Essence indeed.

The inherent value of doing a radio show based solely around the 7" format is many-fold—to herald the labels that continue(d) to champion the format, in a non-hit-based musical underground, in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, as well as those post-2000 vinyl fiends, who continue to produce and purchase singles to this day. ...It's also damn hard for even the most mediocre of artists to make a BAD single. Almost everyone who at least attempts to make music has at least two good sides in them.

The format itself necessitates the immediate, strong statement, so WFMU naturally sounds different during Singles Going Steady week; each DJ is still doing their own, particular thing, but the listener gets more "booms" per set, in fact, it's almost all booms, which I guess is the idea. I should note that this is the first year I've participated in the annual, optional week-long fest, and I'm sorry for all the years that I stuck firm to my standard weekly plan, rather than diving in with zeal, as I did last night.

Castleheads spiked to selections by Drunks With Guns | Wretched Worst | Skullflower | Royal Trux | Scritti Politti | Haare | Atrax Morgue | Necrovulva ... and I'm surprised that no one asked about our atypical playlist image—not a movie screen capture, obviously. I received this picture of a ripe young gal, axe in hand, provocative glare in eyes, by way of a unsolicited phishing email, a "romance scam" if you like, and for some reason I saved it, and thought it had visual entrancement properties, and was somehow appropriate for this show; accompaniment for the program title Pitiful Portable Picnic Player, a phrase I often think of when I think of singles, A Clockwork Orange at this point encoded into my DNA.

Join us again next week for live music from Mortífera, a rare and special black-metal event not to be missed. Please also remember that WFMU is "silently" fundraising this month, and we're swiftly running out of October; My Castle of Quiet now @ 50% toward its modest goal. Huge thanks to those who have already pledged!

I'm coming back next week for sure. Creamed corn all the way.

You rang? Yes you did, indeed, and many thanks! Some quite-sizable pledges to My Castle of Quiet, this week and last. The support and enthusiasm shown for our program, and for WFMU at large, is always appreciated and deeply humbling to me. My personal thanks to all the pledgers, and to Jeff Conklin, and Jonathan Herweg, for being the finest "Igors" this horror-host could wish for.

Contemplating a mic-break / back-announce FREE program next week, as sheer reward to all the very generous pledgers who've supported, and continue to support My Castle of Quiet this year. ...a reward to myself as well, in a way, as the musical dam is currently and ridiculously backed up, and my acquisition demon is rattling his chains in frustration. So much great music has come my way, via one means or another, just in the past 2-3 weeks, that I'll have premium show content straight through mid-May, at the very least. New releases to spotlight on Vanguard Productions, Haare's Heavy Meditation label, Caligari Records, new releases by Svffer, Volahn, a split single by Necrovulva / Chaos Cascade, and some not-terribly-old recent excitements by Ashencult, Silva Negra, Barad Dur ... so very much more.

Managed to slap on a bit more music this week than last, The Castle's flesh and body after all,  and playlist-comment appreciation went out to Deaf Kids | a music bed from Queen of Black Magic | kimchi | boobs (a perennial; big "naturals" preferred) | WOLD | ...and the rare Krautrock purveyed on this year's MCoQ premium CDr, Raritäten Krautspieler. There's still time to pledge, both to our show and to WFMU; the 2015 marathon ends this Sunday eve, with our raucous, in-house Karaoke party, The Hoof 'n' Mouth Sinfonia (where I'll be performing the most-inappropriate of songs, considering my program and tastes; you'll have to tune in to hear [live streaming video @ wfmu.org])

...and please remember, a pledge made directly to our program of $75 of more (see the white, rectangular pledge widget above this post) automatically earns you a copy of Raritäten Krautspieler, chock full of rare German rock tracks (1968-1988), with a dazzling photo sleeve custom-designed by Mr. Ken Weaver, and featuring model / scream-queen Hannah Rose Fierman.

