The Curios have been gathered from near and far. They may be common-as-muck or one-of-a-kind. They may be worth a pretty penny or a dime-a-dozen. They may be horrifying, captivating, loathsome, or scintillating.
Whatever the cause of their creation, hopefully they bring enjoyment to someone out there.
Ah, it's that time of year again, when bloggers across the globe go Hallowe'en crazy!
I'm a little disappointed, as this year may be the first year I won't be going to a Hallowe'en costume party. For the past 8 years or so, I've been going to an annual party, held at a notorious house just south of Adelaide in South Australia.
Here's my past 6 years' efforts, along with the originals for comparison:
But I've just moved to London, and have only really just found my feet here, as such, I don't have anything planned. I've got ideas in mind, but as we're only 7 days away from the Hallowe'en weekend, I'm not really sure if I'll be able to pull it off. If worse comes to worse, maybe I'll just spend the weekend wearing my costume around the flat.
Regardless, as per tradition, here is my annual Hallowe'en compilation!
This year, I've taken inspiration from the 1996 stinker 'Werewolf'... or if you're an MST3K fan like myself (see above), you may know it better as 'Wharwilf'.
1. In the House/In a Heartbeat (28 Days Later) - John Murphy
2. Howling At The Moon (Sha La La) - Ramones
3. Wolfsbane - Adam WarRock
4. King Knight - SALEM
5. Dead Billy - Big Black
6. Skinwalker - The Big Band
7. The Siege and Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria - Blue Öyster Cult
8. Thunder & Lightning - Thin Lizzy
9. Darkness Be My Friend - Bruce Dickinson
10. Ghost Shark - Rocket From The Crypt
11. Bat's Mouth - Bat For Lashes
12. Tomorrow Wendy - Andy Prieboy
13. Your Ghost - Kristin Hersh & Michael Stipe
14. The First Five Minutes After Death - Coil
15. Take Me To Your Leader - The Lancers
16. I Ain't Nuthin' But A Gorehound (Live) - The Cramps
17. Weird Ones - The Graytones
18. Dead Man's Stroll - The Revels
19. Country Skin - Michael Stanton
20. Buried Me Alive - The Frogs
21. I Think Of Demons - Roky Erickson
22. Hotel Lament (The Beyond) - Fabio Frizzi
23. The Black Dog Runs At Night (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me) - Angelo Badalementi
(remember, support the artists and only buy from trusted vendors)
(from left: 2005 - JD from Heathers, 2006 - Freddie Mercury, 2007 - Rorschach, 2008 - Jesse Custer, 2009 - Joel/Mike from MST3K. Also serves as a handy timeline for measuring my increasing face-girth)
Like a million other bloggers out there, I love Hallowe'en. But I don't have the wherewithal or motivation to do a daily countdown or anything like that. BUT, in the past, I have made compilations to celebrate Samhain: One For The Freaks (over at my old blog, Champignon for My Real Friends...) & Meat For The Beast.
I've been writing this one in my head for a while now. After visiting London in February, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that it's where I belong, moreso than Adelaide in any case, where I've always felt slightly out of phase. And so my significant other and I made the decision a few months ago to pack up all our stuff and make the big move to Blighty.
While it won't be for some time before we move, in celebration of this, I decided to make a compilation dedicated to the city that we fell in love with.
It was difficult to whittle down the countless songs about London (and England in general), so I took a personal approach, collecting songs that I associate with our time there. I guess there's a certain level of naivety and romanticism in my choices, but that's something I'm willing to wear.
Definitely, one of my favourite places during our visit was Hampstead Heath, where we spent a beautiful overcast afternoon, and where I took these photos. I couldn't decide which photo to use for the cover, so I just did two covers.
The tracks, in no particular order, some with explanations for their inclusion, some not:
Matt Berry - Lay Your Love On Me. Matt Berry, the star of The IT Crowd, Snuff Box, Mighty Boosh, and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, has the honour of being the first genuine celebrity that we spotted in London (apart from a newsreader from Adelaide we spotted in Zara, which was weeeeeeiiiiiird). This track is from his album 'Opium', which I highly recommend.
Morrissey - Hairdresser on Fire. I could've chosen any number of Smiths/Morrissey songs, but: 'You are repressed, but you're remarkably dressed.' That seems to sum London up pretty well.
Roxy Music - Do The Strand.
Squeeze - Up The Junction.
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - From Willesden to Cricklewood. After we arrived back home in Australia, I found a version of this track on YouTube put to visuals of Joe and of London throughout the years, and I confess, the tears welled up and I think it was the moment that I knew that I needed to go back (although, I will admit, we didn't visit either Willesden or Cricklewood). I miss you, Joe.
