I don't hear any slobbering.

So...last private party at The Castle for a while, as WFMU gears up for Crunch Time: our stealthy, low-impact, October stopgap fundraiser. Fun times last night, more fun to come.

I learned a few things this week; a) you can buy ridiculously inexpensive desktop-printer ink off-brand that works FINE; b) living in the moment as often as possible will always serve you best; and c) Netflix's contractual situations don't care if you want to spend October watching great movies, great SCARY movies, etc.—Oct. 1, what a day to remove The Exorcist, Invisible Invaders, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Blue Velvet, Bloody Sunday, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, Going Places, Justine, Nightmares Come At Night, and Schoolgirl Hitchhikers (see above) from their streaming universe. Ah, first-world problems!

Had my usual blast last night, starting off with "Stolen Police Car" by King Tears Bat Trip, sounding like Albert Ayler backed by Boredoms 77, and receiving much approval on our playlist. What followed was a flood of black-ish metal, including the newest (and apparently final) tape from Canada's Putamen Insula, a band I've followed with great interest (featuring members of Oppression and Verglas); wild punk-black from Brasil's Velho; a great, split-single A side from Ancestors Blood on Tour de Garde; also on T-d-G, one whole tape side of creepy, funereal ambience from Old Tower; a classic speed track from Germany's Running Wild (have been playing their first album, a 2015 WFMU Record Fair acquisition, to DEATH at home); and yet another track from Bloodfucking Freaks by Throaat—our special, live guests on next week's program! [Facebook event announcement]

Our final hour was an electronic festi, with tracks from Slenderman, Alexandra Atnif (crunchy, beat-based, home-cassette goodness!), Long Distance Poison's new LP (not to boast AT ALL, but I wrote the liner notes, and WFMU's own Michele Colomer did the design and layout), Golden Retriever, et al.

Click on officer pigtails above, to reach the archive and playlist for last night's horrorcast™, and please join us @ WFMU & My Castle of Quiet next month for live music, Singles Going Steady week, and more. Info tc.

I must dash, and rewatch Curtis Harrington's Night Tide before it's too late.

Epic. Epic. Oops! Times 2 even.

Since I got the balled-fist rant out of my system with yesterday's post, I'm inclined to just rant today about the music, the main reason we're all "here." Deeper and deeper into the long-form compositions I descend, be it metal or noise, I'm wallowing in tape-side or LP-side adventures for the most part, lately anyhow.

Apparently, at least some of you are heavily in concert with that approach, as tracks by house favorites Long Distance Poison and Sewer Election, and a track by Golden Serenades all received hearty praise. We also grooved to Undergang's track from the split with Funebrarum, and I'm reminded here and now that Undergang must surely be investigated in depth by yours truly (hey, I can't be up on everything, but it was in WFMU's new bin, and it knocked me out at first listen.) Favorites Ives, hard-hitting and heart-pounding black metal, the pride of Florida, made waves with a track from their cassette single, new on PVR. And lastly (though aired first), Nyogtha are enjoying a strong run of surging psychdelia through a noise-branded sieve, and coming up with some great material; get it all for free here.

The "trouble" with a long-form-composition approach on radio is that a) I end up smoking a lot more, as I am, except for listening to these works, which I have done many x before, just hanging out; and b) I end up at 3 a.m. with an "awwwww" feeling, because I didn't get to that, that OR that. Tracks by Haare, Abazagorath, Hex Breaker Quintet, Envenomist, Social Drag, and Prowls, will just have to be woven in next week or the week after.

And next week, ahhhhhh next week; LIVE MUSIC from OCCULTATION, right here in WFMU's studio B. Don't miss it.

For now, you may click on those lovely teeth above, surrounded by the softest of skin, teeth that offer naught so much as permanent exit from one's own mortality, and an eternity of bloodlust hunger (not as pleasant as it sounds), to access the playlist, audio archive and comments board for this week's horrorcast™. Thanks for listening.

this show makes me cry

I think I know what you mean, listener Dilon in Portland—so moving, as to inspire tears of joy, and other strong emotions. Certainly, that qualification applies to last night's special radio event, exclusive music from Philippe Petit, "Electric Psalterion processed through electronics," a piece so good, so deep, that I'm still getting to know it, the morning after its worldwide debut. Philippe is an artist so generous and kind, that over three years' of correspondence between us, and at least two attempts at a live appearance, he finally just up and whipped out an amazing, multi-mood, layered piece of exclusive music for our show and WFMU. Thanks, Philippe! Damn fine. DAMN FINE, as good as any of our live, in-person performances, to be sure. Hooray! Petit saves the day, a musical superhero. As listener Adam in Portland and Lynnwood put it, and I'm grateful for the notice, "What a powerful exclusive for your fine program, Wm. Berger!"

