Seeking eerie, haunting music recommendations
May 30, 2010 10:21 AM Subscribe
Recommend more eerie, haunting music for me!
Among musicians/bands I listen to that I think fit the eerie/haunting category are: Gustavo Santaolalla, 16 Horsepower, Nick Cave, Dirty Three, The Sadies. Favorite song is: Iggy Pop, "The Passenger. Who else should I be listening to?
Among musicians/bands I listen to that I think fit the eerie/haunting category are: Gustavo Santaolalla, 16 Horsepower, Nick Cave, Dirty Three, The Sadies. Favorite song is: Iggy Pop, "The Passenger. Who else should I be listening to?
Hmm, I'm not sure we have the same definition of eerie/haunting -- I'm not sure that's how I would describe "The Passenger," although I could see that. I think a lot of synthesized music can sound haunting. Tell me if you think this fits your definition and I can recommend some more:
Depeche Mode - Dream On
posted by Nattie at 10:34 AM on May 30, 2010
Depeche Mode - Dream On
posted by Nattie at 10:34 AM on May 30, 2010
I'd suggest some Joy Division to you, especially Heart and Soul and Shadowplay.
Also, I love the eerie, haunting quality of the music in this video by Run Wrake.
posted by 4ster at 10:37 AM on May 30, 2010
Also, I love the eerie, haunting quality of the music in this video by Run Wrake.
posted by 4ster at 10:37 AM on May 30, 2010
I should add that the Wrake video is a little weird and disturbing.
posted by 4ster at 10:38 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by 4ster at 10:38 AM on May 30, 2010
Calexico's Black Heart
Everything by Black Heart Procession (try Guess I'll Forget You for a start)
Low, Do You Know How to Waltz?
A Silver Mt. Zion, 13 Angels Standing Guard Round the Side of Your Bed
Charalambides, Joy Shapes (and the whole album)
posted by cirripede at 10:38 AM on May 30, 2010
Everything by Black Heart Procession (try Guess I'll Forget You for a start)
Low, Do You Know How to Waltz?
A Silver Mt. Zion, 13 Angels Standing Guard Round the Side of Your Bed
Charalambides, Joy Shapes (and the whole album)
posted by cirripede at 10:38 AM on May 30, 2010
Fever Ray - If I had a Heart
Minimalist, creepy, and strangely catchy. The video is pretty disconcerting too.
posted by windbox at 11:00 AM on May 30, 2010
Minimalist, creepy, and strangely catchy. The video is pretty disconcerting too.
posted by windbox at 11:00 AM on May 30, 2010
Tom Waits - The Mule Variations. Especially "What's He Building in There?"
posted by Eddy at 11:02 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by Eddy at 11:02 AM on May 30, 2010
a lot of massive attack falls in this category, especially mezzanine. also check out the new one. very moody, brooding, evocative & dark...
posted by supermedusa at 11:03 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by supermedusa at 11:03 AM on May 30, 2010
Brian Eno: "Spirits Drifting"
Kronos Quartet: "Spectre"
Anne Briggs: "She Moves Through the Fair"
posted by ryanshepard at 11:15 AM on May 30, 2010
Kronos Quartet: "Spectre"
Anne Briggs: "She Moves Through the Fair"
posted by ryanshepard at 11:15 AM on May 30, 2010
Angelo Badalamenti, best known for his collaborations with David Lynch.
posted by ecurtz at 11:16 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by ecurtz at 11:16 AM on May 30, 2010
Going by your dark country references, you might like Karen Dalton.
posted by Beardman at 11:17 AM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Beardman at 11:17 AM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Scott Walker: "The Drift"
posted by a small part of the world at 11:26 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by a small part of the world at 11:26 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
The Swans
posted by Eumachia L F at 11:31 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by Eumachia L F at 11:31 AM on May 30, 2010
The Centimeters - Hovering Ponies
The Birthday Party - Release the Bats
posted by stinker at 11:32 AM on May 30, 2010
The Birthday Party - Release the Bats
posted by stinker at 11:32 AM on May 30, 2010
Seconding The Drift (and possibly Tilt as well).
