Remind me never to cross you.

As Nelson Muntz has said, "these are the grapes, and this is the WRATH."
... The halfwits who live in the catacombs under the Castle were rattling their chains so loudly last night, Phyllis Schlafly could hear them down in the 9th circle of hell...and she was truly tormented. When I please them, I know that I have done truly well; they break from long hours of fingering the rough texture of their greenish skin, and pulling on their matted hair (turned white with the absence of any pigment), and just generally fucking like there's no tomorrow...which is, in fact, all they have—a thousand-and-one tomorrows—when THEY acknowledge that something GOOD is happening upstairs, it must very surely be.

Every song, every selection was an "arrival"—which is always my intent, though I most often pick apart program archives as a merciless critic (rest assured I am proud, yet I share a room with humility and gratitude) ... Maybe I need to get pissed off more often by haggard-before-their-time, NJ cigarette cows, livin' in "da heights," and calling the studio phone with their drunken ramblings about nothing I care about. Perhaps that utterly wretched cunt improved my performance! I made a mountain out of an albeit-festering molehill, and it turns out she was helping me? This all goes to show that sobriety and anger are potent creative forces, because apart from having the usual good time, I can actually quite recommend last night's horrorcast™ as, you know, something to listen to, all without feeling unduly stuck up.

Highlights: Kallathon from the monumental 2015 Black Twilight Circle collection Desert Dances & Serpent Sermons | Vaarheere from their one-off rip-roaring cocainacopia tape | the amazing SIRE, wild black metal from Providence (fronted by splatter goddess ex-Tinsel Teeth monster  artist/sex bomb Gyna Bootleg) | Esoteric, raw black from the Negromancy label artists | outstanding new work from Opponents | Kleistwahr | excerpts from a great blacknoise concept work by Enbilulugugal | more from Street Sects | Christian Death reissue | THAT GREAT KIRBY MUSIC! | Rectal Hygienics | new works from Avarus | ...and Aethenor





That about covers it.
In two weeks: Great, contemporary, locally grown black metal LIVE with WORTHLESS!

For our screen capture, we returned again to the contemporary classic The VVitch; click there to reach the streaming audio, playlist, and listener comments for this week's My Castle of Quiet.

Holy crap

...or unholy crap, as may be appropriate.

I've been extraordinarily lucky, since returning to WFMU's weekly air in 2009, in that my show quite often falls on or proximate to my birthday. What could be better than being able to put out 3 hours of concentrated music appreciation on one's anniversary of birth, the "highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion"?

Of course, the mighty frontispiece of last night's My Castle of Quiet program was our live set by the great Volahn, making their third visit to The Castle—an outstanding charge of supreme black slaughter of the very highest order. Volahn are always surprising, I'm always floored by their meta-level musicianship and the sheer power and force of their performance. This time, their set was recorded to multitrack, with live mix and outstanding post-production work by JP Gautreaux, enhancing / preserving all the energy with an album-like feel. Couldn't be happier!

Also making the greatness even greater was the live debut of International Mrs. & Mr. Leather, in our last hour; two great, talented people I really admire; a heavy electronics performance rendered in-the-moment, right there next to me in WFMU's Studio A. Strong, heady, steamy stuff. Plus they brought cake.

In betwixt the live KOs, our usual array of thorny releases / recordings, new and old, including: vintage Nuit Noire, new on LP from Seedstock; more greatness from the It Follows OST, by Disasterpeace; bracing, blackened selections from Ramlord, Arcanus Tenebre, Arizmenda, Nocturnal Blood and others.


Hear it all by clicking above, on the frenzy of psychedelic, tentacular love captured from The Dunwich Horror (1970.)

NEXT WEEK: YET MORE LIVE MUSIC FROM ENCOUNTERS!!

JOIN Encounters Facebook event

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)!

this requires another bowl

 

HUGE thanks to everyone who heaped appreciation and support on last night's horrorcast™in general, and on our special live guests in particular. Vorde brought it, slew it, and left a smoking husk in their wake. I feel so very fortunate, that every live My Castle of Quiet set is another opportunity to provide a platform for great bands to display their considerable talents. Vorde brought their own sage, an iron candelabra, and a statue of Pan, and I'm not sure that much more needs to be said beyond that!

As noted by myself and others, Vorde are one of the very best bands in USBM, forging a singular and vital sonic identity, and simultaneously pushing genre definitions. Ace black metal songwriters, they use the sounds of their individual instruments, and the glorious whole of what they do, to sculpt a divine idiosyncrasy, with death rock and goth injections providing variation and contrast. Vorde's finish with a Wipers cover-rendered-black was an exquisite treat! You can hear it all in last night's show archive, linked above, and keep your eyes out for a possible hard-copy release as well.

In the meantime, Vorde's self-titled debut LP, one of my favorites of the year, can be purchased here from Fallen Empire Records, and for those of you on a tighter budget, the digital album can be had for a "name your price" download.

Our first set was a blast too, worthy of hyperbole, with new selections and older favorites from Moss | NRIII | A.M.S.G. (saxophone in black metal, fuck yes!) | and the mighty Murw ...Also noted on our playlist, a song from Vrolok's Resurgence, one of the many great finds from my San Francisco shopping spree; a great new piece from our two-time guests Volahn, from their no-less-than-extraordinary double LP, Aq'Ab'Al; a song from the great new full-length by SF natives Bosse-de-Nage; and personal nods to perennial favorites Nuit Noire, and Ed Hall's "Deth." All this, and our show closer—a crafted mountain of rhythmic, electronic assault from Bizarre Uproar.

