Halloween 2011: Looking for Evil

[brigdh]

Last year I posted a Halloween mix of techno/electronica music. This year, I decided to go in a different direction! This is a mix of folk/acoustic/indie music, with a heavy emphasis on serial killers (fictional and non), though there's some werewolves and mummies in there, too. Let me know if you like it!




1. Culling of the Fold - The Decemberists (supremely happy ditty encouraging us all to go out and murder!)
Take your sweetheart down to the river / Dash her on the paving stones
2. Teeth in the Grass - Iron & Wine (I have no idea what this is intended to be about, but I've always found it creepy.)
When all tomorrows are gone / There will be teeth in the grass
3. Westfall - Okkervil River (This song inspired the rest of the mix! Catholic schoolgirl murder.)
And when I killed her it was so easy / That I wanted to kill her again.
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Sufjan Stevens (Uh, I assume I don't need to explain who this one's about.)
Look beneath the floor boards / For the secrets I have hid
5. Least of My Kind - Echo's Children (Werewolf revenge song!)
Prying my switchblade cold out of my fingers' hold / Pause to take stock, reflect, and rue.
6. I Am Stretched on Your Grave - Kate Rusby (When mourning goes too far.)
And with you in your cold grave / I cannot sleep warm
7. All the Pretty Horses - Calexico (Lullabies: always creepy. But this one more so.)
The bees and the flies are pickin' out its eyes / The poor little child crying for its mother
8. Deep Red Bells - Neko Case (The Green River Killer.)
Those like you who lost their way / Murdered on the interstate
9. Snake Song - Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan (It's about snakes. Literally.)
Ain't no mercy in my smilin' / Only fangs and sweet beguiling
10. O Death - Jen Titus (I suppose the Grim Reaper is sort of the ultimate serial killer.)
No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold / Nothing satisfies me but your soul
11. Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds with Kylie Minogue (Good old fashioned murder ballad!)
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word / As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist
12. Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana (We needed some female killers in here.)
His head was found in a driving wheel / But his body never was found
13. The Proximity of Death (Blue Eyed Boy) - Jordon Reyne (More Grim Reaper music!)
He will meet you there in the setting sun / With his empty eyes.
14. Devil Do - Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs (The Devil is even more Halloween than the Grim Reaper.)
The Lord don't like it but the devil don't mind / Ain't nobody gonna love you like the devil do.
15. Cat-Eye Willie Claims His Lover - Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer (She... kills the devil? Or something? This is a confusing song. But very danceable.)
But you're bound for the butcher's bride / The slew-foot devil won't be denied
16. The Curse - Josh Ritter (Note for Lady Archaeologists: Do not fall in love with re-animated mummies, or they will suck out your life-force.)
She asks "Are you cursed?" He says "I think that I'm cured" / Then he kissed her and hoped that she'd forget that question
17. Lovecraft in Brooklyn - The Mountain Goats (Apparently Lovecraft actually lived in Brooklyn! I had this song for, like, a year before I figured that out. Also this is a more acoustic-y version than the one on the CD; I'm not sure where it comes from.)
Someday something's coming / From way out beyond the stars
18. Salt - Mugison (Mothers murdering their children is a good note to end on, right?)
I'm the reason there is salt in the sea / I'm the reason there is salt in your tears

Bonus! Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton (Zoooooooombies!)
Thing have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now / I really wish you'd let us in

Full Zip!