Helena Bonham Carter - The Worst Pies In London. From the soundtrack to Tim Burton's 2007 'Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street'. I thought we had some good pies in Adelaide, but by god, they know how to make a pie in London!!! (and so do some certain French piemakers, but more about them in a future post). Note: I was going to use 'No Place Like London', but there was just far too much exposition of the plot
Janie Jones & The Lash - House of the Ju Ju Queen. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that The Lash are actually The Clash incognito on this paean to old school tie sexual repression and corruption. It also doesn't take a genius to work out that The Clash are one of my favourite bands.
Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages - Jack The Ripper. We stayed in the East End, and I'm not a Ripperologist, by any means, but as we were walking through the streets, I was amazed at how many Jack The Ripper landmarks we'd suddenly stumble across: The Ten Bells, Christ Church (actually located right next to each other), etc. etc. There's definitely something humbling walking through streets with such a history, not just the Whitechapel Murders, but even further back in time, making the history of white settlement in Australia feel like yesterday.
The Social - Under Grey English Skies. This was a late inclusion, only having recently heard it. Thanks must go to my brother, for including it on one of his birthday compilations for me.
The Clash - This Is England. Oh, come on, you didn't see this coming from a mile away?
Luke Haines - Love Letter To London. The song that inspired this compilation. Again, like Morrissey, there were a lot of choices from Mr Haines, but this one gave me a title.
Ian Dury - My Old Man. My father was born in England, was fairly 'andsome, and smoked too many cigs. But he wasn't a bus driver.
Iron Maiden - Coming Home. From the album 'The Final Frontier', I could've chosen the 'Isle of Avalon', but I keep thinking about that moment of touching down in Heathrow.
The Pogues - A Rainy Night In Soho.
Bat For Lashes - A Forest. Bat For Lashes' cover of the Cure classic. It reminds me of the Heath.
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights. I don't care if it's a touristy thing to do, I'm gonna go to the Moors and have a bit of a wuther.
Splodgenessabounds - Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please. I can't wait until I can say this with no trace of affectation.
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - Lean On Me, I Won't Fall Over. This song was a constant earworm for me, every time I read or heard the words 'Hammersmith and City line'. I'm gonna have to get used to that.
I wasn't going to do one this year, but then I saw some really dull compilations floating around the net (none from my favourite blogs, though, they all do stellar work). I mean, Boris Pickett's 'Monster Mash'??? Are you serious??? I swear, as soon as I see that on a Halloween compilation I know that the compiler has put no thought into it whatsoever.
I knew I could do better.
So here it is:
Meat For The Beast - Halloween '09
1. Danny Elfman - Meat For The Beast - from the Nightbreed score, and also a line from the film's dialogue. I love this film. Clive Barker did a great job in evoking a beautiful world in Midian. I'd love to see the extended cut, should it ever surface on DVD/blu-ray. It seems the film also affected someone else, because the photo used for the cover of this comp was taken in a tunnel in Glasgow, and features the character Peloquin, who speaks the line in the film.
2. Alice Cooper - Years Ago - My parents split up when I was quite young. I lived with my mother, but would often stay at my father's house. Dad had the better record collection of the two, and it included Alice Cooper's 'Welcome To My Nightmare'. I still think it's an amazing album, and this song, along with 'Steven' and 'The Awakening', are truly brilliant.
3. Roky Erickson & The Aliens - I Think Of Demons - I could've chosen any number of Roky's tracks, but I decided on one that I haven't seen as often on Halloween comps.
4. The Plasmatics - The Damned - Wendy O Williams = WOW. The video clip for this track also = WOW (see below).
5. Pop Will Eat Itself - Nightmare at 20'000Ft - Inspired by a Twilight Zone episode, and singer Clint Mansell's fear of flying. I recently saw the beginning of Final Destination, in which the lead character envisions himself in a plane to France that explodes in mid-air. I'll be heading to France next year. I've decided that I'm going by train.
6. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - A Daisy Chain 4 Satan - The song title comes from a 1950 novel of the same name (with 'For' being spelt correctly), by British pulp mystery writer Joan Fleming. I didn't know that. Thanks, Wikipedia!
7. Genghis Tron - Board Up The House - I'm not a huge fan of screamo type vocals, but Genghis Tron make them work so damn well, and they complement the amazing instrumentation. This is the title track from their 2008 release, the cover of which always makes me think of Evil Dead, as seen by Van Gogh.
