WFMU's Beware of the Blog

A Cinematic, Sonic Romance; Long Distance Poison on My Castle of Quiet, 3.25.2011

Right around the time that the date was set for this live session with Long Distance Poison, I was at home, acquainting myself with Klaus Schulzes' L' Vie Electronique sets, volumes 1-3 (consisting mostly of 60s-70s unreleased material from the  genre-defining "Berlin-school" synthesist.)

It all seemed to fall together quite perfectly, as this band referenced Krautrock in the most pleasing of ways, which is to say just enough, but not too much. They still had plenty of "edge," and in this day where bands travel hundreds of miles to bang it out at an INC gig for seven minutes, LDP had the "audacity" to play 60-minute sets! I knew when I spoke to Nathan after the first set I saw them do live, and we talked of John Carpenter, and The Entity, that the band would eventually visit the Castle, and that they'd pull off something special.

Which brings us to Sisu. On Nathan's invitation, I "imagined" a film (from the year 1972; my choice) and Sisu was born. Everyone would expect horror, so I did a romance, which can still be quite devastating...especially in Scandinavia, in the early seventies. The band picked up on the essence that I had in mind quite deftly, and with a minimum of discussion; what was on my mind were Tangerine Dream's soundtrack to William Friedkin's Sorcerer, in addition to their deceptively simple Rubycon, as well as a much more minimal overview of all of John Carpenter's scores to his early films.

There's a keyword with Long Distance Poison, recurring, at least to me, and that word is cinematic. Several times in the two weeks that have passed since the live session, I've been in my office or car, thought to myself, "what is this I have playing? what great soundtrack CD is this? whup—it's the LDP session from my show—right on!" So, "Sisu" succeeds in my book many times over, as music to a film that never existed, might be, or could be.

The set is an often chilly, but also alive and growing, piece of top-shelf synthesizer ensemble music, and I'm always humbled by the flourishing sounds that bands purvey live and without a net when they visit the Castle, making these sessions memorable for all involved by the sheer will of making them come off at all. I have, once again, to extend huge thanks to engineer Bob Bellerue, who comes and stays late after a full day of work to engineer, mostly for bands that he's seen live before (which any band will tell you is a huge help.) Bob used to run the Il Corral experimental music and art space in Los Angeles, and nowadays lives in Brooklyn and runs the impressive Anarchymoon Recordings label, in addition to collaborating with everyone from Z'EV to, uh...me.

Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting, for gorgeously fucking up my mediocre photographs. She made that crazy, wooly, horned-demon mask I wear in pictures sometimes. Thanks especially to Nathan, Erica and Casey for offering me this unique opportunity to collaborate, and for knocking out an excellent performance.

The Week In Live Music Photos

This week was juicy in terms of live shows to attend, I wanted to go to many, but have yet to clone myself and my jet propulsion unit is still at the shop. I cheated a bit, by having a band on the Fun Machine, to be able to provide you, the listener with some tracks aside from these pix, so here's a quick rundown!! Sunday March 27th, I caught Thin Lizzy at the Starland Ballroom. Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton, all from the Lynott era were joined onstage by Marco Mendoza, Vivian Campbell and Ricky Warwick. The show was great, the set list was very different from the Sykes/Gorham era that ended rather unexpectedly the summer of 2009, and all is well! Here's a few shots from the show! Tuesday, Batillus made their way to Jersey City to douse the Fun Machine with some gasoline, torched

 

SXSW 2011: A Visual Landscape

I'm trying a new approach for this post. For multi-band events, my posts tend to be very very long, and the time it takes to do seems to make the effort moot, because they publish so far after the fact. So here are photos of some of the bands I took in at SXSW: bad vantage points are why some bands didn't make the cut. Here it is chronologically!    Below: 1/2 of Italy's The Secret, Keith Morris of Off!, Easy Action

    

WFMU Marathon Thanks!

Thanks to everybody who pledged their support to the WFMU 2011 Marathon, making it our most successful fundraiser ever!

We ended a mere $45,000 short of our goal, which is so close that post-marathon pledging could eventually push us over the top. If you would like to make a pledge, you can still do so on our secure donation page here.

Marathon payment forms will be mailed later this week, and swag will start being mailed out in April. If you have questions or problems with a pledge that you made, please contact Listener Service Czar Joe McGasko via this page. And thank you again. WFMU loves you.

If you missed out on WFMU's Marathon Finale live band karaoke party with the Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia (or even if you want to re-live the magic), the entire set's archive and playlist have been posted here.

We've even archived the video stream of the performance: part 1 | part 2 | part 3. What a night!

The Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia Returns!

It's been a really great Marathon.  So much chaos, so much engaging DJ-patter, so much mayonnaise on trousers.  And best yet, so many listeners have been really stepping up to support God's Favorite Little Champion, WFMU.  Man, it's a lotta work.  So this Sunday night, we're all getting wasted.  On the air, and also while singing.  Only we dignify it with a name: The Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia

It used to be we'd ask some band to come down here and play during our Marathon Finale party - bands such as X-Girl, Planet Filly, and the Loser's Lounge Tribute to Queen spring to mind immediately. Then, for some reason, a kinda large group of us began frequenting a certain karaoke hotspot in Chinatown, and a previously submerged area of our egos was aroused.  The instant gratification!  The applause!  The lights, the glamour and the liquor!  Boy, it sure wasn't like radio.

Then (March 2001), someone (who was it anyway?) decided a live band karaoke thing would be the way to end the Marathon, and this idea has proven so durable that we ain't quit it yet.  Ten years and counting, and it's been my total thrill to be bandleader all that time. 

This Sunday night, March 13th, we shall once again unleash upwards of 40 WFMU DJs, all hopped up on courage, upon you the person with ears, and even eyes if you've got yourself a fast internet connection.  Indulge me: The Hoof & Mouth Will Be Televised (right here), and on the air, starting up at 7pm and running til we drop.  Hopefully that means about midnite.

