Halloween music is unarguably great. Though Christmas music can start getting old before the Thanksgiving turkey is cold on the table, funky and fun jams like Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” can get the party started any time of the year. What counts as Christmas music is obvious, but the nature of Halloween music is a little more ambiguous. From Siouxsie And The Banshees to Rihanna, pretty much any artist can fit into a Halloween playlist.
Here’s a playlist of classic Halloween picks and non-traditional favorites.
CLASSICS
Ray Parker, Jr. – “Ghostbusters.” The best Halloween songs are often the funkiest, and the Ghostbusters theme is no exception. It’s also a song you’ll be hearing a lot more of soon with Paul Feig’s upcoming reboot next summer.
Michael Jackson – “Thriller.” Though he’s perhaps confusing thrillers with horror, the title track from Michael Jackson’s world-shattering magnum opus is as synonymous with zombies as Dawn of the Dead and Tina Belcher.
Bobby “Boris” Pickett – “Monster Mash.” Yes, you’ve likely heard it a hundred thousand times per October. But honestly, a Halloween playlist without “Monster Mash” is just kidding itself.
NEXT STEPS
Rihanna – “Disturbia.” This classic deals with real-life scares like stress and anxiety, but it’s expressed through the language of horror, even sharing a title with a Shia LaBeouf horror flick from 2007.
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put A Spell On You.” OG shock-rocker Jalacy Hawkins rode his batshit, drunken vocal performance of “I Put A Spell On You” to a successful career playing with skulls and emerging from coffins onstage.
Marilyn Manson – “This Is Halloween.” Marilyn Manson’s cover of The Nightmare Before Christmas’s eerie scene-scetter was the best rock/musical cinema pairing until Primus covered the Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory soundtrack.
DEEP CUTS
OutKast – “Dracula’s Wedding.” Even life in a haunted mansion can’t prepare the poor vampire of “Dracula’s Wedding” for the terror of the altar. And his bride, played by Kelis, doesn’t exactly reassure him (“so much at stake… oh, bad choice of words”).
The Who – “Boris The Spider.” Roger Daltrey squares off against a spider and one of the most skin-crawling choruses in musical history in this paranoid cut from the Who’s singles compilation Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy.
Kate Bush – “Strange Phenomena.” Really any early Kate Bush song will do; she seems to cast spells with that bizarro voice of hers. But what better pick than the one where she’s actually singing an incantation?
As more and more great ideas come forth and develop in our ever-changing world, humans have become more connected to the technological realm than the physical one. Although not a concept album, this is one of the main themes that Georgia-based band Deerhuntertackles in its new LPFading Frontier.
Frontman Bradford Cox performs with Deerhunter at Primavera Sound in 2009 (Flickr Creative Commons)
Serving as the first LP since frontman Cox was hit by a car in 2014, Fading Frontier is a beautiful, trance-inducing, mature album filled with hints of reflection and recovery. The album departs from the ripping, and somewhat aggressive, mesh of garage-rock anthems from the group’s last LP, 2013’sMonomania, into a more serene soundscape.
Known for pasting together a hodgepodge of diverse sounds and styles, Deerhunter has developed a unique sound that no other group could dare claim as its own, yet the sound simultaneously evolves with every new release.
When brainstorming about the album, the ideas of technology and the Internet came to frontman Bradford Cox. “Remember when we were young and there was this excitement about what was going to happen next?” Cox said in an interview with Pitchfork. “And now, honestly, do you really want to know what happens next? I’ve seen enough in my lifetime; the frontier has faded. If it gets more intense, we’re just going to end up not ever leaving our houses.”
Cox sings in the atmospheric second track of the album, “Living My Life,” “I’m off the grid / I’m out of range / And the amber waves of grain / Are turning grey again” – an homage to the grim confrontation of the fleeting importance of the physical frontier he faces.
Musically, Frontier takes vital pieces from every direction of the band’s discography. From the minimalistic, aching of Halcyon Digest to the epic and acclaimed jams on Microcastle, though it manages to not sound like a clone of anything the band has done before.
The majority of the album makes obvious use of gliding synthesizer and eclectic drum tracks, though welds those elements seamlessly with live instruments. The tracks are extremely varied stylistically. “Take Care” serves as a slow and melodic ballad, while “Snakeskin,” one of the LP’s singles, is surprisingly funky. All of the tracks are cemented together by Cox’s unmistakable croon, echoing and somber as ever, yet this time in particular, untouchably resistant.