Cranes - Forever and Loved
posted by elsietheeel at 11:36 AM on May 30, 2010
Cranes - Forever and Loved
posted by elsietheeel at 11:36 AM on May 30, 2010
Lots of Pram fits this criteria, even when on it is breezy on the surface.
posted by umbú at 11:43 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by umbú at 11:43 AM on May 30, 2010
since you are into Iggy Pop, you may already be into David Bowie. If not, though, check out Bowie's Low and Heroes -- the instrumental material on each (which he produced with Brian Eno) may be right up your alley. (Also, you might like Philip Glass's Low Symphony, which was inspired by Low.)
posted by scody at 11:48 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by scody at 11:48 AM on May 30, 2010
Check out These New Puritans (We Want War, Attack Music). You might also want to check out Godspeed You Black Emperor (Moya, Antennas to Heaven).
posted by Kattullus at 12:00 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by Kattullus at 12:00 PM on May 30, 2010
Juana Molina- Vive Solo
posted by kylej at 12:02 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kylej at 12:02 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Atlas Sound, especially Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel.
posted by hafehd at 12:12 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by hafehd at 12:12 PM on May 30, 2010
Try some Amber Asylum
Also, it's not only metal, and totally not even entry level metal, but if you can deal with something chaotic and inaccessible you should check out the clips of Australia's avant garde death metal act Portal from last week at the Knitting Factory. Nightmares guaranteed.
posted by The Straightener at 12:15 PM on May 30, 2010
Also, it's not only metal, and totally not even entry level metal, but if you can deal with something chaotic and inaccessible you should check out the clips of Australia's avant garde death metal act Portal from last week at the Knitting Factory. Nightmares guaranteed.
posted by The Straightener at 12:15 PM on May 30, 2010
You want eerie and haunting, I'll give you eerie and haunting: The last two albums by Talk Talk will haunt the crap out of you:
Sample 1
As will lead vocalist Mark Hollis's later solo work:
Sample 2
posted by crapples at 12:16 PM on May 30, 2010
Sample 1
As will lead vocalist Mark Hollis's later solo work:
Sample 2
posted by crapples at 12:16 PM on May 30, 2010
Nina Nastasia's album The Blackened Air, especially if you like that 16 Horsepower-style gothic Americana stuff. Some Sufjan Stevens is like that too-- more specific songs than whole albums. Try "Seven Swans", "The Dress Looks Nice On You", "The Seer's Tower", "For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti", and a number of others.
posted by threeants at 12:23 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by threeants at 12:23 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Timber Timbre
posted by backwards guitar at 12:41 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by backwards guitar at 12:41 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Elevator (aka Elevator Through, Elevator to Hell) -- there's a Sadie in there (well, not in those songs, but, like, later on...)!
Bauhaus (especially The Sky's Gone Out)
Patti Smith
Leonard Cohen
Cocteau Twins
Mogwai
posted by Sys Rq at 12:42 PM on May 30, 2010
Bauhaus (especially The Sky's Gone Out)
Patti Smith
Leonard Cohen
Cocteau Twins
Mogwai
posted by Sys Rq at 12:42 PM on May 30, 2010
Seconding Fever Ray! Also maybe The Knife?
In a folkier vein - Marissa Nadler and perhaps Josephine Foster.
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 12:43 PM on May 30, 2010
In a folkier vein - Marissa Nadler and perhaps Josephine Foster.
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 12:43 PM on May 30, 2010
You could try:
Echo and the Bunnymen's album Killing Moon.
John Fahey.
Bonnie Prince Billy.
One song that gives me the chills is Sunset Rubdown, Day in the Graveyard (not the music video I would choose for that song, though).
Nthing The Knife.
posted by ajarbaday at 12:55 PM on May 30, 2010
Echo and the Bunnymen's album Killing Moon.
