From the Deep River Boys' 1940's "Swinging at the Séance" to the Gig Experiment's 2019's "Shark Attack." Both tracks are favs in this mix. Roky Erickson and The Aliens' "Bumble Bee Zombie" is probably my top favorite in the mix. The Three Suns' "The Creep," Bob and Jerry's "Ghost Satellite," René Hall Orchestra's "Night Fright" and St. Paul & The Broken Bones' "Champagne Halloween" are a few more. 20 in all. Enjoy!
Continuing on... "Blitzen" (Joe Wilder on trumpet) by Leonard Feather & Ralph Burns is the earliest track (1954). The Modern Jazz Quartet's "England's Carol" is the other earlier track (1960). Aside from a few 80s & 90s tracks, the rest are 00s.
I don't think I could pick one track over them all. Wynton Marsalis' "We Three Kings of Orient Are" would be right up there though, at a mesmerizing 9 minute tour-de-force. Nary a moment of boredom or reaching for the fast-forward button. Gabriel Latchin Trio's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is another to take note. Tia Fuller's "Little Drummer Boy" is another worthy addition to the many covers.
Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Skating (#3, take 7)" is close to the original release, that you may not notice a difference. Mark Shane's X-Mas Allstars' "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and Alban Darche's "Hark!" are a couple more excellent tracks. They're all good. Enjoy!
You've probably heard some of the tracks. Favorites include the awesome version of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" by the George Shearing Quintet. If you love Brubeck's "Take Five," you should enjoy it. Cyrus Chestnut's cover of "Linus and Lucy" is another worthy addition. If you love bebop, you'll love Herb Geller's "Sleigh Ride."
Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "We Free Kings" is a well known track amongst the jazz aficionados. If you like stride, then you'll probably enjoy Butch Thompson's "Deck the Halls." Brad Mehldau's "Christmas Time Is Here" is imo, the highlight from the set. I absolutely love his rendition of the Vince Guaraldi/Charlie Brown classic.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas carols is "Silent Night". I prefer the renditions to be more serene and subtly melancholic. Fabrizio Bosso Quartet's "Silent Night" is quite the opposite and it works. It's jazzy, funky, and a worthwhile addition to the mix. Anyway, all the tracks are good. Enjoy!
I'm a fan/sucker for "you've never heard" and similar wordings in comp titles. And here we are with 18 smooth, upbeat, jazzy tracks you've never heard... or may have heard...
All tracks are instrumental sans "Last Christmas" by Till Brönner, but only briefly. Of all the cover versions of Wham's big hit, it's one of the better ones. It toys on a bossa-nova rhythm, and it works. Fourplay's "Angels We Have Heard on High" is probably the best jazz-funkiest rendition I've ever heard. Another big highlight is Dirk K's "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas." Who is Dirk K? I have no idea. Check out those monster guitar licks.
Don't forget to get wow'd by Marco Marzola's "O Christmas Tree." Listen to those drum breaks. Oscar Peterson's "Christmas Waltz" slows things down for a bit, but his piano runs makes up for it and then some. And please note the third track (Don Patterson's "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer") is a needle drop, and not that clean either. It's passable but thought to let you know. I couldn't resist not adding it to the mix. As usual, they're all good. Enjoy!
Another goodie! Nineteen instrumentals and one with vocals - The Hellbenders' "The Ghosts of Boot Hill." It's more (sort of) rockin' country but has that surfie guitar going for it.
Favorites include the Treble Spankers' "A Man Called Curse," the Lava Rats' "A Phalanx of Terror," Insect Surfers' "Ghost Train," Los Plantronics' "Voodoo Astronaut," and the Surf Zombies' "Skullaballoo." Enjoy!
Another 20 tracks of maddening modern surf rock. Favs include the Killer Bananazz's "Freaks of Nature," the Galaxy Trio's "Surf n' Destroy," and Evan Foster's "Werewolves International." They're all good. Enjoy!
One of my Halloweenie folders had tracks collecting computer dust waiting to be heard. 18 tracks in all, most from the 2000s with a few 90s. A bit of pop-punk, rock, garage, etc, including one score, a couple of ambient tracks, and one dark modern classical track by Bára Gísladóttir. Favorites include 999's "Everyday Is Like Halloween," The Woggles' "Dracula's Daughter," and the surf rockin' "The Flyin' Pumpkin" by the Blackball Bandits. Enjoy!
Volume 4 - it's right up there with volume 2 as my favs (so far). 20 tracks once again and way too many favs to mention. But, I still enjoy naming off a few of them. Let's see...
Man or Astro-Man?'s "King of the Monsters" is probably my top fav. The Balboas' "Green Death" would be high on the list too. The Cavernarios' "Laguna verde" (Green Lagoon) too! And I love the exotic/lounge groove in The Excelsiors' "Strange Planet." They're all good. Enjoy!
And continuing with modern surf rock number 3. If you love lots of reverb-y guitar, check out The Verbtones' "Flight of the Vampyre." My favorite amongst the 20 tracks is probably Monsters from the Surf's "Mysterioso." The Fathoms' "Tracking Bigfoot" is another goodie. And so is Voodoo Court's "Psycho Surfer." Oh, and The Pyronauts' "Boogieman" would be another. They're all good. Enjoy!
20 more scorching Halloween-themed instrumental modern surf rockers. Actually, make that 19. The best track (Fiend Without a Face's "Green Slime") has vocals, but I haven't the slightest what they're singing other than the track title. I probably don't even want to know what they're saying, lol.
Favorite tracks are Fiend Without a Face's "Green Slime" (obviously). It's a repeated listens type of track. It rocks! The Invisible Surfers' "Godzilla Attacks" is another goodie and so is Huevos Rancheros' "Super Creep." And can't forget Big Lazy's "Just Plain Scared." Check 'em all out. And let me know what you think of "Green Slime." Enjoy!
20 frightening instrumental tracks (well, perhaps the titles) of modern surf rock. A long story short - I've always loved classic surf rock (The Surfaris, Dick Dale, The Shadows, etc), but wasn't all that keen for the modern neo-surf music. It wasn't until I heard the Surfaholics' '95 album, "Tiki-A-Go-Go." And that's all it took to be hooked.
My favs? Not surprisingly, Surfaholics' "Frankensurfer" is my top fav. The Moon-Rays' "Transylvanian Boo-Ga-Loo (Java's Pad)" would probably be my second fav. A toss-up for third, either the Silver Hawks' "Fear City" or Evil Waves' "Death Waltz." Enjoy!
I didn't plan on making this a series, and yet here we are with volume 10. Big favs in Sleepless' "Ponder," Coldbrew's "Birds Out to Play," Ashra's "Mistral" and Emelie Christiansson's "Sunday Song." They're all good. Enjoy!
And unsung they are. All 80s and 90s. My biggest favs? Fastway's "Say What You Will," Roxy Blue's "Times Are Changin'," and Winger's "Down Incognito" are probably my tops. Yeah Bop Station's "H.H.H." and Saxon's "Suzie Hold On" are a couple more favs. They're all good. Enjoy!
This was an older mix from a few years back. I still wouldn't mind making the theme into a series. Plenty of beauts on this comp including Paladin's "Flying High," Rare Bird's "Fears of the Night," and Pekka Pohjola's "Sekoilu seestyy." The majority of tracks are from the 70s. Enjoy!
