You've got your Halloween party playlist loaded into the iPod and all the staples are accounted for: "Thriller," "Bad Moon Rising," "Werewolves of London," the Ghostbusters, Twilight Zone and Addams Family themes, "Monster Mash," Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the dread-inducing riffs from seminal '70s horror flicks Jaws, Halloween and The Exorcist. But you know, deep down, that your playlist is dull, lacking in freakish noise or any sort of unconventional doom and gloom. We've supplied some possible additions below — ventriloquist dummies, the Holocaust, debilitating depression and other atypical horrors included. Spotify users, click here to listen to a playlist.
"Wolf Like Me," TV on the Radio. Amid urgent art-rock grooves and noisy brass-blasted haze, a werewolf embraces and revels in his curse ("Feeding on fever, down on all fours, show you what all the howling's for…").
"Ventriloquizzing," Fujiya & Miyagi. Ventriloquist dummies are fucking freaky, okay? Imagine it from the dummies' view — "We move our arms when you pull a string" — as set to a stealthy Kraut groove, and it becomes a bit more horrifying.
"Beat the Devil's Tattoo," Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The grinding rock band creeps and skulks in garage and blues-gritty misery, singer Robert Levon Been moaning lyrics like, "Your soul is able, death is all you cradle / Sleepin' on the nails, there's nowhere left to fall."
"The Boogie Monster," "Necromancer," Gnarls Barkley. Two ominous-vibing hip-pop cuts off St. Elsewhere, the former about a man scared of the monster in his closet, under his bed, maybe in his head? (video below) while the latter finds a necrophiliac reflecting on his late night conquests ("She was cool when I met her, but I think I like her better dead.") He's a necro-mancer. Get it?
"Pain," Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse featuring Iggy Pop. Iggy Pop offers profound commentary on fame, corruption and pain in this track off Dark Night of the Soul, his dourly droning, graveyard-deep vocals snaking over fuzzed-out guitars, scattered harp strums and stampeding punk rhythms. Classic lyric: "Good karma will not get you anywhere / Look at Jesus and his hair." Listen after the jump and check out the rest of the entries…
This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2012.