Fusions Of Fright: The Parlor Trick

 ~by Marie Robinson

Join us again for another round of Fusions of Fright, Fascination With Fear’s monthly music article!

“No artist is ever pleased.
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.
There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction;
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes us more alive than the others.”

(album cover)

This poem by Martha Graham is the inspiration for the album, A Blessed Unrest by The Parlour Trick. The Parlour Trick is a project that is made from the combined efforts of Meredith Yayanos and Dan Cantrell who are both accomplished composer and multi-instrumentalists. They began collaborating on the album in 2009 in Oakland, California and in 2012, after producing enough for a record, began a Kickstarter for A Blessed Unrest. Since meeting their goal the record has been made available in digital, CD and vinyl formats, although all the vinyl pressings have sadly sold out.

A Blessed Unrest is a mostly instrumental album that aims to capture the tone of Victorian spiritualism, among other things. The album was inspired by Margaret Yayanos’ interest with Victorianism and its darker aspects, such as its attitude towards death and the afterlife and its ideas concerning “female hysteria”. An excerpt from their website says that, “Many of the pieces composed or co-composed by Yayanos are conscious riffs off (t)rapping of Spiritualism and lingering concepts of the “monstrous feminine”.

Photo by Audrey Penven

While the songs all certainly fit together, there are varying styles throughout the album. “Half Sick of Shadows”, “Mare Desiderii”, and “Planchette” are all piano-driven. The first is a single, if the album were to properly have one, and a music video was recorded for it featuring dancer Rachel Brice. “Half Sick of Shadows” may be my favorite track, though it isn’t easy to pick one. It sounds as if it should be played in—well—a parlour, with a crackling fire in the hearth and some quiet evil descending. It could easily fit into some supernatural period-piece film, playing as the title cards roll.

“The Lady of the House of Love” is a song of madness, or perhaps the struggle to prove one’s sanity. The ferocious driving riff gives away to sorrow, desperation and turmoil. It was a rustic, folky and Eastern European sound that sets it apart from the rest of the songs. A music video for this song was supposed to have been made but never seems to have been completed.

Poster by Ellen Rogers

The 8th track, “Leafy Sea Dragon Nursery” is a ghostly tune that one might hear echoing off the walls in an abandoned nursery, long-since inhabited by children or anything living. Among the dirty and discarded toys strewn along the floor, one might pick up a music box, only to open it and hear this music issue forth.

“Sheol” is another favorite of mine for its strange and powerfully atmospheric qualities. A particularly eerie track, it is composed from the theremin, a brilliantly creepy instrument that is controlled without even having to be touched. The sound is incredibly unique and is an automatic mood-setter. The scene I have pictured in my mind for “Sheol” is an empty and vast field covered by a night sky black and sequined with stars. But there aren’t just stars up above… you find yourself gazing up in awe, transfixed by the flashing colors of light and the sweet, though unsettling, sounds that echo over the land, wondering—and secretly fearing—that you aren’t as alone as you think.

A Blessed Unrest is a beautiful and haunting debut album from The Parlour Trick, and hopefully not their last. You can stream their entire album for free at their bandcamp (http://theparlourtrick.bandcamp.com/album/a-blessed-unrest), and learn more about them on their website (http://theparlourtrick.com/). You can watch the video for “Half Sick of Shadows” below.


The Parlour Trick: "Half Sick of Shadows" (Starring Rachel Brice) from Theremina on Vimeo.

Fusions Of Fright: Tales From The Black Meadow

 ~by Marie Robinson

Welcome back for your monthly dose of Fusions of Fright, our column highlighting music and musicians with a taste for the macabre.

Today I present to you a highly original project, and because of it’s nature this article will become a sort of two-in-one—an album review and a book review. Tales from the Black Meadow comes in print and audio form, although not the way you might expect it.

The book, written by Chris Lambert, is a collection of stories and poems all in reference to a mysterious (fictitious) village in North Yorkshire called the Black Meadow. Although the place inexplicably vanished, left behind was a body of work by a Professor Roger Mullins, who had a great fascination with the village and its local superstitions. He spent years collecting the local legends and writing them down in notebooks, which thankfully were saved after he went missing in 1972. Tales from the Black Meadow is presented as being taken straight from these notebooks of folkloric research.

The CD consists of 12 musical tracks to accompany the tales, beginning with the “Main Theme”. To me, it easily sounds like the opening to a television show from the late 70's. I can see the title card and the credits appearing over gently revolving images—a moonlit meadow here, an old tree, the silhouettes of children playing. I’m certain that at the start of the show we would find a gentleman in front of a blazing fire in some English parlor, closing the dusty tome he was holding to welcome us to the show.

The album was written and performed by a UK band called The Soulless Party, whose EP Exploring Radio Space is also available on their bandcamp. Every track, with the exception of “The Man from the Ministry”, has an accompanying tale in the book. I heard about the music first, and upon enjoying the opening song, found the bandcamp for the record. It was there that I learned about the book behind the music and I fell in love with the idea. Even though I believe most (if not all) of the album was done on a keyboard, great effort was put in to establish atmosphere, and I believe it was accomplished. Even without the existence of the backing stories one could still listen to the record and have a sense of the supernatural and the uncanny; dark foggy nights can be heard in the muted tracks. Little details give the songs on Tales from the Black Meadow their spooky spice, such as the soft crackling on each track, giving it the feel of an old vinyl record. Many tracks are sprinkled with atmospheric sounds, like bird song, church bells, or the tramp of a horse's hooves.

