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search results for “haunting”
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You searched for ‘haunting’, which matched 128 songs.
click - person recommending, year, performer, songtitle - to see more recommendations.
#41 (Live at Luther College version)  performed by Dave Matthews Band  1996
Recommended by sunev45 [profile]

great acoustic guitar, haunting lyrics... One of the best from this band

from Crash, available on CD


"hotel room"  performed by richard hawley  2005
Recommended by kohl [profile]

his voice is almost gloomy, but in a striking and haunting way. it does fit the mood of the song--it sounds earnest and intense without being too singer-songwriter-y.


available on CD - coles corner


"I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From"  performed by The Kings of Convenience  2001
Recommended by Alletron [profile]

The Kings of Convenience have often been described as Norway's answer to Nick Drake. They blend lyrics of nature and love with sensational flowing acoustic guitars. Erlend Oye and Erik Glambek Boe have the most hauntingly beautiful voices you may ever hear, and expertly incorporate harmonies that drift perfectly through the notes of their guitars. This is my absolute number one favorite song of all times. Listen closely on the bridge for this incredible arpeggio that just catapults the song into ethereal territory.

from "Quiet Is the New Loud" (Astralwerks)


"she's everywhere"  performed by strangelove
Recommended by kohl [profile]

slightly haunting, not just the intro but the lyrics as well. the singer's voice is just right for this track and the music is fitting.




3 libras  performed by a perfect circle
Recommended by eggplantia5 [profile]

a beautiful, haunting, disturbing song. maynard's voice just does something that twists up my heart every time i hear the song. this is one of the songs i can put on repeat and just completely let swallow me whole. it's perfect for a dark mood.




All My Friends Who Play Guitar  performed by Starflyer 59
Recommended by Kilbey1 [profile]

Melancholy jangle tune with sweet, haunting melody; discussed the trials and tribulations of those little bands that slip under our musical radar, however worthy. Reminiscent of garage band struggles, all who picked up a guitar in school in hopes of making it big. For those who make it big, hundreds - no, thousands - of bands are still waiting to be heard.

"And never thought it'd go this far / We never thought that / We'd ever go far / Like all my friends who play guitar / Know who we are? / We never go far / Like all my friends who play guitar"

(btw, I had no idea these guys were Christian; never sounded like any Christian music I heard!)

from Leave Here a Stranger


America  performed by Simon & Garfunkel  1968
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

In my opinion, the best S&G song, from their '68 masterpiece "Bookends". Lyrically beautiful, with a haunting melody and beautiful vocals care of Artie and Paul. A beautiful, soothing song for a turbulant time.

from Bookends, available on CD (Columbia)




  phil: DEFINITELY the best Simon and Garfunkel song - Paul at last raises himself to some excellent lyrics , and the singing is just sensational - when they sing 'so I looked at the scenery/ she read her magazines/ and the moon rose over an open field' tears spring to my eyes.

Seriously, people diss Art Garfunkel, but the man is truly a singing genius. It's all very well to go on about the importance of writing blah blah blah second most talented member of Simon and Garfunkel blah blah blah, but when you can sing as well as Art, what does it matter? He adds so much to their songs just with the beauty of his voice. Paul should never have got rid of him.

  G400 Custom: Nice to see someone standing up for Art Garfunkel's often wonderful singing. His 1978 album 'Watermark' is largely composed of Jimmy Webb songs and is well worth a listen, particularly 'Mr Shuck'n'Jive' and 'Shine It On Me'.
Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl  performed by Broken Social Scene
Recommended by naked mardou [profile]

Haunting and magical with fragile, baby-doll vocals. The song describes common sentiments, repeating the phrase "park that car/drop that phone/sleep on the floor/dream about me" with such earnestness that, if you were the object of such affection, it would be nearly impossible not to come back.

This track is recommended for: fans of the Magnetic Fields, Radiohead


available on CD - You Forgot it in People (Arts & Crafts)


arise  performed by lynne Arriale trio  2002
Recommended by dexxas [profile]

If You have a good hi fi system seriously set up with good speaker cable and good interconects and your taste is smooth jazz. this lady is wonderful. Just piano double bass and drums hear. The detail in this CD recording is brilliant. every light touch the drummer makes you can pick it out. the track i have picked is the title its soft haunting and rather special have a listen.

http://www.jazzweek.com/feature/article/7_000432.html

from Arise (Motema Motema MTM/1372)
available on CD - yes (Motema)


Barnacles  performed by Ugly Casanova
Recommended by Reina [profile]

Lead singer of Modest Mouse...haunting, intense...

