Some of my selections have been based more on fitting the theme and bringing in certain ideas than purely on musical merit. That said, there are probably just as many tracks that I've included here solely because they get into my brain and get stuck there and I can't begin to explain why I enjoy them so much. Hopefully you'll humour my whim and not feel overly abused by some of my more esoteric (or not-exactly-musical) selections and find those that you enjoy among them. While on their own some of these tracks don't amount to much, I think they help to pull together a feel that (hopefully) should transport the listener to a space far from their present reality. (Music as escapism!)
The theme for this album started off as the sound of "ghosts" however that might be interpreted and I ended up getting pulled in alot of different directions in terms of what "ghosts" might be; I tried to keep a unifying "feel" to the sounds, but getting pulled in so many directions the theme may have gotten a bit muddled.
Later I added the subtext to the theme "(a paler shade of White Album)" and the overall form of the album started to take shape as a chronology of a death and afterlife (possibly implied to be John Lennon, but i'll leave that up to you). It could be read as follows:
We start with a speech by John Lennon.
Then we have a track about an obsessive fan.
Sleater Kinney is calling for the doctor.
Poe tells us that he's died.
Air transports us beyond the flesh.
Nick Cave tells us of those left behind to mourn.
From here on out we're in the ghost realm....
Then we have a track about an obsessive fan.
Sleater Kinney is calling for the doctor.
Poe tells us that he's died.
Air transports us beyond the flesh.
Nick Cave tells us of those left behind to mourn.
From here on out we're in the ghost realm....
Speech - John Lennon - The Beatles Anthology 1 - 1970(voices from beyond the grave)
What could be more haunting than the voices of the dead? There's always a certain enjoyment of voyeurism in listening to old sound clips of people speaking, but there is often something equally disturbing about them particularly if the voice is speaking over a substantial gap of years, speaking to you from somewhere beyond your grasp, somewhere that no longer exists.
ringo, i love you - Stereo Total - My Melody -1999(the lives of cardboard cutouts)
In terms of theme, I was trying to bring in the idea of the obsessive fan with this track. In part because it progresses the storyline that's present in the beginning of the album (the anatomy of a murder), but also because it represents a certain kind of ghost. I can't imagine being so obsessed with a particular celebrity that their life begins to overshadow your own and the lines begin to blur to between your own reality and the publicized life of that figure. Unbelievable though it is, I can imagine that it can happen and the life of such an obsessive fan surely is the life of a ghost, the life of a double, the life of a cardboard cutout. Let's leave all that behind though. In feel, this track is 90's art rock collides with casio synthpop and a touch of something vaguely nouvelle vague. Whatever it is, its 100% adorable (there's a matching track on the album called "i love you, ono") and the lo-fi sound of this french/german duo is peppy and sweet. Somehow they even manage to pull off the wordplay and have it be thoroughly enjoyable without crossing the bound into being cloying or cliched.
Call The Doctor - Sleater Kinney - Call The Doctor - 1996What can I say, I'm a total sucker for 90's femme rock. Give me some angsty female vocals and quality guitar and I'm pretty easy to please.... but it seems like a dying genre for the time being... closest thing I've come across in recent years is the likes of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's. IMHO though Ms. Kinney is one for the books, heir to Blondie and the likes as it were. I was a bit torn as to which track of hers to include as "I wanna be your Joey Ramone" would have continued the theme of fan obsession nicely from the previous track, but I ended up deciding to cut to the chase, kill 'em off, call for the doctor, and get on to the ghostworld.
Exploration - Poe - Haunted - 2000I'm not sure how well known Poe or her brother are in general, but they're certainly questionable company... it really just depends on whether you think that's a good thing or not. Admittedly this track was included because it fits the theme and the progression of the storyline so well that I had to include it as the transition to the ghostworld. It's not entirely representative of her music, and the album has plenty of proper musical numbers with a full, rich sound, but it still remains something of a concept record. Poe's brother Mark Z. Danielewski authored the book "House of Leaves", which if you've ever encountered it, is a head-trip to hell and back with a minor bout of earthly insanity along the way if you can manage to put in the effort to attempt to read it (the proper version is about 3 inches thick, with footnotes abounding, pages in braille, text running in every which direction, sometimes in circles, and nothing like a linear plot line). The album that this track comes from "Haunted" is loosely based on House of Leaves, so you have a rough feel where this is coming from.
Ghost Song - Air - The Virgin Suicides - 2000Not much to say about this track other than it's got the ghost feel nailed. We've officially entered the ghost world at this point.
The Weeping Song - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Good Son - 1990I just love this song... the sonorous tones of Cave's vocals, the huge sweeping crescendos and diminuendos that really capture the emotion of loss... the rises and falls of a great heaving sob. This is a song not of the ghosts of the departed, but of the ghosts they leave behind, the shells of the living.
