A Story of Dracula, The Wolfman, and Frankenstein

A silly thing i remember being both scared of and fascinated by as a kid was the book and record "A Story of Dracula, The Wolfman, and Frankenstein" that belonged to my older sister.  We would listen to it on the home stereo in the living room and read through the story with fantastic art by an uncredited Neal Adams.  There's no telling whatever happened that copy, but i feel i may need to hunt one down now.  Listen to the whole thing below.  Happy Halloween!

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Trick Or Treat (For Halloween)

In just a few hours, there will be little monsters and ghouls running all over the neighborhood, yours and mine.  So here's some music from an old Donald Duck cartoon to put you in the right and childlike frame of mind.  Listen to "Trick Or Treat (For Halloween)," as performed by the vocal group The Mellomen, below and Happy Halloween.

October Horror Trailer - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

STRNGR & Destryur

If i'm not listening to at least a little spooky synth wave today, is it really even Halloween?  Check out the latest faux horror soundtrack thing full of eerie beats and terrifying techno from STRNGR and Destryur, "Night at the Grindhouse: Part II."  Listen to "Back to the Grind" below and pre-order one of the many different formats of the album here from NewRetroWave.

Fine Place

It's Halloween!  So here's some goth-tinged pop coming our way in a few weeks from Fine Place, the collaborative project of Frankie Rose (Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls) and Matthew Hord (Pop. 1280, Running).  Pre-order the upcoming "This New Heaven" LP here from Night School and listen to the title track below.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Satan

Here's a nine minute improvisational freakout from jazz and soul artist Byard Lancaster called "Satan."  Check it out, our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - Rosemary's Baby

Mildred Maude

UK outfit Mildred Maude just released a very cool, noisy, and grooving bit of instrumental shoegaze to move through our weekend to.  Check out "Trevena" below and get the "Sleepover" LP here from Sonic Cathedral.

October Horror Trailer - Sinister

 

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Midnight Stroll

Here's some spooky and soulful doo-wop from The Revels to kick off this Halloween weekend.  Listen to "Midnight Stroll" below, our Daily Jam.

Amar Lal

Experimental artist Amar Lal released a short new album today entitled "Lest We Forget."  The compositions therein use field recordings, ambient sounds, clips of news reports, and more straight forward melodies to explore the feelings and tensions around the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.  It's heavy stuff to be sure.  Check out the achingly, hauntingly beautiful "Elegy" below and get the album here from Never Content.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Another One for the Fire / Funeral Pyre

It feels like there are bits and clips from the soundtrack to "Night of the Living Dead" that were always floating around in my subconscious, even years before i saw it, like pieces of sound in the ether being received by some antenna deep within.  The closing notes of the film, "Another One for the Fire / Funeral Pyre" by Spencer Moore are just such sounds.  Absolutely haunting either with or without the context of the film.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - I Spit on Your Grave

Haunted House Party

Here's some awesome, lo-fi, instrumental hip-hop perfect for the upcoming Halloween weekend from an artist dubbed Haunted House Party.  The self-titled album is full of spooky samples and beats that the artist has described as "dusty beats for your trick-or-treats."  This one will totally be on repeat this Sunday.  Stream the whole thing below and cop the vinyl or cassette here from Strange Daisy.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Halloween

Here's a lovely little piece of 1970s kids Halloween novelty music from Wade Denning and Kay Lande.  Let it put you in the right spirit.  Listen to "Halloween" below, our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - Fear Street Part 3: 1666

S Y Z Y G Y X

I came across this cool and icy piece of synth pop from Washington DC artist S Y Z Y G Y X last night, and it's bumping around in my head ever since.  Check out the video for "Light You on Fire" below and get the track stuck in your head too.  Then pre-order the upcoming "(Im)mortal" LP here from Cold Transmission Music.

