Freaky music for freaky times.
VESSEL – “Red Sex” – as described by som-mai nguyen
This feels like: how the Daredevll title sequence looks; the public imagination of a Berghain bathroom; an Edwardian manor after the bride’s just hacked her husband to scraps, and still splashed in blood, she turns to her undead-butler lover.
VEGA CHOIR – “Creep” – zane hellmann
There is always that fine line between a crush and an obsession—the latter makes your skin crawl and feel unsafe. This arrangement of Radiohead’s already icy song is hauntingly beautiful and eerily lovely. The number of voices singing the same words about watching someone from afar tricks you into a sympathy for this kind of feeling. The scary part is when you start singing along with the choir; when you become the creep.
JAY-Z – “Tom Ford” – as described by david schmitt
It’s scary how quickly HOVA forgot how to rap.
MARILYN MANSON – “Wrapped in Plastic” – as described by chloe rickards
Last summer, I watched David Lynch’s twisted, wonderful, cult hit, 90’s TV show, Twin Peaks. It’s a show full of moments that makes me shiver, from the backwards dialogue in the surreal Black Lodge, to the unsettling shots of ordinary objects in the Palmer’s house. Combining David Lynch with Marilyn Manson creates my worst nightmare in audio form. The intro alone (consisting of audio samples from The Black Lodge) makes me want to curl up in a ball.
CRYSTAL CASTLES – “Kerosene” – as described by sasha perigo
Crystal Castles, the Canadian duo formerly composed of produced Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass, is my go to when school is stressing me out. “Kerosene” is a noisy, anxious, and experimental electronic track off of their third LP. The track is definitely “spooky,” but for some reason the rhythmic beats calm me down.
BOBBY “BORIS” PICKETT & THE CRYPT-KICKERS – “The Monster Mash” — as described by phill giliver
I listen to this song before I go to sleep, right after I wake up, when I walk to class, when I walk home from class, during meals, after meals, and immediately after I catch myself saying the sentence “Was the Monster Mash a graveyard smash or…?” It’s my pump-up song and my wind-down song. It is my strength, it is my power, and it is my daily nutritional dose of spOoOoOoOkiness.
KRZYSZTOF KOMEDA — “Lullaby (From Rosemary’s Baby) — as described by carlos valladares
There are very few things that keep me locked in fetal position crying for uncle more than this haunting “lullaby” from Roman Polanski’s 1968 chilling thriller Rosemary’s Baby. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the awful secrets it holds. Komeda’s spaced-out 60s synthscape (Psycho-like strings and a piano badly in need of an exorcism; intertwining, snake-style, around Mia Farrow’s deceptively soothing la-la’s—a demented Beatles harmonizing that will have the kids screaming “No, no, no” rather than “Yeah, yeah, yeah”) is the stuff nightmares are made out of. This demented, bombed-out sonic interiority attempts to get into the mindset of the film’s protagonist Rosemary (Farrow), a pregnant and sunny newlywed whose husband (the legendary John Cassavetes) may or may not have sold their unborn child to Satan. The seductive-schizophrenic terror of the Polanski film owes a lot to the boogeyman effect Komeda’s score brings in.
LANA DEL REY – “Once Upon A Dream” – as described by nikki tran
I’ve come to the conclusion: happily ever after is a lie and love’s a waste of time. (Have I cemented myself to be forever alone? What have I done?) In her signature numbed, tortured, half-dead voice, Lana drones out this anthem for love’s forlorn players-the desperate ones who creep in corners, who conjure up empty fantasies in their heads. Fairy tales are make-believe and so is that special someone you’ve been pining all quarter over, waiting for them to call you boo.
KANYE WEST feat. DESIIGNER – “FREESTYLE 4” – as described by anthony milki
I’m 100% this was actually a real, unintended freestyle that the posse deemed lit enough to make Pablo. Adding Desiigner last minute to the supposedly ever-changing album works wonders with the horror movie instrumental.
ANGELO BADALAMENTI – “Twin Peaks Theme” – as described by katie nesser
All the music Angelo Badalamenti composed for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks is wonderful, and inspires me to lace up some saddle shoes and pour myself a damn fine cup of coffee. However, only the show’s theme had to justify the longest intro credits I’ve ever seen on television, playing over entrancing footage of Snoqualmie Falls, setting up the idyllic Washington town upon which Lynch’s beautiful dark twisted imagination wreaks havoc. And before each episode of Twin Peaks, as I dutifully sit through the credits, this song becomes more and more associated with a sense of impending doom.
Image from here.
('17, Symbolic Systems) is an avid fan of hyperbolic “literally,” has feelings about literally everything. Aspiring Manic Yellow Texan Dream Girl, complete with blue ukulele.
('16, English) is forever searching for friends to keep him company, and usually those friends are the fictional characters in the latest book he is reading.
(’18, Bioengineering) is from a lot of places (she’s an Air Force brat). She’s a Ravenclaw who likes climbing rocks, listening to new music, and collecting useless nerdy things to put in her room.
('17, Computer Science) takes herself too seriously. She is enthusiastic about live music, problem solving and social media.
('17, Mechanical Engineering) once went through a drivethrough on a bicycle and started to panic. He called his mom and she said 'I'm at work I can't deal with this right now.'
('18, Film Studies) is a native Angelino who loves movies, music, and life. He thinks "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", "City Lights", "A Woman Under the Influence", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Play Time" contain the secrets to life. He enjoys writing film criticism and getting into all sorts of sitcom shenaniganry with his friends. You can catch him wearing a cabbie hat, listening to "Pet Sounds" or "Tapestry" on the way to class.
('18, English) is a writer from Orange County, California.
('17, Human Biology/Creative Writing) is from Palo Alto and listens to a lot of Kanye.
('18, Art History, Editor-in-Chief) is a cautionary tale from Texas. She loves true crime, sweet tea, and Candy Crush Saga.