Much more Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia may be found on this blog:

• Here's a post featuring 2006's entire show in video form.
• Here's a post featuring 2005's entire show in video form.
• Here's a post featuring 2008's entire show in video form.

And here's hoping to see you there, it's really quite a party.

A Joyous Ride-along; Instinct Control on My Castle of Quiet, 2.18.2011

As soon as one really starts listening to Ryan T. Dunn's sonic creations as Instinct Control, one realizes that as much as they are improvised, the project name is no accident, as the end result is very much an experiential journey with the composer/performer as guide, "intent" unfolding as it happens. I envision Ryan a bit lost in a pyramid, but far from panicking, he's gradually mastering the texture of the glyphs along the wall, patiently and deliberately finding his way. It's good chaos, like that scene in Tarkovsky's The Mirror, all shaken-out hair and falling plaster rendered in slow motion.

Ryan is a real-time composer, who really knows his instrument, and where you could say this about many in the circuit-bending crowd, when listening to Instinct Control, one really feels the journey—every corner the music turns, every choice the player takes, is an exploration of feeling, a joyous journey, and lucky you get to ride along.

These two sets were rendered absolutely live, on the My Castle of Quiet program of February 18, Ryan seated on the floor, thus somewhat hidden from view to engineer Bob Bellerue and myself. Seemingly very lucid, quiet and confident, Ryan sat before his instrument and found his way, for as long as the journey made sense. And though by the common standard, this is raucous, intense music, to me these are soul-stirring trips—the more I explore these sets, the more I appreciate their energizing quality, their sure power and uplifting vibrance.

Thanks to Bob Bellerue for exposing me to Ryan's music and setting up the meet, as well as engineering the live session. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting for stomping colorful life into my iPhone capture of the artist at work; buy a radical balaclava from her today—reasonably priced original Canadian folk art it is. And thanks most of all to Ryan T. Dunn for these ever-more-uplifting performances. Hallelujah!

Acid Birds Live on WFMU

A couple weeks ago Acid Birds stopped by WFMU's studios at the tail end of a swing through the midwest and up the east coast. We got the band good and rehearsed and buoyed by Snowpocolypse 2011, no doubt. Acid Birds consists of members of two longtime favorite improvising ensembles Gold Sparkle Band and Peeesseye, both of whom have graced WFMU with their presences in years past.

The band is aptly described as psychedelic free jazz and chooses to pull the best parts of each to form it's dinosaur-toothed sound.  (Maybe I should say dinochicken due to the reverse engineering?) I'm a big fan of free blowing and also of psychedelia but it's a combo that can can get sort of messed up, and not in a good way. For example, the presence of harmonium and electronics (played by Acid Bird Jaime Fennelly), could be troubling to you. (Good) free jazz requires the ability to adapt and react quickly and there are countless instances of electronics and jazz turning lumpy when shaken, curdling in the mouth. Thankfully, Acid Birds turns this into a strength. I marveled at Jaime's reflexes and you'll hear several moments where his electronics converse in the manner of an acoustic instrument, then provoke Charles Waters (clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion) and Andrew Barker (drums, percussion), both exceptionally reflective musicians, off towards a higher place. This music will get inside you. 

Free jazz itself, as with psychedelia, was once so revolutionary. Imagine! It's difficult to impress anyone these days. Let me just say that these three musicians have a collective heaviness about them. I'm convinced that this is some of the more vital underground music being made. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks to Ruaraidh Sanachan for engineering.

 

Abundant Squelch; Kyle Clyde LIVE on WFMU's My Castle of Quiet, 2.4.2011

Live music has become such a large part of what I do at WFMU, and I'm continually honored by the wealth of talented artists that seek out the show and want to perform on it, even and especially since the program's shift to late nights last June. Lots of people still want to play, many of them live.

On the 4th of February, I was happy to welcome Kyle Clyde to the show, after enjoying her two CDrs and lathe-cut 7" split with Isa Christ, these and one very brief but compelling live performance.

On that performance, Kyle had a motorized toy part precariously balanced on what I remember to be a jagged piece of plastic board; it was all somehow moving and generating sound, and it sounded terrific. Suddenly, a drunken heckler wandered into Division of Human Works, and was attempting to confront Kyle, mid-performance, on some conflict that was occurring only within his own sloshy mentality. All at once, the sound stopped, and Kyle looked up, her board balanced into her hip, bangs in her eyes, all sheepdog awareness. She took the guy in visually, and back to business.

These two sets are similar to her releases, and yet they aren't, as each piece Kyle does is really unique to itself and true to its own sonic intelligence.

These sets are very "jazzy," to my ears at least; as I was experiencing them live, I involuntarily weaved like I was riding out an Ornette solo. As far as I know, Kyle is improvising, on gear altered to her own specs, though I also believe each piece to have a general idea that's employed, preconceived by Kyle, as far as what she'll use, and in what order. Maybe I'm wrong. Either way, it's timeless improvised electronic music, and I'm proud to present it for you here.

Kyle Clyde - "Industrial Park"
Kyle Clyde - "AMBC"

The second set, "AMBC," is especially generous upon repeated listens.

Thanks to Kyle, Dylan, Bob Bellerue for engineering sound, and to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting for stomping my photograph.

FUN >>> My Castle of Quiet session remixes

Inasmuch as they bring the spirit of lighthearted enjoyment to their renderings in the avant-garde, the members of FUN are not jokers, nor are they schlemiels or shlamazels. Exhibit B in this particular case, these remixes of source material from their original My Castle of Quiet session of 15th December, 2010. I thought immediately that this was a great idea, and I wish I'd thought of it myself, but no, 'twas the FUN boys and a few of their colleagues in the noise universe that rendered these re-imaginings, which, depending on one's perspective and/or mood of the moment, can prove more entertaining even than the original sets themselves.

Think of FUN as an urban-American brothers Rupenus, where everything—especially one's own work—becomes cut-up fodder to be dealt with accordingly. And, in the spirit of the remix (as we all originally became acquainted with that term and process), several of these tracks have a beat, and goddamn if you can't dance to it.

