( ⚆ _ ⚆ ) Spooky Szn Music Department Recommendations!!!

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16 October, 2021

Ghouls and candycorn and witchhats and classic Halloween movie marathons…

It’s spooky season and KCSB’s music department compiled a list of sp0OOooky bangers just for you! Check it out while making caramel covered apples with your friends or indulging in pumpkin spiced drink on a comfy couch. Happy listening!

***Link to spotify HERE. ***

☆SPOOKY MUSIC DEPT RECS☆

 

MARION’S RECS 

  • “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” – Grateful Dead

– Originally written by Reverend Gary Davis, and covered by the Grateful Dead throughout their career, this one’s lyrics never cease to move me. It’s centered lyrically around the universality of death, but Jerry Garcia’s evocative soloing, along with the band’s masterful tension-building make it feel deeply personal. 

  • “Straight Shooter” – The Mamas and Papas

– What’s spookier than Charles Manson? This is the song Sharon Tate and her friends were playing on the Cielo Drive mansion’s piano before the gruesome Manson murder took place.

  • “Walk Away” – Donna Summer

– Maybe it’s the way that first descending minor chord hits my nerves, or maybe it’s the totally unique and unsettling tone of the organ in the chorus, but something about this song strikes me as totally congruent with the Halloween spirit. 

  • “Hey Cowboy” – Lee Hazlewood

– This one is to get all of you Party City cowboys & cowgirls in the right mindset!

  • “Psycho Killer” – The Talking Heads 

– Not only is this song a new wave masterpiece- the janky guitar tone and syncopated rhythms, coupled with David Byrne’s lyrics and vocal tone make for a spine-chilling listening experience. 

YOUSEF’S RECS

  •  “Maggot Brain” – Funkadelic

– The album is literally called Maggot Brain. The song is long-drawn, the electric guitar is fuzzy and distorted, clawing to keep your attention. It’s the beginning of the scariest night of your life.

  •  “Colomb” – Nicolás Jaar

– Sounds as empty and ambient as space itself. Mysterious, divine, and as otherworldly as it gets.

  •  “A Great Design” – Black Marble

– His most popular song, I know. BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE HALLOWEEN. 80s-era, sitting quietly with your friends in the cemetery on the off-chance that the dead come to life.

  • “The Last Train’s Come and Gone” – Cindy Lee

– This one sounds like a room full of ghosts and ghouls practicing their Christmas carols. It feels oddly familiar; it’s the whisper of an old friend.

  •  “Run for Your Life” – clipping.

– The song has no tangible beat. Daveed Diggs raps about murdering a twitching corpse acapella while a car sporadically drives past him playing the grimey electronic beat  in the background.

DERIAN’S RECS

  • “Dressed in Black” – Depeche Mode

– A goth classic, and for good reason. May we all be so lucky as to be bewitched by a figure dressed in black this season.

  • “Vide Noir” – Lord Huron

– Americana for the modern age, with just enough unease to catch my ear. 

  • “Shake Off Your Flesh” – The Huntress and Holder of Hands

–  Similarly, I find gothic country to be a woefully underutilized genre. This song is a damn fine example of the potential that lies untapped.

  • “Black Magic” – Magic Wands

– Probably the bounciest song I picked, but halloween isn’t just spooks and murderers, parties are a big part of it too. Tell me you wouldn’t be happy if this started playing at a house party

  • “Miami Showdown” – Digitalism

– I’m a big fan of heavy synths, and this moody song fully utilizes the instrument to an unwelcome extreme. This song screams “premeditated violence”

 

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