We are back with a new edition of Saturday Night Music Club! The SNMC started up as an idea I had years ago - to recapture the feeling of being a kid and getting together with your friends in the basement to listen and discuss music.
This month's theme was our Annual Halloween Month / Dark Arts Brouhaha. Each member had to choose a favorite song from any dark album: Goth, Dark Post-Punk, Horror Soundtracks, Black / Doom / Dark Metal, etc. A track from each record (when available) is collected in an ongoing SNMC Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post. So please listen in and enjoy the spooky tunes along with us.
The SNMC begins with a trivia contest based around the darkness (not the band). There were 16 questions in total. Jaymz Todd popped in with his phone at 1% charge, but the cable was out of arm's reach and he was gone five minutes later. He did manage to get in a correct answer. Here are a few of the questions that were pulled from The Dark Cauldron of Knowledge:
Q: This husky 11 film saga was harvested from a 16 page short story that originally appeared in Penthouse magazine in 1977.
A: Children of the Corn
Q: Marston Daley and Frank Nardiello are the real names of the duo behind this Chicago-based industrial dance outfit.
A: My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
Q: This record label, which started off releasing second-wave goth albums, has also released albums by the likes of Englebert Humperdink, Vanilla Ice, Salt N Pepa, Johnny Paycheck, Helen Reddy, Tiffany, Onxy, Eddie Money and David Hasselhoff.
A: Cleopatra Records
Q: Bauhaus released 4 studio albums in their original run. For 1 point, name 2 of the opening tracks on those albums. For the full 2 points, name all 4. Depending on CD / Original vinyl version, track listing may be different. Correct answer from either edition will count.
A: "Double Dare," "Hair of the Dog," "Third Uncle" and "She's in Parties."
Q: This famous comedy duo released as a series of films where they ‘met’ the following Halloween ghouls: Frankenstein, The Killer Boris Karloff, The Invisible Man and the Mummy.
A: Abbott and Costello
Trivia Scores: Sarah C. (7 points - winner!), Sarah Q. (6 points), Frank (6 points), Kevin (4 points) and Jaymz (2 points).
I went for "Sleepless Nights" off of King Diamond's fourth album Conspiracy from 1989.
I went with "Marching Song" from Esben and The Witch as my second choice.
02. Describe this song in one sentence.
It's 1989, you're at one of those All-You-Can-Eat Buffets for someone's birthday and you've just finished a really large plate of mashed potatoes, and now it's time for dessert but you're totally full, but hey you gotta get some of that dessert - it's free - so you go the sundae bar, grab one of those bowls that are never large enough and put an extreme amount of toppings on the chocolate soft serve - we're talking about sprinkles, cherries, cookie crumbles, peanut butter cups M&Ms, lingonberries (?) - all of it, except this ain't a buffet and that bowl is filled with creepy eyes, demented multi-personality voices that leap from the basement to the attic, seriously tasty licks, a gift certificate to Sephora, mysterious documents and The Devil.
03. What were some of your favorite songs that others shared?
This group never brings a dud. Always solid. Sarah Q's track from Ghost is incredibly difficult to get out of your head once you've heard it - and that music video is a real treat. Kevin's pick from Richard & Linda Thompson was deep, bleak, introspective and one that I need to enjoy again with headphones. Sarah C's Mulholland Drive jam brought flashbacks of that mythological beast / person behind the dumpster at Winkie's Diner. Haunting. We are total John Carpenter fans, so Frank's Christine Theme 12" really hit the spot.
04. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up as when you were a kid?
There are some memorable standouts. Like the time I was 7 or 8 and went as a clown and a bunch of people kept asking me if I was Elton John. Or when I was in 4th grade and dressed as a Christmas Tree. Or the old school plastic mask / folded costume in a box - Casper The Ghost and The Demon aka Gene Simmons from Kiss. We always had spare costumes ready, so that we could hit up the houses with the best candy again, undetected. Good times.
05. Would you deliver documents to The Overlook Hotel in mid-December if your payment was a $45 gift voucher to an undisclosed diner? Please keep in mind that you'll have to use your own vehicle and pay for your own gas. (If you don't have a vehicle, you'll either have to rent one or use Uber/Lyft/Taxi - that cost is also on you - sorry, those are the rules)
Many, many moons ago my family were driving back from a trip to Chicago and we went on a wild goose chase to find The Overlook in Colorado. These were pre-internet days and the random people at gas stations and restaurants gave us a lot of wrong information. We never found it, but I did have my copy of The Shining with and I was ready to look over those pages on the premises of said hotel. So yeah, documents would have been delivered.
SARAH QUARRIE
Life on this Planet | Instagram
01. Which song did you play for the group?
"Cirice" from Ghost's 2015 album Meliora. Much like the veil is thin between the spirit and physical realms on Samhain, October is the only month it feels "normal" to share music that skims the darkness. While goth rock owns the blackest part of my heart, for this SNMC I just had to share this meticulously crafted song that won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2016. Doom metal meets pop, Sweden has a knack for songwriting. The best of all metal worlds - black, doom, heavy - is melded with Nameless Ghouls, a demonic anti-Pope and produced/co-written by the dude who penned Robyn's "Hang With Me". The single's cover is inspired by Silence of the Lambs, the video is influenced by Stephen King's Carrie, throwbacks to the very best of 70's/80's metal, timpani, goosebump-inducing riffs all make for the most romantically evil jam you'll soundtrack your evocations to.
