31 Days of Hallowe'en, October 24
Earlier in the month I posted the Autumn music mix I made to enjoy throughout the season. Now that Hallowe'en is nearer, I give you the mix that will be taking over my iPod this week. It will probably also find its way onto my stereo system with other creepy noises and tunes all weekend next weekend (if my housemate doesn't scream like a banshee in protest)
Halloween Mix 2009
Jimmy Fallon - "Thoughts on Trick or Treating" This is a spoken word piece from SNL. It's dated now, but still funny. I tend to like to have one spoken piece in a mix, just to switch things up a bit.
Loreena McKennit - "Samhain Night" This one's pretty self explanatory, eh?
Hit Crew/Charles Gounod - Funeral March of the Marionette (The Alfred Hitchcock Theme). I love this piece. If you listen to it without the Hitchcock associations, you really can hear the story of a brave marionette. He was killed while fighting a duel with another marionette. There is a sharp discord at the beginning of the original piece, directly before the familiar "Hitchcock" chords, that stands in as the moment of his death. (There's a great video on youtube that someone has put together and the discord there occurs as someon cuts the marionette's strings). The funeral march that follows represents the other marionettes acting as pall bearers to take the dead puppet to his grave.
Mike Oldenfield - "Tubular Bells" (The Exorcist Theme) I'm not certain whether the creepiness of this song stems from the bells themselves or from the song's association with The Exorcist. I rather suspect that it is the association with the movie, because I've listened to several of Oldenfield's other bell songs and they don't have the quite the same sort of eerieness.
Danny Elfman - "Beetlejuice Theme" I enjoy the dark slashing undertones here and the way they contrast with the happier sound of the superimposed "Banana Boat" chorus. I tend to like Danny Elfman's music in general, probably because it is associated with movies I enjoy. It's highly commercial and not as complex as classical composers, but there is something in its ease that is quite charming.
"The Addams Family Theme" So if you haven't figured out that The Addams Family (the original 60s version with Carolyn Jones and John Astin) is one of my favorite things in the universe, you clearly haven't been reading my Halloween entries :) I can still remember being in my granny's living room on fall afternoons when re-runs would come on, and the both of us would sing and snap along with the tune. Yup, I had a special childhood. Granny also promised me her house and I used to think of ways I could make it look like the Addams mansion.
Daniel Caine - "The Munsters Theme" Though not as wonderfully eerie as the Addams Family, The Munsters had a great theme song, and the family had an awesome car. What I think I like most about this theme song is that it is like one of those late 50's surfing songs with a little electronica and a creepy laugh thrown in for good measure. Weird.
Totol Coelho - "Dracula's Tango" Ok, so I recently raided a friend's music collection and came across this little gem. I think it's absolutely hilarious. It kind of reminds me of the love child of "Ra-ra-Rasputin" and a Chopin tarantelle. Several of my "girls" have a "thing" for tango, so it didn't surprise me at all to find this on kliz9's music list, and I'm ever so glad I did.
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London" This one is just a classic. How can you not love song that notices and compliments a werewolf on his sartorial elegance and perfectly coiffed hair? *snort*
Alice Cooper & Vincent Price - "Black Widow" I suppose now would be an a propos time to confess my soft spot for Vincent Price. Although completely melodramatic, he did have one of those voices--the kind that reach directly into a person. Here, the song begins with a monologue by Price on the beauty of spiders, reaching the point of hysteria as he expounds on the eventual uprising of the black widow. Price's histrionics are then perfectly undercut by Cooper's menacing whisper as the song begins in earnest.
Puddle of Mudd - "Psycho" Another song I learned about from kliz9. She had used the song as background to an amazing Sweeney Todd video. I would put the link up, but I think youtube took the soundtrack down (boohiss). Do think about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street while this one is playing. Particularly in Tim Burton/Johnny Depp's incarnation, the story fits the song remarkably well.
Panic at the Disco - "This is Halloween" (From the remix of the Nightmare Before Christmas Album) More Tim Burton and Danny Elfman stuff. I love it when those two collaborate. This version is the remix rather than the original recording, because I think the remix sounds a bit more spooky.
Blue Oyster Cult - "Don't Fear the Reaper" I admit, I'm a total sucker for Shakespeare references, and any song that manages to pull up elements of carpe diem and Romeo and Juliet gets my vote any day.