And as was noted on the playlist, yes we are both men, Philippe and I, men and all that entails, the good and one supposes, the bad (though as to the latter, I can only speak for myself.) And as men, we are expected to be fearless, sometimes brash, but always ultimately to get the job done. And that he did.

And as to my own getting the job done, I was deeply honored and proud to be singled out in The Wire magazine's April-issue review of WFMU's Interplanetary Remixes: WFMU Interprets the Music of Sun Ra (buy here.) And shit, I better get a copy of the issue, as the May issue is already out. My reinterpretation of "Dancing Shadows" from Nothing Is..., one of my favorite Sun Ra albums, was singled out as "the most extreme," an honor I'll take with pride. There's a lot of good material on the disc, my colleagues did well, and I'm pleased to be part of a collection that is getting some well-deserved international recognition.

'Twas a lively playlist, and it was a special treat to have pals Nathan and Erica from Long Distance Poison at home listening, commenting on the board and texting me in excitement, that which comes from having a day off, and being able to stay up late and tune in, in real time.

So, which tracks superlatively dazzled the faithful? Certainly, Philippe Petit's musical magic grabbed the high honors last night. Also, he who never fails to elicit a charge—Moonknight, aka James Brown III, the hardest-working man in black metal, or one of them, recording solo as Moonknight, playing also in DARGAR and Harassor. You can acquire downloads and hard copy of the new Moonknight CD, Ligeia, and the s/t DARGAR tape via Rising Beast Recordings' bandcamp page, right here. Moonknight's Toplov also comes highly recommended. Along with the Crepusculo Negro crowd, Rhinocervs, Legion Blotan, CW Productions, Seed Stock, and a few others, this is some of the most challenging, highly original black metal being crafted today.

I'm also deeply excited for our live guest in two weeks, NY's Occultation, metal of a very different, though highly "Castle appropriate" stripe. Original, otherwordly songs, with one foot in the 70s, and gloomy, dark fortresses. Lucky me~!

Until then, here's to "man power," for all its fairs and foibles. Some of us will even polish the nails of our dead girlfriends! Click on the image above from Living Doll, to see the playlist, and peruse the audio archives, of last night's horrorcast™.

Long Distance Poison - The Shores of Titan; free mini-album!

Long Distance Poison—a favorite not only of the My Castle of Quiet radio program, but of NY show-goers throughout the boroughs, as well as the Prison Tatt record label. Their forthcoming one-sided LP for the label, "The Bog Nebula," is coming soon. Yours truly was also gratified to provide liner notes (my first!) for the band's upcoming Signals to a Habitable Zone LP and experimental-music project. Their Sisu, a conceptual collaboration between myself and the band, was a highlight of last year's live-music array on The Castle. It was also quite enjoyable on many levels to watch time STOP for noise-heads and metalheads alike, as the band performed their stunning set at Prison Tatt's live-music showcase #1 (especially seeing as LDP are really neither a noise project nor a metal project; see the video embedded in that linked post.) By fitting in nowhere precisely, they succeed in fitting in everywhere potentially, and their fan base just seems to grow.

Recalling, both sonically and spiritually, electronic-music collectives from every era, everyone from White Noise, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co. and Tangerine Dream, to John Carpenter's film soundtracks and Manuel Gottsching and Michael Hoenig's 70s long-form explorations, LDP have succeeded in pleasing and attracting a wide array of happy followers, and not least of all in that appeal is their proclivity to occasionally just give their music away, as we find in The Shores of Titan, a one-track mini-album, comprised of the 23-and-one-half-minute piece, "Imposters" offered via Soundcloud, and embedded below for easy, in-browser listening, but also downloadable for saving and such.

Thanks, LDP!

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

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.

Prison Tatt Showcase #1, in review.

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.

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

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.

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™.

Rise em well.

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.

Entirely prime realms of the unreal THANK YOU!!

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.

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

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.