Hey guys, I'm not dead! after a brief break from University and returning from a fantastic night out on the toon in Newcastle, I not only have time to post, but have things to post too! today's offering is bits from a mixtape I knocked up for a friend relating to a certain holiday approaching, Enjoy!
I already had the perfect opener lined up in the offering from the
Cornelius EP that is unlike anything else put out there by the usually electric-centric duo The Bloody Beetroots. I thought it served well as an introduction to what I called rather unimaginatively The Spooky Tape.
I of course followed that up with their church based banger from their debut LP
Romborama, it would have been rude not to. listening back to it with that in mind reveals all kindsa spooky goings on in the track right down to the thermin-esque whining bits in the background, and of course a healthy dose of the organ. As one person so nicely commented on my Youtube upload of this track "No more Castlevania remixes for me!".
I can't go around dropping videogames into the mix without including everyone's favourite 1980's inspired electro dealer (alongside the 'Vinsky of course) Danger. The intro just nails that old school feel and wouldn't sound too out of place in a low budget slasher horror from about 30 years ago. Do yourself a favour and see if you can ffind that video on youtube where someone synced this tune up to bits from
The Terminator it's class.
I desperately needed a slightly more downtempo number to spice up the tape's structure, but it still had to be electronic. I found the answer in an underrated bit from Teenage Bad Girl. This track has always been a favourite of mine from
Cocotte, it was a nice break from their usual repertoire, and I as moe than happy to see them carry the slower paced break tradition on to
Backwash.
This gap allowed me to get a bit creative; see this friend is wanting to expand her music horizons and explore more electronic stuff. I ended up playing the safe choice on the actual mixtape and put Röyksopp's
The Fear in. However for you fine people I'm going to treat you to my original choice in The Knife's
The Captain, a beautifully haunting song that Olof from the duo describes as "What I imagine the Alps to sound like".
Saying that I did choose to put on one of Broadcast's weirder sounding tracks afterwards. Coming back to Pendulum was an experience all right, that off kilter sound, the unrelenting beat during the chorus and of course the lovely tones of Trish Keenan. Between all that it had certainly earned its place on the mix. That and to bring it back around to less electronic oriented stuff to finish it off.
Rounding off my selection is
Ghosts from Ladytron. After listening almost exclusively to their debut
604, which is a record infused with the vibes of the 80's mixed with contemporary house, jumping to 2008's
Velocifero was quite a shock. The electrics may not be as pronounced (minus that droney intro & outro), but the quality is still there and I'm kicking myself for not checking the rest of their discography sooner.
That'll do for now, but how about you make your own halloween mixtapes and share them with friends? it's a fun little distraction, and I've already given you a few tracks to get started with so get to it!
HALLOWEEN EDIT:
One of our lovely readers by the name of Sulphites dropped by with their own spooky tape to share, you can find it over on their blog.
Boo,
- Claude Van Foxbat
