Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Dia de Los Muertos

 


I've done Halloween mixes in the past but never one quite like this. I decided to take some of the Latin guitar sounds found in my Guitarissimo mixes, tilt them slight off kilter and give the mix a slightly sinister vibe. 

It's not too dark, and some of it is kinda of fun, just the way Halloween should be. There are a few artists I was familiar with or have played before like David Lynch, SUSS, The Phonometrician, Shakey Graves, Ry Cooder, and Tommy Guerrero. The rest are all new artists I discovered while looking for tracks that fit this theme. It was a lot of fun discovering all of that new music.

Grab some mezcal, turn the lights out and enjoy. Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Via Mardot - Portal (2022)
  • 01:58    Sun City Girls - Blue West (Funeral Mariachi 2012)
  • 04:55    Combustible Edison - Carnival of Souls (I, Swinger 1994)
  • 07:50    Shakey Graves - Chupacadabra (Deadstock 2023)
  • 09:25    The Focus Group - Bells Hazes (Sketches And Spells 2011)
  • 10:14    Tommy Guerrero - Signals from Points Beyond (Perpetual 2015)
  • 13:10    Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas (Paris, Texas 1985)
  • 15:45    SUSS - Gunfighter (Ghost Box 2018)
  • 20:09    Topaz Rags - Sightings (Capricorn Born Again 2009)
  • 22:55    Pram - Track of the Cat (Dark Island 2003)
  • 26:58    Last Ex - Hotel Blues (Last Ex 2014)
  • 29:43    The Phonometrician - Death Rides a Horse: Part II (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)
  • 34:25    Ben Von Wildenhaus - The Knife Thrower II (II 2015)
  • 36:57    Louie Zong - Ghost Duet (2023)
  • 37:54    David Lynch - The Night Bell With Lightning (Crazy Clown Time 2011)
  • 42:47    Via Mardot - Towers (2023)
  • 44:52    Shakey Graves - Who Died (Deadstock 2023)
  • 48:44    Guano Padano - A Country Concept (Guano Padano 2009)
  • 53:21    Tommy Guerrero - Embers of Memory (Perpetual 2015)
  • 56:16    Via Mardot - Pining (2023)
  • 58:13    Ry Cooder - No Safety Zone (Paris, Texas 1985)
  • 59:33    Wilburn Burchette - Birth of a Witch (Guitar Grimoire 1973)
  • 64:38    end

Friday, October 28, 2022

Slightly Spooky

 


I wasn't planning on making a Halloween themed mix but a couple of days ago I heard a new album called "Xiuxiuejar" by Hekla and I knew I had to use some tracks in a mix. Hekla is an Icelandic musician who use the theremin to create haunting, other-worldly soundscapes. Perfect for a Halloween mix.

Some of the other tracks follow a similar vibe I have used for creepy mixes in the past, sort of a dark jazz feel. Then I mix in some noisy stuff, some ambient & some other oddities. I don't want these mixes to be ultra dark doom ambient but this is more off-kilter than most Low Light Mixes.

After finding the theremin tracks from Hekla I was reminded of a very theremin-like instrument - the Ondes Martenot. It looks like a piano or organ but sounds like a theremin and it's played by sliding a ring attached to wires up and down the keyboard. Check out this video for an idea of how it's played and what it sounds like:

 


There are two tracks in the mix that use the Ondes Martenot. They are Tindersticks - The Strangler & Christine Ott - Pluie. I believe Christine Ott plays the instrument on the Tindersticks track as well as her own. Radiohead is famous for using the Odnes Martenot in a few songs. Maybe I'll make an entire mix featuring the instrument someday.