Though emerging from unfortunate circumstances and melancholy themes, Frontier is in no way a depressing group of tracks. On the contrary, the album comes off as light, airy and surprisingly optimistic at points.
Although the songwriting is reflective of being continuously beat down, every song pushes back with resilience and a striking resemblance to the sun breaking through storm clouds.
The end of the year can be taken in many different lights. For some, it’s an optimistic time to reflect on past experiences and pave the way for new ones. For others, it’s a time of dread — a time of reluctantly peering into the cyclical nature of yet another year of work, anxiety and hardships.
Not all New Year’s Eves are filled with amazing parties and memorable kisses, and, unfortunately, 2016 as a whole might not be either. So, thinking along those lines, here’s a playlist for anyone who may feel more sad than cheerful around this time of year:
The Dismemberment Plan – “The Ice Of Boston“: “Pop open a bottle of bubbly. Yeah, here’s to another goddamn New Year,” mumbles D-Plan frontman Travis Morrison at the beginning of “The Ice Of Boston,” a song which, in my opinion, is the ultimate track about suffering on New Year’s Eve. Led by the band’s eccentric, bouncing instrumentation and Morrison’s talk-singing, the song follows a narrator as he slips and stumbles drunkenly and alone through the icy streets of Boston, pours champagne on himself and critiques a Gladys Knight and The Pips song. This track serves as the epitome of a terrible New Year’s Eve that might make you feel a little bit better about yours.
Motion City Soundtrack – “Together We’ll Ring in the New Year”: Although undeniably cheesy, as can only be expected from the specific genre of emo pop MCS puts forth in this track (see lyrics: “Oh, why did I come here? / These humans all suck / I’d rather be home feeling violent and lonely”), “Together We’ll Ring in the New Year” still does a great job of painting the picture of feeling ignored, lonely and awkward at a New Year’s Eve party.
Death Cab For Cutie – “The New Year“: Both the music video for “The New Year” and the song itself say a lot about the depressing side of the end of the year; the video is filled with clips of individuals around a city gazing out windows pensively and generally wishing they were elsewhere — matching the longing vibe ingrained in this song. Serving as the first track on the band’s Transatlanticism, “The New Year” bursts through in true cinematic fashion with crashing drums and sustained bass and guitar. Though the song begins with an explosion of energy, the tune is balanced with lead singer Ben Gibbard’s sweet and gentle vocals. Though it’s the new year, you might “not feel any different,” according to Gibbard.
Codeine – “New Year’s”: Straightforward lyrically (“Feel so sad, so bad today,”), Codeine’s cover of “New Year’s,” originally by the band Seam, puts the negativity of the beginning of a new year front and center. Though the song’s meaning is obvious, Codeine’s signature “slowcore” style of drawn out vocals, pounding drums and sluggishly strummed and chugging guitar pushes this track’s somberness to another level.
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – “New Year’s Kiss“: Short and sweet at only two minutes, “New Year’s Kiss” is filled with electronic drums, simple, sustained piano chords and lead singer Owen Ashworth’s droning vocals. All in all, the track is about crashing a party “in pursuit of a New Year’s kiss” only to wake up to a regrettable one-night stand — something hopefully none of us experience this New Year’s Eve.
For those who love Christmas music, the holiday season is a dream. From shopping centers to fast food restaurants, from the doctor’s waiting room to cramped elevators, hearing some rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” at least 50 times is unavoidable starting as early as the day after Thanksgiving.
For those who gain a knot in their stomach worse than that from your aunt’s fruitcake from hearing Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” or Dean Martin’s “Let it Snow!” on repeat for a month, but still want a soundtrack for the wintertime, don’t worry — there’s hope.
Whether you are looking to substitute the irritating Christmas classics with something equally as joyous or just really want nothing to do with the holiday at all, below is a list of songs for every winter occasion.
For those who still want to retain the magic and optimism of Christmas joy without the cheesy classics:
Cozy jams which subject matters have absolutely nothing at all to do with the holidays or wintertime, but are perfect to curl up by the fireplace with hot cocoa to:
The Daily Emerald chatted with Matt Johnson from the indie dance duo Matt and Kim about playing shows in Portland, creating new music and finding inspiration as an artist. Read the whole Q&A below.
