Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody!  Have fun out there!

October Horror Trailer - Halloween

October Horror Trailer - The Shining

October Horror Trailer - The Omen

October Horror Trailer - It Follows

Mick Jenkins featuring Ghostface Killah

You put Ghostface Killah on your record, and i'm pretty much going to pay attention to it.  And it certainly doesn't hurt when that record comes from Chicago's Mick Jenkins.  Listen to "Padded Locks" below and get Jenkins' latest album, "Pieces of a Man," here via Cinematic Music Group.

October Horror Trailer - The Funhouse

A Collection of Desires

I've been meaning to post about my associate Shawn C. Baker's book for a while now, ever since i picked it up and flew right through it.  But for some reason, it kept eluding me.  Anyway, considering the season, "A Collection of Desires: 7 Tales of Modern Horror," seemed like the perfect thing to read before Halloween comes and goes.  These page-turning short stories feature a whole slew of the macabre, but through a decidedly 21st century lens, and a kind of seedy LA neon tinge faintly glowing in the background.  And there's something for everyone too.  Killer apps!  Demon summoning!  Evil (and single) goth girls!  Lovecraftian beasties!  Vampires!  Murder!  Revenge!  A highlight for me is the dread and paranoia soaked "In His Arms, She Felt Loved," but you can't go wrong with all seven of these morbid tales.

Support independent artists.  Get the book here.  And read more from Shawn here and here.

Maston

Last year, LA artist Maston released one of my favorite albums of the year, the exotic, library sound-indebted kosmische pop of "Tulips."  As it turns out, the sessions for that record produced a lot of music that didn't make the cut...until now.  "Darkland" features a brand new batch of said exotic tunes from the "Tulips" sessions, all in a sweet and psychedelic mood.  Listen to "Endless" below and download the album here from the artist.

October Horror Trailer - Killer Klowns from Outer Space

October Horror Trailer - Race with the Devil

The Night Comes For Us

I took a rare break from October horror movies last night to watch Timo Tjahjanto's action flick "The Night Comes For Us."  And holy shit!  This marks the second time in just over a month that a movie has left me speechless, my mouth agape, and my adrenaline pumping like a mofo.  Watch the trailer below, watch the movie as soon as you can via Netflix, and expect to see both it and "Mandy" on my list of best movies come year's end.

Steve Gunn

Singer songwriter Steve Gunn has a new album headed our way in January via Matador.  Check out the video for the folky, psych pop-tinged "New Moon" below and pre-order the album here.

October Horror Trailer - Bloody Birthday

The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Over the last few years, Damon Albarn has been reviving all of his former projects, issuing new albums and material from the likes of Blue and Gorillaz.  And now to complete the trifecta, the sophomore release from supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen is finally coming to us next month, some 11 years later.  Consisting of Albarn, The Clash's Paul Simonon, The Verve's Simon Tong, and legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and featuring production from Tony Visconti, the band's upcoming "Merrie Land" LP is a meditation of sorts on British-ness in a post-Brexit world.  Watch the video for the title track below and pre-order the record here from the band's own Studio 13 label.

Protomartyr covers Preoccupations

In a move sure to make post punk fans giddy, the guys of Protomartyr and Preoccupations have decided to issue a 7" where they cover each other.  And there was much rejoicing.  The "Telemetry at Howe Bridge" 7" is out next month on Domino, featuring Protomartyr's stripped down take on "Forbidden" and Preoccupations' version of "Pontiac '87."  Listen to "Forbidden" below and pre-order the record here.

October Horror Trailer - The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Beach House - Alien

Dreampop duo Beach House have a new single out this Friday.  Listen to the driving, pulsing B-side "Alien," a track that feels a little rougher around the edges when compared to haze of this year's "7" LP.  Check it out below and get it here or here via Sub Pop.

