WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Mutant Punk from Detroit's Human Eye (mp3s)

With Human Eye, Timmy "Vulgar" Lampinen takes the raw punk spirit he brought to his earlier Detroit bands (Clone Defects & Epileptix) and steps into new dimensions that reflect reality through science fiction. So one of the songs they performed live on Talk's Cheap this week is "about goin' to the party store in Hamtramck," while another deals with impregnating the Martian queen.

With deft wah-control, Timmy's guitar transforms into a laser cannon, and he's backed by a team of Detroit all-stars: alien pianist Johnny Lzr also fronts 70s glam-rockers Conspiracy of Owls, whose debut LP on Burger Records is one of Evan "Funk" Davies' top albums of the year (which is an extremely high recommendation if you dig 70s rock, punk and power pop!). Drummer Billy "Hurricane William" Hafer also plays in ET Habit, and The Big Bang, an "adult percussion" group. Bassist Brad Hales runs People's Records, a second-hand shop in Detroit specializing in northern soul (so he sees a lot of Mr Finewine, host of WFMU's Downtown Soulville).

Human Eye's debut full-length was released by In The Red in 2005 and their latest, Fragments of the Universe Nurse, came out on Hook or Crook. They stopped by while in town recording a new 7'' with Ivan Julian, and jetsetting around playing free shows courtesy of Scion...which is funny, cuz I was just talking the other day about how brands are like the new record labels.

Meanwhile Timmy's Organism -- originally conceived as Timmy Vulgar's solo 4track recording project -- has taken off with a nice set of 7-inches and the brand new Rise of the Green Gorilla LP (on Brooklyn's Sacred Bones label). The organism has blossomed into a three-piece, and plays Brooklyn on Saturday November 20th for "The Return of Detroit" with Tyvek, Terrible Twos, The Mahonies and guest DJ Mick Collins (Gories/Dirtbombs). [details]

You Ask For It; Heavy Medical LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 11.12.2010

Heavy Medical are a band that would have 46-year-old me careening for the pit, embarrassing myself and acquiring injuries to my brittle bones. Their riffs are potent and catchy, and their songs are short, crafty and repetitive; as repetitive as one can be in two minutes, that is.

Despite a mysterious technical handicap on the vocal-effect chain, HM played hard and urgent, and Dave and Dave rendered their set with passion and intensity. You have two more opportunities to catch them in the NY area this time around, 11/18 @ Silent Barn, and at the Nyack Village Theatre, on Friday, 12/3, with electronic pulsators EndlessEndlessEndless.

Though modestly spoken and full of laughs, Heavy Medical play it big and strong, and I highly suggest that you download their Threats e.p., or even better, order a CDr hard copy here. Our friend Diane Kamikaze Farris, quickly becoming an indispensable force in The Castle, engineered Heavy Medical's set with punch and professionalism.

The two Daves (this would have been a field day for The League of Gentlemen's Papa Lazarou, who calls everyone "Dave"), broke the trend of, uh, théâtre d'intoxication that is usually our interview segments on My Castle of Quiet, and you can hear the good, old-fashioned, hobbnobbing and absurdity in the full-length program archive here.

Watch out for these guys. Since Big Business have already rendered the feat of going from accomplished bass-and-drums duo to being 1/2 of Melvins, Heavy Medical will just have to blissfully (or dourly) go on being themselves, and they're quite good at it. Snaky and articulate they are. Many thanks to Dave and Dave, and to Tracy Widdess for breathing new life into my band photo.