This week's screen capture comes from the 1973 Yugoslavian film Leptirica (thanks to Matt Minter of Wretched Worst for steering me towards this odd, engaging gem.) [Wretched Worst on My Castle of Quiet 2012 March] Click on the pic above to reach the archived audio, playlist and comments for this week's fundraising-mode horrorcast™. Looking forward, both to Sunday's marathon wrap-party, and to a return, in spades, to Castle-business-as-usual next week.

Wm. Berger got me from point a to point b, and beyond.

...and that there's the testimony of just ONE satisfied MCoQ listener. MCoQ lifts, separates, scratches that itch, quiets the neighbor's dog down, and will help the end user hop from era to era, decade to decade, with only minor technology loss (ya gotta expect some.) This here's the music that gets played at your home, and sometimes on the radio, but not nearly enough, and in some cases never, but you can count on My Castle of Quiet to be "another person like you" in the world. Those who are unafraid to admit that they like a bit of that once in a while.

Music, music. Without a proper foil, a rubbery co-host to bounce off of, I'd just assume lay in deep with the endless piles of music I have to play. Some of this material has been following me to the station every week for close to a year, so it's cool to just kick back and actually play some of it. There's and endless river, starts at the top and ends at the bottom, full of great black metal, noise, grind, sludge, doom, horror soundtracks, and trailer audio to last several eonic lifetimes. The world weariness of an old vampire sets in just thinking about it.

IN PRAISE OF >>>

The 22-min. Ashdautas song that fills their side of the new split with Bone Awl, on Crepusculo Negro. It's thoroughly incredible, and the BA side is especially ferocious, too.

Wretched Worst, from the Sisters' Piss II cassette. If you follow this radio show at all, WW should be known to thee like the magazines in the john. What a great band!

The Kevin Drumm & Tom Smith collaboration CDr, Mud Keeps Lifting Me Higher, on Karl Schmidt Verlag.

Hell Mary's "Hour of the Witch." Punchy.

Tracks from the new collection, The B-Music of Jean Rollin, on Finders Keepers.

Epic, French depressive from Grisâtre.

I thought it would be interesting to do this post after seeing the Bone Awl / Negative Plane / Villains show last night, as I'd likely be riding high, and a little hard of hearing. It was cool to hear Brandon from BA talk about the importance of radio, radio that "cares about this [type of] music, 'cause there aren't many." I need to hear that, and often, especially from someone like Brandon, who has worked incredibly hard for the last decade to put things out there, and help build this incredible network of do-it-yourself black metal people, labels, bands and fans, the true believers, those who will remain when the ashes of trendiness have blown away.

It helped me to remember that I'm not in this for fame and excessive notoriety, either, but for the love of the music, music whose fans do not number in the great many, nor are they the most monied, but they are the true believers, ardent and full of strong opinions and support for the sounds that provoke the most genuine emotional reaction in them. I speak of whomever it was that body-slammed me last night, the kids who crowd the merch table, and I speak of thee, Castleheads, and beyond, as our numbers grow by the week.

As far as last night goes, Bone Awl were in top form, and did a set that mixed new material from the split with some "hits" from their other full-length releases. Duly impressed and sore I am. Also amazing were Negative Plane, a band that's hard to describe, very powerful, very intricate, as Brandon put it, "black metal that is as if the Norwegian scene had never happened...purely American." Long songs, and a front-person in common (purely by coincidence) with Occultation, who will be our live guests on the April 26th/27th broadcast.

Sooner, next week, exclusive, pre-recorded sounds from Philippe Petit, who also tours our area around the same time; watch this space soon for more detailed info on Philippe's recording (donated to WFMU and MCoQ) and his upcoming shows. Facebook event listing.

For now, you may click on Roberta Findlay, in better times, from the film Take Me Naked, to access the playlist, comments, and audio archive of this week's horrorcast™. Also up top- one of my lousy photos of Bone Awl from last night's show. In my defense, I was in my defense as the picture was taken.

Creeping in for the kill.

A few words about me, as this blog used to be ALL about my tastes, commentary and obsessions, before the My Castle of Quiet radio show broke ground in June of 2009.