John Fahey.
Bonnie Prince Billy.
One song that gives me the chills is Sunset Rubdown, Day in the Graveyard (not the music video I would choose for that song, though).
Nthing The Knife.
posted by ajarbaday at 12:55 PM on May 30, 2010
Also, Nick Cave did an album that riffed off of Appalachian murder ballads, which have eerie and creepy lyrics and upbeat banjos. I think the result is pretty creepy myself. If you're into that sort of thing, you could check out:
The Lonesome Sisters' Rain and Snow. "Her baby cried all night, I know that what I did ain't right, the wind howls her name oh so low."
Gillian Welch's version of Wind and Rain. "And she came to rest on the riverside and her bones were washed by the rolling tide."
Others might include "Wild Bill Jones", "Darling Corey", and lots more. I know this outside your genre range, but I like "The Passenger" and I love these songs, too.
posted by ajarbaday at 1:38 PM on May 30, 2010
The Lonesome Sisters' Rain and Snow. "Her baby cried all night, I know that what I did ain't right, the wind howls her name oh so low."
Gillian Welch's version of Wind and Rain. "And she came to rest on the riverside and her bones were washed by the rolling tide."
Others might include "Wild Bill Jones", "Darling Corey", and lots more. I know this outside your genre range, but I like "The Passenger" and I love these songs, too.
posted by ajarbaday at 1:38 PM on May 30, 2010
I definitely have a different understanding of eerie if Dirty Three, Rachel's, and the Sadies are eerie.
I'll suggest
Black to Comm
Svarte Greiner
Elegi
Kreng
William Fowler Collins
posted by dobbs at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2010
I'll suggest
Black to Comm
Svarte Greiner
Elegi
Kreng
William Fowler Collins
posted by dobbs at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2010
I saw one mention of Depeche Mode. Most of their stuff, I think, meets your criteria. I play "Music for the Masses" every Halloween while waiting for tricker-treaters, and it provides just the right ambience.
posted by yclipse at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by yclipse at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2010
check out Dean Can Dance
posted by supermedusa at 1:45 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by supermedusa at 1:45 PM on May 30, 2010
Also Crime & the City Solution (contains many of Nick Cave's former bandmates), These Immortal Souls, and Simon Bonney, Rowland S. Howard and some stuff by or with Lydia Lunch (particularly the Shotgun Wedding and Honeymoon in Red CDs).
Current 93: either All the Pretty Horses (has Nick Cave) or Thunder Perfect Mind
Coil: Music to Play in the Dark
the 16 Horsepower offshoot-bands: Woven Hand and Lillium
And anyone who's really into Joy Division (and especially if also into artists like Dead Can Dance as well) should track down this album.
posted by K.P. at 2:02 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Current 93: either All the Pretty Horses (has Nick Cave) or Thunder Perfect Mind
Coil: Music to Play in the Dark
the 16 Horsepower offshoot-bands: Woven Hand and Lillium
And anyone who's really into Joy Division (and especially if also into artists like Dead Can Dance as well) should track down this album.
posted by K.P. at 2:02 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding Massive Attack's Mezzanine album. Would also suggest Desert Sessions Vol 9 & 10 featuring PJ Harvey:
There Will Never Be A Better Time
Crawl Home
A Girl Like Me</a
posted by dephlogisticated at 2:21 PM on May 30, 2010
There Will Never Be A Better Time
Crawl Home
A Girl Like Me</a
posted by dephlogisticated at 2:21 PM on May 30, 2010
Just because I'm anal: There's no such thing as an Echo & The Bunnymen album called Killing Moon. But Killing Moon is an awesome and haunting song on the album Ocean Rain.
posted by crapples at 2:37 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by crapples at 2:37 PM on May 30, 2010
Mary Hampton:
Quotes from some forum..
"This is a true original at work with hints of Nick Drake and Nico among others. King of like Nick's 'Pink Moon' but even more desolate. "
"Saw her live. Startling and scary – in a good way."