Out of anxiety and excitement my back pocket choice we shared for a second round went trad goth with French gothic rock Corpus Deliciti's "Noxious (The Demon's Game)" from their 1994 album Sylphes - a black diamond of the genre.
02. Describe this song in one sentence.
Entrancing heavy riffs with a masterful pop formula that lets the metaphysical know they're not alone.
03. What were some of your favorite songs that other shared?
This is always such a loaded question as I am always exhilarated by everyone's picks. SarahC's choice of David Lynch & John Neff's "Mountains Falling" from both the BlueBOB and Mulholland Dr. OST albums in 2001 was a dark, dirty, dusty, dingy and wonderfully unexpected industrial-blues selection. It made me feel right back at home in The Pink Room.
04. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up as when you were a kid?
I don't know if it was my favorite but most memorable was my mom making a costume for me out of a cardboard box that emulated a McCormick Ground Cinnamon metal tin in the 80s. She is the best baker so I can't really be too traumatized by this even if it rained and a trash bag was thrown over me. I also recall a yellow dress with organza butterfly applique from the 70's that was used as a "Princess" costume. Pretty sure that was a party outfit left at my grandparents from a wild aunt who escaped from suburban IL to LA. Everyday is Halloween right?!
05. Would you deliver documents to The Overlook Hotel in mid-December if your payment was a $45 gift voucher to an undisclosed diner? Please keep in mind that you'll have to use your own vehicle and pay for your own gas. (If you don't have a vehicle, you'll either have to rent one or use Uber/Lyft/Taxi - that cost is also on you - sorry, those are the rules)
It depends if it was cost-effective, my financial position at the time and the probability of being killed. It appears to be approximately 900 miles from AZ to CO. The cost of gas exceeds the gift voucher. I'd be willing to overlook (no pun intended) that if I was financially stable. If the diner does not have Eggs Benedict all bets are off. If the evil outreaches the porch in which I would leave said documents, Hell no.
FRANK DESERTO
01. Which song did you play for the group?
Against every fibre of my being, I decided to avoid goth / post-punk / deathrock / coldwave choices, as the genre is too expansive and my collection is far too vast for me to have settled on one without neglecting a million other favorites. WIth that in mind, my first choice was The Splash Band's "Christine (Part 2)," the vroom-less flip of the ZYX dance single from 1984. Christine was one of the very first, if not the first horror movie I saw and I've always enjoyed its mix of rock 'n' roll heartbreak and Stephen King's brand of horror. John Carpenter's scores are extremely affecting, even with the most minimal melodies, and this dance 12'' is always in my DJ bag, regardless of what kind of set I'm doing.
The New York contingent of SNMC also watched the movie immediately following our session, and while I've personally seen it nearly a dozen times, I think everyone can agree that it holds up...
For my second choice, I said the hell with it and went full goth, no stars. I chose the second recording of The Vyllies' classic "Whispers In the Shadow," from their 1985 Lilith LP. A trio of Swiss women, The Vyllies' image always felt like a mix of the furies and the brides of Dracula, and the song, with its playful, haunting melodies, forever creeps me out.
02. Describe this song in one sentence.
A extended slice of Italo-infused horror soundtrack brilliance that gets under the skin while simultaneously inspiring spastic fist-pumps and hand claps.
03. What were some of your favorite songs that others shared?
Kevin's dose of dark folk and neo-classical choices are two sides of the spectrum that always click for me and hit the spot. I loved how everyone generally shied away from goth music for the first round, but then came back goth-as-fuck for the second round. Other favorites included Bret's dynamic and shameless King Diamond pick (round 1) and Sarah Q's Corpus Delicti pick (round 2). I also forever want to shout out Sarah C's complementary-but-never-planned-as-such Lynch pick, which touched on some of the same themes (minimal melodies and rock 'n' roll romanticism of death). Both Mulholland Drive and Christine feature William Ostrander in an unforgettable role, we found out afterwards, for an extra dose of synergy.
04. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up as when you were a kid?
I'm far more proud of my adult costumes, but I'd say my best childhood costume was a handmade dinosaur my mom sewed by hand, as I was (am) obsessed with all kinds of dinosaurs. I was never really into wearing masks much as a kid and I tried to avoid anything that felt cheaply made or difficult to wear as a child.
05. Would you deliver documents to The Overlook Hotel in mid-December if your payment was a $45 gift voucher to an undisclosed diner? Please keep in mind that you'll have to use your own vehicle and pay for your own gas. (If you don't have a vehicle, you'll either have to rent one or use Uber/Lyft/Taxi - that cost is also on you - sorry, those are the rules)
As long as the man in the bear suit isn't there, I'd consider it for a while, though instead of a car, I'd be sure to take a snowmobile. However, it truly depends on if we're talking the film version or the book version. I ain't fuckin' with no hedge animals.