December 9th: WFMU co-presents Psychic TV at Europa

Psychic TV/PTV3's only American show of 2010 happens on Thursday, December 9th at Europa (98-104 Meserole Ave., Greenpoint/Brooklyn) and WFMU will be co-presenting the show along with Scenic and Edward O'Dowd. Tickets are on sale here (it is not, by the way, a benefit for WFMU). Psychic TV's direction in the last years has waded deeper into psychpunk realm, especially evidenced on their latest, Alien Brain Vs. Maggot Brain (Vanity Case label), and live shows have been a visual treat as well. In fact, WFMU has had a close-up peep at the band in action, check out MP3s from a performance on Fabio's show in September 2006 below (via the Free Music Archive). Genesis also performed recently at WFMU with O'Dowd and Tony Conrad (MP3s on the FMA here), and Fabio hosted a round-table discussion in our studios with the then-reunited Throbbing Gristle here.

Hugh Cornwell (ex-Stranglers) joins FMA with Free Album & WFMU session! (mp3's)

Hugh Cornwell (yes, Hugh Cornwell formerly of the Stranglers) made a visit to the Fun Machine and WFMU studios this past week. In tow was drummer extraordinaire Clem Burke; known to some as Elvis Ramone, known to (probably many more) as the drummer in Blondie; and Steve Fishman on bass. They banged out 4 numbers, and Hugh spoke with your hostess long enough for me to carve out a 3-hour Hugh Cornwell/Stranglers special which can be found here. Hugh's album, "Hoover Dam" has been offered as a free download on his site since it had been released, as he is always doing something special for his fans! As of about 15 minutes ago, were are proudly hosting ALL of Hoover Dam on the Free Music Archive site- here is that specific link! Along with that, dear listener, give your ears a treat by checking out all 4 of the live tracks they performed here in the Love Room at the station. To the right is the band killing it at the Mercury Lounge on Oct. 26th; and here is the Hoover Dam album in it's entirety, woo hoo, thanks, Hugh!

Waxing Negative; The Communion LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 10.8.10

In terms of "heavy music," "black metal," "dark hardcore," or whatever labels one needs to put upon things to feel at ease, The Communion are indeed a very special find. I might never have seen them, had I not wandered into the Party Expo this past July, right around the corner from my former domicile in now-so-fashionable Bushwick. 

No-faking, gut-churning angst, great songwriting, and an obvious interest in creating something of quality and sincerity are what set The Communion apart from the horde of bands that lean toward the darker sides of self expression. Dramatic, hooky sludge-metal, classic hardcore/thrash, and hi-speed black metal are all easily referenced in The Communion's repertoire, these styles employed naturally and with the apparent ease of just doing what they do, without sounding at all forced or postmodern. 

These are some great tracks—catchy, headbanging and deftly constructed. I've been spinning them constantly for the last week and a half, and suggest you do the same.

A million thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, for lending her expertise to engineer this powerful session. (You can hear a preview of the upcoming Chiller Theatre Expo tomorrow at noon, and Stranglers' founder Hugh Cornwell live on Diane's show, next Tuesday 10/26.) Thanks as per usual to Tracy Widdess for punching up my photographs of the band.

You can see The Communion live, at Brooklyn's The Acheron, on 10/29. To hear the full, continuous broadcast of The Communion's appearance on My Castle of Quiet, with my usual half-arsed "interview" segment, click here. Deepest thanks to Nick, Billy, Joe and Jimmy.

