WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Radiovision Festival: How To Pay For It

As much as the word "monetize" makes me reach for my revolver - artists, musicians, writers, and radio stations are now competing for fewer and fewer dollars, as dinosaurs like the music industry and the publishing industry shuffle off the world stage. There is plenty of great work being made right now, but until new funding models emerge its difficult to imagine how creative types can sustain the output.

October 28th - 30th, WFMU is holding its first ever Radiovision festival. On Saturday the 29th (Symposium Saturday) we will examine three possible funding models of the future:

There are plenty of crowd-funding websites and platforms but there is only one Kickstarter. This month the company announced that they just hit one million backers, that's one million backers of comics, albums, books, video games, urban farms, documentaries, exhibits, performances, and thousands of other creative works. Yancey Strickler is one of the co-founders of Kickstarter and he will be on stage to talk about why Kickstarter campaigns are so successful, and what the future of crowdfunding will be.

While most foundations have long lists of requirements you need to meet before they will consider writing you a check, The Awesome Foundation has only one prerequisite: that you be awesome. Christina Xu is one of the founders of The Awesome Foundation and she is going to talk about how her organization is regularly passing out no-strings-attached $1,000 grants to people doing awesome things like documentaries, public art projects, even interactive community notice boards. Awesome Foundation does not have a very complicated formula - every month a group of trustees get together and award a grant to a project they like best. New chapters are opening in cities all over the world, and they were just awarded a Knight News Challenge grant, this is a model with a future.

The music and publishing industries may be in free-fall but the advertising indusry is doing great. Jeff Tammes is the EVP, Creative & Strategy at Cornerstone of Cornerstone a marketing agency that pairs artists with lifestyle brands.  Cornerstone also helped set up Converse's recording studio, Rubber Tracks, in Williamsburg. Jeff's message for creators is that lifestyle brands can help artists and musicians realize their dreams.

Our moderator for this panel is Rebecca Gates. who as a member of The Spinanes can remember both the bad and the good of the old model, as a working musician has awareness of the complexity of the current scene and as a member of the Future of Music Coalition wonders: “How are all these shifts affecting working musicians? What are the implications for a musician’s practice? And what do these new models mean for the shape of arts culture in the future?

Tickets are on sale, but they are going fast. We already sold out the Radiovision Opening Night performance with Joe Frank! Don't miss out.

Radiovision Festival: Internet Culture and Community (Anonymous, Makers, and Memes)

What can Internet Communities teach us about the future of Radio audiences?

On October 28th - 30th, WFMU is holding its first ever Radiovision festival. And on Saturday the 29th (Symposium Saturday) we have a session focusing on three of the fastest growing online epicenters of community activity: Anonymous, Makers and Meme culture. we've lined up four amazing individuals to help us better understand the values of these communities and to learn how they are driving the evolution of the internet:

Bre Pettis doesn't just make things, he can make things that make things. He is a founder of Makerbot (a company that produces robots that make things), and NYC Resistor (a Brooklyn hacker collective).

Kenyatta Cheese may be famous for playing a Meme scientist on the internet (Know Your Meme), but he is one in real life as well.  Kenyatta is one of the leading experts of online media, culture and technology. He advises NGOs and is also on the board of the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology.

Gabriella Coleman is an anthropologist and the author of the forthcoming book "Coding Freedom: The Aesthetics and the Ethics of Hacking." She is currently working on a new book on Anonymous and digital activism.

Tim Hwang is one of the co-founders of ROFLcon (a conference dedicated to Internet Culture). Tim not only helped us program this panel but he will be leading the discussion as well.

Tickets are on sale, and they are going fast. We already sold out the Radiovision Opening Night performance with Joe Frank! Get yours now.

Excavated Shellac: Guest DJ Set & "Africa at 78 RPM" Box

Now available as a podcast: Jonathan Ward of of Excavated Shellac swung by Talk's Cheap / WFMU to share gems from his personal collection of international 78 RPM records.

The 90-min guest DJ set features tracks that have never been posted online, and also debuts selections from Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM. Compiled and edited by Jonathan Ward, the 4-disc set of 100+ previously unissued recordings also includes a 112-page softcover book.

Opika Pende will be released next week by Dust-to-Digital, just in time to stock the label's booth at WFMU's Record Fair, Oct 28th-30th.

WFMU's Free Music Archive presents Grey Area with Jason Sigal from 10/17/2011

>> playlist / mp3 / iTunes / xml/rss

originally aired on Talk's Cheap // Support Talk's Cheap on WFMU!!

RADIOVISION: Tom Scharpling, Marc Maron, and Ira Glass

The best comic book superheroes all have great origin stories. In fact you could make the case that characters like Batman, Spiderman, and Wolverine are great because they have origin stories that go beyond a lab accident or a secret formula (although this certainly works for Bouncing Boy).

On October 28th - 30th, WFMU is holding its first ever Radiovision festival. And on Saturday the 29th (Symposium Saturday) we are kicking things off with a discussion about Origin Stories with three radio superheroes: Ira Glass, Marc Maron and Tom Scharpling.

If you are a regular listener of these three you might be familiar with bits and pieces of their stories. Before Ira Glass founded This American Life, the show that forever changed the face of public radio (a show NPR actually passed on!) he was Joe Frank's intern, Marc Maron was one of Air America's founding hosts and after his show was cancelled he started using their studios at night to make WTF (today one of the most popular podcasts). And while Tom Scharpling's callers now line up to get banned (or unbanned) during his weekly three hour standard-setting comedy program, in the beginning they would call in to complain about the mayhem and the mirth!

Maybe we should be pitching this as "the League of Superheroes" because these three have never shared a stage before. It's going to be an amazing hour-long conversation with three of radio's best storytellers. You don't want to miss this one - plus WFMU's Therese Mahler is moderating this panel discussion.  Tickets are on sale, and they are going fast.

We already sold out the Radiovision Opening Night performance with Joe Frank! Don't wait till the last minute.

Seed Stock Records guest-DJ stint on My Castle of Quiet, now on podcast!

