The SBC Community Mixtape #14 - Halloween 2023 Edition

[HawkbitAlpha]

Hello one, hello all! It's time once again for the next entry of the SBC Community Mixtape, our continuing exercise in finding out how many PokeBlocks you can make out of a collection of Spotify playlists... I think that's what it's supposed to be, anyway. As I'm sure you gathered from the title, this time, we're going for a second entry themed to the spookiest time of year. Last year, we stuck directly to the themes of nightmares and other haunts, but this time around, I'm thinking we should try something a little bit different:

TRACK OR TREAT

Do you happen to plan on going out trick-or-treating this Halloween? Well, even if you don't, pretend for a minute that you will. Think about what character you'd want to be dressing up as for that night on the town. Once you've decided on that, here's your challenge: come up with a playlist of songs that would be a great "soundtrack" for your character. Songs that could play over it as you, let's say, power walk right toward the camera in a movie, "O-Ren in Kill Bill" style. Be sure to also tell us (preferably in your playlist title) what the character you've chosen happens to be!

As always, the rules:

• Length limits per person: you have a total of 30 minutes worth of music to play with. (This site is great for calculating the times.)
• Try to post your submissions using a Spotify playlist. If this is not possible for you, at least make sure that all of your submissions are available on Spotify.
• Joke/troll entries can and most likely will be excluded.
• No repeat entries (can't submit the same thing as somebody else).

Tentative deadline for submissions is this Saturday, October 21st. Now, please excuse me while I try and fail to look for a good Papa Titan costume.

[Steel Sponge]

Decided to keep it simple and dedicate my entry to my signature Chemist Bob avatar:

[Jjs Goodman]

 

[Slippin' Freddy]

https://spotify.link/6WPnT98yXDb

[4EverGreen]

I'll choose five of the most Halloween appropriate songs I can think of! /

1. Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" (Full Album Version). 2. Donovan's "Season Of The Witch". 3. INXS' "Devil Inside". 4. Michael Jackson's "Thriller". 5. Michael Jackson's "Who Is It?" /

Enough said, true believers!

[HawkbitAlpha]

What character did y'all pick for your entries? @King Ramses @Freddy Fazbear

[Slippin' Freddy]

oh shit i didn't even read the rules for this one

 

uhh guess I'll be the Hash Slinging Slasher

[4EverGreen]

19 hours ago, HawkbitAlpha said:

What character did y'all pick for your entries? @King Ramses @Freddy Fazbear

Freddy Fazbear, as IF the name wasn't obvious!

[SBManiac]

I'm super glad I caught this on my days off, because I probably put more effort into this entry than I should have XP

Which character I'm dressing up as is obvious from the title, but there will be track notes this time! (Check the spoilers above the playlist for more!)

 

Spoiler

1. "Yes, I'm A Witch" - Yoko Ono feat. The Brothers Brothers: To be honest, while I'm turned off as much as anyone by Ono's more "avant garde" pieces, to pin her down as just some pretentious, musically inept banshee would be doing Ms. Ono a disservice, as this opening track clearly shows. With its pumping, crunchy guitars and proclamations of "I'm not gonna die for you, you might as well face the truth: I'll be sticking around for quite a while," half-sung and half-spoken in an icy tone, Ono shows that she truly is a force to be reckoned with, even going into her 70s. A feminist anthem for the ages, and definitely the Kill Bill moment of the playlist.

2. "Hex Girl" - Moon Sisters feat. The Nostalgia Girls: This cover of the song from the 1999 Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movie Witch's Ghost is kind of an obvious choice, having grown up with the film as an elder Gen Z. Despite me having issues with how processed some of the vocals are on this version, it's still a solid goth-rock track, fun for boils and ghouls of any age!

3. "Black Magic Woman" - Santana: Obvious choice is obvious, though I'm completely in awe of how much Carlos Santana shreds in this one. Definitely need to listen to more of his stuff!

4. "Hex Girlfriend" - Neon Indian: This one comes from an album near and dear to my heart since high school, Neon Indian's Era Extrana from 2011. That being said, despite the lyrical references to hexes, sects, and rituals, it's actually about Alan Palomo's girlfriend cheating on him. Then again, given the lyrics towards the end ("My flesh won't follow me forever, but your touch is few and far between"), perhaps his unfaithful ex does have a few spells up her sleeve.