Thrashing to Fitness and Good Study Habits

While driving earlier listening to an AM health-centered show, the doctor/DJ/host, asked his assistant if he liked "thrash music", their banter sort of went off into space, as the assistant seemed to have a grasp on some metal genres: "glam metal, death metal, viking metal, grindcore", yet the doctor had nothing to ground himself with, and at some point mentioned the Yardbirds, Barry Manilow and Phil Ochs ... regardless, he referenced this study, which reports that no matter what kind of music you listen to, if you're studying, it's still detrimental to your final outcome, especially if you're memorizing. What was amazing was that they kept on playing excerpts of Death Angel's "Thrashers" over and over again, repeatedly asking the question "do you like thrash music?" and joking. It's wonderful when the unexpected pops up, especially this 1987 gem, much like the first time I heard Peaches by The Stranglers opening the movie Sexy Beast...well, actually that was cool; this radio experience was just funny. Of course, I do need to mention here that former frontman of the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell, will be gracing the WFMU airwaves by way of the Fun Machine on Tuesday, Oct 26th, and he's touring on a new release: New Songs for King Kong, note: even King Kong should not study wearing headphones, but I am not going to be the one to tell him! In another study about exercise and music, a study linked here relates the findings that although music is a great motivator in exercise, there are limits to it's benefits. The piece is not the shortest piece in the world, but I found it interesting that the average human (not the WFMU listener) liked the same music more JUST because it was sped up. To go back to the question of "do you like thrash metal?", well maybe some do and they don't even realize it! To conclude, when we really get into music itself being exercise, like these conductors pictured above (study from 2007 here), or the theory that Slovenian outfit Laibach had, that Bach's "Die Kunst der Fuge' was intended as an (intellectual) exercise rather than for performance- so they used it in their performances with physical exercise being performed, just makes a brain wonder, or at least start doing push-ups. And if you think the guys up top in the B/W photo are not exercising, think again! Note: Death Angel also has a new record out, it's calle Relentless Retribution out on the Nuclear Blast label. It's been awhile for releases from Barry Manilow, Phil Ochs, and the Yardbirds! Laibach is doing some live dates in Europe and the UK at the end of 2010.

Wolf Eyes with Richard Pinhas live on WFMU (MP3's)

Richard Pinhas has long been regarded as one of France's seminal experimental composers and musicians. His 1970's combo Heldon were severe competition for the Krautock first string, and his continual forays into electronic and progressive sounds were highlighted by his Robert Fripp-like approaches to guitar. Over the years Pinhas has produced excellent solo material, influencing many in the '80s new wave and ambient worlds. This past week Pinhas played electric guitar on Brian Turner's show sitting in with Michigan's legendary Wolf Eyes, who know a thing or two about outer explorations, and the results were a prog-o-delicized journey through a sound junkyard both menacing and beautiful. As an added bonus, Wolf Eyes featured Aaron Dilloway who's been on the bench for a few years, kicking out the jams in the WFMU studios with bandmates John Olson and Mike Connelly. (library photo John Olson, performance pic Lou Calderola). Video should be forthcoming down the pike soon as well.

Semi Social Calendar This Past Week

There were about a million great shows that I missed this week: Goatwhore at Europa (friend review: "One of the best bands I've seen this year"), Buzzov'en at Public Assembly (friend review: "pretty close to great"), The Vibrators at the Bell House, etc. However I did have the extreme pleasure of attending several shows. I got out to see Accept and Kings X at BB Kings on Monday. As expected, Kings X went on at 7:53 for an 8pm time slot. Vocalist Doug Pinnick (pictured right) requested the AC be shut off for the sake of his voice; the club complied and we all got sweaty! But in the mood of the set, they were upbeat and spot on. Kings X reminds me of a mellower, more heavily grooved Queens of the Stone Age, but originating years and years prior. They are a band that probably never made a ton of money, but are amazing players and always put their heart into their shows. Satisfaction level: 4/5, Surprise level 2/5. Next: Accept took the stage with new vocalist Mark Tornillo. This could have been wrong, jokelike, corny, cover band-ish--I mean it really had the potential to be terrible. I know Tornillo has been with them for more than a year now, and by the way, their new album Blood of the Nations is GREAT but a presence like Udo Dirkschneider's gotta be missed, no? Hell no! Purists, don't sell yourself short of a great time, expand your horizons and go see Accept- you'll have a blast!! Tornillo, who hails from NJ; has pulled this off perfectly! He had been the vocalist for TT Quick - a band that never really got it's due back in the day.

2 Foot Flame in the WFMU Studio, 1997

2 Foot Flame was a mid-90's project featuring Jean Smith (Mecca Normal) with New Zealanders Michael Morley (Dead C/Gate/Wreck Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos) and Peter Jefferies (This Kind of Punishment/Noctural Projections). As can be expected, it was intense music coming from three intense individuals; Smith's rough/piercing vocal tones now being matched by Morley's alien soundscapes and Jefferies' brooding keyboards/drums to great dynamic effect.

