Halloween Week: Day 5, Soundtracks

I used to date a girl who would say, 'I could probably watch horror movies, if it weren't for the music,'. Got my wheels spinning on the importance of music and sound-design in horror and thriller movies. Atonal strings, to build the tension, to alert you to the fact that someone is probably about to bite it. Heavy breathing and first person POV, to let you know (or at least think) that a psycho is watching the character, who is probably about to bite it.
Truth of the matter is horror movie soundtracks have a lot of qualities that i like in any ol' music, which is to say it is dark, demented, and generally fucked up. And they can get away with being totally unrestrained and over the top, which is something many, say Metal, bands just can't pull off, without being cheesy as fuck. So its nice to sometimes lay the atmospherics on thick, to know, "i am listening to horror music," and that is okay.
So i've pulled together some odds and ends, certainly not definitive, but most of which is damn fine. Hopefully, if yr anything like me, you don't just pull these goodies out a week out of the year, cuz yr not gonna get through this list in the next two days. Unless yr a real freak, in which case, i like you.
Included here, you will find yr standard, 'creepy music, interspersed with dialog from the movie,' as well as straight orchestral scores. You will find creeky haunted house tunes, vintage '80s synthesizer blasts, as well as a some vintage bloopy sci-fi, just to cover all the bases. I think you will find that all the examples i have provided stand up on their own, whether you've seen the movie or not, and are not pure schlock novelty.
Of the batch, probably my favorite is The House of the Devil OST, which has more eerie atmospheric piano pieces than you can shake an inverted crucifix at, with a second runner up going to the Phantasm OST, which is surprisingly listenable. Noteworthy also is the classic Goblin soundtrack to Romero's 1978 Dawn of the Dead, and i am also including the music that got used in the worldwide distribution, which i've not heard yet, but will probably rule.
I hope yr having a good Halloween week, and enjoying the treats i've been putting up here.

OSTs



Fri the 13th part 1











Phantasm OST











House of the Devil OST










Goblin version
Incidental Music (unreleased)







The Terminator (definitive edition)












The Abominable Dr. Phibes











Forbidden Planet









The Wicker Man











Carnival of Souls

Halloween Week: Day 3, Concerts

One of my ultimate favorite Halloween traditions is to go out and see live music. Seems to really embrace the ritualistic nature of the day, for me, harness it with the collective will of hundreds or thousands of fellow participants. A kind of mass ritual. With the trimmings and trappings of phantasmagoric costumes, the frequent presence of drugs and sex, (for those that are into that kind of thing,) and the volume and SWEAT that accompanies rock'n'roll/rave/wherever you happen to be, its no wonder that this is like my Pagan Christmas/New Years. The ultimate Release.
Not to mention the fact that most musical acts are moved by the ambience that hangs in the air, and a lot of the time, you get shows that are DARK and HEAVY as hell. My favorite.
Halloween is also a significant anniversary in my life, had a number of life altering events occuring on and around these days. So it tends to call up a lot of memories, along with the typical childhood nostalgia aspect, all of which makes for a heady brew that can be channeled into a magickal snowball and flung at whatever. Probably the most significant, as in life-altering, event of my life was when i got married in Las Vegas on 10.31.98, coming up on 12 years ago. The marriage itself didn't go well, but the wedding was a fucking blast. Seeing Phish play at the Thomas and Mack Arena was my honeymoon.
Almost as influential as my rapidfire descent into poverty and adulthood, and eventual divorce and all the other craziness that was to follow, was this was the auspicious day when i was to become a Velvet Underground devotee, the band wearing VU's 'Loaded' as their musical costume that night. I was blown away by the druggy/poppy atmosphere of the record, mixed with the dark magick of the night and the sensory overload of being in Las Vegas, hooked me immediately and left me a drooling, slavering convert, of which i remain to this day.
So my secret alterior motive for this post, which is one i've been harboring in my heart for a while, is to contend the fact that PHISH IS A GOOD BAND. A fucking great one, as a matter of fact. I will probably not win any converts on this contention, but i want this to be the kind of place that really embraces contradiction and paradox, that shuns posing and posturing and the popular opinion. I really and truly love a lot of fucking hippy music. They are great fucking musicians (though not perfect, and prone to excess and lack of discretion or self-editing or restraint.)
My years following and listening to Phish have probably been the most influential on my listening habits and musical taste, to date. One way or another, i ended up getting into, because of this band: Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, Tom Waits, and the universe of improvised music, such as jazz.
So today, i am posting all of Phish's musical costumes, over the years. The White Album, Quadrophenia, Remain in Light, Loaded, and Exile on Main Street. I think every one of these shows is utterly amazing, and well worth checking out. I was gonna post some other bands playing on Halloween, but i ran out of time.
A bit of a long shot, but if anyone reading this happens to have a copy of Spiritualized playing at the Metro in Chicago on 10.31.01 and cared to share, you would have my eternal gratitude. I do believe there are copies floating around, somewhere, and that was one of the most magickal Halloweens i've experienced so far.
This year, unfortunately, i don't think i'm getting into anything too wild and crazy. I'm pretty introspective, at the moment, and there's nothing too mind-blowing going on, and i've got some financial considerations to take care of, so it may be a contemplative one for me, this year.