Robert Pete Williams (Youtube):Plays a style of acoustic blues that might be said to be of the "Bentonia Style", which tends towards minor tones. RPW is often very unstructured, with strangely varying rhythms and accents.
Blind Willie Johnson (Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground - YouTube): More blues, slide playing. Chilling, but subtle.. play it at night, when you can sit back and get lost in it.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 3:04 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Quotes from some forum..
"This is a true original at work with hints of Nick Drake and Nico among others. King of like Nick's 'Pink Moon' but even more desolate. "
"Saw her live. Startling and scary – in a good way."
Robert Pete Williams (Youtube):Plays a style of acoustic blues that might be said to be of the "Bentonia Style", which tends towards minor tones. RPW is often very unstructured, with strangely varying rhythms and accents.
Blind Willie Johnson (Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground - YouTube): More blues, slide playing. Chilling, but subtle.. play it at night, when you can sit back and get lost in it.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 3:04 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Very much seconding Baldalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtracks. Particularly Sycamore Trees.
Also Johnny Cash's version of Mercy Seat is no less haunting than Cave's. Not to mention Cash's cover of the NIN song Hurt, which is a song coming very palpably from a man that was nearing death.
Portishead is pretty haunted too. PJ Harvey's White Chalk as well.
posted by MrFish at 3:53 PM on May 30, 2010
Also Johnny Cash's version of Mercy Seat is no less haunting than Cave's. Not to mention Cash's cover of the NIN song Hurt, which is a song coming very palpably from a man that was nearing death.
Portishead is pretty haunted too. PJ Harvey's White Chalk as well.
posted by MrFish at 3:53 PM on May 30, 2010
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but one that immediately springs to mind is Jandek, though that might be a little bit too eerie for your taste. More info here.
posted by mahershalal at 3:58 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mahershalal at 3:58 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think you'll probably like Elliott Brood... they refer to their style of music as "death country."
posted by raxast at 5:47 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by raxast at 5:47 PM on May 30, 2010
Swans have already been recommended, but I think Michael Gira's other projects might be more to your taste. These are both dark, gloomy, acoustic and a bit reminiscent of Cave:
Angels of Light - How I Loved You
World of Skin - Ten Songs For Another World
posted by vanitas at 8:41 PM on May 30, 2010
Angels of Light - How I Loved You
World of Skin - Ten Songs For Another World
posted by vanitas at 8:41 PM on May 30, 2010
"Closer," the first track off Kings of Leon's 2008 album whose name escapes me at the moment, is pretty haunting.
posted by andrewcilento at 9:29 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by andrewcilento at 9:29 PM on May 30, 2010
The Twin Peaks OST by Angelo Badalamenti.
Gyorgi Ligeti (used for 2001: A Space Oddysey)
Maybe a bit clichéd by now, but Donnie Darko's soundtrack is pretty strange too.
The Dead Flag Blues by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
posted by Harry at 3:25 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Gyorgi Ligeti (used for 2001: A Space Oddysey)
Maybe a bit clichéd by now, but Donnie Darko's soundtrack is pretty strange too.
The Dead Flag Blues by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
posted by Harry at 3:25 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Go for Natural Snow Buildings if you've looking for your eerie, haunting music with a hint of innocent wonderment. Don't be fooled, though - for every 1-minute folk track with soft female vocals and acoustic guitar, there's a 10-minute (or often much longer) abstract drone track. The Dance of the Moon and the Sun is their best, IMO.
posted by Rinku at 4:23 AM on May 31, 2010
posted by Rinku at 4:23 AM on May 31, 2010
Two suggestions:
(a) II by Espers is "wondrous and troubling".
(b) the Disintegration Loops sequence by William Basinski is
"beautiful, subtle, sad, frightening, confusing, and ultimately uplifting".
posted by my face your at 5:26 AM on May 31, 2010
(a) II by Espers is "wondrous and troubling".