For example, "Untitled (Unicorn Hard-on Remix)" is a glorious recall of NDW pop rhythms, while "We Gonna Fun You (Ironing remix)" is dancehall with a peg-leg. "Untitled (Tom Smith remix)," starting at about the 9-minute mark, is straight-up house music, metallurgist-style, the beat supplied by a harnessed and regimented fragment of tonal buzz. So, for those of you who "hate noise" (and are still reading this post), these FUN remixes may be just the thing to bridge your gap.

The other tracks cover perhaps more expected territory, but are no less engaging, and more than foot the bill of being revisitations of the original source session. Being able to ponder such a wealth of alternate camera angles upon one's own creations gives away that FUN are indeed having fun, but not merely fun—there's real artistry at work here.

Thanks again to Mat and Jonny, the core duo, FUN in essence, and to "sometimes FUN" Kevin, for again sharing their works with Castleheads, WFMU listeners, and BoTB and FMA readers at large. Manipulation of my FUN photo by Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting. Original FUN session engineered by Glenn Luttman.

Dark and Salacious Visions; Lussuria LIVE on My Castle of Quiet

Standing in the rain, hands deep in raincoat pockets. This ruin of crumbled stone and ivy was once a bath, the public kind, so rarely seen now in our age of modesty. We're in provincial Europe somewhere. The ghosts, of beautiful, naked women, still frolic amongst the apparent decrepitude. A sense of loss, unbearable loss, and almost inevitable melancholy, accompany the rumblings of lust in one's blood, conjured up by mind's-eye pictures of what once happened here. When the wind blows a certain way, you can even smell the soft essence of virgin skin, and other subtle perfumes, almost detected. Such is the salacious, heady ambience, the visions conjured by the music of Lussuria.

Perhaps it's Jim Mroz' dual experience as a black metal musician that enables him to bring the heaviness in such an unexpected way, where what might strike the inattentive listener as stasis comes across ultimately as some very visceral sonic statements, both on his tapes, and unquestionably in this live session, aired on WFMU January 7, the first My Castle of Quiet live guest of our new year 2011.

I first heard Lussuria on a split cassette with Obscure, released by amourtout productions in France (the label run by Shantidas, of Aluk Todolo and Diamatregon.) It was my more-favored side of the tape—a patient, rumbling soundtrack to a nightmare, with an immersed narrative...something about angels. Having named his project after an ultra-obscure Joe D'Amato sexploitation film, Lussuria's Jim Mroz shares this writer's passion for the unusual, much-maligned and misunderstood subset of haunted, twisted, visually stunning cinema of the 1970s and 80s of which D'Amato was a major player. Even were this not the case, I would still have been taken in immediately by Lussuria's resonant, opaque sonic creations, coming out of Jim's mixer like coded maps of the subconscious.

The Lussuria releases (cassettes by Hospital Productions, amourtout, Destructive Industries, and Razors and Medicine) are chilling stuff, even troubling—like listening to a feeling always just out of reach. These sets, rendered live and expertly engineered by Bob Bellerue, certainly align with that description. Thanks also to Tracy Widdess, for rendering my photo of Jim (see above), appropriate to the translucent and mournful qualities of the music. This was a bit of a coup for me personally, as I've been an admirer of Lussuria's recordings since first hearing. I hope you enjoy these pieces, and receive them in the spirit in which they were rendered.

Remembering Ari Up; FMA Tracks Posted; Punky Reggae Birthday Party (Sunday)

As a large percentage of you probably know, Ari Up (Slits, True Warriors, and a/k/a Medussa) passed away this past October, but not without leaving this planet with an abundance of music, memories and occasions to remind us of her soul. Ari struck me as someone who couldn't be "turned off"; sadly with her passing, we know that is not true, and it still seems unreal, in reflecting on the vibrancy she had. Those of us who witnessed her perform, witnessed her living life - exclamation after exclamation, present to every second she had. She would have turned 49 on Monday, and at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday 1/16, will be the "Ari Up Punky Reggae Birthday Party", featuring members of the Slits original and current; the True Warriors, a later group that Ari fronted, and many many more guests.

The show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday is a benefit and proceeds will go to The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Tickets are available here. Leading up to that, there were 2 special programs aired on WFMU this week;

On Miniature Minotaurs with Kurt this past Wednesday, we heard a set from the Ari Up & the True Warriors' performance from Santo's Party House from October 2008, courtesy of Punkcast.com- the playlist from that program here. 

On the Fun Machine on Tuesday of this week, I aired a True Warrior's set that I had the pleasure of engineering when they played on Pat Duncan's program May 8, 2003.

2011 Golden Festival Starts Tonight in Brooklyn / WFMU Broadcasts Sat (mp3 preview)

The Golden Festival is New York City's massive annual Balkan and East European music and dance bacchanal. For its 26th year, the Golden Festival moves from Inwood to Brooklyn's Grand Prospect Hall (263 Prospect Ave), for a two-night event this Friday and Saturday. On the schedule are 60+ groups from the Balkans and beyond, plus a dance workshop starting things off tonight, and several stations' worth of craft beer, wine, spirits (slivovica, raki and ouzo), and complimentary "meze" (snacks). All proceeds go to charitable causes. The Golden Festival is truly unlike any other event this side of the Dragačevo Trumpet Festival and not to be missed!

WFMU's Transpacific Sound Paradise will be on-site again this year to broadcast a portion of the festivities from the GPH Ballroom Stage (Saturday Jan 15th, 6-9pm). Previous broadcasts can be heard streaming at WFMU [2009 | 2010] and with mp3 collections available on the Free Music Archive [2009 | 2010]. Host Rob Weisberg previewed the Golden Festival during last Saturday's program with a live in-studio performance by Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band. North America's first and finest Balkan band are also the founders and ringleaders of the Golden Festival. The live session was followed by selections from Slavic Soul Party, Black Sea Hotel, and Raya Brass Band -- just a few of the many local and not-so-local artists who'll be performing this Friday and Saturday at Grand Prospect Hall. Here's the playlist from last week's Zlate Uste preview session, with mp3's below, plus a mix of highlights from last year's Golden Festival. Irene Trudel -- whose engineering virtuosity helps make the Golden Festival broadcasts possible each year -- also previewed the 2011 lineup during her show on Monday, with selections by Zlatne Uste, Veveritse Brass Band, Black Sea Hotel, Zikrayat and the What Cheer Brigade (playlist).