Matt and Kim (Photo credit: Right On! PR)
Daily Emerald: You’re playing the Crystal Ballroom in Portland on Dec. 15; have you played at that venue before?
Matt Johnson: No, first time. Even though I hear they have these very nice crystal chandeliers and confetti is apart of our show and there’s a big risk of just getting confetti all stuck in those and having to get them cleaned out, which apparently costs a little bit, but I’m telling you – it’s worth it.
DE: Do you have a favorite thing about Portland?
MJ: My favorite thing is a memory I have when I was 20 years old, before this band, I came to Portland for a week with my brother and a friend. That [was a] week of pool hopping, just hanging out. I don’t know. It was just a very “Portland” summer for a 20-year-old. We’re lucky that we have a couple days off around the show and we’re going to have a couple extra days in Portland which is very unlike us, being able to do that, to hang, get some Voodoo Doughnuts and visit some local shops.
DE: What should one who has never seen Matt and Kim live expect to experience at a Matt and Kim show?
MJ: I think to be surprised. I think people who are familiar with say just the songs “Daylight” and “Let’s Go,” [will be surprised]. I love those songs, but I don’t think you would imagine this band that can spend as much time like shakin’ the booty and that is not afraid to say, put a Ludacris song right in the middle of one of our singles. There’s a certain energy that I think is a surprise, I find, to a lot of people who have never seen us live, and it all comes from Kim’s booty. It’s an energy orb.
DE: It’s probably frowned upon to ask an interview question starting with “your Wikipedia page says…” but your Wikipedia page says that Matt and Kim is known for having a DIY attitude toward music. How do you uphold that DIY idealism with playing alongside big-name acts like Fall Out Boy and Passion Pit, performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and really just having the current popularity you do?
MJ: I think it maintains because we stay involved in all aspects of the band. We don’t just book a show anywhere. We want it to be somewhere we’d want to go to a show. Or for any of our music videos, it’s not just like someone is hired to come in and make a music video for us. We’re always very, “Hey! Here’s an idea! Who can help us make this?”
Kim still makes all of our album covers and [2012’s Lightning] we made in our house. I think it’s just staying involved in all aspects that we do. I think that’s the way to keep it the purest form of Matt and Kim possible, rather than having a lot of other people making it for you.
DE: Do you prefer playing small venues or large ones?
MJ: I like the different scales – [when you play] a festival in front of 10-or-50-thousand people, that’s awesome because of the energy. I love that. But I also love playing in a venue of like a thousand people who all know every song and all know why they’re there – to see your band. So, I couldn’t say there was one I like more than the other. They both are different experiences and really cool in different ways.
DE: When did you and Kim start playing music?
MJ: Well we were together, as a couple, for two years before we started playing music, and we got together when I was 20 so, awhile ago.
DE: Do you and Kim write songs collaboratively or separately?
MJ: It’s collaborative for sure. I think especially the most surprising part is that the lyrics are so collaborative. In a lot of bands there’s someone who just takes the reins on writing lyrics. It’s usually the singer, but there are songs that we have that are really just from Kim’s voice, even though I sing them. It’s based on experiences from her. Or there are songs that we jointly – almost line for line – go through writing together.
DE: Did you ever think you would have the popularity that you do now?
MJ: No, no way! I never thought it was ever possible to make a living as a musician. Since I was 14 I had been playing guitar. I always loved playing music but I never was like, “Oh, that’s what I’m going to do for a living.” The chances were too slim. So basically, we started playing music and it was just playing these kind of like, non-venue spaces, whether they were like warehouses or lofts in Brooklyn and that’s what I thought it would always be.
We just sort of gradually stopped doing the other things we were doing. There wasn’t any moment where I was like, “Let’s quit our jobs!” I was doing freelance film stuff and I kind of stopped having to take jobs and then things just kind of organically grew from the fact that we liked playing music. We didn’t need much money, especially early on. We lived very cheaply. We shared a cell phone for five years. We were in a twin bed for three years.
DE: Do you have a favorite song from your new album, New Glow, that came out back in April?
