Halloween-o-rama (part 1)

Halloween is fast approaching. Yay!

‘tis the season to eat (candy), drink (spooky brews) and be merry (with costumes, scary movies and creepy decorations!)  Double yay!

Over the next few days, I want to talk about some slightly more obscure Halloween-worthy music, films, comics, books--and a blog, too!

I’ve seen a few Halloween recommendations online, so here are some of mine.

Today, I’ll cover music.

First off is actually a novel/CD combo from Japan, named Izayoi no Tsuki

The concept behind this combo is that the CD is a soundtrack to the novel, but it can be appreciated as an album in its own right!

Since I can only just manage the most basic Japanese and therefore haven’t read the book, I’ll only talk about the CD here.

For reference, the book is written by Minako and the CD was composed by Közi.

Izayoi no Tsuki features piano, spooky music-box sounds, strings and accents of creepy baby gurgles, incomprehensible whispers and sighs, with some synth mixed in for good measure.

The CD is mostly instrumental and brings images of spooky circuses to mind! It opens with a track named Kakera, which makes use of piano and synthesisers (I think--I'm no musical expert!).

The only fully vocal track, Kaikou¸ is found toward the end of the tracklist; an instrumental version can also be found on the CD. This song is vastly different from the rest of the CD, with the electronic sound that Közi is more known for.

I utterly love this CD, so recommending tracks is impossible for me!

However, I found this neat video on YouTube that uses the first track along with a combination of images from the book and footage from a game of The Sims: 

Next up is another treat from Japan in the form of a band named The Candy Spooky Theater

It’s obvious from this band’s image that they’re very into the horror theme! Don’t let the fact they’re Japanese - and that the songs are (mostly) Japanese - put you off. With songs like TRICK or TREAT and Prince of Darkness, this music wouldn’t be out of place in any horror film soundtrack whether it be a tale of a crazed psychopath or a more traditional vampire film!

They also did a cover of This is Halloween from the Tim Burton film Nightmare Before Christmas.

This band is Halloween gone insane. What more could you want?!

Recommended tracks:

• Devilish Kidnapper
• Spook House
• Merry Go Round

Looking for something in English? Then try out Jill Tracy

Jill Tracy’s music is for those after a darker, more elegant Halloween.

This singer/pianist/storyteller has a great love of horror; this year she will appear at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival and has previously performed at author Anne Rice’s Halloween Ball.

Her musical style is dark and evocative; her vocals sultry and playful – think of a gothic Eartha Kitt and you’re heading along the right lines.

Check out this video from her official YouTube channel, directed by Bill Domonkos.

Recommended tracks:

• The Fine Art of Poisoning
• Evil Night Together
• The Water Flows So Slow

Now, Halloween might turn your musical tastes a little more Gothic, in which case how about something like this?

Pictured:

Nocturnal - A 2CD Gothic compilation featuring Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and more.

paradiseisnowhere by Draven - Gothic metal.

Suspiria by Darkwell - Gothic rock from Austria. This band took Longfellow’s poem of the same title and turned it into a song :)

Or for your Halloween party, what about some fairground music?

(yes, I still listen to vinyl!)

Fairground organs might sound cheerful usually, but play it at the wrong speed for a creepy, horror-fairground effect! This can be done easily if using a record player (did you know that if you play a 33rpm recording of Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters theme on 45rpm, it sounds like Michael Jackson?) and digital recordings can be sped up using your computer.

I hope at least one of these artists has whetted your whistle!

To round this post off: what is your favourite Halloween music?

Come back tomorrow, when I’ll be posting about films.