (as I've always expected and hoped to just be noticed for doing stuff, rather than make a whole lot of exaggerated effort to get the show, or anything I do recognized (textbook underachiever, I acknowledge)), it was cool to riff with Pseu, and laugh, and do my Oliver Reed voice. Thanks for tuning in and for pledging! Every dime and dollar is appreciated! Hope it made for entertaining radio. Wanna hear it all? Click on Kinski's Nosferatu above; screen cap borrowed from The Lightning Bug's Lair review of the film.

As always, there was some playlist recognition for the rarer sounds; Physical Demon, a band whose praises I sing again and again, contributors to the Demo Hell, A My Castle of Quiet Companion #2 premium CDr, wowed WFMU's own Jeff M. with their uniquely psychedelicized horror/jam/noise.

Looking forward to things getting back to normal as far as the Castle radio show goes, with Long Distance Poison in two weeks (creating a live score for a film I imagined!), Castevet in April, Rust Worship in May, and Richard Ramirez/Black Leather Jesus in June.

Also looking forward to tomorrow night's An evening of: Metal / Noise / Horror, at Baltimore's Hexagon, 1825 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD; see you there maybe. I'll try to remember to wear my Old Wainds shirt; otherwise, I'll be the guy in black. I'll also have an extremely modest Prison Tatt table set up (two releases, and a $3 bin.) Please click the link above for more info on the event.

We Need To Carry It Off.

2011-03-09T19:53:00.022-05:00

My Castle of Quiet Marathon Show #2 "Monumental" with Pseu Braun

That's A. And because I hate to cannibalize myself. Suffice it to say tune in and pledge, if you haven't already. Win cool shit. Get my premium for a pledge of $75 or more. Thursday night at midnight ET.

B is this great show I'm excited to be a part of this Saturday in Baltimore—An evening of: Metal / Noise / Horror. The night brings together a lot of people who share certain aesthetic visions and approach; without sounding too pretentious, I think we're all sort of excited to work together. Images speak louder than words, so see the image down below for the event info (click to make larger, like most things.) The folks whose work I know are some of my favorites around, and those who will be new to me I'm excited to see, especially based on the taste and aims of the event's organizers. Lussuria, Malkuth and T.O.M.B. have all played on the Castle radio show, and Decapitated Hed played on Nat Roe's program, all on WFMU (again, see My Castle of Quiet Marathon Show #2 "Monumental" with Pseu Braun above.) Kakerlak and Putrid Servant are also Castle favorites.

So hope to find you in some form of corporeal or non-corporeal attendance, at one or both of these events, at this week's end. Bring your soul.

This is my favorite show to listen to while reading comic books.

2011-03-04T15:56:00.029-05:00

Last night, I actually coined the phrase, "down to the goat's chin hair." What resourcefulness the human brain demonstrates when forced! And though the first of two 2011 Castle broadcasts was not quite the bloodletting I'd hoped for, what's proven time and again is that My Castle of Quiet listeners are intensely devoted and righteous to the cause. You all give what you can (some very generous, indeed!), and throughout my time doing the show, I've connected to an incredibly labyrinthine community of lovable noise heads, not-for-nothing raw-metal freaks, seemingly reg.-joe horror-film fans and cosmic-consciousness circuit-benders armed with soldering irons.

The young, articulate and *handsome* Nat Roe, clapped with co-hosting duties for my shift, noted that the show "coheres," and well, that is what I'm going for week after week, presenting music that may be challenging or difficult, or what some would even call "non-music," in a palatable context, expanding listener horizons one head at a time, and as painlessly as possible.

Castlehead love flowed as per usual; this time the board lit up for what's probably my favorite Ash Pool song, "Vices Triumph Over Wisdom." Classic Sabbath, Brown's Lepidoptera LP, the new York Factory Complaint tape, and Liturgy's "Beyond the Magic Forest" also sparked flares. And perhaps most importantly, Skulleraser's track, "Enter/Land," available only on their self-issued CDr, as well as this year's My Castle of Quiet companion CDr, earned itself a "HOLY HELL."

Thanks SO MUCH to listener Alexandra Kogan for adopting me from WFMU's Flickr adoption gallery. Way great and totally unexpected. The WFMU 2011 Marathon continues through March 13th, where it will culminate in a massive DJ-karaoke and pledge-goal-total-reaching party at Maxwell's in Hoboken. My co-host next week? The illustrious Pseu Braun. Super fuckin' good times!

In the interim, I'll be bopping down to Baltimore to participate in an amazing event March 12 at The Hexagon. It's an incredible lineup, and I'm proud to have been asked to DJ, so pull up a goblet and a brazier and say "Hail!" I'll also be holding down a Prison Tatt records table, where you can purchase the new OPPONENTS CD, Together We Will End The Future, as well as one of the last-remaining copies of Grasshopper's "Calling All Creeps" one-sided LP.