So Hideous

Listening to "The Emerald Pearl," the latest track from New York band So Hideous, i found myself with no idea where the song was headed.  Opening with Spaghetti Western vibes that then give way to something more proggy before grinding into a mix of emo, hardcore punk, post metal, and more, i was practically transfixed.  Check it out below and pre-order the band's upcoming "None but a Pure Heart Can Sing" record here from Silent Pendulum Records.

SUSS

New York band SUSS are back with a new album of ambient country to drift away to.  "Night Suite" was inspired by night drives on US Route 66 stretching from Albuquerque to Los Angeles, an endless horizon of Americana.  Check out "Gallup, NM" below and download the whole thing here from Northern Spy.

Blushing and Miki Berenyi

Austin shoegaze band Blushing have been kicking out albums for a few years now, each one getting better and more confident than the one that preceded it, and on their upcoming new album "Possessions," they find themselves collaborating with shoegaze royalty.  Check out "Blame" featuring Miki Berenyi of Lush fame below, and pre-order the record here from Kanine.

Odonis Odonis

I totally missed that we got a new album from Toronto band Odonis Odonis a week and a half ago.  "Spectrums" leans hard into the band's penchant for industrial techno and gothy darkwave, and i am here for it.  Check out "More" below and order the record here from Felte.

October Horror Trailer - Fear Street Part 2: 1978

Daily Jam (October Edition) - The Ballad of Harry Warden

Of all the hundreds of slasher flicks that were produced during the boom of the early '80s, i think my favorite one that didn't spawn a million sequels is the 1981 Canadian slasher "My Bloody Valentine."  Here's the theme song from that film, "The Ballad of Harry Warden," by Paul Zaza, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Coffin Nails

We're in the home stretch to Halloween now.  Kind of hard to believe.  So let's get creepy with some spooky themed surf music from The Ghouls.  Check out "Coffin Nails" below, our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - Fear Street Part 1: 1994

Sadness

I swear it seems like we're getting new music from Sadness every single month.  What a time to be alive.  Anyway, the latest mix of lo-fi, shoegaze and dreampop tinged, post rock influenced, black metal is the 2-track "Motionless, Watching You" EP.  Check out the equally beautiful and cacophonous "Blue" below and download it all here.

Midlake

Denton, Texas band Midlake first made waves back in the mid-'00s during the indie rock boom of the time, but they haven't released a record since 2013.  That changes in March next year with the release of the John Congleton produced "For the Sake of Bethel Woods," the band's fifth album.  Check out first single "Meanwhile..." below and pre-order the album here from Bella Union.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Tubular Bells

Outside of its inclusion on the soundtrack for "The Exorcist," i've never really given much thought to Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," and thus had no idea until just now that the whole work is actually over 48 minutes long.  I guess i should have expected as such from a prog rock artist.  Anyhoo, here's an excerpt from the soundtrack, our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Jarvis Cocker

If you were going to pick someone to make a companion album for a Wes Anderson movie featuring a bunch of covers of French pop songs from the '60s and '70s, would you really even consider anybody other than Jarvis Cocker?  It's so obvious, that when i heard about it, i was just like, "yep."  Anyway, checking it all out, and of course it's wonderful.  Check out the animated video directed by Andersonfor the cover of Christophe's "Aline" below and order the "Chansons d'Ennui Tip-Top" LP here on ABKCO.

October Horror Trailer - Piranha II: The Spawning

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Phantasm (Disco)

You may be unaware that there is a disco version of the theme from "Phantasm" out there.  And that it slaps.  Well, be unaware no more.  Check out Captain Zorro with the theme below, our Daily Jam.

Pink Milk

Swedish group Pink Milk just dropped their sophomore album "Ultraviolet" yesterday, a reverb heavy mix of goth, post punk, darkwave, and death rock.  It's the perfect kind of sound to spend the the weekend before Halloween listening to.  Check out "Here Comes the Pain" below and download the whole album here.