Gorillaz - Dracula - Clint Eastwood (Single) - 2001It's a catchy tune... possibly one that some might not have heard even if they know Gorillaz. Vampires seemed close enough to ghosts to warrant including it. It also serves to break up the tempos and rhythms a bit... I thought it might pep things up a bit and show that, eventhough we're in the ghostworld now, it doesn't mean it won't be a party.
White Ghost Shivers - Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra - Vocalion 1085 - 1927
I've got some old-timey jazz that is too much fun not to leak out every now and then. Anybody seen the old original "Casper" cartoons? This track could be straight out of one of those... I nails the ghost feel just as well as Air's track, but in a completely different way. And how about that tuba?! It kills me every time.
Bear Hides And Buffalo - CocoRosie - Noah's Ark - 2005CocoRosie is a duo consisting of two sisters Bianca Leilani "Coco" Casady and Sierra Rose "Rosie" Casady, hence the name CocoRosie. These two come from a serious strange background and it certainly shows in their music... Most of their youth was spent shuffling around the southwest u.s. bouncing between their artist mother and their peyote shaman father. By the time they were 12 and 14 they were separated and fell out of contact. Sierra went on to study operatic voice at the Conservatoire de Paris, while Bianca has know musical training and primarily contributes strange vocals and pushing the buttons on children's toys that make animal noises. It's really worth having a look at them recording on youtube.... it's quite a trip. Their whole first album was recorded in Sierra's bathroom in Montmartre when Bianca unexpectedly showed up on her doorstep after more than a decade of estrangement. While I think their Voodoo-Eros cult persona is a bit contrived, I think the sound they create is undeniably haunting and beautiful... the combination of the creepy vocals and the operatic vocals + the sound effects creates something like a childhood nightmare, yet a beautiful one all the same. The whole of Noah's Ark is equally good and well worth a listen. It's got a bit of a fuller sound than some of their other albums.
Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary - 2005
I thought it was time to pick things up again and go up tempo and come back to more mainstream tunes. I find the vocals in this song incredibly catchy and some of the lyrics are simply brilliant e.g. "Now we'll say it's in God's hands, but God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?".
The song seems quite fitting to the theme in a way, though there are many ways that the title could be interpreted. The concept of a "hungry ghost" is common to many asian religions including Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese ancestor worship. The typical depiction of these spirits is an extreme teardrop shape... they're described as having a mouth and neck like a needle and a stomach like a mountain; the combination of these two making physical satisfaction impossible, despite the desperately bloated stomach.
There are really two chief meanings associated with hungry ghosts... one is that it is a form of rebirth serving as punishment for greed.... the idea being that their punishment is to hunger forever without the possibility of satisfaction.
The other reading, which is the one I would suggest is meant in this song, is the association in Chinese ancestor worship. Hungry ghosts are spirits of the departed that have been neglected by their living family members.... without offerings of food from the living, our dead ancestors are left with hungry and bloated bellies waiting for remembrance. In our busy modern world, I think we've all become sons and daughters of hungry ghosts to a certain extent and its a worthy point for us to spare some thought on.... perhaps the true ghosts are the memories that we carry forward from generation to generation. Enough of my ramblings... onwards we go.
Beyond Skin - Nitin Sawhney - Fabric Live 15 - 2004
I thought the voice-over samples in this track carried over from the idea of the last track nicely. There's something definitely haunting about the style, at once soothing and unsettling. Nitin Sawhney does some really cool stuff blending traditional Indian elements with more typical house style. It's well worth checking out some his other stuff... The album Beyond Skin is quite good and a somewhat cinematic experience. You'll find that few of his tracks lack sampled voice, speaking out to us, calling us out on the shortcomings of modern society, reminding us of the essence of life.
Pul/Pulk Revolving Doors - Radiohead - Amnesiac - 2001
I feel as if eras of my life have been defined by different Radiohead albums associate with those times; perhaps its a bit obsessive, but its honest. I have a very distinct memory of sitting in my high school library reading Rolling Stone when Radiohead were finishing up recording on Kid A and Amnesiac... the write described Kid A as something like an epic space-rock opera and then went on to explain that, if the vocals seemed inaccessible on Kid A, the vocals of Amnesiac where the ghost of the same voice whispering through a crack in a cavern of ice... or something to that effect.. I wish I could remember the exact quote. At any rate, I think this track epitomises that sentiment perfectly and fits the feel exactly. It's explosive and powerful, it's unnerving, and yet it still has the coyly haunting element..... the whisper of a demon drawing you down the rabbit hole and around one more bend, just to see what lies ahead.
Just to throw in a bit more of a history lesson, Kid A and Amnesiac were originally a single project that ultimately got broken up into two albums, but they are very much a pair. The title Kid A is meant to make reference to the first cloned human "Kid A" and seems to sing of the ghost-like life that it would be as a carbon copy, without a unique identity of your own. Amnesiac refers to the theory that we are born with all the knowledge of the universe, but we forget at the moment of our birth as a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of it all.... leaving us with an impression, a ghost-like self at our cores, of every being past and present, the whole universe lying within us, but forever forgotten. I think Pul/Pulk, while not the most memorable or catchy track on either album, seems to echo and resonate with each of these ideas.
