Halloween Playlist for Thanksgiving

11/20/2011

Usually Halloween lasts the entire month of October for me, and even part of September. TV channels start playing the movies, the air gets a bit chilly, and people burn their leaves, all putting me in a creepy mood that lasts up until the day after Halloween. Then we immediately start thinking about Christmas, helped by stores that assume we need to be reminded way too early. Now that it's almost Thanksgiving we should be thinking about being with family and giving thanks, basically Christmas without presents; a nice holiday if you like your relatives. I just never thought Christmas music was right yet at this time of year. It takes over the radio too quickly. Since Thanksgiving is in between two tuneful holidays, and has not very many memorable songs of its own, no real musical identity, why not borrow from Halloween as well as Christmas?

Of course, I'm not really serious. It's just that this should have gone out on the Saturday before Halloween, but we got slammed with a huge snow storm, and I've been busy since. More than 950,000 people lost power in Connecticut alone, so some of this was written while using a 12-year-old but never used, breathe-and-it-shuts-down, you-can-have-hot-water-OR-the-refrigerator, and don't-even-think-about-using-the-stove-or-microwave-or-washing-machine generator. The piece of shit was replaced at the first opportunity, five days into the outage.

Also available at YouTube, if you prefer, so you can just play the list and avoid my blather.

I'll start this off with one of my favorite songs ever (well, technically two...actually more than that because each Saw movie had another version of it). My lovely iPod decided to play it as my lullaby on Halloween night. It certainly tops my list, no question. There is a strange and persistent beauty in its rusting metal, dilapidated nightmare.


And the rest in no particular order:

This is E Nomine. You must turn up your speakers and they must have bass.


Epic, dark, and set to The Lord of the Rings.


Can't watch a Supernatural episode with Mark Sheppard (Crowley) without thinking of Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley." I also fondly remember Brutal Legend every time I hear this.


Another perfectly selected song that was used in Brütal Legend.


Here's another that always reminds me of Supernatural, a show that can make every day of the year feel like Halloween.


The singer for Eisenherz sounds like more animal than man. I love that. A quirkly and fun Jekyll and Hyde video.


An angry and growly song with a piercingly dissonant sound that I've heard was named for the day it was first performed.


Lucifer? The end of the world? Perfect fit for the holiday.


Not really creepy by itself, but of course it reminds me of Saw.


The disturbing vocals of Marilyn Manson set to It and Pet Sematary.


My first experience with Oomph! Still as spine-tingling as it was then.


Haunting melody that wordlessly describes a dismal setting, even if I didn't know it was from a disturbing little thriller called The Hole.


Speaking of haunting, this one also has depressing lyrics.


There aren't many creepier beginnings than this Diary of Dreams track.


Well done tribute to the Dawn of the Dead remake.


Is it Halloween without Judas Priest?


And last but not least. Didn't I already tell you these were in no certain order? Open your ears. No, really, do that...great song coming up, and the last you'll get from me...at least until I make another list.


Before I go, MOG finally has a free option! I assume it's because they have to compete with Spotify. This is great news, and I wonder how long it's been that way. I haven't been back in a long time. I joined last year because of a 30-day trial. When that ended I stayed with MOG for the blogging, which gave me the inclination to start my own. I used it quite a lot, until they changed the profiles to all look the same. The design was terrible (and still is), so I eventually settled on a combination of Last.fm, YouTube, and Pandora. MOG had been the closest thing to Lala and now it looks like I'll be going there again for new music, especially since it works on my iPad...mostly. Plays great, but the mobile site doesn't scroll the playlists. It's apparently Flash-based. I have a browser that it would probably work in, iSwifter, but that one doesn't multitask.

Rdio is also offering a free verison now. So happy about this. Most of the people I knew from Lala ended up here, even though there was a subscription fee. I love discovering music, but I haven't had enough free time in quite a while to justify the purchase. It streams beautifully and there are a number of albums in heavy rotation right on the home page, so finding something to listen to right away is a breeze. Unfortunately, this one has no free mobile version and the app is only for the midrange and premium subscribers.

Finally, both of these former Lala rivals have become worthy of being so. Why couldn't they have figured it out sooner?