Who woke me up this morning? It's wasn't G_d, it was my iPhone alarm. I've been attending a weekly NA meeting, and I do enjoy the company and conversation (usually) of fellow and former addicts and substance abusers; I like the way addiction is the great leveler; in those rooms, black, white, young or old cease to matter. But why, oh WHY (!) does the seemingly ever-present spectre of a monotheistic deity have to enter into it? I am encoded with all the ways of right and wrong, right here in my solar plexus, and I never, but never, expect to be forgiven for my many misdeeds and bad behavior. The world, and life as we know it, is sometimes ordered, "destined" if you will, but mostly strikes me as a constant collision of random particles in chaos. I am alright with chaos, not the kind that strikes sometimes in daily life, but the kind that "governs" our progress. At the end of every meeting, I back out of the circle, I DO NOT hold hands, and I DO NOT recite the Serenity Prayer. May I never accept that there is something I cannot change, though I butt up against these things nearly every day. Accepting is a different ballgame, and I'm not a good batter, the outfield always came in when I went up to bat, but I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve, and have spent my every day trying to be a righteous man and have gathered many an ally, simply by being a good person with no hidden agendas. G_d is not required, in my case, for a righteous path to be taken. Where it ends, I know not, but I won't blame my failures, aggravations, or disappointments on a misty deity, any more than I will humbly thank the same for my successes and good fortune in life.

Keep in mind, that here in the States, we stand a very good chance of having a new leader who wears "magic" long underwear. If a Mormon does make it into the White House, that desperate move to plead for Canadian citizenship may really be in order this time. Most of the people I know and talk to about these things, know that a third-party, truly anti-corporate-rule candidate is the only option to potentially "save" this country and our flagging economy, and that's just not going to happen any time soon. For that I DO blame G_d, or at least his concept, for keeping the masses complacent and "faith"-full, or full of faith, so much so that any man who wears the veil of righteousness, while underneath lies the prideful garment of a false prophet, can fool the great number.

Extremely awkward segue to this week's radio horrorcast™; I was feeling especially good, having turned an important corner in my personal development as a productive human being. My focus has shifted, in indeed a very positive way, and that is always cause for celebration!

Much love for -

Dead Times, and their split with TRTRKMMR (we heard the TRTRKMMR side not long ago); the label, Aum War, looks to be extremely promising.

Judas Priest's "Exciter." Priest are one of those bands that mark true metalheads, their brilliance, as a prog band, a hard rock/heavy metal band, and even later as a pop concern (conforming to the MTV times, as they did in the 1990s) will stand forever the test of time, and "Exciter" never fails to be a boot to the ass.

Demonologists, this time their Waves of Decay cassette release, Sermons of Death and Eternal Damnation, though the project never fails to ignite excitement on the MCoQ playlist. An upcoming release on my own Prison Tatt records label is, I say with as much humility as is possible, which is not much, some of the best, if not THE BEST, material from the Cory / Dustin duo phase of Demonologists. I can't wait to get this one on the street, kids. I know that I say this about every P-Tatt release, but this time...wow. It rattles my neighbors, providing me much glee, whenever I pull into my driveway blasting the CDr which will eventually be this record.

Mortuor, an outstanding release from Dustin Redington's (see above) Ministries of Blood CDr label (35 FREE downloads at that link!) There was not a boner in that entire label discography, though Mortuor's I'm Waiting For You stands out as one of the best releases in the MoB canon, wrought with sinister warnings and dark-as-pitch emotions.

Luciation, excerpts from Side A of their Manifestations in Unholy Blackness LP. A roller-coaster ride (the kind where bolts are loose, it's rickety as hell, and you may not make it off alive) of Satanic grind, from the Analog Worship label. Luciation's home-made videos on YouTube are quite enjoyable! (Click on their name to see "Infested Female Skull Orgy.")

There's special programming and live guests aplenty gracing our show in April and May, but I'll leave the details for a future post. For now, please click on this week's screen capture, again from Hammer Films' Plague of the Zombies; my dream mate, with matted hair and blued skin—and she's a quiet lot, as well! Haha- That click will take you to the audio archive, comments board and playlist for this week.