Live on the Stork Club in 1997, the group appeared as just Peter and Jean, with Jefferies doubling up on simultaneous keyboards and drums in terse, primitive 4/4 pound, Smith taking an open-tuned electric guitar and playing noisy slide action ala Lydia Lunch/Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. "Pipeline to Vertigo" highlites some distorted, thumping morse-code transmissions with Jefferies equally-inimitable voice looming menacingly overhead, he slips in his own "Elevator Madness" and a killer take on the Spacemen 3 classic "Come Down Easy". I think Jean told me there was talk at one time of this Stork Club visit coming out as a proper release, but she also seemed to think I was more of a fan of this particlar session than anyone else. Listening back 13 years later it still sounds incredible.

A Storm in Hell; Husere Grav LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 9.17.10

In my ongoing effort to present truly tortured music on the air, the outpourings of souls in unrest, I was very proud to host these two sets by Husere Grav. Along with the natural courtesies, and perhaps even eventual camaraderie, that develop around a musical artist's appearance on the Castle, there was also a feeling that when one meets a member of one's tribe, not much talk is required. Todd Watson aka Athanor is a man of few words anyway, though as I recall, some of those words were, "Generally, I have a pretty negative view of a lot of things...." Me too, and it's not a joke, and the man (unlike myself, spilling bile all over town as I do) saved it for the performance. This is some of the darkest, most visceral shit I have ever had the pleasure of presenting on the radio. These are soundtracks to pain, frustration, and ill intentions—the "music" of haunted evil.

So-called noise being equivalent to the new jazz in many ways, once an assortment of available gear is decided upon, the quality of the performance becomes based on feeling, genuine inspiration, and access to one's own emotions. How well are you playing what you feel, into what you brought with you tonight? In the case of Husere Grav, the answer is a fuck of a lot. That is, perhaps, the WHOLE POINT of the My Castle of Quiet radio show, that the program itself be a working, a channeling of feelings, for myself and the live guests, however negative (or positive) or socially unacceptable those feelings may be. This shit has to go SOMEWHERE, or we'd all be killers.

...I'm off my soapbox now, and apologies to Todd for my using this post as a forum of sorts, but I do often wonder how many of you I'm reaching with these perhaps lofty intentions.

The two Husere Grav sets incorporate what I would call pure noise (à la Whitehouse), with aspects of psychedelia, and hypnotic, high-volume resonance. I seriously wish that I could transmit to every listener the feeling I got upon walking into that room while Todd was performing his second set—it was truly a maelstrom, and caught me by surprise—thunderingly loud, it was swirling, and it felt dangerous; nothing less than a genuine conjuration.

Expert, somnambulic session engineering by Bob Bellerue. Photo by your author and host, with manipulation by Tracy Widdess. Deepest thanks to Todd Watson.

In addition to a staggering live performance, Husere Grav is also sharing Battles, exclusively with WFMU, My Castle of Quiet and the Free Music Archive. Here are two more songs, a single's worth of material to further unlock the dark world of Husere Grav.

The Sonics of Desire; Chaos*Majik live on My Castle of Quiet, 9.10.10

The first time I saw Todd Pendu perform solo electronics I thought, "Klaus Schulze in a suitcase! I can dig this!" No longer does the performer need to be buried in impossibly tall racks of heavy keyboard gear, that which obscure his very view, to be able to touch other worlds, to taste the unseen, and to take the listener on a significant journey.

Often pressured to take the short-and-sweet route simply by noise-gig propriety, it was gratifying for me personally to be able to offer Todd a forum within which to lay out a considerable slab of music, a vision of some length, something I knew he'd not only ace, but take good and seriously.