Dinowalrus on Beastin' The Airwaves! with Keili

This week I had the pleasure of recording a live session with Dinowalrus.  At the beginning of sound check, there was a lot of negotiation and back and forth about sound details; effects, vocal levels, etc.  I've seen this before, and seen it get ugly, so I got worried that these guys, part of Brooklyn's hipster rock royalty, were going to be prickly and difficult.  But that was just my own shit getting in the way because they couldn't have been nicer, more fun and more professional.  These guys weren’t just being particular for its own sake or, worse, because they’re audio snobs. They got involved in every part of the recording process because they love what they do and they wanted the sounds on the radio to get as close to the sounds in their heads as they could. This is real DIY – artists who do it themselves because they want to, not because they have to. 

Despite monitor issues that were causing feedback, Dinowalrus and WFMU engineer Mark Koch recorded an epic session of mostly brand new, never-before-recorded songs which are definitely some of the best work Dinowalrus has ever put out.

Their sound has evolved as a result of introspection and exploration, all made possible by a new band lineup in which original lead member, Peter Feigenbaum (former Titus Andronicus guitarist) and synth/bass genius,  Liam Andrew,  are joined by new drummer, Anton Hochheim (formerly of Depreciation Guild.)  Their personalities mesh as well as their individual contributions to the group’s sound.  And while they’re serious about their music, they don't take themselves too seriously. Anton is an amazing, steady drummer, who could riff without flaw, but also had a great sense of humor.  Liam is a multi-instrumentalist; wearing a bass while playing keyboards and effects pedals.  I'd say he is the Jonny Greenwood of the group, but so is Pete!  One of my favorite moments during the session was watching Pete do the classic rock star kick and then laughing with a hint of irony as if to say "Look at me! I'm doing the rock star kick!"

But what stands out for me is their complete open-mindedness and their holistic approach to music. While some critics have been frustrated by their own inability to define Dinowalrus in simple terms and put them into a convenient genre box, that is exactly what I love about them.  They switch it up every time I get comfortable - exciting my senses in ways I didn't know any band could. In each song you can hear the multi-layered richness of a full life of musical influences, from disco, electronica and reggae, to acid rock, shoegaze, proto-punk, classical and 90s alternative.  I'm not looking for a definition with these guys – their sound truly reflects all the things that they hear and enjoy, not a predefined market-friendly category. I believe that music fans are way smarter than the credit afforded them by the critics, and we can all just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Dinowalrus's immediate future will be spent in the studio, recording their yet-to-be-titled new album. For a preview of what to expect from that album, listen Sunday, from 6-9AM EST on Beastin' The Airwaves! with Keili. For a sneak preview of that show, watch the video below.

Last year, Dinowalrus appeared on Marty McSorley's show.  Here is the entire live set for free download!

 

Nikki Sudden WFMU Sessions

via Mike L, Xposted on FMA & Read:My:Back -- One of the selfish (but great) things about being involved with WFMU is how it's repeatedly granted me the opportunity to interact with my musical heroes. I'm no starfucker, but there's something to be said for dancing right nextdoor to the fantasy, and how doing so often reveals details of Our Most Exalted Rock Gods which are strangely absent from the written histories. For instance, did you know that Joe Strummer smells of tobacco and peppermint, Donovan is a bit like a leprechaun, or that Anton Newcombe is actually a really sweet guy?

In other words, there are the people, and then there is the mythology. But within the sacred confines of WFMU, the crossroads of those two competing concepts never resonated with greater poignancy for me than in the case of Nikki Sudden.

In the early 1970s, Nikki started a band with his brother called the Swell Maps, who somehow married the disparate influences of Krautrock and T. Rex to spectactular and lasting effect. His next band, the Jacobites, made no less a statement, albeit with very different ingredients in the cooker. And then there is the decade's worth of amazing solo albums and the memorable NYC-area shows that Nikki played in support of them. I made it a point to see him perform every chance I got, so by the time schedules finally granted him time to swing by my radio show for a live set on March 20th 2006, it felt like a meeting that was long overdue.

Nikki Sudden passed away unexpectedly less than a week after that performance, and it remains a crippling testament to what was a truly wonderful night of music in Jersey City. I wrote a short piece about the evening for the Brooklyn Rail several days after the news broke, so no need to go into all the sad details again. I'm just glad the tracks from that session are finally available for everyone to enjoy. Hosting Nikki on the radio was a years-long dream of mine, and I'm still humbled and honored to have spent some time in his company.

Eternal gratitude to Rob Watts and Danny Hole. Thanks be to Nikki. Stay bruised.

Also added to the Free Music Archive today & after the jump:
  >> Nikki Sudden's April 1998 live appearance on Stork's show (where he joined The Chamber Strings)
  >> Nikki Sudden live on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic, aired January 2002
  >> Oneida covering "Back to the Coast" live on WFMU in tribute to Nikki Sudden

Dianekamikaze's 2010 Best of List

Amazing Releases::

Ludicra - The Tenant

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

Tinsel Teeth - Trash As the Trophy 

Hail of Bullets - On Divine Winds

White Drugs - Gold Magic

Electric Wizard - Black Masses

Child Abuse - Cut And Run

Triclops! - Helpers on the Other Side

Horseback - The Invisible Mountain

High on Fire - Snakes For The Divine

 

 Amazing Experiences::

Easy Action LIVE on WFMU

Hugh Cornwell LIVE on WFMU/and interview

Coliseum LIVE on WFMU

Bleeding Ears Fest on WFMU (Wizardry pictured below)