Black metal continues to be the one genre that demonstrates casual and consistent growth, its definitions and trappings existing seemingly only to be challenged and downright shot down, as what falls under its banner morphs and evolves, until the term "black metal" comes to mean a broader and more diverse array of artists, both solo projects and bands, that are loosely dragged together by a punk / lo-fi / "traditional" bm influence, and where the borders are, no one knows (not even the extremely thorough Encyclopedia Metallum, though arguably they try the hardest and are intensely comprehensive.)

The last two hours of My Castle of Quiet's 9.23 show, roughly from 1 a.m. onward (I incorrectly stated, "since 2 a.m." at one point in the broadcast), was programmed solely by RB, architect behind the highly original band Raspberry Bulbs (in themselves a definition-challenging project), and owner / proprietor of the Seed Stock Records label. The broadcast was not a focused promotional of the label itself—though what they have to offer is considerable, and at this point in history, core to the genre—but instead, a choice overview of RB's personal collection, a black metal fan's treasure trove, and as I stated in the subsequent post on my personal blog, "[it] provided me with a wealth of dark corners to explore, releases to seek out, and money to spend in the hungry pursuit of same. Black metal is the genre that keeps on giving, and has opened up to the point where each individual project, fronted by creative nihilists and misanthropes from all over the world, can crank out releases—demo cassettes, vinyl and CDs—with the energy of a one-stop spiritual freight train."

Here now are the last two hours of that show, the Seed Stock portion, edited down to a streamlined one hour and 57 minutes, for one to download, carry around and enjoy. Though two mic breaks are included, one can also view the full playlist at the MCoQ playlist page for that evening's horrorcast™ (again, from about 1 a.m. onward), or by downloading this handy text document I created solely for the purpose of accompanying the edited, pod-version of the show.

Again, my personal thanks to RB and Seed Stock for a broadcast to remember, two hours of pure enjoyment for any black metal fan.

Seed Stock guest podcast on My Castle of Quiet

You may contribute to WFMU, and support the My Castle of Quiet program specifically, during our entire-month-of-October "stealth" fundraiser, by clicking on the widget embedded below. My eternal thanks and darkest hails to Castleheads everywhere!

Week in WFMU: 10/10 - 10/18, 2011

Shock and Awetober rolls along, and the WFMU listener meet-ups are starting to come fast and furious. Locals can join Bob W. and B.R. this evening, Oct. 11, for conversation, arcade games, and an array of beers at Barcade in Jersey City! Details are here, and you can check out the list of other meet-ups here. They provide a great chance to talk with other listeners about WFMU, meet some of your favorite radio voices in person, and just generally have a decent time.

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Also on Tuesday, Dan Melchior and Das Menace come to Brian Turner's show to play Melchior's special brand of "mutant" primitivist rock. Melchior has relocated from the UK to North Carolina, and with his new project just released a new album, Catbirds and Cardinals, on Northern Spy. Listen live from 3 to 6 PM, or go to the archive anytime thereafter.

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In preparation for Singles Going Steady week (coming up soon), Do or DIY with People Like Us will be doing an all-analogue show for the first time in its existence. Vicki and People Like Us have been playing only digital files all this time -- never a record or a CD -- but on Wednesday that will all change! Tune into the broadcast on Wednesday night from 8 to 9 PM to hear Do or DIY's home collection of physical artifacts.

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On Friday, the 14th, Scott McDowell and the Long Rally welcome Jeff Golick from the music blog Destination: Out -- Golick will be sharing and discussing the records that mean a lot to him at the moment. Destination: Out consistently posts rare free jazz tracks each week and has built up a faithful following among jazz enthusiasts who crave sanity in the unruly world of mp3 blogs. In addition, "D: O Radio -- Destination Out on the Air" is the newest addition to WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio webstream family. The show will debut on Oct. 31st and will air live every last Monday of the month. Listen to Scott's show from 9 AM to noon this Friday to hear more about Destination: Out!

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Listen to the Cherry Blossom Clinic on Saturday afternoon, as Terre T features a live set from Sloan! The Canadian rock band are celebrating twenty years together, with their latest album The Double Cross, out on Yep Roc, being hailed as one of the best yet. Sloan have graced the WFMU airwaves before and are coming back to delight listeners again, 10/15 between 3 and 6 PM.

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Gaylord Fields's show this week will have a set by the Olivia Tremor Control, who return to WFMU to revisit the glory of the live broadcast they did (also on Gaylord's program) in 1997. Back together after a hiatus of more than a decade, the experimental pop collective will offer up a balance of '60s-style melodicism and neopsychedelic instrumental freakouts. Don't miss: Sunday 10/16, from 5 to 7 PM!

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The abovementioned are only a few of the surprises WFMU has planned for this week -- it feels safe to say that every DJ on every show will be doing something above and beyond the norm. For example, Diane Kamikaze brings on Ivan Julian of the Voidoids, Evan "Funk" Davies gives us wall-to-wall Canadian artists, Jason Sigal hosts Asian Women on the Telephone, and Joe McGasko compiles an entire show of sexy slow jams. Take a look at WFMU's Upcoming Special Programs page to see more.

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WFMU's Shock and Awetober fundraiser is a silent one -- DJs won't be asking for your money over the air like they do during the Marathon in the spring. But we do need to raise money, so be sure to check in with your favorite shows/people. (Each playlist page features a link that will walk you through the process.) At the time of this writing, the station has raised only 20% of its modest goal. Pledge!

