Spooky Sounds: Halloween Playlist Recommendations
Photo Courtesy: Kenny Eliason
From unsettling pop to dungeon synth, here are some suggestions for your party playlists this Halloween!
Electronic music:
A classic techno four on the floor beat punctuated by distorted synths – great to get sweaty to on the dance floor.
2. Demonic – Namasenda, La Zowi
Hailed the hyperpop queen of Sweden, Namasenda never fails to deliver deranged beats. Spanish rapper La Zowi features on the track, delivering a brief but nonetheless tantalising verse.
3. Zero Five Stars – Coucou Chloe (Clip, Kelvin Krash Remix)
There’s something inherently spooky about Coucou Chloe; most (if not all) of her tracks possess a darkness which is faintly unsettling. This remix features rising star CLIP (definitely check her out if you’re a fan of experimental hiphop beats with fun, trashy lyricism) and is by far one of Coucou’s freakier tracks.
Indie/Alternative:
1. Dot in the Sky – Drab Majesty
A melancholic, reverb-heavy guitar lick guides this song, along with an irresistibly boogie-worthy drum beat à la The Cure.
Short but sweetat just one minute and thirty-three seconds, this song does what California duo Duster do so well. The opening bars already evoke a sense of melancholy and despair, encapsulated by the cover of their new album; the two of them stood on a desolate beach. It feels like this whole track is shrouded in fog – wonderful.
3. Call this # Now – The Garden
While not conventionally spooky per say, what makes this track Halloween-worthy is how truly insane & unhinged it is ( while still somehow coherent). The Garden is comprised of twin brothers Wyatt & Fletcher Shears, both of whom also have solo music projects (Enjoy and Puzzle, respectively).
Pop:
You can find COBRAH head-to-toe in latex at all of her shows, always coupled with black, knee-high unforgiving stripper heels. Her aesthetic alone is truly eerie and centred in BDSM culture. This song is fantastic – the lyrics conjure up a sense of false security as COBRAH recalls gradually slipping into the depths of a k-hole.
A playlist without a Shygirl track isn’t one worth listening to…SOPHIE (iconic hyperpop producer who passed away much too soon) helped with the production on this track and it shows. The intro includes spine-tingling goo-like sounds with the snarls of a Rottweiler towards the middle of the track; Shygirl never fails to deliver.
This song encapsulates Polachek’s iconic weirdness. Her aesthetic parallel universe is also very odd but simultaneously endearing (please check out her music video for Sunset – fantastic!). This song features Polachek’s deranged screams juxtaposed with a baby laughing right at the end of the track…chilling.
Dungeon Synth:
I fear that it doesn’t get spookier than this. Everything about this track is giving medieval quest gone awry. Perhaps we find our protagonist trapped in a bizarre land of goblins and tormented souls or on a psilocybin-induced trip through the foggy marshes…
2. Montero (Call Me By Your Name) [Medieval Version] – Bardcore
Lil Nas X giving the devil a lap dance but make it medieval? Everything about bardcore renditions of pop songs is absolutely divine & if you haven’t explored this sub-genre yet, I’m envious of what you’re about to discover…
3. Pandaemonium – Giant Swan
Wake up babe, time for a dungeon rave. This track is severely spooky, with bizarre grunts and sounds scattered throughout. Nearly 5 minutes of pure, unadulterated bunker rave madness.