Batillus and Kowloon Walled City LIVE on WFMU

Iron Man LIVE on WFMU

Away from Voivod interview

Justin Broadrick interview

 

 

Amazing Opportunities::

Engineering: The Sights on WFMU- Evan "funk" Davies program
Engineering: Rapp's Boat Yard on the Passaic River/Billy Jam special program

Engineering: The Communion on My Castle of Quiet

Engineering: Oblivians on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Engineering: Styrenes on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Amazing Live Performances::

Accept and Kings X

Laurie Anderson

Sleep, Doomriders, Unearthly Trance

Thrones and Christian Mistress

Watain and Goatwhore

Amazing Festivals::

SXSW: Dark Castle, Roky Erickson, Torche, Voivod, Weedeater, Coffinworm, Blower, Motorhead, Salome, Iron Man, Pierced Arrows, Sons of Hercules, Hickoids, Withered, Fucked Up, Jim Jones Revue, Tombs, Batusis, Goatwhore, Dixie Witch

see blog posts on SXSW here and here and here

High Voltage Fest: ELP, Opeth, Down, Focus, Gary Moore, Cathedral, Saxon, High On Fire, UFO, ZZ Top, Argent

see blog post on High Voltage Fest here

Posted by dianekamikaze on January 01, 2011 at 12:00 PM in Art, Billy Jam's Posts, Diane Kamikaze's Posts, Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, Photography, Radio, Travel, WFMU Annual Favorites Lists, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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December 31, 2010

Tonkomposition von Philadelphia; FUN on My Castle of Quiet

Usually, the process of an artist winding up as a live guest on My Castle of Quiet involves months of correspondence, my personal attendance at live shows, and/or my poring over that artist's available releases and recordings. Not so in the case of FUN. I had been connected to the fine folks at Breathmint records via our mutual friend Bob Bellerue, and had heard two FUN CDrs, one of which I loved (the untitled, or "gas mask" CDr) and had aired on several occasions. There was a scrappiness to their sound, not unlike my favorite New Blockaders recordings, where one can actually hear "the room," and it becomes very evident that these seemingly chaotic sounds are being rendered by humans in action.

FUN also came highly recommended by former guest and sometime MCoQ co-host C. Lavender, and after a perusal of the Breathmint Web site, specifically their FUN page, with embedded videos, I got the distinct notion that these guys were up to something, something more than the often haphazard and off-the-cuff appearance that they projected—and I wanted to be a part of it—so we set about scheduling a date.

FUN are heavy on concept, without being at all collegiate or pretentious about it. They have these ideas, good ones, that in the sonic execution thereof, amount to some great performances. Their mic'd up, full-head rubber masks provide a constant human element, via their breathing, grunts and other assorted mouth noises. Whatever else might be going on varies widely from piece to piece. 

For set one on My Castle of Quiet, they used WFMU's vintage Farfisa organ, our "usually in tune" upright piano, as well as accompaniment by their friend Kevin on concertina. What results is a floating dance of improvised communication, a spacious piece of great subtlety, one that will sneak up on you. 

Set two is a very different animal, performed by Mat and Jonny, the core duo of FUN, each one armed with two transistor radios run through a mixer. I can't thank these guys enough, for doing what I always hope guests on the show will do, treating their appearance like a unique opportunity, not quite a "gig" and not quite a recording session—and also considering the medium of radio, and making that context somehow key to the proceedings.

Tremendous thanks to Glenn Luttman for engineering the session with his customary professionalism, and to Tracy Widdess, for sprinkling magic dust onto my photo of the band, captured during set 1.

Keep an eye on this space for artist-rendered remixes of the session, coming soon.

Posted by WmMBerger on December 31, 2010 at 10:38 PM in Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, Radio, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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December 16, 2010

22:40 in the Electric Now; Isa Christ LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 12.10.2010

Isa Christ (aka Dylan Hay, proprietor of Brooklyn's stellar music and art space, Port d'Or) owns the distinction of being the only live, musical Castle guest to overheat our monitor system, four times in total throughout this performance, such that he could only hear his "sneakers tapping on the floor." Engineer Ernie and myself, control-room monitors blaring, were blissfully engaged and unaware that things were going very wrong for the performer on the other side of the double glass, i.e., what went out over the airwaves remained constant and unbroken, an impressive performance to say the very least. 

Isa had prepared what I called a "pie" of Xmas lights, radio parts, and other hand-soldered electronics in a smallish packing case. It is my understanding that every ingredient in the pie generated some kind of sound, such that sonic darts were flying about the room, back and forth, high and low. The end result was dense and powerful, but also quite crisp and defined, especially for those with ears attuned to complex listening.

Though the loss of monitor signal created a precarious and frustrating situation for the artist / performer, the circuits nonetheless danced in Isa's honor, and the online accuplaylist comments reflected appreciation aplenty. "GOOD SHIT!!", "Intense chops & movement!" (indeed. -Ed.), "Isa Christ, fucking devastating." So although Isa was enabled to bring us only a portion of what he had planned, what remains is a totem of highly original and vigorous electronic music.

Many thanks to engineer Ernie Indradat for creating a lively, organic mix, similar to his excellent work on the My Castle of Quiet KILT session this past July. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess for heating up my photograph of the artist.

Posted by WmMBerger on December 16, 2010 at 05:49 PM in Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, New York City, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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November 25, 2010

Catacomb City and Beyond; SSPS Live on My Castle of Quiet, 11.19.2010

If I say so myself, and I do, last week's MCoQ broadcast, woven as it was around a 72-minute performance by SSPS (aka Porkchop Central, aka Jon Nicholson, Excepter operative) was a Kosmische continuum, a final transmission from a marooned crew, forced by dire circumstances to stay behind and foster a new civilization on a new globe. The civilization was built, flourished, the inevitable unrest then brought changes, babies were born, and paintings expressed the heart of the people. Yes, I am still talking about a radio show.

