Mixtape #18 : Hallowe’en

by 5:4

Caught up as i am this Hallowe’en weekend in a flurry of horror movies, it seemed only right to make the new 5:4 mixtape suitable for the occasion. For this Hallowe’en mix, i’ve trawled my library for music that’s particularly unsettling—so don’t expect to hear ‘The Monster Mash’ or anything like that.

Not surprisingly, a number of soundtracks are featured, of very different styles and manners. The opening of Johan Söderqvist‘s score for Let the Right One In is a masterpiece of foreboding tension; Joe LoDuca explores rapid-fire percussive sounds in this nervy section of his music for the classic The Evil Dead (and the image on the artwork is a beautiful still taken from the equally beautiful blu-ray transfer of Sam Raimi’s brilliant Evil Dead II). Christopher Young draws on evocative metallic clangs and the ominous tinkles of a music box for his Hellraiser soundtrack, going to the opposite extreme for its sequel, Hellbound, the overture of which aspires to the operatic. Angelo Badalamenti—featured twice—establishes an almost immobile, horribly enclosed mood in his music for season 2 of Twin Peaks and, even more so, Mulholland Drive. The extreme, though, is Lars von Trier and Kristian Eidnes‘ soundtrack to Antichrist, one of the most unconventional ever created, and certainly one of the best. Jerry Goldsmith‘s score for Basic Instinct functions like a vast orchestral suite, often eschewing dramatics for music that slowly builds with masterly restraint; Thomas Bangalter—in a break from being one half of Daft Punk—accompanied one of the most horrific scenes of film violence with this ludicrously effective and queasy bit of sound; and David Lynch‘s own music for his exhibition The Air is on Fire is an impossibly deep and dark ambient cycle, occasionally—as here—introducing elements of hauntology.

For the rest, Leyland Kirby appears twice, but never by name; as The Stranger, with a stomach-turning segment from his brilliant album Bleaklow, and as The Caretaker, in a dirt-strewn fragment of material. Deathprod also puts in a dual appearance, at first fabricating history, later using frequencies like a light shining in one’s eyes. A selection of disturbing music wouldn’t be complete without the master of black ambient, Lustmord, heard here in a slice of glowering menace from one of his best albums. Trent Reznor‘s soundtrack to the video game Quake fits well beside it, and later, with his NIN hat on, explores a sound world distinctly similar to that of Christopher Young’s. Aphex Twin‘s album drukqs is the best of his career, the breakbeats littered with strange, unnerving piano pieces like this one. György Ligeti‘s piano works are unsurpassed in the modern era; cleverly used by Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut, this example works its maddening magic in no small part through Ligeti’s frustrating, superbly-judged elliptical material. It’s not all gentle threats, however; Naked City‘s bowel-boggling hardcore miniatures and the delicious recent noisescapes of Oneohtrix Point Never‘s Returnal shatter the mood into a thousand, terrifying pieces; likewise, Merzbow‘s ever-changing, hard-edged sonics keep the ears on tenterhooks. Andrew Liles‘ unique brand of surreal drones brings the mix to an uncertain end.

In addition, a number of short clips from two or three horror films have been included to, ahem, ‘flesh’ out the mix. In all, 90 minutes of music and sound to give a frisson of fright to this most eerie of occasions. Here’s the tracklisting in full:

Johan Söderqvist – The Arrival (from Let The Right One In (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
Joseph LoDuca – Panic (from The Evil Dead)
Christopher Young – Hellbound (from Hellbound: Hellraiser 2)
Angelo Badalamenti – Diner (from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive)
Lars von Trier and Kristian Eidnes – Credits Part 2 (from Antichrist Soundtrack)
The Stranger – Bleaklow (from Bleaklow)
Deathprod – Stony Beach (from Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cuhna)
Jerry Goldsmith – Beth and Nick (from Basic Instinct – The Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Thomas Bangalter – Rectum (from Irréversible – Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture)
Christopher Young – The Lament Configuration (from Hellraiser)
Lustmord – Sol Om On (from The Place Where The Black Stars Hang)
Trent Reznor – Aftermath (from Quake (Soundtrack))
Aphex Twin – Gwarek2 (from Drukqs)
Naked City – Bonehead (from Torture Garden)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Nil Admirari (from Returnal)
The Caretaker – Den Of Iniquity (from Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom)
Christopher Young – Seduction And Pursuit [excerpt] (from Hellraiser)
Nine Inch Nails – 25 Ghosts III (from Ghosts I-IV)
Deathprod – Reference Frequencies # 5 (from Reference Frequencies)
György Ligeti – Musica ricercata – II. Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale (from Works for Piano – 3: Études, Musica Ricercata)
Angelo Badalamenti – Dark Mood Woods/The Red Room [excerpts] (from Twin Peaks – Season Two Music and More)
David Lynch – The Air Is On Fire: VII. Interior (from The Air Is On Fire)
Merzbow – Ghost Hide Your Eyes [excerpt] (from Sha Mo 3000)
Andrew Liles – Bulbs Of The Vestibule IV [excerpt] (from Miscellany)



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5:4

@Duck – thanks for your compliments – hope you liked the mix 🙂

@kingpossum – thanks a lot! It was definitely one of the more fun mixes i've made!

kingpossum

Belated thanks and kudos for the outstanding Hallowe'en mix. Another stellar entry, and great listening any time, not just for fright night.

Duck

Thanks, your mixes are excellent and I'll be checking this one out tomorrow night (or maybe freaking out the kiddies too).

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