Shock & Awetober Listener Meet-Ups

Shock & Awetober continues on WFMU! Tune in for amazing special programs this month and don't miss out on our many social activities. We've got tons of listener meet-ups lined up, and hope you'll join us for some extracirricular fun:

Tuesday, Oct 11th - Jersey City Barcade Night
Get your beer on at Barcade in Jersey City (163 Newark Ave) with Beer Hear! hosts Bob W. and B.R. (4-9pm). Make new friends (or enemies) over Frogger or Asteroids! Barcade is generously donating all tips from the evening to WFMU, so drink up! info/RSVP

Tuesday, Oct 18th - Aerial View Beer Pull
Join Chris T. and WFMU's resident Beer Baron Scott Williams (6 PM) at Pilsener Haus & Biergarten in Hoboken (1422 Grand Street) for a LIVE Aerial View Beer Pull and WFMU listener meet-up. Use the secret word LIEBERSTRAUM during the broadcast to buy one beer and get one free! Auf wiedersehn! info/RSVP

ALSO Tuesday, Oct 18th - Shut Up, Weirdo! Meet-Up
Come have an awkward drink with Andy, Frangry, and the rest of the weirdos at the first ever Shut Up, Weirdo Meet-Up (Luca Lounge, 222 Ave B, Manhattan)! There won't be any games or cotton candy, just some booze and a whole lot of regret. info/RSVP

Thursday, Oct 20th - WFMU Rock Jock Listener Meet-Up
Come down to Maxwell's in Hoboken to celebrate WFMU's Rocktober festivities (7-9 PM)! WFMU DJs Terre T, Joe Belock, Evan "Funk" Davies, Gaylord Fields, Mike Sin and the one and only Todd-O-Phonic Todd will be in the house, and you can expect free food and drink specials! info/RSVP

Friday, Oct 21st - Underwater Theme Park Happy Hour
Join Underwater Theme Park host Meghan at Full Circle Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (318 Grand St), for free skee ball, extensive happy hour specials, and good times (7-9pm). info/RSVP

Tuesday, Oct 25th - Thunk Tank Trick-or-Treat Meet-Up
Join Bronwyn, Jay, and Thunkers galore at Jo's, 264 Elizabeth St., NYC  for a live remote broadcast and scary story hour featuring readings by DJ's Amanda Nazario, Kurt Gottschalk, Bronwyn C., and Jay B. (6–9 PM, live broadcast from 7–8). There'll be treat bags o' swag for all, and Jo's will introduce the Thunk Tank Signature Cocktail! Costumes, masks, and furry outfits encouraged, because you gotta dress up to be on the radio! info/RSVP

ALSO Tuesday, Oct 25th - Antique Phonograph Music Program Live Broadcast
The Antique Phonograph Music Program will be hosting a listener meet-up and broadcasting LIVE from 7-9pm at The City Reliquary Museum in Brooklyn (370 Metropolitan Ave). Join MAC, his phonographs, and cheap beer for this gathering including records highlighting New York and other disc delights. info/RSVP

 

Shock & Awetober on WFMU!

Shock & Awetober is in effect on WFMU!

We've got tons of live guests and listener meet-ups, plus Singles Going Steady Week, our annual Record Fair, and WFMU's first-ever RadioVision Festival all happening in October (full event listing here).

It's 31 days of raucous fun on top of a month of stealth fundraising (online/mail-only): make a pledge and snag our new "Radio Es Amor" T-shirt (below) or our Sun Ra remix CD (left).

This Fall, we're experimenting with silent fundraising, with hopes that it will be successful enough to prevent us from needing to fundraise over the air more than once a year.

We encourage you to pledge to specific radio shows on WFMU to help your favorite DJs reach their individual goals by Oct 31st.

We hope to hear from you!

 

 

Week in WFMU: 10/3 - 10/9, 2011

Welcome to Shock and Awetober! WFMU began celebrating at Brooklyn's Atlantic Antic street fair yesterday, selling swag, handing out stickers, and collecting mailing-list names amid the festival's exciting multi-ethnic mix of food and music and knickknacks. This ended a busy week of volunteer work as Scott and a crew of FMU fans mailed notices about the event to all and sundry. The station will need your help all October long during this **off-air** fundraiser -- you can donate to your favorite shows by using the pledge forms on their playlists, or just use the form on the homepage.

 

Please also listen to station manager Ken's show this Wednesday from 11 AM to noon for his State of the Station address, wherein he'll detail more Shock and Awetober excitement. Email Ken with any questions or concerns about how things are going!

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On Monday, Liz Berg's show features a live set by Raf Spielman, who performs experimental pop as the Polyps. Over the weekend Raf also stopped in at Rad Town, the Brooklyn DIY venue curated by WFMU DJ Jason Sigal, for the beginning of the Polyps' tour with Lame Drivers. See Liz's archive here, for a program that also includes a great set by abstract Chicagoan rockers Bird Names.

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As other DJs prepare fun stuff for the next few weeks, Noah of Coffee Break for Heroes and Villains says goodbye to WFMU this Wednesday from midnight to 3. For the past seven years, Coffee Break has been bringing the best of underground hip-hop (along with a healthy dose of the best of hip-hop, period) to the greater-NYC-area airwaves. Ever-encouraging, Noah invited big names from the business, rising stars, and rap-happy hoi polloi into the studio each week for what often turned out to be a party -- the mood of which carried through to his dedicated community of listeners. In addition, Noah was a welcome sight around the streets and bodegas of downtown Jersey City, and will be missed as a neighbor when he moves out of town this week to pursue new opportunities. His complete archives are here and deserve a thorough once-over. In them you'll find special guest appearances by Bill Adler, Jean Grae, R.A. the Rugged Man, Tone Tank, Strictly Kev aka DJ Food, and many more. This is Noah's manifesto for the show, which should be read also.

As a non-bummer sidenote, and to underscore the cultural import of Shock and Awetober, note that Noah's farewell broadcast comes sandwiched between Evan's live set from Lazaruses of punk the Notekillers, and Mike Van Laar's set from Daniel Higgs, recorded at ATP in Minehead, UK.

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How do you call your loverboy? Monica's beautiful tribute to the departed Sylvia Robinson, a thorough and heartfelt overview of the singer/producer's long career, took place last night and is here. "Little Sylvia" Vanderpool, half of Mickey and Sylvia, was to be at the vanguard of musical genres from soul and R&B to early hip-hop, and co-founded Sugar Hill Records in the 1970s. The special show that Monica put together is a must-listen, with surprises for fans and newbies alike.