"Hermetic Erotics" is that slab, and more—a powerful electronic suite of arcing and shifting dynamics; there is tension, resolution, warnings of danger, absolute peace, contemplation aplenty, and some lovely and subtly positioned guest vocals by Laylah (Johanna Lenski.)

All in all, Chaos*Majik brought it, left it, and returned to the hive of NYC leaving barely a trace, save these excellent 38 and a half minutes (kind of like an assassin with very good intentions; and I must note that this is very much in line with the behavior of an evolved magician.) My suggestion, as with several previous Castle sessions, is to download the file and listen to it on headphones, as "Hermetic Erotics" includes passages of near-subliminal activity that will get a bit lost on in-browser play.

Todd also read my cards that night, and a good tarot reading always reveals a little more than you want it to, as was the case here. To listen to the full program archive, visit this page.

To learn more about Todd's universe of activities in and outside of Chaos*Majik, visit pendu.org.

Thanks to Bob Bellerue for expert live engineering (and for enduring my gruffness) and to Tracy Widdess for finding the color in the darkness. Original photo by Johanna Lenski.

Come Ascend With Us; Metal Rouge on My Castle of Quiet, session 8.23.2010

The opening call to attention of Metal Rouge's epic "Dead Elk" comfortably assimilates two poles—that of Albert Ayler's ecstatic pleading to all on the other side who would listen, the ghosts and the spirits, and that of the steady clomp-clomp of a high plains drifter, out for vengeance, but with time enough to stop and relight his or her cigar. Then, over the encouraging tumble of Caitlin Mitchell's rolling toms, the message increases in urgency, Helga Fassonaki's chants begin, and Andrew Scott's guitar keeps the body electric humming and rising, a soldier in the Army of Eternal Music. The players continue to arc and collide with natural dynamism, until the Dead Elk has been properly celebrated, and all is left in rubble. 

These are three sets of prime Metal Rouge, absolutely in the mode of ascension and contemplation of the many Andrew/Helga duo recordings (like the Ephemeroptera series and the Three for Malachi Ritscher CD), and most similar to the recent Trails LP created by the trio, but infused even more so with the might of a band that's been touring and playing at semi-regular intervals, constantly greasing their improvisational wheels.

Sets two and three are far-afield variations on tracks that appear on the Trails LP; "The Sad Song (666)" is radically sparse and gloomy—and there's that "on to the next mirage" feeling again, until the beat picks up, and Tago Mago-era Can is viewed, albeit from Angelo Badalamenti's highway; "The Sunshine Path" is Metal Rouge's "song," so to speak—the riff everyone remembers—though it too never takes the same shape twice, lurking as it does near the not-so-unlikely-after-all corner of Linda Sharrock and Skullfower.

You can catch Metal Rouge on the final leg of their tour in San Francisco (Cafe Du Nord, Sept. 4), and in home-base Los Angeles, with shows at Mid Town Wig (Sept. 7) and Echo Curio (Sept. 16.)

Many thanks to the band for trucking up to the station mid-tour, tired but barely showing it, and whipping out these spirited sets. Thanks to Jason Sigal for expert session engineering in general, and a great drum mix in particular, and to Tracy Widdess for bitch-slapping my lousy photos.

Justice Yeldham Live at WFMU Video Carnage

It was a high honor to have Justice Yeldham on my radio show a few weeks back and if you are anywhere along the route of the rest of his (last ever?) American tour, I can't give a higher recommendation for how to make a weird night.  Really.  We're talking best live set in noise on the entire globe.  Check out the archive of the full set on my radio show and hold your breath for the full set to be uploaded onto the Free Music Archive.  Thanks to Loic for filming...sorry I F-ed up the levels at the beginning of the interview, dudes!

