Intelligent Life On Planet Rock
Phantom Power (Your Halloween Soundtrack)
I'm currently listening to "Songs Of The Dead",a compilation CD made for me by a friend, who takes an annual week off to celebrate Halloween. His CD is more soundtrack based, featuring the likes of "Poltergeist", "Evil Dead 2", "House On Haunted Hill" and "The Grudge". It makes quite good background music for a Sunday morning, I'm not reduced to terror yet, that happened last night when I heard something so horrible and sickening, I ran to the toilet and brought up Friday nights chicken curry;I'll never make the mistake of watching or listening to the X Factor again, rest assured.
As Halloween is approaching, what are you favourite pieces of spooky music, or the songs that could relate to all things ghastly and terrible. I'll be sending my friend a return CD of Terror songs, what else should I include to creep him out, I've these down for starters:
"What's He Building"-Tom Waits
"Creep"-Radiohead
"The Hollow Man"-Marillion
"One Of My Turns"-Pink Floyd
As for films, I'm a wimp, but I can't watch The Exorcist alone and the most frightening thing I ever saw, was The Woman In Black, in the West End a few years ago. I can't even finish Susan Hill's original novel, the horrible sense of foreboding threatens to strangle you, with the turn of every page..........
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The Floyd's
Saucerful of Secrets track creeps me out, as does Careful With That Axe Eugene, which I always associate with tv adverts for The Shining back in winter 1980 or thereabouts, when I first heard the song. I Know You by The Incredible String Band is pretty high in the weird vibe factor as well. Bed Time Story by Tom Waits, though not spooky, is twisted and hilarious, but not for the youngsters I would imagine. Waking The Witch by Kate Bush is decidely strange, and Eno/Byrne's Jezebel Spirit is a tad uncomfortable.
edit - a televised version of The Woman In Black in the mid-90s had a scene in it that scared me witless. The Exorcist is still disturbing, and Irish Fairy stories are genuinely dark and twisted. I thought that the Blair Witch project was a load of bollox though.
Wimpy
Yeah I remember the TV version of The Woman In Black, scary it was.
The first half of the stage version I saw was almost quite light hearted, it lured the audience into a false sense of security. The second half was terrifying, I left the theatre and ran through the streets of London in terror. I slept with the lights on, back at the hotel!
Still freaks me out too
The scene where she appears above him in bed? Creepiest thing I have ever seen on TV.
That's The Exact Scene !
When he's in bed, delerious, and her wild, sweaty demonic face suddenly hits you out of nowhere. I have never seen anything that has terrified me as much. And that includes The Exorcist.
No Laughing Matter
There's a moment on the stage play, where a door is suddenly opened and you see the woman in black rocking in a posessed like manner on a rocking chair. She lets out a deathly scream as she rocks back and forth, it's terrifying.
This one?
Sweet dreams
Oh Lord
I seriously don't know if I have the cojones to play it. I'm supposed to be having a mellow day in Glastonbury and this will just give me the fear!
Go on,
you know you want to. She's waiting. For you...
No! and again No!
You evil wretch.
;-).
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
:-)
When the last bat has roosted
and Adrian Chiles has ceased broadcasting once more, I will brave it again, fool that I am. You fiend.
heres a halloween spotify playlist
Fancydress.com Halloween Party: http://open.spotify.com/user/jeremya13/playlist/1aISfFhufR5okBV4DArreO
I think every kid lives near a house like this one
"She's in perpetual midnight"
Class !
I kind of fancy her, wicked and all. Does that make me a wrong'un ?
Screamin' abdabs
Screamin' Jay Hawkins on Granada TV:
Screamin' Lord Sutch:
Playlist
Here's another phantom playlist:
http://open.spotify.com/user/lordwright/playlist/1fO8IdZ30YQ5Y0x854XJwq
"Frying tonight!!"
Scary ska: "Ghostfaced Killer" by The Dead 60's...
Horror hip hop: "A Haunting" by Roots Manuva...
I forgot
Dr. John and Gris Gris. Spooky voodoo vibe and one hell of a track/album.
Dr John'll cure all y'all's ills
Good call. Put "Gris Gris" on and colourful, weird-scented smoke starts seeping up through the floorboards.
It's a shame there isn't more YouTube footage of his early shows. This is from the later album, "Sun, Moon and Herbs":
Lucifer Sam
by the true Floyd. A psychedelic pop masterpiece about a Siamese cat with occult powers called Lucifer, belonging to a witch called Jennifer Gentle, and although he rarely leaves her side, he seems to shape shift, padding around at midnight whilst also taking to the high seas. Truly weird. Truly brilliant. The way the guitar literally growls at one point to the sound of whiplashes. Incomparable Syd greatness.
Sorry , I'm on a roll here
'Witches Hat' by the Incredible String Band is of it's head and truly weird in a benign way.Rings made of black cherries, anthropomorphic monkeys, parafin stove hats, and deliciously witchy harpsichords with a trippy ocarina. Out there !
Not forgetting
good old Arthur Brown and Fire.
Aumgn
from Can's Tago Mago is deeply disturbing in every way and utter genius.
What about Elvis Costello
and the Attractions? "I Want You" from "Blood & Chocolate" is pretty dark stuff.
This chills the blood
Gosh, that takes me back!
Gosh, that takes me back!
Yes...
...scared the shit out of me as a youngster.
Not sure if this is the right kind of scary
The song that has the most unsettling effect on me is Iggy Pop's Mass Production (last song on The Idiot). When those synths start going seriously out of tune at the end, it fair gives me the heebie jeebies. Listen if you dare...
For your creepy listening pleasure...