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Special programs will abound throughout the month, so check up on shows all over the schedule to see what exciting treats await you. You can also review WFMU's Upcoming Special Programs page at any time. Perfect!

WFMU at the Atlantic Antic this Sunday

Hello Brooklyn! WFMU will be holding court at the Atlantic Antic street fair this Sunday, October 2nd, Noon-6pm.

Your favorite freeform station will be parked between Clinton and Henry Streets on the south side of Atlantic Avenue (closer to Henry) in Brooklyn, where we'll be hawking swag, exchanging high-fives with listeners, and stocking up on mozzarepa tubesocks.

Stop by the WFMU tent to say hi!

Off-Mic DJ News: October 2011

Fri Oct 7: Sinner's Crossroad's Kevin Nutt will be DJing a set or two of gospel / soul / rocksteady 45s at El Rey Burrito Lounge in Montgomery, Alabama (1031 East Fairview Ave) for the El Rey Burrito Lounge's Oktoberfest 2011. Kevin will personally spring for one of El Rey's famous, deadly margaritas to any WFMU-sters in the area who show up.

Sat Oct 15: Music Director Brian Turner DJ's on Saturday, October 15th at NEON MARSHMALLOW, an experimental/electronic 3-day fest happening at Public Assembly 70 N. 6th Street in Williamsburg.Info and lineup (which includes over the three days Rhys Chatham, Phill Niblock, Grouper, Tim Hecker and more) here.

Sat Oct 15: Mr. Fine Wine DJs at the Commodore (366 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg)

Thurs Oct 20: Merging her love of art and music DJ Trouble will be spinning for the after party for Steven Harvey fine art projects at a new show called The Gap, about the relationship of what we see to what we know. There will be an opening at the gallery (208 Forsyth Street) from 6-8 and then a second opening starting at 9pm upstairs at 2A, (25 Avenue A at 2nd Street). Artists opening at the gallery include Sangram Majumdar, Stuart Shils and Kurt Knobesldorf.

Every Sunday, Dave the Spazz spins rock & roll records at Union Pool starting at 10pm (484 Union Ave at Meeker in Williamsburg Brooklyn) FREE.

Every Wednesday, Mr. Fine Wine spins soul 45s at Botanica (47 East Houston St.) 10 till late, free.

Too Much Information with Benjamen Walker was featured in a post on Rhizome on the topic of pseudonyms.

About.com interviewed former WFMU DJ and Wreck This Mess host Bart Plantegna about pirate radio.

Dave Mandl, who in one of his lives is a member of the writers' collective the Unbearables, has a piece about topless bars in the new anthology "The Unbearables Big Book of Sex." Dave encourages you to buy the book, but you can read his essay here for free, A Boob Stamping on a Human Face Forever. Dave also did a long interview with conceptual poet Kenneth Goldsmith (otherwise known as WFMU's Kenny G.) for the current issue of The Believer magazine. You can read it online here.

Currently on-WFMU-hiatus DJ Trent has gathered a bunch of mixtapes in one place for your free downloading pleasure at http://djtrent.com/mixtapes. The latest one came out this week and it's called Had to Make the Song Cry. Enjoy!

Noah teamed up with Get On Down to produce his latest re-issue. The Definitive Arthur Russell Sleeping Bag Recordings vinyl box set (also available on CD). The collection contains the Dinosaur L "24 -> 24 Music", Felix, Indian Ocean, Bonzo Goes To Washington and Sounds Of JHS 126 Brooklyn. Unpublished photos from Janette Beckman with liner notes, additional artwork, testimonials all housed in a screen printed box! Here's more information. Check out a video of the silk screening process for the box.

Fabio is included in an exhibition in Philadelphia called The Big Idea: An Exhibition of Work Concerning Failure, October 1 to October 29 at Little Berlin, 2430 Coral Street, Saturdays 12 to 5 and by appointment.

Bob Brainen celebrated his 34th anniversary on the air at WFMU last month by playing his first show from on September 8th, 1977. Hear it here.

DJ/Rupture (Jace Clayton) from Mudd Up interviewed Paul Octavian Nasca, the guy who wrote the 'Bieber stretch' software, for this article in Frieze (on slow music).

Joe Frank: Live in Concert

WFMU presents a live performance by radio legend Joe Frank on Friday, October 28th at 8pm. Tickets are selling fast, so hit this page to get yours before the event sells out. Joe's appearance opens our first-ever RadioVision Festival, Oct 28-30, to be held upstairs from the Record Fair at Manhattan's Metropolitan Pavilion.

The Best of the Northwest - Joe Preston and Seattle's EMP

I made a quick visit to Seattle's Experience Music Project not long ago. The current main exhibit is titled: NIRVANA: Taking Punk To The Masses, and coincides with the 20th birthday of the band's Nevermind record. The exhibit not only has tons of Nirvana memorabilia, but is really a goldmine of great music sources from that same period of time. The facility is right next to Seattle's Space Needle (it's that dented looking brass thing to the right of it), and is full of cool exhibits having to do with music and film. Here's a giant guitar sculpture that lifts 35 feet into the air like a stringed cyclone. In the lobby they were showing parts of the movie Avatar, but the filming was of the actors pretending to fly, pre-special effects. Interesting the prep involved and the faux wetsuits they wore that tracked their body movement so it would be easier to morph them with their rendered additions (wings, dragons, etc.) at a later time. Something about it reminded me of a short I saw once that was the filming of the dubbing of Poltergeist. It was a hilarious process actually. You'd think that dubbing a film is at least some kind of large production? That is what I thought and I was certainly proven wrong. Imagine a group of people sitting in a room all on folding chairs facing a screen. On the screen is a tickertape of words going by, and the lines spoken by each actor are in a different color and run across the screen in a different vertical position. The voice actors focus on their lines and stand up and shout them at the screen. There is a condenser microphone mounted in front of the screen in a central location. People were standing up, saying their lines, and sitting back down. They weren't watching the movie - it wasn't even playing! They all had scripts on their laps and were facing forward as if they were forced to. When the movie got a little nutty, those people were standing up, shouting their lines at this screen full of text, and quickly sitting back down again. It was surreal and deflating all at once- not exactly glamorous! It may be the same kind of activity going on at the stock market right now, and you know I'm not gonna go there!