Marilyn Manson - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" The original of this song was creepy enough (at least to my mind, since it's always associated with Annie Lennox in a dominatrix outfit and random cows), but Marilyn Manson's voice and electronic additions just ratchet the creepiness right up to epic levels.
Edwyn Collins - "Witchcraft" Yet another re-make. This one is not as good as Sinatra, but the remake itself is an unexpected element. That is to say, we expect to hear "Witchcraft" around Hallowe'en, but we expect to hear Sinatra's "Witchcraft". The difference here is enough to make the song interesting
Donovan - "Season of the Witch" Shameless 70s fluff. I blame kliz9 again. See this? This is my blame face.
Santana - "Black Magic Woman" Less creepy than seductive, but who would want to deny the seductive quality of this holiday? Santana's trademark velvety guitar keeps this song from growing stale even though I trot it out year after year.
Guns 'n' Roses - "Live and Let Die" Um, so I really didn't intend for this to be the Hallowe'en mix of remakes, but if "Live and Let Die" is going to be used in a mix like this, G'n'R is the only way to go. Don't get me wrong--I love Paul McCarthy and the Wings, but their version of this song always sounded a bit strangely upbeat to me, and I think Axl and the boys captured the chilling possibilities and cold hate potential in the lyrics
Garth Hudson - "Cruella DeVil" *blushes* Yup ANOTHER remake. This one was on a CD an ex gave me of remade Disney songs. It's such a strange and appropriate little thing, I just had to put it in.
Rocky Horror Picture Show - "Time Warp" If I ever manage to make a Hallowe'en mix good enough that it would not be improved by the addition of the "Time Warp" I will have reached one of my life goals. Also, I stuck it in because the housemate and I are planning on going to the midnight screening of RHPS this year (she's a Rocky virgin).
Sweeney Todd Soundtrack - "A Little Priest" Having already confessed my love for Tim Burton, you will probably have intuited my love for the vaguely macabre. "A Little Priest" fits that bill perfectly and also (very pleasingly) incorporates puns and word games-->this makes for a happy Birdie
Michael Jackson - "Thriller" The ultimate Hallowe'en song needs no comment, except to admonish you to go watch the video.
Should you like to download this mix, you will find it here: hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=N0VAP3NI (replace the 'xx' with 'tt' and you should be set to go). Fair warning, though, it's a large file (88 MB I think). Enjoy.
Halloween Mix 2009
Jimmy Fallon - "Thoughts on Trick or Treating" This is a spoken word piece from SNL. It's dated now, but still funny. I tend to like to have one spoken piece in a mix, just to switch things up a bit.
Loreena McKennit - "Samhain Night" This one's pretty self explanatory, eh?
Hit Crew/Charles Gounod - Funeral March of the Marionette (The Alfred Hitchcock Theme). I love this piece. If you listen to it without the Hitchcock associations, you really can hear the story of a brave marionette. He was killed while fighting a duel with another marionette. There is a sharp discord at the beginning of the original piece, directly before the familiar "Hitchcock" chords, that stands in as the moment of his death. (There's a great video on youtube that someone has put together and the discord there occurs as someon cuts the marionette's strings). The funeral march that follows represents the other marionettes acting as pall bearers to take the dead puppet to his grave.
Mike Oldenfield - "Tubular Bells" (The Exorcist Theme) I'm not certain whether the creepiness of this song stems from the bells themselves or from the song's association with The Exorcist. I rather suspect that it is the association with the movie, because I've listened to several of Oldenfield's other bell songs and they don't have the quite the same sort of eerieness.
Danny Elfman - "Beetlejuice Theme" I enjoy the dark slashing undertones here and the way they contrast with the happier sound of the superimposed "Banana Boat" chorus. I tend to like Danny Elfman's music in general, probably because it is associated with movies I enjoy. It's highly commercial and not as complex as classical composers, but there is something in its ease that is quite charming.
"The Addams Family Theme" So if you haven't figured out that The Addams Family (the original 60s version with Carolyn Jones and John Astin) is one of my favorite things in the universe, you clearly haven't been reading my Halloween entries :) I can still remember being in my granny's living room on fall afternoons when re-runs would come on, and the both of us would sing and snap along with the tune. Yup, I had a special childhood. Granny also promised me her house and I used to think of ways I could make it look like the Addams mansion.