Here are the links to all the music used in this mix:

https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/xiuxiuejar
https://buenaureliomalazar.bandcamp.com/album/pre-pro-post
https://theodoreshapiro.bandcamp.com/album/severance-season-1-apple-tv-original-series-soundtrack
https://elikeszler.bandcamp.com/album/empire
https://tindersticks.bandcamp.com/album/minute-bodies-the-intimate-world-of-f-percy-smith
https://facture.bandcamp.com/album/unstill
https://williamselman.bandcamp.com/album/pavaka-group
https://thephonometrician.bandcamp.com/album/c-iste-bodharhttps://johnbutcher1.bandcamp.com/album/resonant-spaces
https://tgeruis.bandcamp.com/album/bain-d-toiles
https://christineott.bandcamp.com/album/time-to-die
https://astrangelyisolatedplace.bandcamp.com/album/a-state-of-decrepitude
https://dekorder.bandcamp.com/album/sentimental-favourites
https://bloxhamtapes.bandcamp.com/album/magnetism
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/a-is-for-autumn
https://grails.bandcamp.com/album/black-tar-prophecies-vols-4-5-6
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/the-last-sense-to-fade
https://williamryanfritch.bandcamp.com/album/built-upon-a-fearful-void
https://aaronmartin.bandcamp.com/album/the-end-of-medicine-original-score

Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :
00:00    Hekla - Hrakföll (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
03:18    Buen Aurelio Malazar - pre.sagio (pre pro post 2020)
04:49    Theodore Shapiro - After Hours (Severance Soundtrack 2022)
06:45    Eli Keszler - The Tenth Part Of A Featured World (Empire 2019)
09:15    Tindersticks - The Strangler (Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith 2017)
12:20    Andy Cartwright - Seeker (Unstill 2021)
14:00    Pavaka Group - I Am Void (Pavaka Group 2022)
15:43    The Phonometrician - Death is a Woman (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)
18:00    John Butcher - Wind Piece (Resonant Spaces 2006)
18:49    't Geruis - L'Appel (Bain D'Étoiles 2022)
21:35    Christine Ott - Pluie (Time to Die 2021)
26:30    Wanderwelle - Decay (A State of Decrepitude 2020)
30:25    Andrew Pekler - Close to Strangers (Sentimental Favourites 2011)
32:17    Lars Rynning & Suren Seneviratne - Solar Wind (Magnetism 2020)
33:35    Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - From Darkness (A is for Autumn 2022)
37:02    Hekla - Sólin Gekk (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
42:53    The Phonometrician - I See Youy (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)
47:55    Grails - Bad Bhang Recipe (Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1, 2, 3 2006)
49:50    Darkroom - The Shadowy Side of the Hill ( The Last Sense to Fade 2021)
54:50    William Ryan Fritch - Lay Hands Upon Us (Built Upon a Fearful Void 2021)
57:39    Aaron Martin - Buried in Waves (The End of Medicine 2022)
59:09    Hekla - Tangarhald (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
60:20    end

Sunday, October 25, 2020

The Night Absolves

 


Off-kilter, strange, a bit askew, weird, oblique - are all ways to describe this mix. It's a little creepy too which makes for a perfect mix for Spooky Season.

To create a Halloween mix it would be easy to grab some dark, dissonant ambient but as I've said before I'm not a dark ambient fan. So I went for the same feel I have used in the past - tunes that are a bit off-center. Tunes that make you think of midnight, distant headlights in the fog, street lamps and cigarette smoke.

I hope you enjoy the mix and play it during dias de los muertos.


Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]



