The turning of the seasons brings us once again to northern autumn — the season of the witch, if you will. And though the nights are growing crisp, some of us — the Night People among us — crave, deep in the tenebrous darkness of our souls, something just a little . . . cooler.
The allure of a cold shiver tickling your spine — you feel it, don’t you? Don’t try to deny it. Only thank your fallen stars that — like a restless ghost — your best fiend Jack Fear has returned once again, flinging open my crypt of musical madness, as is my tradition, to unleash the sixteenth installment in the annual montage of fearsome favorites, bizarre obscurities, party jive, hipster goofs, and scary stories that constitute the Popdose Halloween Mixtape!
When you cue up this 77-minute sonic séance — a seamless collage of continuous music and sound, free for your streaming and downloading pleasure, and, not unlike Frankenstein’s monster, lovingly stitched together by hand — you’ll laugh; you’ll dance; you’ll ask, “What the hell was that?” It’s perfect for fireside listening, freaking out trick-or-treaters, or just livening up those long days in the office. Add in the previous installments in the series, and you’ve got haunted harmonies enough to last you ‘til All Saints Day.
If you like what you hear, we encourage you to support the individual artists to whatever extent you can. After all, it’s only in the spirit of the season to . . . throw them a bone, hm?
Enjoy, and until next time, be good to each other. After all — it’s a scary world out there.
Visit the archives for all previous Halloween mixtapes.
Halloween Mix 16 (Hex Enduction Hour) (1:16:39)
Into the Unknown – The Blasting Company with Jack Jones (Over the Garden Wall OST)
Into the Night – Julee Cruise with Angelo Badalamenti
No Good Way to Die – Chantal Claret
Zombie Accomplishments – The Isotopes
Synopsis for Latecomers – They Might Be Giants
“An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (abridged) from The Ambrose Bierce Collection
(montage contains elements of Tchaikovsky’s Sérénade mélancolique, performed by Clara Rockmore)
Home By the Sea – Genesis
Hotel Reverie – The Beaumonts
Killer Klowns from Outer Space – The Dickies
Creature with the Atom Brain – Roky Erickson and the Aliens
(movie trailer: The Astro-Zombies)
They Walk Among You – New Math
Double Trouble (Witches’ Song from Macbeth) – John Williams (Harry Potter OST)
Witch’s Love Song (edit) – Barbara the Gray Witch
Witchy Woman – Eagles
The Devil’s Blood-Red Moon – Jackson Cavalier
Haunted House – The Resoneurs
Gravewalk – Satan’s Pilgrims
Dancing the Devil Away – Arden & Ohman
Dead Beat Dance – The Damned
Mad House Jump – The Daylighters
Psycho – Eddie Noak
Phantom Broadcast – The Go! Team
coda: EVP – unknown girl singing; from the collection Occult Voices: Paranormal Music, Recordings of Unseen Intelligences 1905-2007
Special thanks this year to the curators at UbuWeb, to Charlie Freida and all in the Rochester music scene (especially Mike Murray of the Whole Lotta Shakin’ Radio Show), and as always to Dan Russo, Andrew Weiss, Chris Healey, Dylan Todd, and all Night People everywhere.
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