Any and all labels being reductive, though just to give you an idea, I can say that Jon's sound brings together primordial techno, with its electronic drumbeat Danceteria-in-the-80s vibe, while also pulling in all that has come since and before, cleansing noise washes and Krautrock pulsations to name only a few.

How gratifying it was for myself to invite the man down to WFMU's studio B, and just say, "go!" This is an audio artifact of something Jon does perhaps as often as once a week in nightclubs, and I'm proud to present it to you here, as one continuous mp3. Please note that the many song titles incorporate in the set are noted in the comments field of the mp3 tags (Windows users only.)

Tremendous thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, for once again engineering a Castle session with aplomb. Thanks also to Sarah Z. for production assistance. Tracy Widdess spit-shines my artist photo, as per usual.

Posted by WmMBerger on November 25, 2010 at 04:00 PM in Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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November 22, 2010

Robedoor Live at WFMU

A couple weeks back LA noise titans slash cultural lynchpins Robedoor did me the honor of recording a live session in WFMU's studios during a rare and excessively brief East Coast tour. Although Robedoor began as a two-piece drone band with dozens of releases on just about every cool noise label out there, the recent addition of Geddes Gengras as a drummer has brought the band closer to the unholy realm of doom metal.

Alex Brown supplied (among other things) keyboard riffs that form the backbone of the jams - his rig is so bass heavy that I actually couldn't tell whether he was up too loud in the mix or whether the floor was just shaking. Britt Brown played guitar and vocals, with a slew of pedals to throw off any semblence of the concept of a "song". The track "I thought you were the Devil" is off Robedoor's recent LP on Important Records, Burners. Parallel Wanderer, by far the longest track in this session, will appear as a full side of a yet untitled upcoming LP. This seems to be following Robedoor's usual method of writing songs: jamming it out with live improv until the completed song idea emerges from the murky depths.

Or maybe the secret to Robedoor's success is putting beer in every meal they eat? Alex runs an excellent and hilarious food blog called Hot Knives that seems to indicate a predilection for hoppy breakfast dishes. Speaking as somebody who loves nothing more than the rhetoric of high end menus, the Hot Knives archives are great because you get classy dishes with rock and roll commentary. For god's sake, he teaches you how to make the "über pre-choucroute", Kimchi from scratch!

Then again, Robedoor's ability to touch on a hundred genres at one is probably because Robedoor members are so involved with underground noise culture. Britt Brown runs Not Not Fun records, which has released a ton of material from many perennial WFMU favorites. I'd explain more, but there really aren't words. I'd recommend blasting this live session over your best sound system while nerding out to lists of releases from Not Not Fun and Robedoor on discogs.

Thanks to Jason Sigal for these photos and for help with engineering the recording.

Posted by Nat Roe on November 22, 2010 at 04:02 PM in Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, Nat Roe's Posts | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Attack of the 50 Foot Mary...

...seems a bit obvious to title this thing, but hey, I'm not really sweating it. Apologize, but under the gun. I had this huge plan to post my Best of Brooklyn Botanicas list, but well, had cold feet and thought I would sit on it for another week.There is this part where I explain that I was conceived in a rainforest notorious for UFO activity and I am on the fence on if I want to share that with WFMU blog readers or not.

So yeah, I'll tell the story in the afternoon in the comments, but this thing is beautiful. Giant statue of the Stella Maris in Windsor, Ohio.

More pics inside!

Continue reading "Attack of the 50 Foot Mary..." »

Posted by Steve Witchbeam on November 22, 2010 at 09:45 AM in Live at WFMU, Religion, Witchbeam's Posts | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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Usually, the process of an artist winding up as a live guest on My Castle of Quiet involves months of correspondence, my personal attendance at live shows, and/or my poring over that artist's available releases and recordings. Not so in the case of FUN. I had been connected to the fine folks at Breathmint records via our mutual friend Bob Bellerue, and had heard two FUN CDrs, one of which I loved (the untitled, or "gas mask" CDr) and had aired on several occasions. There was a scrappiness to their sound, not unlike my favorite New Blockaders recordings, where one can actually hear "the room," and it becomes very evident that these seemingly chaotic sounds are being rendered by humans in action.

FUN also came highly recommended by former guest and sometime MCoQ co-host C. Lavender, and after a perusal of the Breathmint Web site, specifically their FUN page, with embedded videos, I got the distinct notion that these guys were up to something, something more than the often haphazard and off-the-cuff appearance that they projected—and I wanted to be a part of it—so we set about scheduling a date.

FUN are heavy on concept, without being at all collegiate or pretentious about it. They have these ideas, good ones, that in the sonic execution thereof, amount to some great performances. Their mic'd up, full-head rubber masks provide a constant human element, via their breathing, grunts and other assorted mouth noises. Whatever else might be going on varies widely from piece to piece. 

For set one on My Castle of Quiet, they used WFMU's vintage Farfisa organ, our "usually in tune" upright piano, as well as accompaniment by their friend Kevin on concertina. What results is a floating dance of improvised communication, a spacious piece of great subtlety, one that will sneak up on you. 

Set two is a very different animal, performed by Mat and Jonny, the core duo of FUN, each one armed with two transistor radios run through a mixer. I can't thank these guys enough, for doing what I always hope guests on the show will do, treating their appearance like a unique opportunity, not quite a "gig" and not quite a recording session—and also considering the medium of radio, and making that context somehow key to the proceedings.

Tremendous thanks to Glenn Luttman for engineering the session with his customary professionalism, and to Tracy Widdess, for sprinkling magic dust onto my photo of the band, captured during set 1.

Keep an eye on this space for artist-rendered remixes of the session, coming soon.

Isa Christ (aka Dylan Hay, proprietor of Brooklyn's stellar music and art space, Port d'Or) owns the distinction of being the only live, musical Castle guest to overheat our monitor system, four times in total throughout this performance, such that he could only hear his "sneakers tapping on the floor." Engineer Ernie and myself, control-room monitors blaring, were blissfully engaged and unaware that things were going very wrong for the performer on the other side of the double glass, i.e., what went out over the airwaves remained constant and unbroken, an impressive performance to say the very least. 