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Part 3

Halloween Week: Day 2, This One's for the Spooky Kids

Here's something a little more, whimsical, after yesterday's harrowing horror-fest.
When i was a kid, i wanted to listen to records like these all year long. I requested this haunted house record in June, last day of school, and was looked at like i'm insane. Those records are only for one day a year, heralded with black and orange crepe paper. I beg to disagree, citing a well-known Ministry anthem whose name i will not speak.

The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds... sets the mold for a particular type of novelty record; one side of spooky, campfire tales, one side of foley sound effects, for yr own insidious purposes. It is pretty much the pinnacle of the form, but i am also including a number of emulators, sold out of the back of Monster magazines in the early '60s.

The other style featured here are straight up spooky tales, a number of classics from Masters like Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Allen Poe, one even narrated by the virtuoso of horrific voice-over, Vincent Price. I am happy to report that a number of these stand up on their own, even outside of the calendar date, featuring, well, good writing! Ambrose Bierce's An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge is classic haunted Americana, even if it seems hackneyed in retrospect, having been cited and ripped off so often. It was also a real pleasure to re-discover The Fall of the House of Usher, which i probably haven't read since early adolescence. The reading by Richard Taylor is highly effective, with some sweet atmospheric music that i would probably listen to on its own.

One of the real treasures of this post is an album called Drop Dead! An Exercise of Horror by Arch Oboler, who was a long time actor and producer of a radio program called Lights Out!, which is also excellent and may show up here at some point, especially if y'all are interested, and this particular artifact is quite frankly, fucked up, especially considering the year of its origin. Its only real stumble is the last track, the morality play of The Laughing Man, but it was typical of the day to use science-fiction to point out that we're blowing ourselves up and poisoning ourselves.

I've had a blast listening to these all day. Pull out yr flashlights and stick 'em under yr chin. Sit in a circle, with only a candle for illumination. Shun the years of cynicism, and let the adrenaline rush of creaking doors and chains thrill yr senses!

oh ps... you should check this Folktellers record, its an excellent collection of American ghost tales.

Drop Dead! An Exercise in Horror


Fright!

Terror!

Horror!

Nightmare

The Haunting

Thrillers and Chillers

A Coven of Witches' Tales

Tales of Horror and Suspense

The Folktellers - Chillers

Thrilling Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House

oh pps.. you should really check those ray taylor poe readings! Utterly psychotropic, and the nearly free-jazz freakout guitar of The Pit and the Pendulum sounds like it could've been played by Derek Bailey, and must be heard to be believed!

Halloween Week: Day 1, Helloween Holocausts

So were are reaching the culmination of my favorite time of year, when the Autumn is romantic and reminiscent, kind but still spooky, before it grows icy claws and devours all its young. Obviously, Halloween is the peak of this season, and its my favorite day of the year, sort of like Christmas and New Year's Eve and my Birthday all rolled into one. So, this week, i will be commemorating the occasion, posting many goodies to soundtrack yr haunted houses, bobbing for apples, getting dressed up for bacchanalia, and generally celebrating the pagan gods.
So for starters, i bring you 4 slabs of quality Wolf Eyes, their Helloween Holocausts series, released on the American Tapes label. Full of scrapes, squeaks, and rumbles, ominous synth and macabre piano, maniacal laughter and incomprehensible whispering; this is truly TERRIFYING music as only the Wolf Eyes crew can do it. Its like being stalked by an unstoppable killing machine, at night. Its like holing up over night at the Evil Dead cabin. Its the sudden, depressing revelation that human life is fragile and insignificant.
Demonic.
Twisted.
Relentless.
Utterly badass, for those that like this kind of thing.

4 discs, 2.7 hours of terror. Enjoy.



Helloween Holocausts 1
Helloween Holocausts 2
Helloween Holocausts 3 & 4