Our screen capture this week is culled from David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, and if you've seen the film, you'll have a fractional understanding of what our week's show title, "A Well-Deserved Pummeling" means, though ultimately it "means" many things to me. (I'm also just a sucker for a beautiful woman in blood spatter...) Click there to hear this week's program, Vorde's full live set inclusive.

Hope to see many of you at the WFMU Annual Record Fair this weekend; with the help JPG, last night's hardworking & talented audio engineer, I'll be holding down the Prison Tatt Records table, all three days.

Legendary way to go out Wm.

I feel like David Bowie—though many of you are probably too young to remember the many times that he announced that he was "quitting show business"—I need to actually spend some time away, to at least lend some legitimacy to all the goodbyes.

Last night was about as good as my relationship with radio ever gets; five bands, ones I hold in high esteem, playing live and generously donating their talents to the WFMU / Castle airwaves. Endless gratitude is due to Diane, Eddie and Dominic, and all the other band members, for helping me make the broadcast a reality.

The last four MCoQ live sessions, from Bludded Head onwards, will appear in due course over the Summer, as I get the time time to sit down and work the raw, master files and create mp3s, and scribe my impressions, memories and appreciation for each session in turn.

It was great to see many of our Castlehead regulars pop up on last night's playlist comments, and it's good to know that I can plop down occasionally on the WFMU schedule, and be reminded that the appreciation for the show will remain and still stir up the pot when it does.

Click on our screen capture above, from director Koen "Ex Drummer" Mortier's 22 Mei (more on this film in a future post) to reach the archived audio, playlist and comments for last night's Castle -in-exile 5-band black cavalcade.

CREEPLINGS one-sider now available! ...radio fill-ins COMING UP (like a flowa), and a promising season in film. ...

My self-imposed exile continues, not very successfully mind you! People keep showing up, making me "do stuff"—not that I'm complaining—I love it!

So much to discuss here, so my approach is to take things on chronologically.... First and foremost, Prison Tatt's long-awaited debut vinyl from Creeplings is here! Click on the LP cover above for details, a track sample, and to purchase. Here's a favorite live clip of the duo from 2009 >>>

...in other news, My Castle of Quiet returns to WFMU's airwaves for a two-week run, filling in for Evan "Funk" Davies on July 3rd and 10th, 9-12 p.m. ET. Look for the 7.3 show to be an exemplar of things to come, should I make my intended future return to the WFMU schedule (read: Kosmische-Kosmische-Kosmische.) ...July 10th, on the other hand, will be a festival of live black-metal art, that genre-term stretched to its very limits, as the Crepusculo Negro / Anahuac Tour 2013 visits our studio (second time for both Arizmenda and Volahn), with very special guests, the oft-played and greatly anticipated Verglas, from Montréal. (See flyer above for the July 7 show at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn.) More details on the broadcast, and Facebook event here.

On to the subject of film, a promising Summer and Fall of releases awaits us (trailers linked within)...

The combination of director Michael Winterbottom and star Steve Coogan has always been a winning one, and their The Look of Love, a Coogan star-vehicle based on the life of Paul Raymond (the UK's sort-of Hugh Hefner) seems loaded with both laughs and pathos; we'll see.

I'm all for Hollywood horror, if done right, and Insidious Chapter 2 has all the earmarks of an amped-up sequel to what made for swell, unpredictable entertainment the first time around.

On that note, James Wan's long-awaited The Conjuring, charting the early career of real-life ghost-hunter-psychic-demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren has my fingers crossed. The Warrens have always commanded respect in the field, it's high time a film about them surfaced, preferably a documentary, but again we find ourselves in the "we'll see" dept.

Luc Besson's The Family, a comedy/drama about a witness-protection family relocated to France, starring Robert DeNiro, also looks promising. From Taxi Driver, to The King of Comedy, to Jackie Brown, to the modern day, DeNiro admirably reinvents himself and to this long-time fan is typically a pure joy to watch when at his best. Again, we'll see.

Most promising of all, to this viewer, are the following three: Fruitvale Station, produced by Forest Whitaker, and based on a true story that will hit close to any current or former Bay Area resident, about a man who was shot to death by police at the eponymous Oakland BART station in 2008. Something went very wrong that day, and hopefully this film will flesh out the story in the greatest-possible detail. Trailer and main site here.  

The Act of Killing, a documentary produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris that looks like an amazing piece of film, where Anwar Congo, the perpetrator of Indonesian genocide in the middle 60s, said to have overseen the killing of over 1,000 people, is asked by the filmmakers to "recreate" his many acts of torture and murder for their cameras, as shocking and bizarre revelations surface. This film got the rare "100%" on Rotten Tomatoes, and looks to be a stirring, gut-wrenching, and oddly colorful documentary like no other. Trailer here.

Lastly, prepared as I am to "forgive" Adam Wingard for the cock-up of VHS 2's first segment (see last week's post), his "Quack" entry in The ABCs of Death was pretty amusing, and I'm hopeful for his new feature, You're Next—it's getting good advance reviews, which could mean nothing—but the trailer is exciting/enticing, and the film has the added bonus of starring AJ Bowen (star of The Signal and House of the Devil), a personal favorite of mine in indie horror, as well as Joe Swanberg (V/H/S), and Amy Seimetz, who starred opposite Bowen in Wingard's great A Horrible Way to Die (2010.)




Looking forward to the next chapters in our radio journey, and thanks for reading.

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.

Dark Hallucinogenic Black Metal!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TONIGHT - The Black Twilight Circle invades MCoQ!

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

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

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