Isa had prepared what I called a "pie" of Xmas lights, radio parts, and other hand-soldered electronics in a smallish packing case. It is my understanding that every ingredient in the pie generated some kind of sound, such that sonic darts were flying about the room, back and forth, high and low. The end result was dense and powerful, but also quite crisp and defined, especially for those with ears attuned to complex listening.

Though the loss of monitor signal created a precarious and frustrating situation for the artist / performer, the circuits nonetheless danced in Isa's honor, and the online accuplaylist comments reflected appreciation aplenty. "GOOD SHIT!!", "Intense chops & movement!" (indeed. -Ed.), "Isa Christ, fucking devastating." So although Isa was enabled to bring us only a portion of what he had planned, what remains is a totem of highly original and vigorous electronic music.

Many thanks to engineer Ernie Indradat for creating a lively, organic mix, similar to his excellent work on the My Castle of Quiet KILT session this past July. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess for heating up my photograph of the artist.

If I say so myself, and I do, last week's MCoQ broadcast, woven as it was around a 72-minute performance by SSPS (aka Porkchop Central, aka Jon Nicholson, Excepter operative) was a Kosmische continuum, a final transmission from a marooned crew, forced by dire circumstances to stay behind and foster a new civilization on a new globe. The civilization was built, flourished, the inevitable unrest then brought changes, babies were born, and paintings expressed the heart of the people. Yes, I am still talking about a radio show.

Any and all labels being reductive, though just to give you an idea, I can say that Jon's sound brings together primordial techno, with its electronic drumbeat Danceteria-in-the-80s vibe, while also pulling in all that has come since and before, cleansing noise washes and Krautrock pulsations to name only a few.

How gratifying it was for myself to invite the man down to WFMU's studio B, and just say, "go!" This is an audio artifact of something Jon does perhaps as often as once a week in nightclubs, and I'm proud to present it to you here, as one continuous mp3. Please note that the many song titles incorporate in the set are noted in the comments field of the mp3 tags (Windows users only.)

Tremendous thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, for once again engineering a Castle session with aplomb. Thanks also to Sarah Z. for production assistance. Tracy Widdess spit-shines my artist photo, as per usual.

A couple weeks back LA noise titans slash cultural lynchpins Robedoor did me the honor of recording a live session in WFMU's studios during a rare and excessively brief East Coast tour. Although Robedoor began as a two-piece drone band with dozens of releases on just about every cool noise label out there, the recent addition of Geddes Gengras as a drummer has brought the band closer to the unholy realm of doom metal.

Alex Brown supplied (among other things) keyboard riffs that form the backbone of the jams - his rig is so bass heavy that I actually couldn't tell whether he was up too loud in the mix or whether the floor was just shaking. Britt Brown played guitar and vocals, with a slew of pedals to throw off any semblence of the concept of a "song". The track "I thought you were the Devil" is off Robedoor's recent LP on Important Records, Burners. Parallel Wanderer, by far the longest track in this session, will appear as a full side of a yet untitled upcoming LP. This seems to be following Robedoor's usual method of writing songs: jamming it out with live improv until the completed song idea emerges from the murky depths.

Or maybe the secret to Robedoor's success is putting beer in every meal they eat? Alex runs an excellent and hilarious food blog called Hot Knives that seems to indicate a predilection for hoppy breakfast dishes. Speaking as somebody who loves nothing more than the rhetoric of high end menus, the Hot Knives archives are great because you get classy dishes with rock and roll commentary. For god's sake, he teaches you how to make the "über pre-choucroute", Kimchi from scratch!

Then again, Robedoor's ability to touch on a hundred genres at one is probably because Robedoor members are so involved with underground noise culture. Britt Brown runs Not Not Fun records, which has released a ton of material from many perennial WFMU favorites. I'd explain more, but there really aren't words. I'd recommend blasting this live session over your best sound system while nerding out to lists of releases from Not Not Fun and Robedoor on discogs.

Thanks to Jason Sigal for these photos and for help with engineering the recording.

...seems a bit obvious to title this thing, but hey, I'm not really sweating it. Apologize, but under the gun. I had this huge plan to post my Best of Brooklyn Botanicas list, but well, had cold feet and thought I would sit on it for another week.There is this part where I explain that I was conceived in a rainforest notorious for UFO activity and I am on the fence on if I want to share that with WFMU blog readers or not.

So yeah, I'll tell the story in the afternoon in the comments, but this thing is beautiful. Giant statue of the Stella Maris in Windsor, Ohio.

More pics inside!

Tonkomposition von Philadelphia; FUN on My Castle of Quiet

Usually, the process of an artist winding up as a live guest on My Castle of Quiet involves months of correspondence, my personal attendance at live shows, and/or my poring over that artist's available releases and recordings. Not so in the case of FUN. I had been connected to the fine folks at Breathmint records via our mutual friend Bob Bellerue, and had heard two FUN CDrs, one of which I loved (the untitled, or "gas mask" CDr) and had aired on several occasions. There was a scrappiness to their sound, not unlike my favorite New Blockaders recordings, where one can actually hear "the room," and it becomes very evident that these seemingly chaotic sounds are being rendered by humans in action.

FUN also came highly recommended by former guest and sometime MCoQ co-host C. Lavender, and after a perusal of the Breathmint Web site, specifically their FUN page, with embedded videos, I got the distinct notion that these guys were up to something, something more than the often haphazard and off-the-cuff appearance that they projected—and I wanted to be a part of it—so we set about scheduling a date.

FUN are heavy on concept, without being at all collegiate or pretentious about it. They have these ideas, good ones, that in the sonic execution thereof, amount to some great performances. Their mic'd up, full-head rubber masks provide a constant human element, via their breathing, grunts and other assorted mouth noises. Whatever else might be going on varies widely from piece to piece. 