Daniel Caine - "The Munsters Theme" Though not as wonderfully eerie as the Addams Family, The Munsters had a great theme song, and the family had an awesome car. What I think I like most about this theme song is that it is like one of those late 50's surfing songs with a little electronica and a creepy laugh thrown in for good measure. Weird.
Totol Coelho - "Dracula's Tango" Ok, so I recently raided a friend's music collection and came across this little gem. I think it's absolutely hilarious. It kind of reminds me of the love child of "Ra-ra-Rasputin" and a Chopin tarantelle. Several of my "girls" have a "thing" for tango, so it didn't surprise me at all to find this on kliz9's music list, and I'm ever so glad I did.
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London" This one is just a classic. How can you not love song that notices and compliments a werewolf on his sartorial elegance and perfectly coiffed hair? *snort*
Alice Cooper & Vincent Price - "Black Widow" I suppose now would be an a propos time to confess my soft spot for Vincent Price. Although completely melodramatic, he did have one of those voices--the kind that reach directly into a person. Here, the song begins with a monologue by Price on the beauty of spiders, reaching the point of hysteria as he expounds on the eventual uprising of the black widow. Price's histrionics are then perfectly undercut by Cooper's menacing whisper as the song begins in earnest.
Puddle of Mudd - "Psycho" Another song I learned about from kliz9. She had used the song as background to an amazing Sweeney Todd video. I would put the link up, but I think youtube took the soundtrack down (boohiss). Do think about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street while this one is playing. Particularly in Tim Burton/Johnny Depp's incarnation, the story fits the song remarkably well.
Panic at the Disco - "This is Halloween" (From the remix of the Nightmare Before Christmas Album) More Tim Burton and Danny Elfman stuff. I love it when those two collaborate. This version is the remix rather than the original recording, because I think the remix sounds a bit more spooky.
Blue Oyster Cult - "Don't Fear the Reaper" I admit, I'm a total sucker for Shakespeare references, and any song that manages to pull up elements of carpe diem and Romeo and Juliet gets my vote any day.
Marilyn Manson - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" The original of this song was creepy enough (at least to my mind, since it's always associated with Annie Lennox in a dominatrix outfit and random cows), but Marilyn Manson's voice and electronic additions just ratchet the creepiness right up to epic levels.
Edwyn Collins - "Witchcraft" Yet another re-make. This one is not as good as Sinatra, but the remake itself is an unexpected element. That is to say, we expect to hear "Witchcraft" around Hallowe'en, but we expect to hear Sinatra's "Witchcraft". The difference here is enough to make the song interesting
Donovan - "Season of the Witch" Shameless 70s fluff. I blame kliz9 again. See this? This is my blame face.
Santana - "Black Magic Woman" Less creepy than seductive, but who would want to deny the seductive quality of this holiday? Santana's trademark velvety guitar keeps this song from growing stale even though I trot it out year after year.
Guns 'n' Roses - "Live and Let Die" Um, so I really didn't intend for this to be the Hallowe'en mix of remakes, but if "Live and Let Die" is going to be used in a mix like this, G'n'R is the only way to go. Don't get me wrong--I love Paul McCarthy and the Wings, but their version of this song always sounded a bit strangely upbeat to me, and I think Axl and the boys captured the chilling possibilities and cold hate potential in the lyrics
Garth Hudson - "Cruella DeVil" *blushes* Yup ANOTHER remake. This one was on a CD an ex gave me of remade Disney songs. It's such a strange and appropriate little thing, I just had to put it in.
Rocky Horror Picture Show - "Time Warp" If I ever manage to make a Hallowe'en mix good enough that it would not be improved by the addition of the "Time Warp" I will have reached one of my life goals. Also, I stuck it in because the housemate and I are planning on going to the midnight screening of RHPS this year (she's a Rocky virgin).
Sweeney Todd Soundtrack - "A Little Priest" Having already confessed my love for Tim Burton, you will probably have intuited my love for the vaguely macabre. "A Little Priest" fits that bill perfectly and also (very pleasingly) incorporates puns and word games-->this makes for a happy Birdie
Michael Jackson - "Thriller" The ultimate Hallowe'en song needs no comment, except to admonish you to go watch the video.
Should you like to download this mix, you will find it here: hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=N0VAP3NI (replace the 'xx' with 'tt' and you should be set to go). Fair warning, though, it's a large file (88 MB I think). Enjoy.