A mix for Halloween featuring music from 70s European horror soundtracks, eerie vintage folk-pop, contemporary pop noir and more. Last year, I made a devil-themed mix drawing from a similar range of artists, but where that one was skin-crawlingly creepy, this is more softly unnerving, with undercurrents of romance and sensuality. It makes me vaguely picture an imaginary classic horror film where a beautiful heroine is lured into a haunted forest by an irresistible but diabolical lover. Amid the prettily haunting sounds, there are still some genuinely terrifying moments – Goblin's bloodcurdling 'Sighs', from Suspiria, for example – should this ominous realm start to feel too cosy. 

The mix image is Elsa Martinelli in Roger Vadim's 1960 vampire flick, Et mourir de plaisir (aka Blood and Roses).

Tracklist (Hide details)

1. François De Roubaix - Les Lèvres Rouges (1971)
   From the Les Lèvres Rouges (Daughters of Darkness) soundtrack.
2. Beautify Junkyards - Longo Amanhã (2015)
   From The Beast Shouted Love.
3. Ennio Morricone - Astratto IV (1971)
   From the Veruschka - poesia di una donna soundtrack.
4. Marianne Faithfull - Oh Look Around You (1965)
   From her self-titled debut album.
5. Daniela Casa - Ignoto (1975)
   From Società Malata, reissued on Penny Records in 2013, and again on Dagored this year.
6. Death and Vanilla - Shadow and Shape (2015)
   From To Where The Wild Things Are.
7. Comus - Bitten (1971)
   From First Utterance.
8. The Paradise Motel - Bad Light (1996)
   From Still Life.
9. Broadcast - The Sacred Marriage (2013)
   From the soundtrack to Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio.
10. Jenny Hval - In the Red (2016)
    From Blood Bitch.
11. Cat's Eyes - Pavane (2015)
    From the soundtrack to another Strickland film, The Duke of Burgundy.
12. Françoise Hardy - The Rose (1966)
    From Hardy's first English language album, In English.
13. Piero Umiliani - Nocturne (1973)
    From To-Day's Sound, reissued on Easy Tempo in 1997.
14. Ennio Morricone - Metamorfosi (1971)
    From the La classe operaia va in paradiso.
15. Laurence Vanay - Soleil Rouge (1974)
    From Galaxies, reissued on Lion Productions in 2013, and as a double LP this year.
16. Espers - Flowery Noontide (2005)
    From Espers.
17. Cat's Eyes - Black Madonna (2015)
    From The Duke of Burgundy.
18. Les Maledictus Sound - Heathcliff Y Cry Your Name (1968)
    From Attention (or arguably Les Maledictus Sound - I'm uncertain of the correct title), the only release by this band helmed by Jean-Pierre Massiera.
19. Keith Seatman - A Slight of Hand (2013)
    From Boxes Windows & Secret Hidey-Holes.
20. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - The False Husband (2006)
    From Ballad Of The Broken Seas.
21. Jane Weaver - Parade of Blood Red Sorrows (2013)
    From the 2015 compilation The Amber Light. Originally released on the Initiaani Kesä soundtrack. 
22. Belbury Poly - Pan's Garden (2006)
    From The Owl's Map.
23. Spirogyra - Old Boot Wine (1973)
    From the 2004 compilation Gather In The Mushrooms – The British Acid Folk Underground 1968-1974. Originally from the album Bells, Boots and Shambles.
24. Phillip Lambro / Orriel Smith - Hannah Emerges In the Night (1973)
    Originally from the Crypt of the Living Dead soundtrack, this was included as a bonus track on the 2011 digital issue of Smith's 1968 single, 'Tiffany Glass' (which was also written by Lambro).
25. Still Corners - Demons (2011)
    From Creatures of an Hour.
26. Acanthus - Sleeping Beauty (Samba Des Vampires) (1971)
    From the soundtrack to Jean Rollin's Le Frisson des vampires, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2010.
27. Emil Richards - Opal (October) (1966)
    From New Sound Element "Stones", reissued by The Omni Recording Corporation in 2012.
28. Lake Ruth - One Night As I Lay On My Bed (2016)
    From Actual Entity.
29. Colleen - Le Labyrinthe (2007)
    From Les Ondes Silencieuses.
30. Angelo Badalamenti - Laura's Dark Boogie (1990)
    From Twin Peaks: Season Two Music and More (2007).
31. Maxine Sullivan - Dark Eyes (1938)
    From the 1997 compilation The Chronological Classics: Maxine Sullivan 1937-1938.
32. Jean Prodromidès - Carmilla et Léopoldo (1960)
    From the Et mourir de plaisir (Blood and Roses) soundtrack.
33. Harmonic 33 - Long Shadow (2005)
    From Music For Film, Television & Radio, Volume 1.
34. Goblin - Sighs (1977)
    From the soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria, reissued on Bella Casa's The Awakening box set in 2012.
35. Harper / Russe / St. George  - Nightwalker (1972)
    From Electrosonic, a library music record Don Harper, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson (the latter two under pseudonyms) made for KPM, reissued by Glo-Spot in 2006.
36. Clara Rockmore - Rachmaninoff: Vocalise (1977)
    From The Art of the Theremin.
37. Ela Orleans - Nocturne (2012)
    From Tumult In Clouds.
38. Elysian Fields - Black Acres (2000) – Free download available from Epitonic.
    From Queen Of The Meadow.
39. Luboš Fišer - Blood Red Rose (1972)
    From the Morgiana soundtrack, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2013.
40. Mono In VCF - We Could've Owned The World (2008)
    From Mono In VCF.