Jack the ripper: Fuzztones
The Beauty of Poisin: Specimen
I was a teenage zombie. Fleshtones
you can't get him frankenstein: Fleshtones
I was a teenage werewolf: Cramps
zombie dance: Cramps
Werewolf: Southern Culture on the Skids
Strychnine: Sonics
The Witch: Thee Headcoats
Sleepy hollow: The Last Word
Release the bats: Birthday Party
Sympathy for the devil: Stones
Good Work
Some excellent ones here, thanks. Kind of wish I was having a Halloween party now for all these great songs!
This one
is always a party favourite:
And, for the childhood memories (in every sense):
"Werewolf" by Michael Hurley
This continues to give me the creeps:
Creeps
That is really creepy,added it to the playlist as well as Ghostbusters and Ghostown!
The Escape
by Scott Walker gives me a serious case of the willies.
A couple more that I've not seen mentioned so far:
Particularly:
MARTIN by Soft Cell
THE DEVIL IS AN ENGLISHMAN - Thomas Dolby
ATTACK OF THE GHOST RIDERS - Raveonettes
GHOSTS - Japan
http://open.spotify.com/user/spanky808/playlist/00YypIsFzcdcpa5MXF22X1
Plus COME TO DADDY by Aphex Twin of course, but it's not on Spotify
The mighty Kevin Ayers
'Song From A Bottom of A Well' - deranged.
'Irreversible Neural Damage' - further derangement with the assistance of Nico.
The great Jim Pembroke....
'Tip Toe Through the Graveyard' by Hot Thumbs O'Riley - Jim Pembroke's Wigwam spin-off, whose album 'Wicked Ivory' is a gem.
Spooky
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
Nico - Doors' cover The End (her death rattle 'scream' in particular) and there's one on her 'Desertshore' album with weird trumpet sounds that I find somehow disturbing
Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead, of course
Radiohead - Push Pulk, odd voice distortion, quite creepy
What A Creep
Two more to add, the first is the Ray Noble Orchestra and "Midnight,The Stars & You", it appears at the end of The Shining film.Kind of creepy if you know the film well, thanks Paul!
Ryan Adam's Monsters and I was going to mention Phantom Walls by The The, but it's not on spotify.
Mastermind theme...
...Approaching Menace, as it's called.
And in a similar, menacing, TV theme vein...
At least for the first minute, at which point it becomes groovy:
Huey Lewis And The Spooks
And this is where Ray Parker Junior's Ghostbusters riff was nickd from:
creepy Crawley
Subway Song - The Cure
Susperia soundtrack - Goblin
Bought this last year
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halloween-Hootenanny-Various-Artists/dp/B00000DD...
Cracking album. Unfortunately, none of the tracks appear to be on Spotify, so you'll have to take my word for it.
The Violent Femmes
Country Death Song. Haven't heard it in years but it is available on Spotify.If you haven't heard it give it a try.
Negativland
Yellow, Black and Rectangular
Also scary
but not for the same reasons as some of the other posts.
This can send a few shivers down the spine..
... on a dark and windy night
"Black Wings" by Tom Waits
"Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
"The Mummy" by Bob McFadden & Dor
"Welcome to my Nightmare" by Alice Cooper (on The Muppet Show)
CLARA
by Scott Walker will surely freak out the most hardened of criminals
I know I mention it at every opportunity, but it is truly breathtaking / terrifying in equal measure.
Listen at own peril:
http://open.spotify.com/track/6EOFeJTVQSH8I4l4Fpm3uh
12 minutes of quiet / sound of death dynamics about Mussolini's mistress, Clara Petacci. Although looking at the exceptionally bizarre lyrics, it is hard to see the connection.
Put this on at a party and REALLY freak people out!
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/scott_walker/clara.html
Purcell... *Shudder*
Tom Waits...Don't go into that Barn
tinkling piano, rattling pipes & a dead kid in a wheelchair
The Changeling, a 1980 chiller starring George C. Scott and not that load of ask-me-bollix by Clint Eastwood and Angie Jolie is, to date, the only film to actually send me behind the couch with the fear. I watched it all alone on TV late one night whilst suffering from the horrors after a long weekend and it absolutely scared me shitless. After years of searching I finally picked up the soundtrack in Amoeba records in SF last year and it is equally as chilling as the actual film which, sadly, I can't seem to find anywhere.
The Changeling
Looks like it's available on Amazon for under a fiver these days.
Deadly
Cheers for that kind sir.
Great choice
and a seriously scary film.
ooky
and the late great Vic Mizzy telling the story of recording it :
Burn The Flames
Thin White Rope's contribution to the Roky Erickson tribute album "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye".Scarifying,horrifying...great fun.
Some crackers...
...on that album. REM doing 'I walked with a Zombie' and 'If you have ghosts' by John wesley Harding and the Good Liars (whoever they might be...) are obviously in tune with the theme of this thread. Here's something a bit contemporary and and the album is one I've been playing all year:
Creepiest TV Theme Ever
There is something really quiet spooky about this theme tune and especially when the presenter says "hello" at the end.
The muffled sound of the subconscious
The full version of the "Picture Box" theme, with its weird discordant bits, is definitely creepy: http://bit.ly/1IZ3wo
Shit a box.
You're not wrong, Nick.
Bloody hell that's odd. I used to watch the prog at school but you can just imagine Roald Dahl or someone similar looming over to say "Hello chidren.." in a cold and mirthless way..
Kids nowadays miss out on quality stuff like this.
What instruments were used? It sounds like a tape of steel drums played in reverse.
John Entwistle - You're Mine
on the theme tune note
As Bill Bailey right notes, the Magic Roundabout tune is a bit sinister.
Especially the secret middle section.
Ghostbusters vs Public Enemy