SAY YES LEATHER WILLIAM

Something wells up in me every week, after so many years of doing this, like a nicotine fit of music I need to share. Such was the case last night as I hovered expectantly, BonChon Chicken (Korean style fried) of Jersey City providing some delicious, momentary diversion from my "keen to roll" state. After missing the pgm last week, and what with our show two weeks ago being built around the earthy bliss of Circuit des Yeux, what we got this week was a blast of "TRUE KVLT," much of it on cassette. ...

We confirmed that Veles were indeed from Poland (I was sure, but I feigned doubt) and I strongly suggested that you all see The Redeemer.  That was about it; always personally cathartic for me, and I hope engaging/energizing for the listeners.

One thing I particularly liked was the old Holocaustus track; Holocaustus and Flammentod being the same person (and both inactive since 2011), both projects' discographies worth owning, if you're a fan of stuttering, lurching, power-riff laden, home-studio European NSBM, which I am.

New tracks from Oppression, Kavra and Urðun stood out as enthralling listens, as did slightly older songs from Swallowed, Arizmenda, Glass Coffin and Harassor. GREAT new punk singles from Black Panties and Slugga ...In our last set, digital albums by Spiteful Womb and Throudos are currently in heavy rotation here at home. 

The REALLY BIG NEWS?!? 

NEXT WEEK: SUE P. / SOLID GOLD HELL FILLS IN
IN TWO WEEKS: LIVE MUSIC FROM VOLAHN
IN THREE WEEKS: LIVE MUSIC FROM HUSERE GRAV / FRKSE (more info tc)

GREAT SHOW this Sunday night @ Lucky 13 Saloon in Brooklyn, with Ramlord, Dumal, Ozama

Volahn / Hand of Glory / T.O.M.B. Thursday night @ The Acheron

That is all. Click on this week's still, from Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, to stream the archive, and see the playlsit of last night's horrorcast™.

glazed-over

Last night's My Castle of Quiet was, with a few exceptions, an expression in larger chunks—big, fat slices of sound, that reap the horizon and challenge pop attention-spans.

And though Circuit des Yeux's gorgeous set was technically speaking a collection of songs (those themselves assembled of even smaller song sections), I know for sure that this nuanced, human music will live on in my memory as a complete vision, as the melodies and lyrical phrasings waft in & out of my head over the years, probably forever. I really cannot praise the artistry and subtlety of this session enough, while the sounds remain firmly stood in an arena of attainability and "earthiness," very gettable to anyone who would listen. It's the rare artist that can truly present themselves bare (in song as in music videos), and last night we got a 25-min. window into a rare and humble gift. Thanks to Lily @ Thrill Jockey for making the live set happen; more details, and promotional videos for the new Circuit des Yeux album, In Plain Speech, here.

Haley Fohr quite simply writes great songs, the kind of songs that glide over taste and genre barriers into some universal shared experience. Circuit des Yeux's fans will notice how this live performance has its own unique character and arrangements, set apart from recorded/released versions of these songs, making this session a stand-alone musical event, which is, most often, what we DJs *wink-wink* want from our musical visitations (as opposed to a "straight read.") Ultimately, this performance doesn't even sound like a "radio set," and gives more like an "album."

A few lumps of praise heaped upon our special guests in the moment; many more to come, I imagine, as listeners investigate the program archive (linked to the picture above), and the Circuit des Yeux session's eventual posting to our Free Music Archive. Huge thanks to Haley and Ryan, and to live-sound engineer Jean Paul Gautreaux—it all came off swimmingly.

Listeners also praised: the mammoth album side from the doubly mammoth No Closure, by Scott Miller / Lee Camfield / Merzbow, released on LP by Dead Section Records in Denmark | the staggeringly good "Lost Causes," from the flawless new LP, Perfect World, by Uniform ...other, personal highs, apart from last night's powerfully resonant live set, included: a crushingly "on" tape side from Pregnant Spore (JML) | Tony Tears vinyl issue on Universal Consciousness | more Volkmort | Clocked Out LP on At War With False Noise | Night cs on Vanguard Productions | an unreleased, Kraut-monolith from Death Factory.