Click on the skull-eclipse above to reach the audio archive and playlist of last night's fundraising and hair-raising horrorcast™.

Demo Hell, and the 2011 WFMU Marathon

2011-03-03T18:13:00.006-05:00

The full title is Demo Hell, a My Castle of Quiet Companion 2, featuring exclusive, generously donated tracks by Bob Bellerue, Physical Demon, Skulleraser, Husere Grav, Ungoliant (Joseph Curwen of T.O.M.B.), and Explosive Improvised Device; spiced in are some of my favorite tracks from the black metal demos I've collected over the years—selections by Black Witchery, Whisper, Helvette, and Demon Sword.

The only way, the sole avenue to acquiring said item is by pledging 75 Yankee dollars (or more) tonight during the My Castle of Quiet live broadcast from midnight to 3 a.m. Eastern, or during next week's show in the same time frame. It's a doozy, I worked hard on it, and I'm hoping you'll all pony up for a copy. The Demo Hell cover artwork, in pencil and watercolor, is an original by Castle listener and close friend Sarah Zahn.

WFMU needs your pledge dollars, in order to continue dazzling the populace, as we have done since long, filthy hair and grubby beards were *first* in fashion. Either way, co-host and maniacal mixateer Nat Roe and myself will be having a great time, so please tune in. If $75 is beyond your budget, a minimum pledge of $15 still gets you in on the fun; you're a part of our unique "something," and will still be eligible for drawings for lots of terrific prizes and station swag.

My gratitude and Satanic hails in advance.

I like this fucking track..

2011-02-25T17:29:00.032-05:00

How gratifying for me personally, to finally engage in one of the main activities that the My Castle of Quiet radio program was designed for, to discuss horror and exploitation films in depth, and with one of the American masters, no less—Frank Henenlotter. For someone who makes "real" movies, Frank was quite personable, very approachable, a gentleman and a bona-fide scholar of sleaze. The Michaels, Hunchback and Diana, provided further input, chuckles, and good company.

Were that I could mix in directors, writers, archivists, and enthusiasts of horror several times a month with the soundtracks, noise and metal, I'd be sitting pretty. Ten million thanks must go to Mike Hunchback for setting up the meet, and to Frank Henenlotter for showing up, with his wealth of knowledge and friendly, gentlemanly ways (though the director curses like a longshoreman when not on mic, haha.)

After a year-and-a-half's worth of extending invitations to film people, give or take, it's terrific to have someone of Frank's stature show up, shoot the shit, and represent as a local boy to boot. It was great, great fun, as the archive and listener comments will attest, and I wore a shit-eating grin pretty much the entire time. You can hear the whole kit and kaboodle, making up approximately the first half of the weekly horrorcast™, the entirely of which is accessible by clicking on the very-gingerly placed assault victim above (taken from the title sequence of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Something Weird; she also seems to be turning blue a bit quickly, considering.)

Remember, those screenings of Frank's latest work, Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore, begin March 10 at Anthology Film Archives in NYC, and continue for four consecutive nights, each night accompanied by two Lewis classics (including the rarely celebrated Scum of the Earth); Frank and fellow B-movie enthusiast and historian Joe Bob Briggs appear in person at the 3/11 screening.

I can only hope that Marina de Van, Damon Packard, Holly Woodlawn, John Waters and/or Asia Argento warm the Castle's guest chair in the near future.

Onto other matters, there was much love on and off the playlist for that classic Darkthrone track, and new work by Coprophagic Substratum (whose membership aligns with that of Sesso Violento and Cthulhu Youth, all from Complexo do Alemao, Rio, Brazil; blog links to come.)

Monday begins the 2011 WFMU fundraising marathon, with thrills, chills and surely some spills. I'll be co-hosting for Sue P.'s Solid Gold Hell week 1 on the Tue./Wed. midnight-3 overnight, as well as hosting my two usual slots (with illustrious co-hosts Nat Roe week 1, and Pseu Braun week 2) where you'll have a chance to win unique prizes, including, but not at all limited to, custom ringtones by Chromaa, a wonderful, eclectic art book compiled by Toronto native Davis Weir (dw from our playlists), a 3-pack of Physical Demon releases, a 3-pack of Anarchymoon Recordings' releases, and much, much more.

A pledge of $75 or over during my shift will automatically earn you a copy of the limited CDr collection Demo Hell, featuring exclusive tracks by Bob Bellerue, Physical Demon, Husere Grav, Skulleraser, Ungoliant (Joseph Curwen of T.O.M.B.) and Explosive Improvised Device, as well as classic black-metal demo tracks from Black Witchery, Hungary's Whisper, Helvette, and Demon Sword, all packaged in a gorgeously horrific watercolor sleeve by Sarah Zahn (aka Sarzan from our playlists.) Tune in and pledge! Support WFMU, and let everyone know that you LIKE noise, horror, and black metal on the radio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a personal note, I was moved to tears at the news of the loss of Clare Amory. My deepest condolences to Clare's fellow players in Excepter, including friends Jon, Lala, and JFR. You can read more about Clare's life at Jon's blog, here.