October Horror Trailer - Creepshow 2

October Horror Trailer - Night of the Living Dead

Washed Out - Don't Wanna

2009 was so very long ago, a lifetime even.  It was a time that seems so faded now in my memory as to actually embody the airy, retro, faded sound of the pop fad that dominated the music blogosphere that year, a sound that was dubbed "chillwave" by some guy i guess.  Anyway, annoyingly trite and clever genre names aside, i was down with the sound so it were, records from Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, Memory Tapes, and more sliding into my collection with ease.  Undoubtedly, my favorite from that whole scene were the relaxed and breezy tunes of Washed Out.  And now, the artist's "High Times" album, originally available on cassette only, is getting reissued on vinyl next month, and will include a few songs not on the original release.  Hooray!  Watch the animated video for "new" song "Don't Wanna" below and pre-order the record here from the artist.

October Horror Trailer - The Blob

Surprise album from The Body

Last night, Portland's droney, noisy metal duo The Body dropped a surprise album to shred our eardrums, the gloriously titled, "O God Who Avenges, Shine Forth. Rise Up, Judge of the Earth; Pay Back to the Proud What They Deserve."  They recorded it over two days just last week, so this is about as raw of an album as we are likely to get from them.  Listen to album opener "Voice of Passion" below and download the whole thing here from the band.

Ioanna Gika

Ioanna Gika, Greek-American artist and one half of the LA band IO Echo, is readying a solo record of dark electro-pop for Sargent House.  Our first taste is the throbbing and echoing "Roseate."  Give it a listen below and download it here.

VHS Glitch

There are a looooooooooooooooot of artists out there aping on retro '80s horror synths and spooky techno, but one of the ones that i keep coming back to is the prolific VHS Glitch.  As the artist's music creeps and bumps, you can envision the imaginary film taking place in your head, like some old tape you watched half hidden under a blanket as a child.  The latest album, "They Made Me an Animal" dropped yesterday.  Listen to the title track below and download the whole thing here.

October Horror Trailer - Basket Case

Tuğçe Şenoğul

I've been a fan of various forms of world music for a while now, exotic tones and sounds making up a large portion of the stuff i listen to whilst searching and exploring for new things to hear.  And there is just something so damn enchanting about another culture's take on western music.  In this case, it's the dark and dreamy synth pop of Turkish artist Tuğçe Şenoğul.  New album "Gölgelerine" sounds like the Istanbul cousin of Kate Bush, an eerie and sensual take on melancholy pop.  I am completely mesmerized.  Listen to "Bunu Sana Demiştim" below and download the album here from Shalgam Records.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Halloween

Last year Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross dropped a surprise cover of John Carpenter's "Halloween" theme just in time for the holiday itself.  This year, that song gets a vinyl pressing courtesy of Sacred Bones, and again just in time for the holiday.  As a bonus, the B-side is Carpenter's own re-recorded version.  Listen to both below and order the record here (the orange vinyl is already gone).

Wooing

Remember that band The Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players from several years ago, the husband/wife family indie pop band with their little daughter on the drums?  They were okay i guess, but so adorably twee as to be completely unbearable.  Anyway, that little drummer Michelle Trachtenberg still makes music, and now has her own band called Wooing...and they're good.  Listen to "Could Have Been" below and pre-order "The Clouds" 7" here from Kanine Records.

Das Body

Though only about a year old, Texas label Luminelle has issued a pretty great string of pop records so far this year from the likes of Anemone, Helena Deland, and more.  One of their most recent signees is Oslo band Das Body, who have just released their self-titled EP full of electro-synth pop.  Listen to "Boys" below and order the record here.

The KVB

UK band The KVB have been making their particular brand of moody, dreamy, shoegaze-indebted synth pop for the better part of a decade now, and the duo only seems to get better and better with each subsequent release.  Their latest, "Only Now Forever," continues the trend, with splashes of gothy darkwave throughout their musical ether.  Listen to "Afterglow" below and get the record here from Invada.

Halloween Sounds from the Upside Down

Remember those old spooky sounds records they used to put out?  Albums of eerie sound effects, creaking doors, rattling chains, wolves howling, and other noises of the sort?  Maybe that's just me hinting at my age, but it appears that S U R V I V E's Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein do.  And now the duo behind the music to Netflix's "Stranger Things" have their own LP of spooky sounds heading our way next week.  "Halloween Sounds from the Upside Down" is really more of an atmospheric kind of record though, not really songs or sound effects, but rather layers of ambience and unnerving sound design created by an assortment of synthesizers.  And just in time for the season too.  Listen to "Possessed" below, pre-order the download here, or order the record here from Lakeshore.