8. Claudio Simonetti - Demon [Original Demo Version 1985] - I still haven't the film this is from yet, but it's sitting on my shelf, just waiting for the right moment. Maybe the right moment is this Halloween...
9. Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch - No Halloween is complete without a creepy Gregorian-esque chant. Also, has an uber-creepy video clip (see below).
10. Julee Cruise - Into The Night - The scariest song ever written. Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch are Cruise's co-conspirators on this piece from Lynch's Twin Peaks era. I've recently started watching Twin Peaks from the beginning, only having ever caught snatches of it when it originally aired in Australia. It terrified me then, it terrifies me now.
11. Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny - From Kurt Weill & Bertholt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, the song was originally called 'Seeräuberjenny', and only through the tranlsation into English did the ominous 'Black Freighter' get introduced to the lyrics (again: thanks, Wikipedia!). That doesn't change the fact that this foreboding ship and its terrible crew are about to slaughter the entire town. This was the basis for Alan Moore's 'Tales of the Black Freighter' supplement in the Watchmen series, and also makes an oblique appearance in Moore's 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' series (I knew that of my own accord, but thank you anyway, Wikipedia). Also: Nina Simone = freakin' AWESOME.
12. The Cramps - Big Black Witchcraft Rock - Again, I could've chosen any track from The Cramps catalogue, but I decided on something a bit more recent. RIP, Lux, I was very saddened when you left.
13. Gein & The Graverobbers - Transylvania - A cover of an instrumental by Iron Maiden, in a 'horror surf' style. Niiiiiiiiiice. I got this from The Manchester Morgue's 'I Got Erection' compilation.
14. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Candyman - I'll confess, I'm a big wimp when it comes to horror films. I can't stand surprises and my imagination oftens gets the better of me when left alone. The film Candyman scared me when I first saw it (about 15 years ago) and I refused to use the toilet down the end of a dark hallway immediately after the film. If you've seen the film, you'll know why.
15. Tom Servo (Mystery Science Theater 3000) - My Creepy Girl - Taken from the MST3K version of 'Catalina Caper', a diabolical piece of teen fluff from 1967. This inclusion of this track is particularly significant to me, as I will be going to a Halloween party as a Joel/Mike hybrid this year. I bought myself a green jumpsuit, and found a Gizmonics patch on eBay. If I could make the bots, I would, but I just don't have the requisite skills or those special parts. Fellow MSTies are encouraged to check out The Manchester Morgue (again!), because the curator, phelpster, will often put up full episodes, and other oddities, such as the Clowns In The Sky compilation.
16. The Count (Sesame Street) - The Batty Bat - Recently, Mr Fab, curator of Music For Maniacs, featured the album I compiled, The Dead Trilogy, which I was overjoyed to see. Also on that page was a write-up for Mashup Industries' Halloween '09 Mashup album, Mashed 'n' Slashed (to be in the same company of the likes of LeeDM101, Voicedude, and Clive$ter, what an honour!!!). DjNoNo samples the Batty Bat on his 'Batty Dub', so I thought it fitting that I post the original.
17. The Moontrekkers - Night Of The Vampire - Not a cover of the Roky Erickson classic, but a brilliant instrumental, produced by the legendary Joe Meek.
18. Geto Boys - Chuckie - The Bushwicken & co. namecheck the infamous killer doll. "You'd better murder me/Put me to rest/Cause if you don't, I'll come out shootin/With my head in a bird's chest"... Um.... what?
19. Necro - Beautiful Music For You To Die - You don't like listening to Death Rap? Well, I do. This was the first Necro track I heard, and it's still my favourite.
20. Oingo Boingo - Skin - Oingo Boingo fans will know what this track is doing here. And hopefully they will be able to help: in the film, Nightbreed, a 'countrified' version of Skin is playing when Lori... well, I won't spoil it. That version was performed by Michael Stanton, but I'll be damned if I can find that track anywhere on the net! I used to have a copy a few years back, but lost it in a hard drive crash. If anyone out there can help me out by pointing me in the right direction of a copy, I'd be eternally grateful.
11 Mar 10 - UPDATE!!! Porn Clerk from the awesome blog, Scene Kids In Pain, was kind enough to link me to a copy of the soundtrack, complete with the Michael Stanton track, both at the Curios and on the SKIP blog (read the comments sections)! Thanks, Porn Clerk! Also, on the SKIP page, you'll find an extra bonus in the form of the film itself!
Thanks for indulging me, and have a happy Halloween, everyone!