Taking a break next week; Bill Mac will be filling in.

My Castle of Quiet returns in two weeks, invigorated, most likely with a belly full of metal.

quality gravesite porn

 

That punk rock not only endures, but remains vital to this day, with great bands making great records, and finding continual new ways to embrace and convey the style, is perhaps more surprising to me than it should be; I grew up with this music, felt the rush of energy, mystery and excitement when Blank Generation, Damned Damned Damned, Flipper's Generic, the Minor Threat EP and the Bad Brains' ROIR cassette hit the stores and I brought em home, I felt like this music was "mine," or at least "of my generation," but NO, AND WHY? ...thing is, every "punk" feels that way, and successive generations of bands and fans forged boldly, intensely ahead, because once it was out there, that feeling of ka-boom never went away.

Our special guests last night, Unholy Two, are one of the great, contemporary examples of why DIY-rock of great fortitude remains and will remain as a persistent deer tick on the neck of rock 'n' roll. When you put the needle down on a record like Talk About Hardcore, you just know—your ears tell you, this band's purpose is righteous, their music made in earnest, and of a need to do so—the best punk rock being borne of necessity and the need to make a large statement that wasn't there before.

Thanks again guys (and gal), it was great to meet you & you're welcome back any time at WFMU and My Castle of Quiet. Link to the audio archive and playlist for last night's always-unholy horrorcast™ by clicking on the tender moment depicted above, from Michele Soavi's Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore; thoughtfully detailed Wikipedia page at that link), a beautiful and comedic horror-parable of uh, yeah, love and loss...cliché but in this case, very true.

...Also making headlines on last night's playlist were Volahn, from their landmark double LP Aq'ab'al, a real album, like bands used to make, that will reveal new layers of greatness every time you listen. Looks like Volahn will be paying their THIRD visit* to The Castle at the end of July, date tba | Serpentine Path | Bethlehem |  EEK with Islam Chipsy (on the great Nashazphone label)

*Black Twilight Circle tour on McoQ 2011

*Anahuac Tour w/ Verglas 2013

Next week...MORE great live music with Circuit Des Yeux (currently on tour)!

The downward spiral has just begun.

Not one single comment or question on last night's MCoQ screen capture, which tells me that anyone paying attention just rolled with the concept of pounding one out to the sight of a "fresh," well-built female zombie, who's got you trapped in your car—just what any red-blooded, hetero-perv would do in that situation, right? This scene from The Battery took me initially by surprise, but as it progressed before my eyes, rendered in such a naturalistic fashion, I had to admit, "yeah, that's probably what I'd do, too." In a post-zombie-apocalypse world, one must carpe diem for even the most marginal boy-girl activity.

Playlist-comment notices came early on for The Night Terrors and Volkmort, the latter a great Brazilian doom / sludge record that I just can't get enough of (tape available from Wohrt.)

Personal highs: new Night Bitch 10" | 2007-vintage Ash Pool | Nudity LP on Iron Lung Records | StarGazer | Spiteful Womb | Blood Rhythms

My Castle of Quiet joyously returns to our presentation of outstanding live music, for the next two weeks...

Live sets upcoming from Unholy Two, next week! [Facebook event]
and Circuit des Yeux [8th July]

Click on the image above for full audio archive, playlist and comments for this weeks horrorcast™.

I think I'm just going to go lay in a coffin now.

LINK TO THIS WEEK'S MCoQ ARCHIVE BY CLICKING ABOVE; MORE REASONS TO "TRY OUT" DEATH, AND THE MOST-SUITABLE SOUNDTRACK TO ACCOMPANY YOUR JOURNEY. FEATURED: SEVERAL TRIPS TO FRANCE, MOSTLY FOR DANK, BASEMENT DOOM ... A SPRY PUNK/BLACK SET, ENDING THEN, IN AN ELEVATED CAR-WRECK OF HARSH & TRANSCENDENT SOUND (DEFUNTOS>>ENBILULUGUGAL>>FACIALMESS>>ÂMES SANGLANTES), COMING FINALLY TO A SLOW HALT IN THE VAST, CEREBRAL LANDSCAPES OF MORTON FELDMAN (WITH SPINNING CAT VIDEO, I SHIT THEE NOT!) 

