Today’s music video of the day is from Thom Yorke’s soundtrack for the upcoming Suspiria remake or rehash or reboot or whatever the Hell it’s supposed to be.
I may not be particularly happy about the idea of a new version of Suspiria (especially one that apparently doesn’t involve a single Argento) but I do like what I’ve heard of the soundtrack. Of course, nothing can improve on Claudio Simonetti’s work on the original but still….
Today’s music video of the day comes from Agnes Obel.
It’s an absolutely beautiful song and the video is wonderfully atmospheric. It’s not necessarily a horror video but the eerie feel of it all makes it perfect for October.
Anyway, here they are performing Buio Omega in concert. Buio Omega is the main theme of one of my favorite Italian horror films, Beyond the Darkness. Even if you haven’t seen the film — and, when it comes to movies about wealthy young men who dig up their dead girlfriends and eat hitchhikers, it doesn’t get much better than Beyond the Darkness — the music is wonderfully atmospheric. You just hear this music and you know that something really odd is about to happen.
Today’s music video of the day is Demon by Claudio Simonetti.
This was composed for the soundtrack of Lamberto Bava’s classic film, Demons. The video is basically mix of scenes from Demons and Simonetti performing. It’s pretty simple but I still like it, mostly because Demons is one of my favorite Italian horror films. Interestingly enough, this video was directed by Michele Soavi, who played the man in the mask in Demons and who went on to direct such horror classics as Stagefright, The Church, and Dellamorte Dellamore.
Both on his own and as a member of Goblin. Claudio Simonetti has been responsible for some of the most iconic scores in the history of Italian horror cinema. He is probably best known for Goblin’s score for Dario Argento’s Suspiria. The minute you hear the opening of that score, you are immediately transported into Argento’s nightmarish world of witches, death, and ballet.
In 1999, Simonetti formed Daemonia, a heavy mental band that played updated version of his classic horror scores, along with new material. In this video, they perform Suspiria and the end result is a perfect video for October!
I was really excited when I first came across this video because I assumed that it was about a bunch of possums.
Then I found out that actually, the song was named after Possum Kingdom Lake, which is a real lake down here in Texas. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen any possums at Possum Kingdom Lake but I assume that there must be a few around because, otherwise, the name would be inaccurate, right?
Anyway, when I first heard the song, I thought it was about a vampire. Then I had my BFF Evelyn listen to it and she thought it was about a serial killer. It turns out that we’re both wrong. According to the lead singer of the Toadies, the song was actually about a ghost who was inviting someone to join him in the netherworld.
By the way, this video was shot in Dallas. Woo hoo! Overall, it’s a good song, though the “so help me, Jesus” stuff feels a bit forced. And it’s a good video, full of atmosphere and menace. It’s a perfect video for our October Horrorthon!
Last night, I caught a show called ‘The Music of Cream’, featuring the sons of bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, along with guitarist Eric Clapton’s nephew, jamming to the psychedelic blues-rock of their musical progenitors. Which brings me to “Strange Brew”, whose lyrics kinda fit in with the whole ‘Halloween Havoc!” theme this month. Plus, it’s a damn good tune! From the 1967 LP “Disraeli Gears”, here’s Cream lip-synching along to “Strange Brew”. Enjoy!:
And if you get the chance to see ‘The Music of Cream’ in your neck of the woods, by all means do so… you won’t be disappointed!
“Who was the girl in Stabbing Westward’s video for Shame?”
For those of us who grew up in the 90s, that is question that we’ve been asking ourselves for 22 years. Who played Julie, the leggy brunette who found herself threatened by her ex-boyfriend while the band ate popcorn and watched from the couch?
It only took me a minute of research to discover that Nick was played by an actor named Clint Curtis. If he seems familiar, you may have seen him in movies like Deep Rising, The Mexican, or Splatter: Love, Honor, and Paintball. But no one seems to know who played Julie, though a lot of people still wonder. I’ve seen speculation that she was a model or maybe she was dating a member of the band. On one message board, someone even thought that she may have been played by the actress, Alana Urbach. (She’s wasn’t.)
Even if we don’t know who played Julie, Shame is a smart video from an underrated band. It was directed by Paul Cunningham, who is probably best known for directing the video for Radiohead’s High & Dry.