Kamikaze Kompanion: Dave Edwardson of Neurosis

As some of you may or may not know, I've been having a lot of fun with a new feature on the Fun Machine; a segment called "Peer Pressure." I invite people involved in music to guest DJ for part of the program and to chat in between songs, just the way you would at your friends house when you bought a bunch of new records. Some of the guests that were on in the past were: Aesop Dekker (Worm Ouroboros, Agalloch, Ludicra), Chuck Dukowski (Black Flag, SWA, CD6), Gaye Black/Advert (Adverts), Digby Pearson (Earache Records), John Gallagher (Raven) .

This past week we were visited by one of rock's busiest men: Dave Edwardson, best known for being the bassist in Neurosis. His set list is here, and the attitude of the playlist was commanding and fun all at once. As a fan of Neurosis and one who's had several occasions to talk to Dave, it was the truest sense of his  spirit, and I'm so pleased that came through. To listen to Neurosis, as powerful and foreboding as they are, and then to make a conclusion about the personality of any of the band members, would be a mistake for sure. Dave did a stellar job inserting bike bell rings into songs where curses were and made the whole process for me the "engineer/DJ" a breeze. A couple of the bands he spotlighted; Dimesland and Wild Hunt. were heavy, and local to the SF Bay area. Here are links related to his playlist from top to bottom:

1) Au:Tone:Al: Experimental Project with Dave, Andre Custodio on drums and Kevin G Yuen live at the Luggage Store Gallery: download

2) Dimesland - "Trophy Wives Under The Influence" from forthcoming LP "Creepmoon" on Vendlus

3) Karysun - "Failure Industry" from Interceptor LP on Destructure

4) Kicker - "Not You" from forthcoming debut LP on Tankcrimes. Video for "Lager and Chips"

5) The Monkey And The Mermaid - "Flat Tire" Dave's wife Danny and Dave's home recording project.

6) Hobgoblin - "Distract Francis" from soundtrack to The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari. Dave's friends, and occasional Dave guest bass, soundtracking silent horror films. On November Fire, DVDs and CDs available here.

7) Los Banos - Cyclecide Bike Rodeo band.

8) Wild Hunt - "Window To The Nether" from forthcoming LP "Before The Plane Of Angles", currently unsigned

9) Jesus Fucking Christ - "Sadistic Madness", unreleased track from future split on Inimical with Star Fucking Hipsters. All JFC releases on this label, along with one of the Kicker 7"s.

10) Neurosis - Unreleased Instrumental live at Gilman Street, probably 1989, Pain Of Mind lineup. Track found on online bootleg. Song played once live.

Something he chose to leave out of his playlist that he had a hand in the production of was the delightful band Shitty Fucker, which he refers to as Essy Effer... that is, if he were to mention them on WFMU. As it turns out, we didn't have the time, but here is a link to where their recordings can be found.....
And to be sure there was even less seriousness happening in the show, he informed me that he was going to see the B-52s and the Human League later in the week. He rocks and is not afraid to dance! Thanks Dave!

This week's guest on Peer Pressure is the one and only Carl Canedy: drummer for The Rods, and producer of many a groundbreaking thrash record including LPs from Anthrax, Exciter, TT Quick, Helstar, OverKill and Possessed. The program airs right after this post goes up, so get listening if you aren't already, folks--you'll be glad you did!

Here's a drum solo from Carl from a couple of years back:

A Powerful Suggestion to an Enveloping Journey; Decimus LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 8.12.2011

Pat Murano waited a good, long time to fly completely solo, but when he did, it was worth the wait for performer and listeners alike. Starting out as a founding member of the No Neck Blues Band, and during that time, co-founding and co-piloting the excellent project K Salvatore (I owned and enjoyed many K Salvatore recordings before I made the connection that Pat was involved), Pat became even more active in the past half-decade or so, starting the outstanding and distinctive black-metal band Malkuth (or "Mal-koot," as our French friends render it.) Malkuth was, to say the least, a surprising move, that someone from two of NY's premier improvised-music combos would also have up his sleeve a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind voice in metal's much-maligned and misunderstood bastard-son subgenre. (You can hear Malkuth's Jan 2010 live My Castle of Quiet session by clicking here.) As if that weren't enough, in the last year, Pat whipped out yet another great improv duo, the excellent Key of Shame, with Mark Morgan of Sightings (you can hear KoS on Brian Turner's show, coming up September 6), and last but surely not least, his mind-expanding solo project, Decimus, which made its WFMU debut two weeks ago on My Castle of Quiet.

It goes almost without saying that Pat has a lot of music in him, all of it remarkably parsed out with little or no stylistic overlap, and without question, Decimus is the most melodic, uniquely psychedelic and focused (naturally, being a solo oeuvre) of the lot. This performance, rendered live without a score and only minor beforehand preparation, is a supreme effort in patient, mindful listening, and responding in kind, a focal point, a beam of individual will with little precedent in New York music. To render evolving, encompassing drones, and/or high-volume collage or "wall" noise as it's called, is an achievement in and of itself, and we've heard many a great session along those lines on The Castle—hopefully I've presented the "cream" of local and nationwide artists working in that milieu—but to do something like Decimus is another matter entirely, in that it's one individual really sounding like a "band," and as Pat expressed in the post-session interview (and I paraphrase), to change the environment in this way is to change people's minds via suggestion. In my personal view, the Decimus works achieve this in spades, and as a result sit comfortably alongside some of my most-favorite music—because a true journey occurs, and to follow that composer's gentle yet powerful suggestion, to take the journey, is the great joy of listening.

This particular set, "Decimus H" (as Decimus LPs are numbered, and digital and/or live works are lettered) is highly recommended for fans of Conrad Schnitzler (R.I.P.), Asmus Tietchens, instrumental works by Throbbing Gristle, and for a more contemporary reference, Hive Mind. It's sure to please, in general, fans of the more electronic side of Krautrock music, and post-TG global-"industrial" electronics.

