Tagged: tricksortreats

"Scary" is usually not found in the common vernacular of describing Hardcore music. It's a forgone conclusion when played for your mother, but far too reductive when played for the back of the house. "Scary" also implies novelty, a word most bands are pretty scared of. We don't embrace the horror in music quite in the same way that we do with movies or books even. And the fact that horror is relegated to a sub-genre in most forms of art seems indicative of how sacred an emotion fear actually is; we feel more comfortable if we can [...]

American folk music retains a rich yet mysterious history. So many songs get passed down from generation to generation that plenty of them become lyrical John Does. It's slightly creepy then - especially in our wealthy age of endless information online - that certain things go untitled, unfound, and unclaimed. One such track is "In the Pines", also known as "Black Girl" or "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?". Said to be Southern Appalachian in origin, and dating back to the 18702s, "In the Pine" remains to this day a chilling, minimalistic crooner. Its simplicity adds to this [...]

October is upon us, but we're not all the way into horror-movie mode yet. To cross that bridge, how about a little treat to warm us up for some trickery? Chris Bathgate 's "Creak, Cure, Dawn", off of 2006's Throatsleep , is a jangly, slightly disturbing way to kick off autumn. Once you press play, a few quiet taps of a single chime echo ever so briefly, before a deep, driving distortion melts your speakers, evolving gradually into Bathgate's bare, haunted vocals. Tinged with folksy guitar and ominous key changes, the lyrics really sell it, a [...]

Classical music is full of references to the macabre: supernatural forces, evil boogeymen who kill children at night, and, of course, the original scary persona, the devil. Often, composers represent these moments with dark timbres, minor keys, sad languishing melodies, or grotesqueries of dance. Few pieces are really, genuinely, bone-chillingly scary, at least for our modern ears. Thankfully, there's Mr. Henry Cowell, a pioneer of 20th century music, who published The Banshee in 1925, a work for piano in which everything is played inside the piano. No keys are pushed; the player moves hands and fingers both across the [...]

I have to turn down a lot of social engagements this time of year, because, well, I can't watch scary movies. But I also can't tear my eyes away from previews for scary movies, which SALEM 's "King Night" video could easily pass for. Everything about SALEM, even the name, is creepy. The band adorns its albums with shadowy crosses and screen shots from The Blair Witch Project . Falling loosely into the "witch house" genre (along with artists like CREEP and oOoOO), "King Night"'s thrilling mashup of crunk synth leads, operatic singing, and a deep Slim Thug [...]

Forget death and taxes-there are quite a few more certainties in life. For example, whenever disaster strikes, so will a star-studded charity single. As a worthy cause gains support and awareness, a charity single will be there to help. The most recent examples of all-star recordings to raise money for relief efforts are the one-two punch of a new cover of "We Are the World" and a cover of "Everybody Hurts" that followed the devastating earthquake in Haiti. You remember those, right? Yeah, me neither. No charity single is riper for parody than the big cheese itself: "Do [...]

Richard D. James (aka electronic mastermind Aphex Twin ) is a creepy guy. Chris Cunningham isn't exactly Mr. Sunshine and Ponies either. So, bring the two together and you'll find a whole bunch of weird. While the two worked together on the creeps-take-on-Hollywood "Windowlicker" video and the equally disturbing "Rubber Johnny" (I'd recommend not watching the intro alone in the dark), "Come to Daddy" really takes the cake in the terrifying department. Start with a dismal, near-apocalyptic, urban landscape, and then add one dash scary children, one spoonful of violent outbreaks, and one package of [...]

Ah, Halloween. What's not to love? You get to taste seasonal pleasures, gorge yourself on treats, and run amok in a costume. But pumpkin ales, candy corn, and drunken parties aside, Halloween rules supremely in the simple concept of fear. At no other time of year is being scared shitless so much damn fun. And opportunities for pants-wetting abound at every turn. You can check out the local haunted houses (our local one is now 3-D, with clowns ), flip on the television and watch a Simpsons Halloween episode (the gremlin on the bus still disturbs me), [...]

The message provided by any song or music video is subject to context, no matter how surreal or true-to-life the content might be. Future generations will probably look at our 3OH!3 and My Chemical Romance videos and be as taken aback by the hair and the whiny voices as we were by glam rockers or Bobby Brown's look during the 80's. One area where context can come across as dated is political humor, as the climate wherein its relevance lies constantly shifts. "Soviets versus Westerners" and nuclear stalemates have been replaced by anti-terrorism and Middle Eastern holy wars. Perspectives [...]

Once again, we've arrived at October, which, as many know, is a special month. The leaves change color, Halloween crawls over everyone's thoughts, and the weather gulfs you up with its dark and gloomy atmosphere. What better way to celebrate the creepiest month of the year with an ongoing feature on some of our favorite spooky, eerie, scary and/or Halloween-themed songs. Yep, it's back, folks: Tricks or Treats ! This year's season starts with, of course, Radiohead . Ever since it popped up on the band's 2001 album, Amensiac [...]