(b) the Disintegration Loops sequence by William Basinski is
"beautiful, subtle, sad, frightening, confusing, and ultimately uplifting".
posted by my face your at 5:26 AM on May 31, 2010
Run by Air
Eerie, haunting, and compulsively listenable.
posted by HeKilledKennedy at 8:08 AM on May 31, 2010
Eerie, haunting, and compulsively listenable.
posted by HeKilledKennedy at 8:08 AM on May 31, 2010
It may be too cheesy goth for you, but what about 4AD bands that were more on the edge, like Red House Painters and His Name is Alive? And certain shoegaze like Slowdive? Codeine, Low? Some Flying Saucer Attack.
Yes absolutely to William Basinski. Alvin Lucier's I am Sitting in a Room comes to mind then too.
Edith Frost has one album, I forget which, that has lots of ethereal haunted vocals and a sort of..."coldness in space" feel to it acoustics-wise. It seemed like a break-up album, which is maybe why. It's the one that has "Temporary Loan" on it. And maybe "Ancestors" too.
Songs: Ohia isn't like the stuff you mentioned really, but it is very haunting. Try the earlier, way less rocking stuff.
posted by ifjuly at 10:22 AM on May 31, 2010
Yes absolutely to William Basinski. Alvin Lucier's I am Sitting in a Room comes to mind then too.
Edith Frost has one album, I forget which, that has lots of ethereal haunted vocals and a sort of..."coldness in space" feel to it acoustics-wise. It seemed like a break-up album, which is maybe why. It's the one that has "Temporary Loan" on it. And maybe "Ancestors" too.
Songs: Ohia isn't like the stuff you mentioned really, but it is very haunting. Try the earlier, way less rocking stuff.
posted by ifjuly at 10:22 AM on May 31, 2010
Oh, and Black Heart Procession's album that has "Waterfront: The Sinking Road" and "It's a Crime I Never Told You About the Diamonds in Your Eyes" and "Under the Glass."
posted by ifjuly at 10:24 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ifjuly at 10:24 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I keep thinking of more. Goblin's soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria, as well as Libra's The Shock soundtrack. Rachel's maybe.
This is off probably, but possibly certain Kate Bush, like Hounds of Love or that era, the songs about drowning maybe.
Since I'm here again anyway, will nth Ligeti (oh hell yes) and add Penderecki. Yes to Scott Walker and the Swans and Cranes and Crime and the City Solution too.
posted by ifjuly at 10:28 AM on May 31, 2010
This is off probably, but possibly certain Kate Bush, like Hounds of Love or that era, the songs about drowning maybe.
Since I'm here again anyway, will nth Ligeti (oh hell yes) and add Penderecki. Yes to Scott Walker and the Swans and Cranes and Crime and the City Solution too.
posted by ifjuly at 10:28 AM on May 31, 2010
Response by poster: These are all amazing suggestions, I can't wait to dig in! Thank you.
posted by grayber at 1:10 PM on May 31, 2010
posted by grayber at 1:10 PM on May 31, 2010
These are all haunting in completely different ways:
Dracula by Philip Glass, performed by the Kronos Quartet. It's an alternative soundtrack for the 1931 silent version of Dracula, starring Béla Lugosi.
Don Abandons Alice, from the 28 Weeks Later soundtrack.
Hello Skinny, by the Residents.
Ballad of a Thin Man, by Bob Dylan.
Your Ghost, by Kristin Hersh.
posted by hot soup girl at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2010
Dracula by Philip Glass, performed by the Kronos Quartet. It's an alternative soundtrack for the 1931 silent version of Dracula, starring Béla Lugosi.
Don Abandons Alice, from the 28 Weeks Later soundtrack.
Hello Skinny, by the Residents.
Ballad of a Thin Man, by Bob Dylan.
Your Ghost, by Kristin Hersh.
posted by hot soup girl at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2010
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posted by MuffinMan at 10:31 AM on May 30, 2010