"Whatever?!?" Frank Henenlotter and Mike Hunchback visit The Castle, tonight!

2011-02-23T17:44:00.010-05:00

2008's Bad Biology is my favorite Frank Henenlotter film. In fact, it may be my favorite film on the topic of sex, ever. I just watched it again last night, and it continues to increase in my estimation. In exploitation film (so called), you can pretty much get away with anything, and Frank Henenlotter takes ample advantage: sudden fourth-wall attacks from the female lead, fresh fetuses dropped in trash cans, vagina's-eye view, cock's-eye view, vagina-face masks in a Vinnie Paz video, aw hell, you name it. And WHAT you name will not be as penetrating (joke intended) or as lurid as what the director came up with for Bad Biology.

The man whose films are so often obsessed with sex, gore, birth, violent death, a general silliness masking heavy emotional issues, and what the hell IS actually happening between a woman's legs, comes to My Castle of Quiet. Frank fucking Henenlotter!

The American screenwriter, director, archivist and film historian is known primarily for his classic horror-sexploitation comedies, like Basket Case, Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, titles that were inspired by, and staples of, the 42nd Street theater market, pre-cleanup. Henenlotter has also been instrumental in rescuing many low-budget classics from eternal obscurity, mostly via his involvement with the Something Weird Video label and catalog.

If you're my age, give or take, you grew up watching Frank's films, whatever you may have thought of them. Bad Biology showed that the power is still very alive in this gentleman, one-upping most contemporary film that passes for horror, and in fact surpassing the current work of many of Frank's contemporaries who are still in action.

Mike Hunchback is a well-known local celebrant of all things "low culture"—early comics, punk rock, and the kind of films Mr. Henenlotter makes, among many other things.

Together, Frank and Mike join me for a discussion of Frank's latest film, a documentary on Herschell Gordon Lewis, another legendary American schlockmeister, known as the Godfather of Gore, and creator of the "gore" or "splatter" film. Frank's doc on Lewis screens in early March at Anthology Film Archives in NYC, along with the Lewis classics Blood Feast, Something Weird and Scum of the Earth.

The fun begins promptly at midnight.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

Screen capture taken from Bloody Disgusting.

PRISON TATT RECORDS UPDATE.

2011-02-20T21:31:00.016-05:00

Regarding Prison Tatt records, there are releases which have not before this moment been announced, or remain unannounced, often at the artist's request, since I'm usually the one who wants to spill the beans.

But the floodgates have opened a crack, perhaps more, and I'm proud and eager to tell you all of some forthcoming releases not yet listed on the initial canon, still posted as is at our regular Web home at http://prisontatt.com/.

Two great leaps that fell together at about the same time are the one-sided LP by Sesso Violento, a minimal/black metal/crust & noise combo from Complexo do Alemao, a prominent shanty town in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their first, self-titled release will be out on tape soon, released by the band, and it's these tracks that prompted me to offer the band 17-20 minutes to stretch out and release some new recordings through PT. The response came, "we could record 15/20 min of pure filth for you."

Also on tap to be released very soon is a new full-length by Dhampyr, a one-man project recently expanded to two, and currently making some of the most innovative, sounds-like-no-one-else, dark, mournful, atmospheric black metal around. The tracks and various releases of Dhampyr, many available for free (!) download at the artist's personal blog, run the gamut from staggeringly good black-metal song composition to meditative, gloom-laden ambient black atmospheres. You can preview two tracks from the album, to be titled White Fire Laudanum, here. If you're familiar with the previous Dhampyr release Spoiled Nostalgia, the new full-length (just under 50 mins., to be issued in an edition of 300 on digipak CD) seems the next logical step from SN's powerful song-craft and creepy textures.

Out in hopefully a few weeks or even less, the Xesse one-sided LP by T.O.M.B., which I can say without reservation or bias is some of the most frightening, unsettling music that I have ever heard. I couldn't be more pleased to be unleashing this phase of T.O.M.B. upon the world; it's a large and impressive slab.

Following shortly thereafter, CDs of all-new material by KILT, Dhampyr, and Chaos*Majik. Stay tuned, and thanks for your support.

FYI, we have about 13 copies left of the Grasshopper one-sided LP, and a good 2/3 of the OPPONENTS pressing available for sale, that latter title available for a very reasonable $10 domestically at our Web site.

Much later this year, summertime and beyond, look for other previously unannounced releases by local favorites Isa Christ (!) and Creeplings (!)—I think I can say that. (!!)