By now you've realized that violence and gore are not inherently scary. Only one in every million horror movies made is actually scary. Blood and brain matter no longer make the average viewer blink. The same can be said for violence in music, which has become less and less alarming to the listener. For proof, look no further than Eminem . He is one of the most successful hip-hop artists to top the charts, with songs that mix strong hooks and unexpected amounts of violence. Case in point: "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" from 1999's Slim Shady [...]

Imagine if Trent Reznor at his angriest and Radiohead at their strangest combined into a single entity. Imagine this entity was asked to write a 1800s haunted house soundtrack. Now imagine that this person is a psychotic female who's the definition of "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." That person would be Emilie Autumn . Scared yet? Emilie Autumn is an American singer-songwriter known for a couple of unusual things besides her music. First off, she eschews the typical rock devices of guitar and piano for an electric violin and a harpsichord. Secondly, she appears [...]

Trick or treat? It's a simple question, and the answer is almost always the same. Everyone knows little Billy in his homemade pumpkin costume couldn't pull a trick to save his life. No, he'll just repeat the Halloween catch phrase over and over again until he's halfway to a case of childhood diabetes. Charming, but boring. What good is Halloween without a spark of mischief? After all, not all Pumpkin Day tomfoolery turns into an Eric Draven murder-rape scenario. Break Yo T.V. is the perfect accompaniment to [...]

Surfing. As you know, readers, it can be a dangerous and scary pastime. How can I forget when I first came across "The Hunger". It was three minutes 47 seconds after deciding that Men at Work's "Down Under" video was only properly scary from an acting perspective. OK, so it's not that far from a Vegemite sandwich, if you are familiar with the Aussie band's favourite snack, to the 'hunger which burns forever'. Brief digression: Vegemite. Like Marmite only made from vegetables and yeast extract. Marmite? Let's not go there. [...]

Let's use last years introduction, shall we? Once again, as it always is, October is a special month. The leaves change color, Halloween is on everyone's mind, and the weather is dark and gloomy in many locales. What better way to celebrate the creepiest month of the year with an ongoing feature on some of our favorite spooky, eerie, scary and/or Halloween songs. Yep, it's back, folks: Tricks or Treats ! Angus Andrew, front man of Berlin-via-New York-via-Los Angeles-via-Australia experimental rock trio Liars always has that sort of manic grin that [...]

Out of all the acts birthed from the '60s, hardly anyone ever recognizes the talent and tense instrumentation of rockers turned jazz rockers turned comedy rockers turned psychedelic rockers, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band . If that lil' ditty of a sentence didn't turn your head, then perhaps this bit of information might: this London act is responsible for what might be the most terrifying song ever recorded. Of course, that's a bold, bold statement. Hell, why else would I say it? To grab your attention, of course. How else am I going [...]

Everyone can breathe easy now that David Bowie makes an appearance on Tricks or Treats . Clearly one of the more playful and theatrical acts of all time, Bowie was never afraid of scaring people with his music and is known to some purely on his costumes and clothing. "Scary Monsters(and Super Creeps)", off the album of the same name, is not one of Bowie's bigg er hits, but was a single and featured some amazing synthesizer work, and even some guitar parts by King Crimson's Robert Fripp. The lyrics deal with a woman and [...]

As the voice and face of The Cure , Robert Smith has always given off the vibe of a somewhat deranged person with his black frazzled hair and thick, dark makeup. Starting as early as the late 1970's, The Cure has always been recognized for its increasingly dark and tormented music which helped later form the gothic rock genre. Then in 1989, the band released "Lullaby" as a single off its album Disintegration and it was an instant success, becoming its highest charting single of all time. With the already morbid lyrics and [...]

Get your fucking Faygo out, bitches. But seriously, this installment of Tricks or Treats is a bodyslam from the past with "House of Horrors" by everyone's favorite clown rap-metal fusion artists/professional wrestlers, ICP (Insane Clown Posse). A brief period of time back in the late 90s, Insane Clown Posse ruled the white rap game out of Detroit and with 1997's The Great Milenko, everyone knew what a Neden was and people everywhere called themselves a Juggalo. This was a scary time. "House of Horrors" is considered one of the group's stronger songs [...]

Oh, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) you are so awesomely frightening. Here is how scary John Lydon is, he gets sick when he's a kid and loses part of his memory, to which he bears permanent crazy eyes. That is kind of cool already, but add in that he's the lead singer of the Sex Pistols and created his own multimedia company, Public Image, Ltd. and you have some decent street cred. Public Image, Ltd. or PiL was the pet project of Lydon from the late 70s till the middle of the [...]