5. "The Valley of The Pagans" - Gorillaz feat. Beck: Another more tangentially related song, I'm also kind of surprised I haven't put Gorillaz on one of these mixtapes before, as they were one of my favorite bands for a while; despite my issues with 2017's Humanz, I felt Song Machine was a great comeback for them. Either way, while the song uses paganism as a metaphor for the luxuriously shallow life of celebrities (and remember, witches do have a history with paganism!), perhaps Beck's "plastic Cleopatra on a throne of ice" is yet another member of the coven in disguise as a wealthy Hollywood socialite, and what budding witch can't relate to 2-D's monster hook: "It feels so good to have a perfect soul, it feels so good to be in total control!"

6. "Shockadelica" - Prince: Recorded during the sessions for an album Prince made as a pitch-shifted feminine persona known as Camille in the mid-1980s, this track ended up being one of his many b-sides for his 1987 masterpiece Sign 'o' the Times, and one of my personal favorites of his. While it hits the same notes as "Black Magic Woman" lyrically, this one definitely goes in a more synth-funk direction, as Prince was wont to do at this time, to fun, witchy results!

7. "Bruja" - Arca: Definitely the filthiest song on this playlist, non-binary trans woman producer/artist Arca knocks it out of the park with this fiery track about having the confidence and power to own the dance floor, and I quote, "shit on the pavement" as a bruja, or "witch," in Arca's native Spanish. This is literally the first song I've heard from her (besides her production on a 2013 album from a certain billionaire rapper who I'd want to send to the Conformatorium, but I digress), and I am more than pleased with the results! Definitely an artist I need to look into!

8. "Iowa" - John Linnell: "Iowa...is a witch! SHE'S A WIII-EEE-IIITCH!" In other words, John Linnell's songwriting is amazing, one of a kind, and you should go listen to his 1999 State Songs album right fucking now!

9. "The Warmth of Magic" - Azumi Inoue: A track recorded for the image song album for Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 classic anime film, Kiki's Delivery Service, meaning that it wasn't used for the film itself, but is rather written from the perspective of one of the characters in the film, most likely Kiki herself (I'm not fluent in Japanese, despite my half-assed attempt at translating the lyrics below [see the spoiler], so your guess here would be as good as mine), composed by frequent Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi, with lyrics by Keiko Asou. From what I can tell, it's a sweet, sentimental track about treasuring the memories you've made with others, and how everyone has the magic within them to "open up their dreams." You know, classic Ghibli. Either way, it's a fitting tribute to the story that got me interested in witches and magical girls in the first place, long before I knew I was a girl, as well as a good place to wrap up this playlist!

Spoiler

Translation for "The Warmth of Magic":

As the lights go out one by one / By the window, I think of you

While the moon rests on my chin / Tears overflow / I gently wipe them with my little finger

You're never alone! / I'm always watching over you / Our memories are / The warmth of magic

While reflecting on / Your happy loneliness / Search for big dreams

If everyone keeps making / The same mistakes / I'll grow up and leave, you know?

Oh, shooting star / I feel like good things / Are sure to happen tomorrow

Because you can do it / I'm watching you from here / The memories you believe in / Are the warmth of magic

My hands are pulled by kindness / Anyone / Can open up their dreams!

By the way, if you've made it this far through all my yammering about music I love, just know that I love and appreciate yous. Happy listening!

 

 

[Rebel the Wolfgirl]

Because I would be going as Queen Bee, I decided that my playlist would reflect a Halloween party atmosphere worthy of the Queen of Gluttony herself.

1. Rochelle Diamante - Cotton Candy: Because we can't begin a playlist centered on Bee without the character's signature song.

2. deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire - Ghosts n' Stuff: I was torn between this and Professional Griefers, but this feels very Halloweeny.

3. Rockwell ft. Michael Jackson - Somebody's Watching Me: Because no Halloween dance-pop playlist would be complete without this bop.

4. Aqua - Halloween: Silly and bubblegummy Y2K-era Europop, but it fits both the Halloween vibe and Bee herself; she would definitely have this on a playlist.

5. Rob Zombie - Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Remix): A bit heavier than what genre Bee is normally associated with (late 2000s-ish dance pop), but still fits.

6. Richard O' Brien - The Time Warp: ...You knew this was coming. Besides, this is a good way to lead into the grand finale of the playlist...

7. Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party: The grand finale to the party, what better way to go out than with Oingo Boingo?

[HawkbitAlpha]

Since I forgot to post a Discord reminder for this one, the deadline is now tomorrow night.