Sir Mustapha
Group: Musicians
Posts: 2802
Joined: April 2003 |
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Posted: Jan. 18 2009, 19:20 |
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For the longest time, U2's debut album, Boy, was for me THE definition of haunting. And that's one thing that I can't really explain very well at all. It helped that I possessed it in on vinyl, and for some reason it felt to me like some mystical artefact: the slightly muddy, rough sound gave an awesome twist to the songs, particularly 'An Cat Dubh', 'Out of Control', 'The Ocean' and 'Shadows and Tall Trees' -- and there was that goshdarned 30 second snippet at the very end of side B, that sounded like something that sneakily hid there, away from anyone's sight, and gave just a slight, fuzzy peek into something unknown and mysterious (which was the guitar solo from Fire, but actually taken from another unreleased song! ). I'm somewhat over that "haunting" quality of the album, and how I hear it more like an awesome, energetic not-quite-post-punk-not-quite-new-wave album and one of U2's best, but ONE song still haunts me: Into the Heart. Nothing the band ever did even gets close to this. I'm mystified by that song.
Anyways, they have released deluxe versions of U2's early albums (namely Boy, October, War and The Joshua Tree -- The Unforgettable Fire is conspicuously missing, and it's my favourite U2 album, bastards!! ), and the bonus CD to Boy is awesome awesome awesome -- containing not only the ultra rare pre-Boy singles, but also unreleased songs.
Off the top of my head, I can remember just a few songs I'd call haunting:
Boards of Canada - Gyroscope
Mogwai - Tracy
Sigur Rós - pretty much the entire Ný Batterí EP
R.E.M. - Perfect Circle
Peter Gabriel - White Shadow
Autechre - Teartear (probably the only song that gets close to scaring me)
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Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds.
Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com
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Have to agree with that one,it`s just one of those songs that`ll spring into my head from time to time.And I`ll then have this overpowering urge to sing it out loud.I can remember singing it once in front of the kids,and they were convinced I was making it up as I went along.So much so that I had to dig out the album and play them it to disuade them otherwise.And even then they were`nt completely satisfied I don`t think.
And certainly not as disturbing as Coolio`s "performance" in the celebrity Big Brother house over here these last few weeks. 
There are many other pieces of music, and songs, that I find haunting. These are just the ones that pop into my mind at the moment. I could just as well add some of Lisa Gerrard's things (both with Dead Can Dance and on her own) to the list, but right now my mind can't link the actual music with the titles.