Incomparable EPs: October 2019

I almost did an entire playlist of Neil Finn, because I consider some of the weirder Crowded House tracks to be almost as Halloween appropriate as Boingo. But I went another way.

Also how to pick among TMBG songs? Almost chose Meet James Ensor or Exquisite Dead Guy

Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust by @slutz

Track List

One of These Days - Pink Floyd
No One Lives Forever - Oingo Boingo
Poodleman - Optiganally Yours
Car Chase Terror ! - M83

Playlist

Apple Music - Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust

Description

Pink Floyd scored a couple of obscure hippie movies in the late sixties/early seventies. One Of These Days is proof that they could have easily done a horror flick. The wind, the insistent, pulsating bass, the sudden knock on the door, and that single, heavily processed lyric... Creepy and rocking in equal measures.

For this Southern California kid of the ‘80s, Oingo Boingo is synonymous with Shocktober. I could have picked half a dozen great tunes, but I’ve always loved how No One Lives Forever captures the feeling that death is forever hot on your heels.

Of course, there are things in this world that are far worse than death. The dreaded Poodleman, for instance, as related by San Diego’s own Optiganally Yours. I don’t want to spoil the horror, so just listen and let the dread wash over you.

We close with the legitimately chilling Car Chase Terror! from M83. Again, I don’t want to say too much because I think you should make up your own mind as to what exactly is happening here. Suffice it to say, the ending gives me goose bumps.

Spooky Playlist by @muddie

Track List

Fear of the Dark (Live In Buenos Aires 7/3/08) - Iron Maiden
Zombie Bastards - Weezer
Mein Herz brennt (Piano Version By Sven Helbig) - Rammstein
Red Right Hand (2011 Remastered Version) - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Playlist

Apple Music - Spooky Playlist

Description

Fear of the dark is a great song that goes a long way to expressing the strange fear that I have even as an adult that something is always watching me.

I chose this live version because it really is the ultimate singalong Iron Maiden song. Have a listen the crowd even sing the guitar parts.

This was the standout song from Weezer’s latest album for me. It’s gong to be my go to song for when the Zombie Apocalypse happens.

I know Mein Herz Brennt is all in German but trust me it’s as spooky as it gets. Here is just a sample of the lyrics in English.

They come to you at night

Demons, ghosts and black elves

They crawl up from the cellar rows

And will take a look under your blanket

I chose the piano version rather than the original because it ups the spooky factor an entire order of magnitude.

Red right Hand because I have always been intrigued as to why the subject had is red and if it controls him more than he it. Also it’s from the king of spooky.

An October Project by @stevev

Track List

"Colder", Throwing Muses (Album: House Tornado)
"First Snow", Emancipator (Album: Soon It Will Be Cold Enough)
"Lay Me Down", Happy Rhodes (Album: Warpaint)
"Bury My Lovely", October Project (Album: October Project)

Playlist

YouTube - An October Project

Description

It's getting colder and spookier.

Incomparable Halloween 2019 by @kevin

Track List

A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard - Jeremy Messersmith
Frankenstein - Aimee Mann
Werewolf - Fiona Apple
Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) [Extended Version] - Concrete Blonde

Playlist

Apple Muisic - Incomparable Halloween 2019

Description

My Halloween EP

The cemetery is my home, I’ll read poetry to the stones by @jimhart

Track List

Nightcrawler - Graveyard Club
Graveyard Girl - M83
The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! - Doleful Lions
Halloween - The Dream Syndicate

Playlist

Apple Music - The cemetery is my home, I’ll read poetry to the stones

Description

Graveyard Club is a Minneapolis band who early on really leaned into "spooky synth" as a gimmick and I think this one does a good job setting the stage here

That's mostly lead-in for Graveyard Girl. Say what you will about Midnight City or the like, this is the best song M83 has recorded, full stop. It perfectly nails and skewers the aesthetic. I just want to quote it at great length, I'll refrain and just say you cannot ignore the spoken word part.

Doleful Lions is another band with kind of a horror/esoteric/occultic vibe, which can be a bit much. They have a song which is just a monologue from Halloween III with a spooky synth bed. But this just takes the horror movie tropes and builds a love song around them. "But that's okay my sweetheart, 'cause I love you / I wanted to be the one in the end" is a decent enough love song lyric, but then you realize he means the end the end.

This is all just lead in to the absolute killer jam that is The Dream Syndicate's "Halloween", which it totally not just me phoning it in and just googling a song called "Halloween". Keep in mind, this is only the third best song on The Days of Wine and Roses

Incomparable EP Halloween Themed 2019 by @tmtrains

Track List

Fascination Street - The Cure
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
New Dawn Fades (2019 Master) - Joy Division
Waiting for the Night - Depeche Mode

Playlist

Apple Music - Incomparable EP Halloween Themed 2019

Description

Fascination Street, The Cure. It doesn’t feel right to put together a Halloween playlist and not include a Cure song. It’s about 2 and a half minutes until we hear Robert Smith’s voice inviting us out to some seasonal festivities.

Bad Romance, Lady Gaga. If you need a costume for a Halloween party, it’s hard to go wrong with something from Lady Gaga. Also, the video for Bad Romance seems a great fit for the season.

New Dawn Fades, Joy Division. Joy Division is here to remind you that the thing scarier than ghosts and zombies is existential dread. This song has bits and pieces that you hear in many subsequent songs that borrowed from it to invoke darkness in their work. (edited)

Waiting for the Night, Depeche Mode. Sure, let’s welcome the coming of the night. What could go wrong?

AJ Incomparable Halloween 2019 by @antony

Track List

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Haunted - Type O Negative
A Doomed Lover - My Dying Bride
Take Me Down - Paradise Lost

Playlist

Spotify - AJ Incomparable Halloween 2019

Description

Seeing as I normally spare Incomparable ppl my more metallic tendencies, I figure I might as well let some doom loose here instead 😉

Shocktober 2019

Hey you music monsters!

It’s ShocktooooooOOOOoooober! What better time to make an EP of your favorite spooky (or at least, seasonally-appropriate) tunes?

The usual rules apply. Assemble 4 tracks fit to rattle your chains to. Post your ghoulish goulash, along with a title and explanation, to this channel on Saturday or Sunday.

And then we’ll talk about them! Or at least, grant them passing acknowledgment before getting on with our lives.

As before, I’ll archive everyone’s track lists to http://incomparableeps.blogspot.com.

And by the way, if you’re missing summer right about now, it’s a great time to check out any of our Summer EPs you might have missed.