WHIPPIN UP DAT BAD BUSINESS. BLEAK TWEAK 2012!

Biddle-biddle dum dum, de do dum.... the riff from Tangerine Dream's Halcyon invades my head space, again. No worries—happens all the time. Sometimes all I can muster is some ancient-rock gibberish.

So glad to be BACK though, to relative normal on the My Castle of Quiet program. Though I think I enjoy the pitching more than many, it is nonetheless plain exhausting. So much easier to just put what you do OUT THERE, than to explain to someone why it's good, why they should donate actual money to keep it in existence. But the WFMU marathon is so much more than any necessary evil, it's actually a good time for the staff, and our friends and volunteers. For example, duking it out in my head with T-Dream is Rage Against the Machine, put there by Tom Scharpling's inspired performance at our free form-aoke party. Wuzza wuzza, even I was swinging white-boy hip-hop arms, or maybe just bobbing my head, can't remember—either way, my secret's safe with you.

THANKS AGAIN FOR SUPPORTING WFMU & MY CASTLE OF QUIET. THE 2012 MARATHON WAS A SMASHING SUCCESS!

A new week, a new show, a powerful vibe, if I may say. (Yes, us older guys say "vibe," but slightly younger men than I say "rad," all the time too, so I think it's a fair trade off of that-lingo-does-not-match-your-bald-spot, and "where's your surf board, by the way" inappropriateness.)

This was the show that the "bessicles" were just barely holding back for two weeks.

It's always cool to see our theme get a nod after several years, as it's been the Frizzi-for-Fulci that opens The Castle's doors every week. And some clear enthusiasm early on for our broad-scope opener from Sentenced For Life, a damn straight trade I made of a T.O.M.B. LP for two copies of this excellent, creative tape from Australia. Write to bustedupslut@gmail.com for a copy; also see here. Love also for the exclusive Demonologists' track from the MCoQ 2012 Marathon premium CD. And, and...the Death Factory on No Visible Scars, the Grafvolluth on Regimental (hopefully a live appearance awaits us this Spring), and the extended trailer for Teenage Mother.

Oh, and I almost forgot, there were several after-the-fact shouts for the UK's Filthy Turd. A very unique performer, indeed. Here's Filthy Turd on MySpace.

That's all; I hope you had fun listening, and if you missed this one, there are always WFMU's very well-maintained archives; you can access this week's horrorcast™, its playlist and comments board, simply by clicking on the malevolent patient from Lucio Fulci's Aenigma, above.

THIS IS IT>>>NEXT WEEK, THE LIVE EVENT TO END ALL. MY CASTLE OF QUIET WELCOMES WRETCHED WORST!!!!!!

PRISON TATT JANUARY RIOT SALE!

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!

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.

New Releases in the Prison Tatt Web store, May 2011

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.

We Need To Carry It Off.

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.

Demo Hell, and the 2011 WFMU Marathon

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.

PRISON TATT RECORDS UPDATE.

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. (!!)

i resent bottom feeders comment--that was just wrong!!!

That's the trick with insults of that nature, i.e., if you think I was addressing you, then it's likely that I was. Castleheads are more apt to be the diggers, the over-curious, the not satisfied. What's "there" is rarely, if ever, good enough for them. That said, the listener-friendly tried-and-true is not absent entirely from the My Castle of Quiet radio show, it just doesn't set the rules, or make up the bulk—it's a seasoning that occasionally provides connective tissue to what's happening now. And that's why I'm here, or at least one big reason why. I never accept, follow, or compromise even three minutes of the weekly broadcast, because I think it might get me laid, or otherwise enhance my personal or social standing, inside or outside of WFMU. It's fairly easy for me to say and write this, too, and not feel like I'm bragging, or being an elitist shithead, because quite literally, in terms of the radio show, my integrity, by way of my unique filter, is all that I have. If I like it, I play it, and I'm already tired of tooting my own horn, so....

Kyle Clyde performed brilliantly, two sets of hair-raising electronic improv, unique renderings that will appear as mp3s for download in about one week's time on WFMU's Beware of The Blog and Free Music Archive. For now, you can click on ill-starred Father Jozef, riddled with forbidden desire like a cancer, to connect to the playlist and audio archives of last night's horrorcast™. (I encourage you, if I may be so bold, to never face the wall of your own reality. Mother Joan, especially when fevered by Clootie, was a desirable, red-blooded woman, and Jozef had a right to his feelings—they both did, despite their collective vows to an invisible and overtly didactic God.)

If you're new to the show and what I do, please also check out my curator portal at the FMA, consisting of all the live sessions I've hosted since July '09, as well as some rare recordings by friends and associates, roughly within the same creative universe.

Compliments and thanks for Kyle Clyde dominated the comments board last night, as well they should have, in addition to notice for recordings by NRIII, Hanged Ghost (available through Seed Stock), Meditations, and yet more archival Schulze.