Huge thanks to engineer Ernie Indradat for helming yet another successful Castle session, his sensitivity to many types of music is plainly evident in the body of work he's done with the show. And yet again, Tracy Widdess saves the day by making a valid rendering of my amateur photo capture of an artist who plays in near-complete darkness. Boundless gratitude to Pat for sharing this excellent work with WFMU and My Castle of Quiet listeners.

Decimus has many recordings available, including several on LP (two of them very new) and more for listening and download or purchase on his bandcamp page.

Week in WFMU: 8/15 - 8/21

Readers: Sorry for late post this week!

Monday, Liz Berg welcomed pop duo High Places to her show for a morning wake-up call. Rob Barber and Mary Pearson, who have a new album entitled "Original Colors" forthcoming on Thrill Jockey, are in the midst of a U.S. tour and will come to Glasslands in Brooklyn this Thursday. Hear Liz's archive here! Her show is on every Monday from 9 AM to noon.

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Also on Monday, the Icelandic singer Kalli stopped by Irene Trudel's show to perform. Kalli, aka Karl Henry, traveled to Nashville to record his second solo album; the result is a dark and dreamy melding of folk and alt-country. Check out Irene's archive for the live set, and hear her every Monday from noon to 3 PM.

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Tuesday morning, legend of latin soul Joe Bataan joined Marty McSorley for a chat before a Central Park Summerstage show. The archive is up -- listen and learn more about Bataan's rich, 40+ year career. Marty can be heard on the web every Tuesday from 6 to 9 AM.

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On Diane's Peer Pressure! segment this week, she will be talking with Gaye Advert of The Adverts. Original Adverts bassist and punk icon Gaye will be discussing her life in punk rock, playing some of the music she is into nowadays, and taking your comments via the playlist. For the conversation and guest DJ set, listen to Diane's Kamikaze Fun Machine, Tuesday from noon to 3 PM!

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Archie Patterson, founder of the music magazine Eurock, fills in for Tony Coulter on his Give the Drummer Radio show. In the 1980s Archie also formed Eurock Distribution and the Eurock label, which released cassettes by artists including Ilitch, Pascal Comelade, and the Plastic People of the Universe. Listen to Archie's show on the Give the Drummer Radio stream, Tuesday from noon to 3 PM. You can also read Tony's interview with him for this-here blog.

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On Wednesday, Evan "Funk" Davies has live sets from TWO bands! First, French garage-pop sensations the Limiñanas, who put out two great singles last year and followed those with an LP on the Trouble in Mind label. They had Evan's #1 record of 2010, and will be at Cake Shop on Thursday the 18th. Then, post-punk heroes APB, who were Evan's first guests back in 2006, return for another great performance to celebrate the release of their latest album Jaguar. It all happens 8/17, from 9 PM to midnight!

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Thursday morning, join Jason Sigal and his guest Ami Dang, whose album Hukam has been on rotation at WFMU and on the Free Music Archive. Dang, a native of Baltimore, is trained in both voice and sitar -- she draws on Bollywood and North Indian classical music as well as the American canon. She performs at the Knitting Factory tonight (8/16), and comes to Talk's Cheap with a live percussionist 8/18 from 9 AM to noon.

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Fabio organizes a tribute to Conrad Schnitzler on Strength Through Failure, Thursday afternoon 8/18 from 3 to 6. Schnitzler, who passed away this month, was a key figure in the development of psychedelic rock, electronic music, and experimental music in Germany beginning in the late 1960s; Fabio, along with Schnitzler's long-time friend Gen Ken Montgomery, will air seldom-heard works including live mixing from Schnitzler's Cassette Concerts.

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On The Long Rally with Scott McDowell, Eleven Twenty Nine will come to perform a hot summer session. The guitarists Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Marc Orleans (Sunburned, D. Charles Speer & the Helix), plus drummer Michael Evans (God is My Co-Pilot), bring their blend of cosmic blues and psychedelic drift to the program. Friday 8/19, from 9 AM to noon!

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Lastly and not-to-be-missed-ly, Joe McGasko hosts pioneers Jean and June Millington of Fanny, the first all-female rock band to be signed to a major label in the early '70s. The Millington sisters are back with a new album, "Play Like a Girl," and will be talking with Joe and playing a few songs. Listen to them on Surface Noise 8/21, from midnight to 3 AM.

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Next week: Voyageurs will be on Liz's show, Marissa Nadler on Dark Night of the Soul with Julie, Digby Pearson of Earache Records will join Diane, and Do or DIY with People Like Us will have Osymyso! And more! Please consult WFMU's Upcoming page for upcoming special programs, anytime you wish.

My Birthday Veil; Alive and Kicking with Lady Piss, 8.5.2011

In a creative universe where everything but everything is postmodern, where citation of creative influences is unnecessary and irrelevant, where "might appeal to fans of ____" doesn't go the mile or two that it used to, what impassions me personally about a band? Why this one and not so many others? I'll try and delineate.... It's the casual earnestness, for one, the way Lady Piss just do, simply lay it down, jumping from one well-written, expertly crafted song to another, with notions of "rock" or "punk" or "metal" or "heavy music" casually abandoned in the face and favor of free-flowing creativity. This is what they do, this is who they are, and miles-above-average song composition and arranging is so very key to their presentation, and sets them obviously apart (to my ears) from the mass of bands on myspace, or Facebook, or wherever. Noel's intelligent, gloomily animated, on-key and fully immersed horror-host delivery of the lyrics and vocal element of the band also propel Lady Piss forward, in a way that simply eludes many bands of their ilk. It's just the right alchemical balance of everything—a perfect moment in time in the form of a rock band.