T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Seabuckthorn - It Will Be Dark By Then (Other Other 2020)
  • 03:11    Brombaer - Triangle of Land (2013)
  • 07:44    Coti - Sine Shadows (Metamemoria 2020)
  • 11:55    Luton - Spectres of Mark (Black Box Animals 2018)
  • 14:05    Shadowdream - The Obsession Begins Tomorrow (The Sunsettler's Motel 2016)
  • 19:06    Labradford - G (Mi Media Naranja 1997)
  • 22:30    Pjusk - Dempet (Sart 2007)
  • 25:25    Several Wives - End Song (Veil on Veil 2020)
  • 26:30    Arve Henriksen - Recording Angel (Cartography 2008)
  • 28:24    Mikael Lind - Piano Says Goodbye (Give Shape to Space 2020)
  • 32:00    Harold Budd with Zeitgeist - Emboldened/My Dreams Perish (She Is A Phantom 1994)
  • 34:08    Arms And Sleepers - Atelier (The Organ Hearts 2011)
  • 36:13    Shadowdream - The Hour of the Wolf, Alfa and Omega (The Sunsettler's Motel 2016)
  • 38:34    William Ryan Fritch - Unraveling (The Letdown 2020)
  • 40:07    Wanderwelle - Decay (A State of Decrepitude 2020)
  • 44:00    The Insects - Ad Infinitum Ad Nauseam (Devs Original Series Soundtrack 2020)
  • 45:28    Several Wives - An Intermission (Veil on Veil 2020)
  • 46:05    Grails - Bad Bhang Recipe (Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1, 2, 3 2006)
  • 47:54    Eli Keszler - We Live In Pathetic Temporal Urgency (Stadium 2018)
  • 53:41    Calexico - Longboard (The Thread That Keeps Us 2018)
  • 56:18    Daniel Lanois - Sketches (Belladonna 2005)
  • 60:30    end


Saturday, October 27, 2018

Shadowland Diaries



I stumbled upon the song "Was The Singing Bellowing" by Eli Keszler while listening to Spotify at work and I immediately knew I wanted to make a Halloween mix. The tune creates this great odd feeling without being too dark.

As I have stated here before, I'm not a fan of dark ambient. Especially the dissonant, droney kind of dark ambient. So when I've made Halloween/dark mixes before they have tended to be more off kilter than straight up dark. This mix leans more towards acoustic arrangements than electronic. It also leans heavily on new music with all but 3 or 4 songs having been released in 2018.

Grab a bowl of candy, a Dead Guy Ale and sit on the front porch with this mix blaring from the speakers as you wait for the trick-or-treaters to show up.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]



T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Eli Keszler - Was The Singing Bellowing
  • 03:25    Luton - Step Into The Void
  • 06:25    Gamardah Fungus - Actus Fidei
  • 11:52    Christine Vantzou - Doorway
  • 17:18    Seabuckthorn - Blackout
  • 19:55    Grouper - Wind & Snow
  • 23:15    Sarah Davachi - Evensong
  • 26:26    Spheruleus - I Could Live Here
  • 29:33    The Caretaker - Advanced Plaque Entaglements
  • 30:55    High Plains - The Buttes
  • 35:05    Fred Frith - No Birds
  • 37:00    Ólafur Arnalds - Before the Calm
  • 38:00    Tim Hecker - Boreal Kiss 3
  • 39:25    Wil Bolton - A Garden Lost
  • 42:25    Peter Gabriel - In Doubt
  • 43:38    Luton - Black Concrete
  • 48:25    Peppermoth - Underground
  • 52:25    Stars of the Lid - F*cked Up 3:57am
  • 57:25    From the Mouth of the Sun - Risen, Darkened
  • 61:38    end














Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Shadowland


Josh, from Nocturne Records,  requested a Halloween mix.  

At first I was reluctant because I'm not a big fan of dark ambient.  I've never really cared for Lustmord records, although I do have "The Place Where Black Stars Hang."  While I do have a fair amount of drone music, I don't like dissonant drones.

When I set out to do this mix I wasn't sure what direction it would take.  Would it be noisy, scary ambient drones?  As I was looking through my music I came across "The Twin Peaks Archive" by David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti.  I thought, now there is some dark-ish music that would be cool to use in a Halloween mix.

Three Twins Peaks tunes made it into the final mix & helped establish a sort of film noir feel.  There are definite dissonant moments but hopefully the mix is more creepy & shadowy rather than outright scary & annoying.

It was fun putting this together and I'm looking forward to making this an annual ritual.





T R A C K L I S T :