Tales from the Black Meadow is streaming for free on the Soulless Party’s bandcamp, here (http://thesoullessparty.bandcamp.com/album/tales-from-the-black-meadow). It is also available for purchase in digital form and in a 2-disc CD that includes all 20 tracks on one disc and the Radio 4 Documentary: “The Curse of the Black Meadow” on the other, not to mention a booklet of photographs and a note from writer and artist Warren Ellis.

 “The Curse of the Black Meadow” is a 20-minute mockumentary on the legends of the Black Meadow, including “interviews”, songs, and even more information on the spectral village. As well as being included in the 2-disc purchase of Tales from the Black Meadow it is sold separately on Amazon (right here).
 

"The old woman stood outside, behind the gate, looking at the house"

The book reads like a book of scary stories to tell children before bedtime. The writing is simple and purposefully repetitive, but Lambert goes to great lengths to create the eerie world of the Black Meadow. The book contains 25 tales and nearly as many illustrations. One more dimension in the world of the Black Meadow exists in “The Brightwater Archive”. As the story goes Lord Brightwater was the leading scholar on The Black Meadow in the 30’s, and the blog is a collection of his research findings. After reading the book, listening to the CD and the Radio 4 Documentary I am so impressed and inspired by the lengths Lambert went to to bring his mythos to life and spread it out through so many mediums. It is always inspirational to see originality and another’s appreciation for folklore. The Tales from the Black Meadow collection of stories is available for purchase on Amazon, here .

And enjoy the “Main Theme” from Tales from the Black Meadow below!

Fusions Of Fright: Synth In Horror Is Alive And Well!

~by Marie Robinson

Do you ever miss those delightful synth-fueled soundtracks that used to accompany slashers? Charles Bernstein’s score for A Nightmare on Elm Street is a favorite example that comes to mind, and, of course, the film score work of Goblin.

If you are a fan like I am, then have no fear! Because this genre—dubbed horror-wave—is not dead, and talented artists are still making fresh tracks. Rather than highlight a single band, I would like to introduce you to Giallo Disco, a Berlin-based record company that puts out records with that classic pulsing synth.

I have listened to every album put out by Giallo Disco and I can assure that each one is gold. They spin like actual soundtracks to lost films, and as you listen you can nearly see the movies playing out in your head. What is even more fun is that the artists seem to treat their albums as I’ve just described them, and often provide a synopsis to go with their record.

Alessandro Parisi does a near-perfect job of capturing the sound and essence of a giallo film, and as an Italian, himself, it only makes sense that he should. In the first track off of his album La Porta Ermetica, “Athanor”, you can almost picture a frightened teenage girl running down a foggy, shadowed alleyway, pressing herself against the wall while her eyes search wildly for the fiend that pursues her. The entire album oozes with it’s own life, and I find it best to listen to while driving through an urban setting at night, where the steam rises from the sewer grates in colored fog, and an ominous silhouette is peering down from every window.

Bay of Blood EP is another exceptional record from Greek artist Vercetti Technicolor that, complete with awesome throwback cover art, immerses you in its created setting. Imagine a tropical island, overrun with a primitive and savage race of people. You’ve found yourself trapped there and now you must escape, or at least survive, with only your wits and a machete.

There are several other artists on the label, and each record is sure to provide you a fun, inspirational listen. While I encourage you to purchase any albums you end up enjoying, you may conveniently stream all of the music for free via their Bandcamp (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLjwSpZ6Cs&feature=kp).

For your first taste, here is a biting track from La Porta Ermetica, “Azot Et Ignis”.

Fusions Of Fright: BOOKHOUSE

"Bookhouse"

~by Marie Robinson

I’m not a musician, and I am no expert on the subject but I do thoroughly enjoy music; for all of you readers out there who share a love for both music and horror, I present to you our newest feature, Fusions of Fright.

In this serial I’d like to highlight artists and albums that have a connection with horror and horror cinema. And I’m not talking about just soundtracks; I want to feature a wide variety of genres, all with a connecting theme of the ghastly and macabre. So, plug your headphones in, turn the volume up, and tune in to Fusions of Fright!

If you are a frequent reader of FWF you’ll know that I am a huge David Lynch fan, and therefore a fan of his early 90’s TV series, Twin Peaks. I’m certainly not the only one, and since the show’s premature death people have paid homage in a variety of ways. And it is here that I must turn you on to Bookhouse, a three-piece jazz band from Minneapolis, and their album, Ghostwood.
Josh Granowski, Chris Hepola, and Paul Fanfora have used their talent and affection for Twin Peaks to take songs from Angelo Badalamenti’s original score and reworked them into fresh, innovative new tracks.

cover for "Ghostwood"

Their single, “Into the Night”, replaces Julee Cruise’s pining vocals with Jenna Wyse, and the melody is played on bass rather than keyboard. The occasional belch of a horn and velvet hum of a cello give the song a little juice and a pounding heartbeat. Another favorite of mine is their rendition of “Laura Palmer’s Theme”, which before was mostly drawn-out synth climaxing with dramatic piano; Bookhouse’s version is more driving, lively and sinister. Bass and snare carry the melody, played on baritone clarinet, and while the original song brings me to thoughts of Laura’s innocence, this darker version reminds me of her mischievous nature.

Don’t take anything I said as if I am putting down Badalamenti’s score, because it is the original; however, I am truly impressed by Bookhouse (obviously a reference to the Bookhouse Boys) and the hard work they have put in to creating this interesting and exceptional record. They did it for the love of the show, and worked extensively with fans to make sure they knew the ins and outs of Twin Peaks. It is a good record on its own, but also a fascinating new way to keep Twin Peaks alive, which died much too soon. Take a listen to their single, “Into the Night” below, and buy their album Ghostwood on iTunes, Amazon, or vinyl here (http://ghostwoodalbum.com).