I hear echoes of The Birthday Party, The Jesus Lizard and many of my historical favorites in these seven songs, though none of that would matter a whit if the songs weren't so damn good and rendered with the irrefutable oomph of a mass UFO sighting. Any band that drives from Baltimore to New Jersey to play an unpaid session at 12:30 a.m., on a moderately popular show on a widely beloved radio station (that and one gig in Brooklyn two nights later) has the right stuff in carefree abundance, and the need (because to "want" is childish) to put their stuff forward in a forum like The Castle, where I made it very clear that I believed in them, supported what they were doing, and felt wholeheartedly that they had the ability to reach greater heights in their field. By now, it's my hope that most regular Castle listeners know that the invitation to an artist to perform live on the show is never extended flippantly, or without this core belief. Like many who have come before me, I choose to believe in music, and its performers, rather than God or such other misty intangibles.

So, enough leaden praise—you've got the point; here now are the songs. 

Expert and enthusiastic live engineering by Diane "Kamikaze" Farris. Colorful, high-impact manipulation of my band photo as always by Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting. You can pick up a copy of the Streaming e.p. (all six songs are featured in this set) by writing to Lady Piss on myspace, or through bandcamp, where you may choose to purchase a record with a free download code, or just grab the digital album—such greatness to be had for three measly American dollars. Endless gratitude to the band for making my birthday number 47 something more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

Recent WFMU New Bin Faves

Terrors - Lagan Qord (Weird Forest) Somewhere in the cold grey spaces between Amen Dunes and Kurt Vile live the faraway, mournfully woozy guitar ballads of Terrors, the home-recording project of Elijah Forrest, whoever that is (I'd like to know).  Lagan Qord is a CD & vinyl issue of 2 years' worth of cassette releases.  Check his cover of "God Bless the Child", which sounds almost like John Cale demoing tracks for Nico's Chelsea Girls sessions.(Scott Williams)

Clap - Have You Reached Yet? LP (Sing Sing) The best in Stones-y 1972 glam/garage/punk/rawk, from Manhattan Beach CA. Legit vinyl reissue by the Sing Sing label who also brought us power-pop / first-wave punk gems by Liquid Stone, Straightshooter, De Cylinders. And the bass player's name is Jim Morrison. Audio: "Middle of the Road". (Jason Sigal)

Asian Women On the Telephone - Chelsea Grandpa (self-released) Asian Women on the Telephone? My Lord, what would Yuri Andropov make of this mysterious pseudonym-attired bunch of miscreants? The tracks on this Moscow quintet's Chelsea Grandpa CD-R open up clogged passages in one's 3^rd ear by driving a motherfausting caveman club right through it. All the evidence required is on the falsetto-melt of "Scania-Man"/"Commandment 69" and the Flipper meets Can of "High Grade". Recorded live and released without any post-production, the mangled stew seems to emanate from somewhere between a state of visionary mental instability and a healthy sense of the absurd. Just try to get through the damaged guitar/keyboard/drums of "Feeling Round Dance" and the lysergic space portal of "Aspect-Son" without seeing a wood nymph on a tricycle wielding a battle axe. Hopefully this lunatic fringe will invade U.S. shores soon. Judging by AWOTT's video clips, the lo-fi free-psych-noise gurgitation-rock costume-drama is a killer spectacle! Come to think of it, I bet Yuri would be proud. You can download material (several albums worth!) via the Free Music Archive here! (Daniel Blumin)

Various - Play That Beat Mr. Raja Volume 1 (Cartilage) Totally boss French-compiled document of that Tamil film industry's greatest hits between 1977-1984. Well directed and curated assortment of Kollywood dancefloor busters that burst with genre-confusion, rawness and bubbly fun all around while being pulled in three directions by traditional Indian arrangements, Westernisms and the state-of-the-art (for the 80's) production techniques. Most recently Andy Votel's Finders Keepers has issued two volumes of one of the stars of this comp, Illaiyaraaja ("Vikram Vikram" MP3) but there's a wide assortment of greats onboard for this one. Audio: Agni Natchakhram "Raaja Rajathi" (Brian Turner)

Afuche - Highly Publicized Digital Boxing Match (Cuneiform) Possibly the last influences you might expect these days to come out of Brooklyn are indeed where the most fertile seeds get planted: Afuche's third disc (and first for Cuneiform) comes with a description sticker affixed to the case that bring up the likes of Zappa and Yes, admittedly not two major components of influence on the block these days. Magma and King Crimson have fared a bit better in injecting themselves into prog's 21st century, and quite often that influence finds itself dosed a bit with some rocket fuel as evidenced in bands like the Zs, Psychic Paramount or Upsilon Acrux. Hence, Afuche strut out their wild and wooly time signatures with a little fried production, but mostly lay back for some live-sounding straightforward compositions that allow for a fantastic array of sideways seepage: afro-cuban experimentalism, bareboned baritone sax, scratchy guitars, JB's-style get-down. Audio: "They're In There". (Brian Turner)

       Salyu x Salyu - S(o)un(d)beams - (Toys Factory) Just in time for another Planet of the Apes reboot, Cornelius is back. The name on the album might read "Salyu x Salyu," but the contents are pure Keigo Okayama, in the producer's chair and turning mild-mannered former teen-pop vocalist Salyu into the magnetic center of an immaculate stereo-panned wonderland. After the disappointing blurriness of 2006's Sensuous, the annoying-to-type S(o)un(d)beams returns the Shibuya-kei staple to the unpredictable harmony-laden otherness he accessed so magically on 1997's Fantasma and 2002's Point. If I understood Japanese, I'd probably be more excited by lyrical contributions from Yura Yura Teikoku's Shintaro Sakamoto. Salyu's rich voice ricochets Petra Haden-like amid bleep grids and allows Okayama a reason to get legitimately blue 'n' moody, like the dripping "Hostile To Me." The occasional funk experiment, meh. Still!  (Jesse Jarnow)

Week in WFMU: 8/8 - 8/14

On Airborne Event, Dan Bodah welcomes Jozef Van Wissem for a live set of trance music for lute. Van Wissem's new album, The Joy That Never Ends, is out now on Important Records and he'll be performing at Littlefield on August 21st. Hear him on Dan's show Monday 8/8, from 9 PM to midnight.