MJ: Well it’s one of those things that I think it switches and it moves around. Right now, there’s a song called “Stirred Up,” it’s the second song on the album. I’ve always connected to that song, but I think it’s standing out for me right now. Check it out, or whoever’s reading this, check it out. There’s a different flow to it.
DE: Are there any songs that you don’t like playing live anymore?
MJ: No, because any song that I don’t like to play live we wouldn’t play live. If there’s a song people like to hear, I get a lot of satisfaction from that. The most satisfaction I get out of playing live is having an excited audience. So if they enjoy hearing a song, then I enjoy playing it because I just love seeing an audience get excited. And if there was any song that I wasn’t liking playing and the audience wasn’t connecting to, it’s cut out of the set.
DE: Do you have any advice for young creatives in the world?
MJ: Have no expectations. If you have expectations, that’s when you get let down. But if you want to write, if you want to make music, if you want to make art or photography, whatever, just enjoy the act of doing those things then keep doing them and good things will come your way. I think [having expectations] just sets you up for tons of disappointment. If you like doing it, then you’re never failing. I think that’s the best thing; just do it because you love it.
Most times, a concert venue packed full of strangers doesn’t feel very comfortable or homey, but New Jersey’s Yo La Tengo played an acoustic show that made W.O.W. Hall feel as cozy as an autumn sweater on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Yo La Tengo set up their gear on a large, decorative area rug and adorned the stage with more than 10 pieces of abstract artwork from various band members and friends, including a painting used as the album artwork to the band’s newest LP – Stuff Like That There, making the capacity of the concert hall feel like more of a laid-back living room than a venue.
W.O.W. Hall is adorned with art by Yo La Tengo and their friends (Meerah Powell/Emerald) Photo credit: Meerah Powell
The 31-year-old band released Stuff Like That There, the group’s fourteenth studio album, in August of this year. The album, which filled most of the setlist for the band’s Eugene stop, contains covers of songs like The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love,” covers of Yo La Tengo’s own songs from previous releases and new originals. The LP also features the band’s original lead guitarist, Dave Schramm, who rejoined the band on their current tour.
Lead guitarist Dave Schramm rejoins Yo La Tengo for their current tour (Meerah Powell/Emerald) Photo credit: Meerah Powell
For a band that has been around for so long and toured for so many years Yo La Tengo showed that they had mastered one aspect of performing extremely well: timeliness.
The show had no opening act, an uncommon occurrence but a great relief to many an audience member who would rather be spending the extra time saved at the end of the show in bed on a Tuesday night. Instead Yo La Tengo played two, roughly 10-song, sets with a brief intermission in between them.
With Yo La Tengo starting at 8:15 p.m. on the dot, surprised audience members of all ages, from middle-aged to older fans and college students to even toddlers, who quickly filled the venue from wall-to-wall to search for a good place to situate themselves.
The band’s two sets were filled with the sweet, romantic tunes that make them so incredibly loveable in the first place, though this time made infinitely more intimate in an acoustic setting.
James McNew plays the upright bass and sings backing vocals during Yo La Tengo’s two-set show (Meerah Powell/Emerald) Photo credit: Meerah Powell
James McNew’s upright bass added a slight jazz and art rock influence to songs like “Rickety” along with vocalist and percussionist Georgia Hubley’s use of brushes on her small and simple drum setup, while Schramm and Ira Kaplan, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist, brought in elements of noise rock reminiscent of some of the group’s older releases with long, dissonant guitar interludes.
Georgia Hubley sings and plays a small drum kit at the front of the stage (Meerah Powell/Emerald) Photo credit: Meerah Powell
Throughout the night the four-piece mixed a variety of genres and elements together to create an indescribably calming atmosphere. With the set’s acoustic nature, audience screams at the beginnings and endings of songs were often much louder than the music itself, but in the midst of songs with crowd members in bitter silence, the band was able to play so quietly at points that Kaplan was merely whispering into the mic, like in the band’s last song of their second set, “Our Way To Fall,” to further boost the already affectionate and close environment.
Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ira Kaplan goes in on a guitar solo (Meerah Powell/Emerald) Photo credit: Meerah Powell
After Yo La Tengo’s almost two-hour, two-set performance, the group exited the stage, though the crowd would not cease applause and foot stomping until the band returned for a short encore including older songs like “Andalucia” off of the band’s 1990 release Fakebook.