Stooges, Mudhoney, Scientists and more: WFMU Live from All Tomorrows Parties at Kutshers, Sunday September 5th

WFMU returns for a third time to the Catskills and All Tomorrows Parties! The highly-anticipated three day festival runs from September 3-5th from Kutshers resort in Monticello, New York and our crew will be there recording and presenting some of the weekend's big happenin' deals Sunday from 3-9PM ET. The full weekend lineup, curated this year by filmmaker (and WFMU listener and supporter!) Jim Jarmusch, is here, and let's just say that WFMU's gotten some pretty severe radio lined up. Iggy and the Stooges' full set (playing Raw Power live as part of Friday's Don't Look Back night, and touring now with James Williamson on guitar!), Mudhoney, Australian post-punk godfathers the Scientists, Sonic Youth, White Hills, Fucked Up, Dungen, Kurt Vile, Hallogallo (Neu/Harmonia's Michael Rother with Steve Shelley and Aaron Mullan), and more to be announced. Keep your eyes peeled to Beware of the Blog and WFMU's homepage, Facebook and Twitter for announcements for set times as soon as we sort it all out, but tune in Sunday for some great live sets, interviews, and commentary. Some of the performances will be archived for streaming, some will not, and a few will hopefully end up for download later via the Free Music Archive, where 2008 and 2009 found a great assortment of MP3s up from the likes of Deerhoof, the Melvins, Jesus Lizard, Deerhunter, Grouper, Wooden Shjips, Fuck Buttons, Low, and more whose sets were broadcast on our air/netwaves. Tickets are still available for this year's ATP here, and if you are at the festival, look for WFMU in the between-ballroom hallway broadcasting live under our banner Sunday and say hi! Stay tuned!

Clinic live WFMU Sessions Fresh & Vintage (mp3)

Clinic made their triumphant return to Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic this past weekend for a live session was chock-full of new material from their forthcoming album Bubblegum (Domino Oct 2010).

Word is Bubblegum introduces new layers of majestic orchestral pop to Clinic's distinct vintage synth-laden post-punk stylings, and you can see a video for the opening track after the jump. The live set has more of a raw garage-psych feel; a classic Stu Rutherford / Diane Kamikaze production. Starting with 5 new tunes ("Bubblegum", "Baby", "Lion Tamer", "Orangutan", "Milk + Honey") the set ends with "Shopping Bag" off of 2008's Do It!

Liverpool's surgical-masked 4-piece first stopped by WFMU back in 2001, and were actually slated to swing by on September 11th but that didn't work out so well...read what host Scott Williams had to say at the time while you listen to this incredible set which got us all hooked on Clinic (those of us who weren't already!) Here at WFMU, we've all been real het up on Clinic ever since their album Internal Wrangler showed up in our new bin over a year ago. We've been trying all summer to get them here, and lo, it's all paid off! Clinic was due to arrive here on Tuesday, September 11th - sadly, that didn't happen. Imagine our delight when - 3 days later - they showed up at our doorstep exclaiming "We're bored - we've come all the way to NYC from Liverpool, and can't play anywhere! Can we play here?" And Clinic played here, yes!

Denver, Land of "For-Boating" Noise-Rock; MjolniirDXP and Epileptinomicon visit My Castle of Quiet, 8.10.10

It's great to see some out-of-town travelers take the long road up to the Castle. Mike R. (Epileptinomicon) and Mike R. and Zack (MjolniirDXP) are the first of several visitors from the west we'll hear this summer (Metal Rouge on 8/27, Husere Grav on 9/17.) These guys came with a ridiculous amount of gear (full drum kit, two heavy bass amps, several synths) from CO > NY in the hottest week of summer to play their unique, desert-burnt, post-Kraut, spooky art rock for Castle listeners and showgoers in NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and some other points in between there and home.

Mike R. and Zack Writer make up the duo MjolniirDXP, and their three-part set here stirs the gloom pot up quite a bit, with the added color of Zack's admittedly sunny aesthetic—resulting in a suite that veers from LAFMS/Chrome/VDO territory, into cannibal-chomp Italo horror-synth melody, and finally into full-on, Esoteric-style doom. It's always a joy for me to host a band like MjolniirDXP (Thor's weapon, plus a near-death experience, get it?), who are so appropriate to the psychedelic-horror-fuck-noise-mash that is my program, and my deepest thanks go out to Mike and Zack for hauling up all that gear and playing a controlled storm.