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Julie presents a set from Inkubus Sukkubus on Dark Night of the Soul, recorded at a show at the Camden Purple Turtle in London. The veteran Pagan-Goth band's members Tony and Candia McKormack also did an interview with Julie at a nearby pub; she'll air the interview directly after. Listen Tuesday morning from 3 to 6 AM.

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Marty McSorley is featuring two epic live sets on his program Tuesday: music by Oakland spaz-pop rockers Religious Girls, and a DJ set from Detroit's legendary DJ Assault (l.). Don't miss! Tuesday morning from 6 to 9 AM (web-only).

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This week's installment of Diane Kamikaze's "Peer Pressure!" will feature Chuck Dukowski, of Black Flag, OctoberFaction, SWA, Wurm, and Chuck Dukowski Sextet, co-owner of SST records. Tune in as he plays a 40-minute set of his favorite music, and talks about his influences and career. Comments and questions are welcome! Diane's Kamikaze Fun Machine is on Tuesday afternoon 8/9, from noon to 3 PM.

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On Brian Turner's show, progressive rock's The Psychic Paramount will make an appearance and play a live set. The group, which includes former members of Laddio Bolocko, have gained renown in the past ten years for their fresh take on instrumental rock music, using many-textured guitars/percussion to create what some deem a physical experience. Hear them live on Tuesday 8/9 from 3 to 6 PM.

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On Wednesday, get ready for Evan "Funk" Davies's Disco Dance Party 2011! Once in a blue moon, Evan devotes an entire show to disco music on vinyl -- this is the week listeners are invited to get down to his classic jams and little-heard gems of the '70s and '80s. Listen (and get down) on 8/10, from 9 PM to midnight!

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Then, as the party continues, join Noah on Coffee Break for Heroes and Villains for Mr. Len's All-Star Revue. Hear the illustrious Mr. Len on drums along with Kimani Rogers on keyboards -- together they are the duo Roosevelt Franklin -- and a slew of special guests! Thursday 8/11, from midnight to 3 AM.

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Wm. Berger and My Castle of Quiet present a live, in-the-moment set from Decimus -- solo project of Pat Murano (No-Neck Blues Band, K Salvatore, Key of Shame, Malkuth). With Decimus, Murano composes pieces ranging anywhere from 7 to 45 minutes in length, working with multiple keyboards and a mixer from a tabletop vantage point. The effect is melodic, at times psychedelic. Hear it from midnight to 3 AM, Friday 8/12.

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And lastly, Terre T is honored to host Ivan Julian on the Cherry Blossom Clinic. Julian, an architect of the 1970s punk scene, played guitar with Richard Hell and the Voidoids -- he's the one who came up with the intro to "Blank Generation" -- the Outsets, the Lovelies, and even the Clash. His new album, The Naked Flame, is out now on the 2:59 label. Tune in and hear him on Saturday, 8/13, from 3 to 6 PM!

Week in WFMU: 8/1 - 8/7

On Tuesday afternoon 8/2, as part of her new segment "Peer Pressure!", Diane Kamikaze welcomes Aesop Dekker, drummer in Ludicra, Worm Ouroboros, and Agalloch (at left). Dekker will be chatting with Diane about his own music and some of his favorites and influences -- listeners are strongly encouraged to comment and ask questions via the playlist! "Peer Pressure!" will be a regular feature happening from 1 to 2 PM every Tuesday on Diane's Kamikaze Fun Machine (Tuesdays from 1 PM to 3 PM).

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Then, on Brian Turner's show, Brian hosts a live set from Brooklyn's The Men. The four-piece post-punk band boasts "seriously driving punk rock with intricate, layered structures amidst the raw power"; their new album Leave Home is out now on Sacred Bones Records. Hear them Tuesday 8/2, from 3 to 6 PM.

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Special guest DJs visit Duane's show on Wednesday -- Daniel Collas and Sean Marquand, founders of the NYC-based psych/disco/funk Phenomenal Handclap Band (l.) will stop by to play records. They'll also preview some music from their new album, upcoming projects with Bryan Ferry, and more -- listen on 8/3, from noon to 3 PM!

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Founders Lane Steinberg and Luis Accorsi (r.) of Cracked Latin, along with drummer Charlie Zeleny, will perform live on Irwin's program Wednesday 8/3, from 3 to 6 PM. The band, which fuses Latin-American elements with late-'60s psychedelia, usually performs as a ten-piece orchestra; this week the stripped-down trio takes a more relaxed approach.

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Portland, Oregon's Daniel Menche joins Do or DIY with People Like Us to play a 30-minute mix of his personal favorite vocal noise/chanting/singing/babbling songs. The composition, "Acapocalypse," comes from a longtime supporter of Do or DIY. Listen to Daniel on Wednesday 8/3, from 8 to 9 PM.

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On Coffee Break for Heroes and Villains, Noah is proud to welcome Schoolly D, the "reservoir dog from Philly," who will play some special tracks and talk about them. Schoolly D also has a show upcoming at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Friday, with Freeway. Hear the DJ set late Wednesday night/Thursday morning 8/4, from midnight to 3 AM.

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Thursday afternoon, as Todd-o-Phonic Todd fills in for Joe Belock, he'll conduct an interview with legendary Philadelphia DJ Jerry Blavat aka "The Geator with the Heater." Blavat, a pioneer in the profession and inventor of the "oldies" format, just released his autobiography, You Only Rock Once -- which details, among other things, the start of his career on the TV show Bandstand; lifelong friendships with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra; and a decade-long FBI investigation resulting from his relationship with a mafia boss. A must-hear for radio fanatics! 8/4, from noon to 3 PM.

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Finally, Wm. M. Berger presents a live set from Lady Piss on My Castle of Quiet. The Baltimore band are making their first foray up to the NYC area, on a tour that also includes a show at the Charleston in Williamsburg on Saturday. Comparisons have been made between Lady Piss and the Jesus Lizard, and their lineup includes former members of Triac, Fight Amp, Dactyl, Carrion, and Flowers in the Attic. Their debut EP is titled "Streaming." Listen to them play on 8/5, from midnight to 3 AM.