Champion Chains - A.R.E. Weapons - A.R.E. Weapons - 2001
This is off the first album of NYC-based noise-rockers A.R.E. Weapons. One of the strangest groups I've come across in a long while. As far as fitting the theme, I'm including this track on the basis of the lyrics, "I dreamt of this beat when I was sleeping on the streets. I cooked up this verse when I had nothing to eat." This track is a bit of a reminder of the living ghosts that surround us... the homeless and anyone that too often goes unnoticed. As far as the music goes, love it or hate it, it's definitely unlike anything else I've heard. For a bit of extra trivia, the band was signed on to Rough Trade at Jarvis Cocker's recommendation and Chloe Sevigny's brother Paul plays synth for the group.
The Specials / Ghost Town - Scratch Perverts - Badmeaninggood vol. 4 - 2001
It's a magic musical carpet ride through a ghost town, with super catchy ska trumpets. What more could ask for? This track is just too catchy not to include and conveys the ghost feel in a slightly different way from all the rest.... it's a touch more mellow while remaining up beat.
Bjork Impression - Liam Lynch & Matt Crocco - Camp Sunny Side Up - 1999
This one I mainly included for a laugh and also as a tip of the hat to the rules of the club. I was hoping that putting this back to back with a genuine Bjork track might catch a few people, knowing that only one track per artist is allowed. I have to say that it's a pretty impressive impersonation of her vocals, especially coming from a dude. This does fit with the theme as well, in the sense of cover artists/bands, impersonators, etc. become ghosts if they are successful. They're shadows of the figures the represent and lose some of their own identity. (There are exceptions of course, liam lynch and weird al seem to remain pretty unique figures in their own right).
The Anchor Song - Bjork - Debut - 1993
I don't think any mix on the theme of ghosts would be complete without Bjorks wraith-like vocals. I find this track particularly beautiful and haunting for its minimal instrumentation. If there is such a thing as a sea-wraith-ghost left behind by a drowning victim that lives on haunting the coast, then surely this is their theme song.
I don't think any mix on the theme of ghosts would be complete without Bjorks wraith-like vocals. I find this track particularly beautiful and haunting for its minimal instrumentation. If there is such a thing as a sea-wraith-ghost left behind by a drowning victim that lives on haunting the coast, then surely this is their theme song.
Chelsea Girls - Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico - 1967
Again we return to living ghosts, ghosts created by addiction. It's hard to imagine vocal's more perfect than Nico's for representing the voice of a ghost... austere and frigid... they run through you like a shudder and leave you tingling for more.... Bjork just can't quite live up to this one although she's tough competition.
Untitled (Hanging Around) - Jana Hunter - Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom - 2005
I only recently discovered Jana Hunter... there's something quite catchy in the gloomy, haunting minimalism of her sounds. I'm definitely a sucker for her style of vocals too. This track isn't exactly my fav. from the album, but it seemed to really capture the feel I was going for. It's worth listening to some of the other tracks on this album to see what she's capable of... this is one of the more austere... K stands out quite surprisingly as a bubble-gum sweet casio powered synth number.... it's really out of character for the rest of the album, but somehow it works. Laughing & Crying is also worth a listen... it brings out the more folk aspects of her work. The album art and title are great for the album, no?
Space Oddity - Langley Schools Music Project - Innocence & Despair - 1976
This is tying back in to the beginning of the mix with John Lennon's speech. There is something incredibly haunting about the voices of children captured in 1976 echoing across time to us. This is the sound of a time, a place, and people that no longer exist. Twenty-two years on, those children have long since ceased to be.... for all the simplicity of the concept of a school choir singing pop-songs, I think Innocence & Despair really pushes the limits of how haunting the recorded media can be.... as with Lennon's speech, we are privy to a concert consisting entirely of the genuine voices of ghosts.
Because We're Dead - Slow Club - Slow Club (Single) - 2007
This Sheffield-based duo is absolutely adorable... I had the pleasure of seeing them perform at Latitude festival two years ago.... they come out on stage looking like an echo of the perfect world promised by 50's adverts targeted at the newly-wed nuclear couple..... and then they proceed to play sweet dities on guitar, wooden spoons, pots, pans, chairs etc. I wanted to close in keeping with the theme, but I wanted to go out on a happy and upbeat note and I really couldn't think of anyone finer for the job than the Slow Club... go see them! check out more of their music, though sadly the only have a few singles that you can acquire at this point.
Bonus:
Track 15 - Meat Beat Manifesto - Satyricon - 1992
This track by the Swindon-based group Meat Beat Manifesto was included on some of the CD's, because iTunes will only let you burn so many CDs of the same playlist. The easiest was to get around this was to add a track, so some of you got this bonus... Don't ask me why... it's one of those strange tracks that I don't know how I ever ended up with it... I heard it for the first time listening to my music on random... it was to strange to get rid of... so it hangs around and I pass it along to the next person, like some disease, whenever it happens to pass through my mind.