Epileptinomicon, Mike's solo beast, is "rock" only in the sense that there is (at least in this piece) constant wobbly rhythm, repeated themes, and a tonal center, though loops and echoed bass, and percussive phrases hover around this center—watching, leaving and returning, like a family of buzzards over a downed cow. "Morning Mug of Hearts" is gloriously hypnotic and eerie, and might even take you back to the sparser, early works of Cabaret Voltaire or SPK. The Epileptinomicon CDrs (on Mike's own Sleeping Giant Glossolalia label) are no less mesmeric, with patiently executed, long-form, grimy lo-fi nightmares aplenty.

Many thanks must go to Jason Sigal for helping to create a recording that, as one commenter put it, "really does MjolniirDXP justice." My iPhone caps of the band were especially terrible this time—as hard as I tried—so an extra special thanks to Tracy Widdess for whipping the curd.

Bill Orcutt Live on WFMU (MP3s, Video)

During the 1990's, Miami's Harry Pussy provided among the most confrontational and challenging recordings and live sets to a post-hardcore generation, and Bill Orcutt's blasted guitar playing defied easy categorization. Such is the case upon his return last year with a solo LP A New Way to Pay Old Debts, whereupon he takes an old Kay acoustic guitar rigged with a found pickup and tears out some unbelievably gutted, aggressive yet defined picking/shredding compositions to make even even seasoned guitar composition connoisseurs turn their heads for the mere reason that you've rarely heard the instrument approached this way. Comparisons to the woolier moments of Cecil Taylor, fractured player-piano-roll sounds of Conlon Nancarrow all enter a decidedly unguitar-like realm of performance, with gutbucket resonations and almost microtonal approach to strings in the spirit of pure freedom and anarchy. This session on Brian Turner's show came during several days of New York shows (one of which featured a full on guitar battle with Sir Richard Bishop), and was recorded in WFMU's palatial 4th floor lavatory by David Mambach. During the Bishop show, which happened at Zebulon, I conversed with a friend of a friend who I think came out unprepared for the onslaught, having read a NY Times preview and possibly expecting some world/folk stylings of a more traditional sense. He laughed outloud as Orcutt's opener set barrelled into a flurry of violent acoustic battery, and asked me if it was a joke. But as the set progressed, his eyes remained wide open and at the end was totally in awe, citing some clear Skip James and flamenco cornerstones being touched, albeit turned inside out. He was impressed. Enjoy some guitar playing unlike you've ever heard, MP3's via the Free Music Archive.

Midnight at the Opet; Hoor-paar-Kraat on My Castle of Quiet, 7.28.2010

By the Gods you're thirsty—but frozen for the moment to your chair—a strained, wooden respite for your weary legs and back, amongst the dust, haze and impossible heat. You squint at the horizon, half caring as two riders approach on camelback.

The riders turn out to be Anthony Mangicapra and Ryan Lamm, whose packs open to reveal a modest array of mostly acoustic instrumentation. They're here to perform, to enchant and hypnotize, and ask only a meal, and a few metals of fixed weight in return—just enough to move them on to the next encampment.

To add to the remarkable gallery of live music recorded and presented in the past year plus on My Castle of Quiet, Hoor-paar-Kraat came and brought two sets of utterly possessing, ghostly organic music, full with steel hum and sparkle, and piercing, stringed overtones (and a distant voice murmuring about mental retardation.)

These sets bring to mind the more earthen work of David Jackman, as often as they do spaghetti-Western drones, and represent only one of many current faces of Hoor-paar-Kraat, started by Anthony in 1999, and since then encompassing a great many collaborators. Anthony's newest tapes, on Peasant Magik and his own Goat Eater Arts label, when considered with this session, are stunning and multifarious indicators of a project hitting a lovely stride, some ten years in.