And until next time, remember, YOU are your own master, no higher power need exist than the individual; we are morally "encoded" to do right, most of us anyway, and no book (that written by men, though attributed to power on high) need be consulted, ever. Look inside yourself, for it's there that the answers lie.

Please note: Will be getting the Wretched Worst session from 2 weeks past up online, in mp3 form, as soon as possible, likely during the coming week; my apologies for the delay.

Torch lights on!

BAM-KA-BAM-KA-BAM...BAM-KA-BAM-KA-BAM...BAM-KA-BAM-KA-BAM...

It doesn't matter whether you believe in powerful spirits; energies that slam doors and cause the tides to rise. I know now, after my experience that night beyond the dblglas, all the way up on that elevator that seems it will surely crap out and leave you stranded, claustrophobia rising, at the end of that long, narrow room, that which would make a larger man nervous. Your body makes a "T" with the turntables, and you'd better learn to be comfortable there.

Thereupon the dblglas, did I see with my naked eyes the movement of the Wretched Worst, that like a wounded boar, making its way insistently through the forest, on to a greater battle? or to wherever boars live. Slinging metal Frisbees—hair, drumsticks, and guitar necks drawing crazy, narrow, 25- to 45-degree angles in laser not visible to the naked eye.

Wretched Worst did play, and play they did, like masons without tools, punching the floor in case the boss walks by. HAHAHAHAHA.

BEERRRBEERRRBEERRR DA-TUM-TM, BEERRRBEERRRBEERRR DA-TUM-TM...

They did sign my foul contract (for I always keep a copy in my pocket), and hence their set (the Wretched Worst) will post as mp3s in more-or-less than a fortnight. Catch them tonight, March 16th in Providence, RI at AS220 w/ SHV, Veiled and Male Perverts, or tomorrow, March 17th, in Brooklyn at La Sala w/ Form A Log, OPPONENTS and High School Confidential.

Wretched Worst will have new cassettes Sisters' Piss + Sisters' Piss II, bloody t-shirts, and more.

Forming an audible and somewhat visible pivot to WW's magnificent set, was the choppy, angry, sometimes-a-black-metal song, sometimes a bone-breaking dervish, selection of pieces from TRTRKMMR, their side of the split LP with Dead Times. Many comments on the comments board for that one, as well as the new-ish Grasshoper opus, Classical Music, brought to us by 905 Tapes (we heard "Destroyed In Seconds"); Grasshopper NEVER fail to inspire live kudos-throwing on our comments board, no not never.

OPPONENTS' Sleepy Hollow ltd. cassette edition, wowed with the title track, "Broken Divine," and Filthy Turd continued to inspire amazement and much scratching of heads.

That's it for now. Click on the apple up top, take it, etc. etc. The archive and playlist of last night's horrorcast™ await thee, and probably some other distressing shit, too.

My Castle of Quiet welcomes Wretched Worst...TONIGHT!

Out of Kentucky they come, from their home near the corner of wherever Can, Flipper and grindcore intersect. Their exuberant, long- and shorter-form songs and group extrapolations, laden with doom-wrought concepts and Downer-rock riffage, come wrapped in some bloody mess of a drawing, ink on fishpaper, courtesy of vocalist / illustrator Matt Minter. These guys are heavy, casually so, like a biker gang that just runs over you without even looking.

Yes, I speak of Wretched Worst, the band that everyone in the noise-rock microverse is excited about, the first live band on The Castle in several months. Expect ashes and rubble in their wake. Expect the unexpected. Expect nothing and everything. Wretched Worst return to NY as part of a mini-tour to promote their latest release, Worse Than Jail, with shows in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Providence and in nearby Brooklyn on 3/17 (with Castle favorites OPPONENTS and High School Confidential, and Form A Log, at La Sala at Cantina Royal.)

I deftly navigate the usual hail of silver bullets, starting the show @ 12 midnight.
WW @ 12:30 approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web, with accu-playlist and message board

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!!!!!!