Music Challenge for October

September 30, 2010 6:08 PM

For October we've always gone with SCARY and not only do I not want to change that, I'd like to see it become a tradition here. So for October, let's be scary and anything goes. Just imagine that your producing something for a Halloween party, a Haunted House or even something just to scare the daylights out of trick-or-treaters. I think I might go with a little spoken word a la Vincent Price accompanied by some spooky music and sounds. Enjoy!
posted by snsranch (37 comments total)

BOO!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:03 AM on October 1, 2010


And the challenge is up! Morning of the first day of the month, I think this is a personal record for me.
posted by cortex at 7:36 AM on October 1, 2010


BTW, that BOO was a ghost boo. Not the other kind.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:17 PM on October 1, 2010


I was saying Boo-urns.
posted by cortex at 7:18 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wow, the transpo challenge kinda tanked. (;_;)
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 7:39 PM on October 1, 2010


I blame Minecraft.
posted by cortex at 7:50 PM on October 1, 2010


Wow, the transpo challenge kinda tanked

Yeah, it happens. During my tenure as Challenge Overlord there were quite a few months when submissions were really low. You never know how it'll turn out. And it's often with a pretty good Challenge idea, too. Personally, I thought the transpo theme was a really good one, and I would've guessed there would've been more entries. But any number of other circumstances might've come into play to make the month a slow one. School year starting? A plague of computer/software malfunctions? The dog ate my microphone?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:59 PM on October 1, 2010


I was saying Boo-urns.

Is there any aspect of humanity and life that the Simpsons has not addressed?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:03 PM on October 1, 2010


Couple of ideas. Ghost songs which aren't about BOO:

The Ghost of You Lingers - Spoon
There's a Ghost in my House - The Fall (original by R Dean Taylor)

Genuinely frightening (to me) songs:

John Wayne Gacy Jr - Sufjan Stevens
Permafrost - Magazine
Sonny's Burning - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (HOLY SHIT THIS STILL ROCKS)
posted by unSane at 4:57 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


My current favorite Ghost Song:

Stars - "Dead Hearts"
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 2:25 PM on October 2, 2010


I can't think of any songs that genuinely frighten me. Perhaps Sid Vicious doing "My Way" - mainly because he was so out of control and you kind of knew he was heading for a sticky end and very soon. A lot of people thought it was funny. I didn't. At all. I still find it disturbing.
posted by MajorDundee at 2:44 AM on October 3, 2010


Oh and some of the later Doors stuff has a whiff of that too. Not the stuff where Morrison is trying to be doomy and scary (the risible "Horse Lattitudes" for instance - although that's an early track), but some of the LA Woman stuff, for instance. There just a kind of out-of-control vibe there that's spooky.
posted by MajorDundee at 2:52 AM on October 3, 2010


I can't think of any songs that genuinely frighten me.

This is perhaps not "genuinely frightening", but it is... oddly disturbing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:40 AM on October 3, 2010


Actually, I find this pretty frightening.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:42 AM on October 3, 2010


I guess if we're counting The Terrifying but Ultimately Meaningless Theater of Mesmerising Rock'n'Roll Self-Immolation as frightening, you'd have to count GG Allin. I hated all his ersatz scatalogical punk but he recorded a couple of acoustic country-tinged EPs, maybe while he was in prison or just out of it, that I love to bits. I guess the saddest thing about him was that there really was a great musician, or parts of one, in there somewhere, but it was trapped by all the bullshit.

Liquor Slicked Highway

Sitting in this Room (private video footage I'd never seen before)

See also that bizarre Babyshambles album.
posted by unSane at 6:11 PM on October 3, 2010


In terms of The Terrifying but Ultimately Meaningless Theater of Mesmerising Rock'n'Roll Self-Immolation (great title unSane), Pete Docherty (Babyshambles) doesn't count in my not-so-humble op. He's just a twat.
posted by MajorDundee at 11:23 AM on October 4, 2010


And I hereby submit The Terrifying but Ultimately Meaningless Theater of Mesmerising Rock'n'Roll Self-Immolation to snsranch as a suggestion for a future challenge.
posted by MajorDundee at 11:25 AM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


oh, and it is of course Theatre. Not Theater (raises eyes heavenward and mutters "good god...."). Shame on you unSane - as a Brit you really should know the correct splenilg.
posted by MajorDundee at 11:29 AM on October 4, 2010


Because I write for Hollywood I've had to adopt US spelling (Canadian spelling is a weird mishmash). Anyway, if you write 'Theatre' in a movie script nobody can work out what that strange foreign word means.
posted by unSane at 11:32 AM on October 4, 2010


He might be a twat but I do love those Libertines albums.
posted by unSane at 11:34 AM on October 4, 2010


Jeez, flapjax...you trying to give us nightmares? Porter's jacket alone was enough to make my frontal lobe seize.