Thanks to Glenn Luttman who engineered the audio with his usual sangfroid, and to Tracy Widdess who hit the mark again with her dazzling photo manipulation.

Stay the Fuck Out of the Woods! C. Lavender live on My Castle of Quiet, 7.16.2010

In October of '09 I received a "Castle mail" from one C. Lavender, a sound-collagist/noisemaker and horror fan based in Northern NJ. The emails were gender-neutral (honestly, I assume most noise people are dudes, but that standard is gradually and gratefully changing) and almost business-like. It's significant to note that in the thread that followed, Lavender wrote, "It's a huge dream of any NJ resident who performs weird music to play on WFMU and I felt that your show was a perfect match-up with my interests/music."

Well I finally listened, as can you. C. Lavender delivered nothing less than a true and thoroughly envisioned horrorscape to My Castle of Quiet listeners, live last Friday morning at 12:30 a.m.-ish. The build in Lavender's performance is patient but steady, and all manner of haunted sounds, and far-flung melodies, whizz by, wave and disappear. The dead rumble in their holes, dishonored, and think about digging out to give everybody what for. Maybe later, as we're too comfortable underground. The thread of a crusty electronic loop acts like an unhurried gravedigger's shovel.

This is some seriously great shit, and I can't thank C. Lavender enough, not only for being a true Castle fan, as well as a talented performer, but also for bringing to the show a thoughtful and unique performance, suited ideally to the show's own peculiar sonic bent. She brought the scary, the contemplative, and the running for your life bit, too (in which direction, you're not quite sure.)

The young artist was rattled after such a rendering, as she typically is following a set, and that combined with my usual, charming fumble-bumble caused some to suggest that we did not give good banter. Me and Lavender? Surely you jest. We are the Regis and Kelly of noise, for fuck's sake!

"Whispers in the Woods"? Most certainly. This piece is up there with some of my most-favored eerie, anguished, live sound collage, like the works of Burial Hex and Physical Demon.

Huge thanks to big Bob Bellerue for engineering, and getting a right spoooky mix, even though he was really exhausted and I gave him not one morsel of crack. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess for messing with my artist photos just right.

From the Concrete to the Celestial; Two Years on Welfare, My Castle of Quiet session 6.30.2010

Lately, one of my mini obsessions has been artists in the urban environment, and the potential richness of inspiration when one is forced to look inward in the presence of external chaos, and how that battle in turn awakens and animates the creative mind. In short, some of the most mind-expanding and/or soul-stirring shit I've seen and heard lately has been made by folks who can't afford (and wouldn't necessarily choose) to go to the countryside in order to stir their muse.

I've been following Glenn Nelson's rumbling, hypnotic, Philadelphia-based psych-noise project Two Years on Welfare for the last six months; one of his sets was the first post on the My Castle of Quiet vimeo channel, and he contributed a fantastic track, "Sleep," to the MCoQ 2010 WFMU Marathon premium CD.

Glenn's sound, among its many other enticements, whips the tactile universe of tubes, magnetic tape and old gear together with that of the digital knobs—those that spike, bend and spread frosty glow. There's a seemingly casual, almost meditative ease to Two Years on Welfare, though once lost in a piece, you find it's ultimately some pretty haunted territory.

These tracks take the listener away on a bed of vaguely disturbing stars, and memories that can't quite be grabbed. The sea is indeed lively, and it's where the sky used to be. My suggestion is that these sets be downloaded and listened to on headphones, so that the layers of activity, subtle transitions and primordial awakenings can be fully appreciated.

Many thanks once again to Glenn Luttman for his masterful session engineering, and to Tracy Widdess for spinning my photos into gloomy/groovy gold. Thanks again to Glenn Nelson, who also runs Self Help Tapes, and curates the mysterious Tire Island.