For set one on My Castle of Quiet, they used WFMU's vintage Farfisa organ, our "usually in tune" upright piano, as well as accompaniment by their friend Kevin on concertina. What results is a floating dance of improvised communication, a spacious piece of great subtlety, one that will sneak up on you. 

Set two is a very different animal, performed by Mat and Jonny, the core duo of FUN, each one armed with two transistor radios run through a mixer. I can't thank these guys enough, for doing what I always hope guests on the show will do, treating their appearance like a unique opportunity, not quite a "gig" and not quite a recording session—and also considering the medium of radio, and making that context somehow key to the proceedings.

Tremendous thanks to Glenn Luttman for engineering the session with his customary professionalism, and to Tracy Widdess, for sprinkling magic dust onto my photo of the band, captured during set 1.

Keep an eye on this space for artist-rendered remixes of the session, coming soon.

22:40 in the Electric Now; Isa Christ LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 12.10.2010

Isa Christ (aka Dylan Hay, proprietor of Brooklyn's stellar music and art space, Port d'Or) owns the distinction of being the only live, musical Castle guest to overheat our monitor system, four times in total throughout this performance, such that he could only hear his "sneakers tapping on the floor." Engineer Ernie and myself, control-room monitors blaring, were blissfully engaged and unaware that things were going very wrong for the performer on the other side of the double glass, i.e., what went out over the airwaves remained constant and unbroken, an impressive performance to say the very least. 

Isa had prepared what I called a "pie" of Xmas lights, radio parts, and other hand-soldered electronics in a smallish packing case. It is my understanding that every ingredient in the pie generated some kind of sound, such that sonic darts were flying about the room, back and forth, high and low. The end result was dense and powerful, but also quite crisp and defined, especially for those with ears attuned to complex listening.

Though the loss of monitor signal created a precarious and frustrating situation for the artist / performer, the circuits nonetheless danced in Isa's honor, and the online accuplaylist comments reflected appreciation aplenty. "GOOD SHIT!!", "Intense chops & movement!" (indeed. -Ed.), "Isa Christ, fucking devastating." So although Isa was enabled to bring us only a portion of what he had planned, what remains is a totem of highly original and vigorous electronic music.

Many thanks to engineer Ernie Indradat for creating a lively, organic mix, similar to his excellent work on the My Castle of Quiet KILT session this past July. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess for heating up my photograph of the artist.

Catacomb City and Beyond; SSPS Live on My Castle of Quiet, 11.19.2010

If I say so myself, and I do, last week's MCoQ broadcast, woven as it was around a 72-minute performance by SSPS (aka Porkchop Central, aka Jon Nicholson, Excepter operative) was a Kosmische continuum, a final transmission from a marooned crew, forced by dire circumstances to stay behind and foster a new civilization on a new globe. The civilization was built, flourished, the inevitable unrest then brought changes, babies were born, and paintings expressed the heart of the people. Yes, I am still talking about a radio show.

Any and all labels being reductive, though just to give you an idea, I can say that Jon's sound brings together primordial techno, with its electronic drumbeat Danceteria-in-the-80s vibe, while also pulling in all that has come since and before, cleansing noise washes and Krautrock pulsations to name only a few.

How gratifying it was for myself to invite the man down to WFMU's studio B, and just say, "go!" This is an audio artifact of something Jon does perhaps as often as once a week in nightclubs, and I'm proud to present it to you here, as one continuous mp3. Please note that the many song titles incorporate in the set are noted in the comments field of the mp3 tags (Windows users only.)

Tremendous thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, for once again engineering a Castle session with aplomb. Thanks also to Sarah Z. for production assistance. Tracy Widdess spit-shines my artist photo, as per usual.

Robedoor Live at WFMU

A couple weeks back LA noise titans slash cultural lynchpins Robedoor did me the honor of recording a live session in WFMU's studios during a rare and excessively brief East Coast tour. Although Robedoor began as a two-piece drone band with dozens of releases on just about every cool noise label out there, the recent addition of Geddes Gengras as a drummer has brought the band closer to the unholy realm of doom metal.

Alex Brown supplied (among other things) keyboard riffs that form the backbone of the jams - his rig is so bass heavy that I actually couldn't tell whether he was up too loud in the mix or whether the floor was just shaking. Britt Brown played guitar and vocals, with a slew of pedals to throw off any semblence of the concept of a "song". The track "I thought you were the Devil" is off Robedoor's recent LP on Important Records, Burners. Parallel Wanderer, by far the longest track in this session, will appear as a full side of a yet untitled upcoming LP. This seems to be following Robedoor's usual method of writing songs: jamming it out with live improv until the completed song idea emerges from the murky depths.

Or maybe the secret to Robedoor's success is putting beer in every meal they eat? Alex runs an excellent and hilarious food blog called Hot Knives that seems to indicate a predilection for hoppy breakfast dishes. Speaking as somebody who loves nothing more than the rhetoric of high end menus, the Hot Knives archives are great because you get classy dishes with rock and roll commentary. For god's sake, he teaches you how to make the "über pre-choucroute", Kimchi from scratch!

Then again, Robedoor's ability to touch on a hundred genres at one is probably because Robedoor members are so involved with underground noise culture. Britt Brown runs Not Not Fun records, which has released a ton of material from many perennial WFMU favorites. I'd explain more, but there really aren't words. I'd recommend blasting this live session over your best sound system while nerding out to lists of releases from Not Not Fun and Robedoor on discogs.

Thanks to Jason Sigal for these photos and for help with engineering the recording.

Attack of the 50 Foot Mary...

...seems a bit obvious to title this thing, but hey, I'm not really sweating it. Apologize, but under the gun. I had this huge plan to post my Best of Brooklyn Botanicas list, but well, had cold feet and thought I would sit on it for another week.There is this part where I explain that I was conceived in a rainforest notorious for UFO activity and I am on the fence on if I want to share that with WFMU blog readers or not.

So yeah, I'll tell the story in the afternoon in the comments, but this thing is beautiful. Giant statue of the Stella Maris in Windsor, Ohio.

More pics inside!