MY RECORD OF THE WEEK, VOLKMORT'S TRACES OF DOOM, IN STOCK @ WOHRT RECORDS.


I understand much better now why Christopher Lee was so stoic; having revisited his bio, I'm reminded that he was an Intelligence Officer and soldier in WWII. Here's a quote: "I've seen many men die right in front of me - so many in fact that I've become almost hardened to it. Having seen the worst that human beings can do to each other, the results of torture, mutilation and seeing someone blown to pieces by a bomb, you develop a kind of shell. But you had to. You had to. Otherwise, we would never have won." It's not just any man that can effectively play Count Dracula.

superlative sequence

Zo ... last night's Castle was metal-heavy, as is often the case, but even more so when I take a week off for special programming—a metal "log-jam" is created, that demands address.

Playlist notices for Krieg [split with Ramlord] | Haat [2002 LP] | A.M.S.G. [!!!] | ...and our last set, featuring new Haare | Deviation Social [reissue on Dais] | Circuit des Yeux [our guest next month!] | and the It Follows original electronic score by Disasterpeace.

Personal highs included new black metal from Erraunt | a great track from Lydia Lunch Retrovirus / Urge To Kill | new Akitsa [!] | new Askeregn [!] | the great Lascowiec ...

If you've been following these posts at all, you know where clicking on James Franco in gangsta drag will take you ... thanks for listening.

What about the 8th bride for the 8th brother?

I'm sure that my misconceptions about Scandinavia, having only ever been to Oslo. and for ~1 day at that, are many. But through their music, their cinema, their painters and writers, even their often higher-standard television, I feel I have gained an affinity for the essence and landscape of these cold-climated, majestic countries.

I imagine myself living out my later years like police detective Wallander, contemplating the volume of both the universe and the human soul; as the waves lap at the shore I can hear them, see them  from my front deck. My faithful dog murmurs in sleep, at my side ... I answer the call to action when it comes, but have learned to step lightly and with measure.

It goes almost without saying that "wherever you go, there you are," but perhaps I can convince someone to scatter my ashes near a location from Summer With Monika. ...

Perhaps we expanded (and in some cases, perhaps reduced) our listening audience for the evening, but an exploration of my favorite Scandianvian progressive rock has been on my mind to do for some time. Notes were made. Legendary record labels like Love and Silence, and bands like Alrune Rod deserve as much airtime and deep listening as one can give.

We did touch on the electronic / experimental / avant-garde voices of Scandinavia, somewhat, in our last set, with selections from The Sperm, Neptune Towers, and Anna Själv Tredje, but to fully explore that area, and the great work of artists like Folke Rabe, Bo Anders Persson, Arne Nordheim, Pekka Airaksinen, Supersilent, modern Swedish and Finnish noise, and the likes of Circle et al., would undoubtedly require a minimum of another three hours.

Playlist hails went out to Jukka Hauru | Fläsket Brinner | ...and the whole program in general, a departure from our weekly blast of heavy darkness for sure, though in my mind, as with the special programming I've done in the past, the Kraut-Outs 1-2-3, UK Blues Special, and The Sonics of Terror, among others, these excursions more than pass the "Castle filter."

Link to stream the show in full, by clicking on the comedians above, spreading merriment in the time of plague, from Ingmar Bergman's classic The Seventh Seal.

Thanks for listening and for your comments on the playlist. In truth, and with all possible modesty, I think I "outdid myself," and that this will prove to be an oft-visited Castle archive.