You might not expect to find a decent music guide in a 70s teen girl magazine, but that's exactly what I came across in the November 1974 issue of an American publication called The New Ingenue. In "50 Albums You Can't Live Without", the magazine does not condescend to its young female demographic with the usual list of tight-jeaned teenybopper pin-ups, but instead presents a serious guide for fledgling collectors.  It was written by Ed Naha, at the time a music journalist who wrote for esteeemed publications like The Village Voice and Rolling Stone, and who later became a science fiction and fantasy author and screenwriter. 

(Click to enlarge / Right-click for full size or to save)

The article is not only an interesting snapshot of its era, providing a glimpse into critical tastes as well as the culture of record collecting at the time, it still works as a great starting point for anyone wanting to explore 60s to 70s rock. The list covers a good range of styles, from rhythm and blues to "lofty rock", though for my tastes, it's weighted a little heavily toward hard rock – not surprising given when this was written. While it's filled with staple classic albums like Dark Side Of The Moon and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it also has a few more obscure choices that have since fallen off the critical radar. Then there is something like Love's Forever Changes, which was not a success when released, but whose reputation saw it rise to become a cult classic over time. Here we see it beginning to achieve this status, as well as the insight that it "attracted a lot of praise and condemnation" at the time of its release.

The New Ingenue seems to have been trying to do something more progressive and feminist with the medium of the teen girl magazine. Among the usual makeup ads and fashion tips, there are some atypical articles that show they expected intelligence from their audience, like a feature on the juvenile detention system or a technical guide to hi-fi. A subscription ad boasts the magazine has a broad range of content, with "columns on crafts, ecology action and all the occult" (all of it!). Describing their target reader, it says "she isn't under anybody's thumb and she's not up on anyone's pedestal". I bought several issues from the collection of the lovely Dixie Laite, who described The New Ingenue as "sort of a precursor to Sassy in terms of content, attitude and down-to-earthiness."

As part of this approach, the magazine had a particular interest in bringing quality music journalism to young women. I found an advertisement in a December 1974 issue of Billboard magazine which emphasised The New Ingenue's commitment to musical content. It proudly proclaims the magazine's line-up of respected critics, that its music column is "not a monthly gossip column" and that it features "the first and only chart designed by and for the young American woman".  

I've made a Spotify playlist featuring one song from each album in the list:

Bust, the magazine that brings you femme culture in a fun, creative and smart way, now has a brilliant new online feature: free, legal mp3s of music featured in their issues. Go here to grab the downloader and instructions (Update: now defunct). The current taster features The Gossip, Two Ton Boa, Guy Sigworth, Flin Flon and The Receiver. My picks: the incredible 60s/70s folk songstress Karen Dalton's take on the traditional 'Katie Cruel' (French pop fans may be familiar with Marie Laforêt's version), and The Pipettes' 'Pull Shapes' video, which lovingly recreates the Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls party scene.

Thanks to everyone who's visited Spiked Candy for bringing me up to over 500,000 page views! One thing I'd love is to get a little more feedback on my posts. I don't mean to be needy in our relationship, but sometimes a girl needs to know if her first-time-posted-online ultra-rare video/picture/song excites you as much as it does her! The blog continues to be a labour of love, but I'd also like a little more of an idea of which posts you enjoy the most. A big thank you to those who do take the time to comment, email or Myspace message me.

A special shout-out to all my last.fm friends - you really help keep the blogging and music discovery journey rewarding. Last.fm members and readers of this blog - if you're yet to stumble across my last.fm group, here it is: Spiked Candy Last.Fm Group.

Lots of planned posts in the works... in the meantime, any special requests or stuff you'd like to see/hear more of? I'll be moving from Blog-City soon, and I'm happy to start the extended leaving party now!

When I picked up Lush's Topolino on CD for a couple of pounds in London years ago, I didn't know it was a compilation of B-sides and rarities. I just thought, this is another really good Lush album! I also didn't know that it could be quite hard to track down and quite expensive until my original was destroyed and I had to replace it. Mine's the Canadian version which has 5 songs the Japanese release doesn't; the Japanese one has 2 songs the Canadian one doesn't.

It's worth buying if if you can find it for a decent price. Only the stronger Lovelife B-sides are included (I have a couple of the Lovelife singles and the B-sides that aren't on here aren't as good, in my opinion). 

A couple of covers from Topolino, proving Lush had excellent taste in music (if not in coats):

Sisters Wendy and Bonnie Flower (their real names) recorded one album, Genesis, in 1968. Only 17 and 13 years old respectively at the time, Wendy & Bonnie wrote all the material themselves and it's stunning - in its own right, not just 'for their age'. Breezy, soft but savvy folk pop gems abound on this recording. Quite an energetic melody on some, like the track I've chosen. Float away with them with 'It's What's Really Happening' (from Genesis):

Wendy & Bonnie - It's What's Really Happening

They later worked with Cal Tjader, and can be heard singing backing vocals on this lovely soft jazz number from 1971, 'Morning' (from Descarga):

Cal Tjader - Morning