October Horror Trailer - Terror Train

October Horror Trailer - Cat's Eye

Timothy Fife

For about a decade now (probably longer), i've been a big, big fan of the synthwave genre, all of that retro-futuristic synthesizer hum.  It hits me in all the right places, and as i've sampled music from here and there, the name Timothy Fife comes up a lot on various recordings and compilations...and with good reason too.  A synth wizard of sorts, the artist composes all manner of electro-soundscapes, imaginary soundtracks to get lost in for a while.  His latest, the "Hoici The Earless" album is a re-imagined score for the Japanese horror anthology "Kwaidan."  The whole thing was originally written and performed live at an event during SXSW in 2017, but has now made its way on to cassette courtesy of Lighten Up Sounds.  Listen to the whole thing below and snag a copy here.

Whispering Sons

Here's a little gothy post punk from Belgium's Whispering Sons for this cold, wet, and gloomy (in Central Texas anyway) morning.  "Alone" booms and pulses with dour intent, one big gray cloud of a song.  Listen below and get the "Image" LP here from the band.

October Horror Trailer - Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama

October Horror Trailer - Wrong Turn

Julia Holter

California artist Julia Holter has a new record of experimental pop compositions headed our way later this month.  Watch the video for "I Shall Love 2" below and get the upcoming "Aviary" LP from Domino.

October Horror Trailer - A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

The Buttertones - Madame Supreme

LA's The Buttertones released a new single yesterday, the decidedly surf rock-indebted "Madame Supreme."  Listen below and snag the single here from Innovative Leisure.  I haven't heard it, but the B-side is a cover of The Walker Brothers' "Shut Out," and that's just cool.

October Horror Trailer - Child's Play 2

Rebecca Peake

I can't find a whole lot of information about Rebecca Peake, though the artist does seem to be fairly prolific.  Anyway, new album "Avec 1" is out now via Ghost Diamond, and it's an icy and catchy mix of synth wave and dreampop with some shoegaze and post punk notes spattered throughout.  Listen to "A waste of Time" below and get the cassette here.

Dinosaur on Fire

After a six year hiatus, Florida synthwave artist Dinosaur on Fire is back with his sophomore album, "Populous Romantique."  His musical instincts are still intact, crafting songs that feel like the soundtrack to flying over some futuristic vista at night, neon buildings and technological squalor everywhere, but there's a more expansive and epic, and at time almost vaudevillian, vibe this time around.  It's like visiting a new world.  Listen to "Romance V" below and get the cassette here via Ghost Diamond.

HEALTH x Perturbator

LA noise makers HEALTH have been releasing a string of singles over the last several months, and their latest, released this morning, is a total banger featuring French synthwave artist Perturbator.  Watch the old school video game-themed video for "Body/Prison" below, and hope we get more collaborations from the two artists in the future.

Zola Jesus remixed by Johnny Jewel

In January, we're getting a new EP from Zola Jesus consisting of remixes by Johnny Jewel appropriately enough titled "Zola Jesus Remixed By Johnny Jewel."  Stream the whole thing below, and then think about how amazing it would be if the two artists collaborated on something new, and then pre-order the record here via Sacred Bones.

October Horror Trailer - Maniac Cop 2

October Horror Trailer - Candyman II: Farewell to the Flesh

Devon Church

Exitmusic's Devon Church has a solo album full of dubby, moody darkwave and shoegaze-tinged pop headed our way later this month on Felte.  Pre-order the "We Are Inextricable" LP here and listen to the creeping title track below.

Anemone

Montreal's breezy, dreamy psychedelic pop band Anemone are set to release their first full-length LP early next year via Luminelle.  I've been a huge fan of the band since catching one of their amazing SXSW performances last March, and i'm giddy for more new jams.  Listen to "Sunshine (Back to the Start)" below and pre-order "Beat My Distance" here.