Hej du! Scandinavian Prog Special

>>>CLICK ABOVE TO JOIN THE FACEBOOK "EVENT"<<<

It's no secret that the Scandinavian nations have their own, peculiar voice in Rock history, especially where progressive, electronic, and "head" music are concerned. Sometimes underscored by their indigenous folk music, artists like Theodore Kittelsen and writers like Tolkien, but just as often, hippies, rebels, and counterculture conspirators to the North created a unique, regional distillation of what was happening worldwide in the 1970s and beyond. Groups like International Harvester channeled Swedish folk and The Velvet Underground equally, while Hansson & Karlsson made exquisite psychedelic blues, akin to Jimi Hendrix but with only an organ and a drum kit. 

...Making no particular attempts to WOW with rarities, just looking to have a good time playing three hours of some of my favorite music, that these days rarely sees airplay on the show otherwise.

As with previous "Kraut" specials, we'll be keeping it mostly in the 70s, with a few notable, possible exceptions ...(Änglagård, Anekdoten, Neptune Towers, Fläskvartetten anyone?)

...and anyone who can provide me with a good rip of the song, "En Av Oss" by Life [1970] will receive my eternal gratitude and possibly a kustom Castle kompilation cdr.

TONIGHT!

WFMU 91.1FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1FM (Hudson Valley)
in Rockland County @ 91.9FM
wfmu.org LIVE on the Web. 

You're my hero for playing this...

"[I'M] A REAL HERO, AND A HUMAN BEING...."

Last week, sanguine, full-blooded at least; this week, living on the fumes of hope that remain. Such is the psyche of a bent free-form DJ, but I get the sense that many of you Castleheads are extended too, beyond what's reasonable...fractured, and there is some comfort in numbers, in having a "tribe." Happy to be anyone's hero, even for 11 minutes!

Playlist-comment heralds went out this week to: vintage Bathory | new, intense, progressive black from Erraunt | the powerful split LP on Dead Section from Anicon & Belus | the outstanding new Prurient album ...

I quite enjoyed the aforementioned, as well as tracks by Stumm, Enbilulugugal, Ramlord, Caveman Cult, Mueco, Furze, Theologian, and John Wiese.

Thanks for listening, and engaging with lively film chatter on the comments board. ...

Next week: To finish off the current WFMU schedule with something different, I'll be doing a Scandinavian Prog special.

Our capture this week comes from the short-film series culled form the Berserk anime and manga [read online!] ...If you know the story, that there depicted is the "behelit," and it leads to a lot of horror and death for all involved.... The behelit generates demons, and agony, as you can well see...I guess THAT'S what I felt like, at least this week....

Hey I stayed up for this

Sanguine ... associated with the predominance of blood among the bodily humors • archaic bloody or bloodthirsty.

Started off with the letting of some "rock blood," and playlist nods went to the excellent, new s/t Wire album; Perfect Pussy; and that hot new Uniform full-length, still working its way to invading my consciousness. I quite liked the newly-issued, "lost" Rema-Rema 12" as well ...

We then careened into a full set of d-beat / punk / crust / thrash whatever-the-kids-are-calling-it-these-days, with a ferocious battering that included songs from Vivisektion, Vastator, Infernal Onslaught [all still available on tape through Wohrt Records], the new Halshug on Southern Lord ... and I must thank Nitsua Sean for pointing me toward two amazing, newer Ontario bands, Mueco and Mocoso.

The Devilspit tape, Grim, Hateful & Drunk, continues to be a personal favorite [Caligari Records], as does Ashencult's Black Flame Gnosis, not their latest, but ever-emerging as an excellent collection deserving of greater praise and attention, cassette available from Broken Limbs Recordings.

Older selections on vinyl from Sad, and Haat, dressed up the table at our black metal party...later, newer selections from NRIII [cassette now available!], Prurient, and Palace of Swords crowned our last hour.
 
Haat, same album, different song, on YT.

Our playlist-topping photo this week comes from talented French-Canadian designer Maude Nibelungen, sporting a handsome, black-latex glove by Vex, Inc.; it's images like these, and the notions they provoke, that keep me sanguine.

Thanks as always for listening, and joining in on the playlist reverie.