Overall, Yo La Tengo gave the Eugene crowd a needed week night break with a perfect amount of dreamy warmth before having to exit the comfort of W.O.W. Hall into a cold and stormy evening.
Some might say 2005 was a simpler time. It was a time when some millennials were immersed in “scene” culture and the world of Myspace and Tripp pants. It was a time of rushing to Blockbuster every week to rent the newest movies and texting your friends on your Motorola Razr. But out of everything it was also a time of surprisingly good music. Below is a list of 10 essential albums from 10 years ago.
10. Gorillaz – Demon Days: Though the virtual band gained fame from its debut LP in 2001, Gorillaz didn’t reach critical success until the release of Demon Days, which earned five Grammy award nominations. The album included the band’s most popular single “Feel Good Inc.” The fictional band, featuring Blur’s Damon Albarn, revolutionized creativity in music of the digital age by bringing something completely new to the table.
9. Spoon – Gimme Fiction: Simply put, Spoon is an underrated band. The Texan group has released nothing short of solid releases since its 1993 inception. Led by Britt Daniel’s raspy and soulful voice, Gimme Fiction included tracks like the simple and somber “I Summon You” – Stephen King’s favorite song of the year according to an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
8. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois: Regardless of the release, Sufjan Stevens always does a great job of crafting a magical listening experience; this especially comes through on Illinois. The release is a concept album with songs referencing the specific cultural landscape of the midwestern state. Through use of full orchestral backing, tracks like the hauntingly beautiful “Chicago,” become larger than life.
7. Stars – Set Yourself on Fire / Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene: Both bands share some of the same members and therefore share a spot on this list. Both groups also released brilliant, baroque pop influenced indie records in 2005. Set Yourself on Fire held heartbreaking tracks like “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” popularized by shows like The O.C, while Broken Social Scene offered soaring beauties like “7/4 (Shoreline)” making the two releases complementary yet distinct.
6. M83 – Before the Dawn Heals Us: This LP was the third album by the French electronic shoegaze band of recent “Midnight City” fame, and was the first to feature more vocals and pop structure, contrasting its predecessor which focused on instrumentals and sampling. Though a diversion from their prior work, M83 kept its trademark sound signature: gorgeous, cinematic electronic soundscapes.
4. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning: Sad boys and girls around the world rejoiced at the release of this folk-inspired LP. With tear inducers like “Lua” and “First Day of My Life,” this release served as a mature, coming-of-age journey for singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, as well as his dedicated fans.
1. Why? – Elephant Eyelash: Though not as popular as some of the other releases on this list, this album easily holds its own. Curating a smart mix of indie and alternative hip-hop, this LP was a hidden gem of the mid 2000s. The first release by Why? as a full band, Elephant Eyelash includes full instrumentation not heard on earlier releases. Undeniably personal, sometimes uncomfortably so, the LP digs into the psyche of frontman Yoni Wolf, and has the power to dig into yours as well.
“You’d probably know them by that one song” is an accurate way to describe a lot of one-hit-wonder bands. Portland-based alternative and neo-psychedelia band The Dandy Warhols in no way escapes the weight of that phrase, but they are definitely not just another one-hit-wonder of a group.
The band released its latest LP, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia Live At The Wonder (a live recording of a previous 2000 release), last year which included a version of “that one song” everybody knows: “Bohemian Like You.” The raucous, upbeat, power-pop influenced, straight-to-the-point jam, was featured on multiple television soundtracks in the early 2000s in shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayerand Six Feet Under. It was also the theme to the U.S. version of the trivia show Cash Cab. “Bohemian Like You” gained the band a lot of traction in the 2000s, with Robert Webb of The Independenteven referring to it as “a defining song of the last decade.”
The Dandy Warhols will kick off its U.S. tour on Wednesday, Nov. 4th in Eugene, OR. The band was originally set to play at the McDonald Theatre, but will instead be at W.O.W. Hall —a venue the band first played in 1996 — for a more intimate performance.
L.A. band, The Shelters will support the Dandy Warhols for the show. Tickets for the all-ages show cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show beginning at 8 p.m.
Listen to the live version of “Bohemian Like You” off of Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia Live At The Wonder below.
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