Halloween Music!

Of course I have more Halloween music I would like to share with you all!

1) I have posted many previous song of Voltaire's that range from funny to disgusting, but this one is adorable. The song, Brains!, was written in a 60's swing style for an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Voltaire voices the song of an alien meteorite that wants to eat human brains. Eventually, the only one left with a brain is Mandy and he tries to eat her brain, but screams in pain and melts away. She claims her brain was too spicy for it and then demands more brains. It's a cute, catchy song about eating brains. What's not to like?



2) The soundtrack to the Nightmare Before Christmas is also a great mix of creepy and cute. It features Danny Elfman's signature minor, hauntingly beautiful sound at its best. (The only soundtrack that might be better would be Edward Scissorhands.) He even provides the singing voice for the main character, Jack Skellington. This film has been my favorite movie since I was seven years old. It was very influential in my life, both because of it's dark tone and great music. My favorite track is Jack's Lament, where Jack is saddened by the lack of variety in his life, celebrating Halloween over and over, year after year. His frustration fuels his need for something else and he tries to claim Christmas as his own, with interesing results. If you haven't seen this film, I highly recommend it.



3) Vermillion Lies is a new band that I've discovered through friends and one of my favorite performers, Amanda Palmer. The band consists twin sisters, Kim and Zoe Boekbinder. They are a unique band that incorporates aspects of cabaret and circus into their music and performances. I love this short and sweet song of their's entitled Grandfather about the curiousity of children.



4) Of course, I can't forget about classical music. I think pretty much everyone has heard this creepy piece at one time or another. It's interesting that the piece was never really meant to be creepy nor does it have any sort of creepy story like Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. A toccata is a virtuosic piece for a piano or plucked instrument to emphasize how fast the player can play. A fugue is an imitative type of composition that Bach was very popular for. Now, with further ado, I give you J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.