SARAH CELENTANO
Brooklyn, NY
01. Which song did you play for the group?
I chose "Mountains Falling," which appears on both the 2001 BlueBOB album by David Lynch and John Neff, and the soundtrack to Lynch's Mulholland Drive (celebrating its 20th anniversary next week).
For round 2, I went with "Never Tell" by the Violent Femmes from their dark, weird 1984 sophomore effort Hallowed Ground.
02. Describe this song in one sentence.
"Mountains Falling" evokes almost every major trope from Lynch's oeuvre: fast drives down dark roads lit by nothing but your headlights, seedy roadside dives, and metaphysical evil.
03. What were some of your favorite songs that others shared?
I was excited about everybody's pick this time around, round 1 and round 2. Sarah's selection from Ghost was really enjoyable, and it also reminded me of a cute Kids Interview Bands episode with a Nameless Ghoul, which I subjected Frank and Kevin to the morning after (as well as a Tom Araya interview that went deep, and one with Dave Pirner, who seems like a nice, well-adjusted guy).
Not a song, but I also loved hearing Sarah and Bret talk about the various hauntings and ghostly encounters they've experienced.
04. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up as when you were a kid?
The only early childhood costume I remember was Big Bird. It was one of those late '70s/early '80s costumes that came in a plastic bag and consisted of a printed smock and pants (both made of flame-retardant vinyl) and a thin, hard plastic mask with surprisingly sharp edges. Judging from the photos, I was less than jazzed to be wearing it. Other than this, I remember going as Veronica Sawyer from Heathers when I was 14.
05. Would you deliver documents to The Overlook Hotel in mid-December if your payment was a $45 gift voucher to an undisclosed diner? Please keep in mind that you'll have to use your own vehicle and pay for your own gas. (If you don't have a vehicle, you'll either have to rent one or use Uber/Lyft/Taxi - that cost is also on you - sorry, those are the rules).
I once visited an abandoned Silent Hill-style island village just to take pictures of some old buildings, so yeah, pretty sure I'd do this.
KEVIN LARKIN-ANGIOLI
01. Which song did you play for the group?
"The End of the Rainbow" by Richard and Linda Thompson, the penultimate track from their 1974 masterpiece I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight.
02. Describe this song in one sentence.
A nihilistic lullaby, somehow comforting in its bleakness, its Englishness, and its restraint.
03. What were some of your favorite songs that other shared?
King Diamond's "Sleepless Nights" was actually a bit of a revelation. I don't listen to full-on operatic metal that often. Watching the video and our discussion deepened my appreciation for the artform. It also just felt wonderfully Octoberish. King Diamond has been on my list of important metal artists to check out for a long time now, but I just never got around to it. I also really liked "Cirice" by Ghost, who hadn't previously captivated my attention. Again, our discussion was illuminating and the video was so on-point for October. I've always been a major fan of John Carpenter's Christine score and the film it hails from, the first horror movie I ever asked my parents to rent and probably the first one I ever saw, my intro to horror and King both, obsessions to this day. The particular dance 12" Frank owns is such a great slab of wax. It hit the spot so well we watched the film together later that night. It turned out to be perfect timing for Sarah C's bluebob pick, a song from David Lynch's Mulholland Drive which turns 20 on the day of this writing or the 19th of October depending where you look. But Sarah C's Round 2 pick, "Never Tell," from Violent Femmes' sophomore album, Hallowed Ground, kind of blew me away. I'd always wanted more Femmes after "Color Me Once" from The Crow soundtrack, but only heard the first album.
04. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up as when you were a kid?
Though Halloween has become my favorite holiday as an adult and I had a bag of costumes I pulled from in my imaginative play all year round as a kid, I actually have very few memories from the Halloweens of my childhood. Maybe the ones I've seen the pictures of the most have influenced my idea of which one I liked best? There was definitely a Karate Kid one with a lot of eye makeup I liked a lot, and I remember my mom made me my own Batman costume, using felt and various materials from a crafts store. It was a pretty unique take on the Dark Knight, as the cape was blue with stars and moons, more of a wizard's cape. I got a lot of play out of that costume. It was this costume I would be wearing in my imagination as I daydreamed about swinging down into an alleyway to knock out some thugs and rescue my fourth-grade teacher, who would reward me with a kiss.
05. Would you deliver documents to The Overlook Hotel in mid-December if your payment was a $45 gift voucher to an undisclosed diner. Please keep in mind that you'll have to use your own vehicle and pay for your own gas. (If you don't have a vehicle, you'll either have to rent one or use Uber/Lyft/Taxi - that cost is also on you - sorry, those are the rules)
Knowing me, yes. Yes, I would. My curiosity would be too great and the possibility of accidentally winding up in a really threatening situation would simply be too seductive to my unconscious mind for me to resist. However, I'm wondering if this would be Stephen King's or Stanley Kubrick's Overlook.
Here's the playlist!
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