Exciting events coming up this month on the Castle, in addition to the usual celebration of life (queue birdies and butterflies), including an interview/live chat session with Mike Hunchback and his pal, director Frank Henenlotter (of Basket Case fame, and more recently Bad Biology.) Frank's newest feature is a documentary about Herschell Gordon Lewis, a topic all three of us should be able to, uh, sink our teeth into. The film is screening at Anthology Film Archives for three days beginning on March 11, along with three Lewis classics, Blood Feast, Something Weird, and Scum of the Earth. That's the 24th/25th Castle show.

Even sooner, we're also working on a possible live appearance by Ryan Dunn aka Instinct Control (and there I go, breaking my new rule about one live artist per month, but Ryan is visiting from Chicago, and talented out-of-towners need be accommodated—seize the day!) This is looking good for the 2/18 show, thanks to our friend Bob Bellerue, who also engineered sound for Kyle last night.

March brings the WFMU 2011 marathon fundraiser, and an absolutely deadly CDr premium collection called Demo Hell; more on that soon. March 12 I'll be DJing a monster show in Baltimore with Kakerlak, Lussuria, T.O.M.B., Malkuth, DJ Decapitated Hed, and many others; more on that soon as well. Post marathon, a live performance by Long Distance Poison (3/25.)

Fuck YES! Busy, busy, busy. Less time to cry.

Prison Tatt releases OPPONENTS /// Together We Will End The Future, for fuck's sake...

Every time I play this recording, I am blown away by the sheer power and professionalism of what these young men have done. This is a milestone in contempo electronics, and it's definitely not quite a noise record, and not quite a retro/Krautrock record, or a retro/80s/minimal-wave record, it's really its own thing, with elemental aspects of all of the above, and a lot more. The pro-mastering we did with Julian at On Air in Greenpoint really helped to make these tracks monumental, which consequently have the collective thrust of an "album," in the most traditional of definitions.

If I didn't have ~300 of these in my living room, I'd be clawing over hill and dale to buy one. Proud as fuck I am of this OPPONENTS record (PT 004, though it's the second Prison Tatt release to hit the street; look for another mind-blower, the T.O.M.B. Xesse one-sided LP, in about one month's time); lucky me that I got to release it—this shit really is the grail, so don't miss out.

I'll be selling these at the OPPONENTS show tomorrow night at Silent Barn (915 Wyckoff Ave., Ridgewood, NY) for $9, one dollar off the ppd price. Come out and you'll also get to see a flawless live bill, which also includes MCoQ favorites Two Years On Welfare, Long Distance Poison, Chmmr When Agitated, and Afterlife. I'll also be bringing along some of the last-remaining Grasshopper Calling All Creeps records, available only at this show for $15.

You may also purchase these releases, and hear song samples, using the paypal shopping cart at the Prison Tatt Web site.

harmonize most high !

Blood intoxication. Drunk on spirits (the distilled kind, and the kind that fly), and most importantly, the intoxication and envelopment of the pure essence of blackness, i.e., the complete absence of light. LIGHT REMOVAL. Drunk on T.O.M.B., for fuck's sake! There is great power and catharsis in a performance of both high volume and great might, and T.O.M.B. smeared the walls with cemetery slime, and scared EVEN ME. To be so close to something so loud and so unpredictable; I felt like Herbert West, having invited and unleashed forces I now could not control. True potency in the darkness.

Coré is at her most ecstatic. She listens to the young man's bubbly last breaths as though they were hushed confessions, sweet nothings. Perfect adoration, perfect lust. Satiated and sanguine. I wouldn't trust Coré to do a thing, personally. I like a good shag as much -or more- than the next guy, but this one will be your last. YOU may CHOOSE to follow this delicious siren, if you wish, to the playlist and streaming audio archive of last night's horrorcast™.

T.O.M.B.'s set, in all its mastery, will post in mp3 form next week to WFMU's Free Music Archive and Beware of The Blog. Also check out my curator portal at the FMA, if so inclined.

What else got high marks? That new Jon Mueller & Z'ev LP on Important, and the M.B. archive CD on AWWFN. These, and shochu on the rocks.

Are You Ready? Because I Don't Think You Are... T.O.M.B.

Sonically, T.O.M.B. have a world of mystery within their sound that reaches into some exceptionally dark realms, more so than many artists that could be described as "noise" or "black metal," such that neither label really fits. Most often, T.O.M.B. sound like restless, angry spirits, wringing out eternity and screaming and scraping at the walls.

T.O.M.B. have utilized locations like the abandoned Essex County Hospital and The Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry for recording, in an effort to merge with the essence of such places, and achieve spontaneous musical workings charged with their energy. These guys aren't fucking around; they have a plan, and they create their music pretty much outside of any sort of "scene."

The band will be playing their set, something perhaps closer to what you've heard them do on record or live, but still a unique performance geared for this occasion, climaxing in a live improvisation with a full-kit drummer. Moments of the afterlife landscape will be viewed in haunted contemplation. T.O.M.B. are the stuff of waking nightmares, and their Castle visit is much anticipated.

Creaky doors open @ 8.
T.O.M.B. @ 9.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web

T.O.M.B. from My Castle of Quiet on Vimeo.