TTBUMTOMRNRSI!!! That's just brilliant.
posted by snsranch at 12:17 PM on October 4, 2010


I say theatah and you say theatree
You say docharty and I say he's twatty
Either, either
Neither, neither
Let's call the whole thing shite.
posted by MajorDundee at 12:27 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


So would "theatre" be considered The Queen's English or simply European English? I can't even keep up with what's considered Standard American English!

BOO! (yes, scary Boo!)
posted by snsranch at 4:07 PM on October 4, 2010


That is a deep subject since English English turns a lot of words that were -re or -tre when they came over with the Normans into -er (eg chapter, number) but retains a lot of -re and -tre endings (like theatre and metre) whereas American English regularises most of these to -er, following Webster's, which was published in the early 1800s. Wikipedia has masses about it. I'm not aware of anything called European English though.
posted by unSane at 5:18 PM on October 4, 2010


Why, yes, I am a know-it-all. Thank you for asking.
posted by unSane at 5:19 PM on October 4, 2010


Well thanks, unSane, the Norman aspect explains that for me. (Not really...but) Those spellings do look suspiciously French!
posted by snsranch at 7:05 PM on October 4, 2010


I think we'd take exception to "European English" sns!

These are indeed generally Norman-French words that retain the froggy spelling. In fairness, the Yanks are quite right really. Why hang on to these archaic spelling conventions? Their main purpose is, I think, to allow snooty Brits to get all prissy about Americans playing fast and loose with the language. Bollocks (and that's Old English for "small balls" - nothing to do with the French, that one).

In any case, the Normans were hateful bastards who the English (mainly of Saxon, Angle, and Norse stock) loathed. We should have banned all French words anyway and fumigated the language. And that, of course, would have the added value of really pissing the French off. Something that is always worth doing. Except that in those last two or three sentences I've used at least half a dozen (woops, there's another one) French-derived words!
posted by MajorDundee at 11:37 AM on October 5, 2010


Don't feel bad TWF, I haven't posted anything in months, not even to the last challenge...I kinda feel like a dick! So I'm with you, man. I cleaned out my work space and I'm ready to go.

Major, we can certainly piss them off by denying them any credit for the language and simply say that those words are actually Latin derivations anyway! Ha! For the record, I love the French and in fact a couple of French guys saved my life once. It was a military thing in the middle east and those guys were NOT pussies. Sorry, whenever I joke about the French I have to bring that up in their honour.

Now I'd better get back to work on my scary song!
posted by snsranch at 3:55 PM on October 5, 2010


I HAVE a REALLY scary song that I was part of creating two years ago... Do you think I could submit that, or would that be cheating? I also only wrote parts of it and am only heard in the backing vocals...
posted by MaiaMadness at 3:16 PM on October 9, 2010


I guess that's one for the denizens of Room 101 (the administrators) maia, but personally I can't see much wrong with what you're proposing - you had a hand in writing and performing the piece, and you've been upfront about the limits of that (rather than bullshitting about it).
posted by MajorDundee at 3:50 PM on October 9, 2010


I'll give it some thought, in any case... Part of me really wants to cover Ghosts are Everywhere by Presidents of the United States of America, which is not so scary, but really cool. :P
posted by MaiaMadness at 8:01 PM on October 9, 2010


^Go for it, Maia! We're currently working on an arrangement I wrote of Creepy Doll by Jonathan Coulton, which will prominently feature my new, PUSA-style guitbass and basitar.
posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 9:07 PM on October 9, 2010


They are the coolest instruments ever! :D
posted by MaiaMadness at 6:40 AM on October 10, 2010


I dunno, Maia, they may refuse to award you the prize. Oh wait...
posted by unSane at 6:41 AM on October 10, 2010


How does the cover art for the podcast get chosen? Seems to have changed recently.
posted by AppleSeed at 8:54 PM on October 18, 2010


I'm new to challenges here, but can one submit something that one already recorded before the challenge, but that fits the bill?
posted by MonsieurBon at 11:26 AM on October 22, 2010


MonsieurBon, yes.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:12 PM on October 22, 2010


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