October Horror Trailer - Jacob's Ladder

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Transylvanian Concubine

I sometimes find myself thinking about different artists that just sound overtly Halloween.  There are plenty of obvious ones out there, and i think the kind of dark folk / gothic classical / alt-rock output of Rasputina is one.  Check out "Transylvanian Concubine" below, our Daily Jam.

Nation of Language

Next week, i'm going to my first live show since before the pandemic.  Honestly, i think its been over two years.  Anyway, i'm all vaxxed and ready for attack, so bring on some Levitation.  Aside from the one two darkwave punch of Drab Majesty and Boy Harsher, Brooklyn synth pop group Nation of Language is on the bill too.  And wouldn't you know it, they have a new album dropping the first week of November.  Check out "The Grey Commute" below and pre-order "A Way Forward" here.

October Horror Trailer - Jakob's Wife

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Fear of Ghosts

Dig on some spooky vibes from The Cure with the B-side cut "Fear of Ghosts," our Daily Jam.

HEALTH x Poppy

For the last couple of years, it seems like every month or so we get a new collaborative release between LA's synthy, noisy, industrial art-rock band HEALTH and an eclectic array of other artists.  It's always been a cool pairing, and honestly, every song has been great.  The latest is "Dead Flowers" which finds the band collaborating with dark pop artist Poppy.  There's an almost sinister, gothy shoegaze feel to the track as it sludges along.  Awesome stuff.  Check out the video below and keep an eye out for the upcoming "Disco 4::Part II" hopefully in the near future.

You'll Never Get to Heaven

Minimalist dreampop duo You'll Never Get to Heaven are back next month with a new album to hang around in the ether to.  Check out "Dust" below and pre-order the "Wave Your Moonlight Hat for the Snowfall Train" LP here from Seance Centre.

October Horror Trailer - The House on Sorority Row

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Pet Sematary

I always thought it was weird that the Ramones provided a song for the "Pet Sematary" soundtrack.  It's kind of weird, right?  But i guess who cares, because the song is great.  Anyway, check it out below, our Daily Jam.

PILOTPRIEST

Earlier this year, Waxwork Records released the excellent soundtrack for the atmospheric, sci-fi horror flick "Come True," featuring songs from synth pop band Electric Youth and synth wave artist PILOTPRIEST.  The film was written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns, aka PILOTPRIEST, who has now released the complete score as a pay-what-you-want download.  Check out the moody and eerie "The Shadow" below and download the whole thing here.  And if you haven't already, get the vinyl release with the Electric Youth songs here.

Deserta

The winter months are looking to bring us the occasional streak of warm tunes, like the upcoming January release of the new Deserta album.  The LA artist crafts dreamy, shoegaze-tinged pop to get lost in the haze to.  New tune "I'm So Tired" has some chillwave elements thrown into the mix as well, just for good measure.  Check it out below and pre-order the "Every Moment, Everything You Need" LP here from Felte.

Boy Harsher

Massachusetts darkwave act Boy Harsher have a new album heading our way in January, this one a soundtrack to a short horror film made by the duo called "The Runner."  Check out the spooky opener "Tower" below and pre-order the record here from Nude Club.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Satan Gave Me a Taco

Satan!  It's the month for songs about Satan...even the silly ones.  Here's Beck with "Satan Gave Me a Taco," our Daily Jam.

October Horror Trailer - The Church

Theoreme

French artist Theoreme blends a motorik beat with ice cold post-punk no wave that puts us somewhere between an hallucinatory, industrial club freakout and digging a tunnel in the earth to nowhere.  Let the pulse of "Les Artisans" hypnotize you and then pre-order the album of same name here from Maple Death Records.

Fanatism

Swedish psych rock band Fanatism are hitting us with new album "Inverted Evolution" next month, a mix of psychedelia, prog, and classic rock to expand our minds to.  Check out the thudding and hypnotic "Verkligheten" below and pre-order the album here from Centripetal Force.

October Horror Trailer - Amityville 1992: It's About Time