"we clung on like barnacles on a boat...even though the ship sinks, you know you can't let go"




Before We Begin  performed by Broadcast  2003
Recommended by tempted [profile]

Peers and close friends of Stereolab, Birmingham's Broadcast are one of the most interesting alternative pop acts in the world. This song is an example of their extraordinary skills in crafting a haunting, beautiful melody to go with a sound that's like a son of the band The United States Of America and Ennio Morricone. These folks took four years building their own studio. Can't blame them a bit as the results are simply stunning.

from Ha Ha Sound, available on CD



  eftimihn: Oh yes, this track is gem, no doubt about that. To me the melody and harmonies incorporated are quite reminiscent of late 60s sunshine pop/soft rock stuff of that era.
  tempted: You're correct there. They must be fans of people like Curt Boettcher and Margo Guryan, too!
  tinks: i love this band. they are so very excellent to see live, as well. and they'll be here in about a month! woohoo!
Black Eyed Dog  performed by Nick Drake  1974
Recommended by two-headed boy [profile]

In order to fully examine the minds of torment and depression, one would need to be familiar with Nick Drake's 'Black Eyed Dog.' With his transcendant ability to translate his demons into song, Nick Drake accounts a supernatural phantasm chasing him through the darkness of his own neurosis. 'Black eyed dog he claws at my door' - sung in his upper register, with the use of heavey falcetto, sounds like he is straining to survive a nightmare. His performance, despite the sparse production of acoustic guitar and vocal, is expansive. Use of harmonics and finger roll on this song proves the mastery of his instrument, as an amateur guitarist I am baffled by the sound he can create. The singular pulse of the guitar string rings-out with a delicate harmonic while the layering of other voices continue subtly underneath. And the result is the tragic embrace of his own psychological deterioration; a horror unlike the Macabre style of the French, it stands as its own haunting style, that of 'Drakesque.'

As we know his depression did finally catch up to him, and as a revisionist I would say that Nick knew it would all along, sooner or later. One would only need to hear this song and some of the pieces are put into place.

from Time of No Reply, available on CD




  Liv: they say he had to have several overdubs of his voice on this track until he got it right, because of his depression his voice was trembling.. so far from the classical orchestrations of his early recordings, the sparse instrumentation and the intense emotion of "Black dog" affects you even more as Nick's haunting voice sounds like he's singing through an abyss of infinite darkness and despair..
  songs-I-love: Actually, the lyrics to this song go "A black-eyed dog, he CALLED at my door...", but with Nick's way of singing (or rather: expressing himself), it's just all too easy to get confused. The line "I'm growing old and I wanna go home" gets through my heart like a bullet every time I hear it. Only few songs can evoke such strong emotions in me.
  kkkerplunkkk: Yes beautiful and chilling, but it's a small comfort to know that this wasn't actually the last song he ever recorded, that sad honour going to the recently discovered Tow The Line.
Borderline  performed by Jane  2003
Recommended by SimonB [profile]

Close Up And Reak is a lovely album but this is my favourite track. It's a bittersweet tale of a person's (possibly Jane's), gradual loss in humankind. The song opens with a wailing violin which then introduces a soft, acoustic blanket of intsrumentation topped with Jane's wistful vocals.

from Close Up And Real, available on CD


Bossa Nova Bessie  performed by Frank DeVol and the MGM Studio Orchestra  1966
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This sounds like it should be a generic bossa nova cash-in film song, but instead, it's strangely haunting and gripping to my ears. While it's a sweetly orchestrated piece (a bossa nova guitar and beat, a flute melody, and a Stan Getz-esque tenor sax, backed by a subdued orchestra) I feel as if there's something menacing just beneath the surface. However, it's so subtle, this could be in my head. It's taken from the 'The Glass Bottom Boat'; maybe I have to see the movie and decide.


available on CD - Bachelor In Paradise - Cocktail Classics from MGM Films (EMI)



Broken Dream  performed by Justin Hayward  1996
Recommended by ChiswickChick [profile]

A stand-out track from "The View from the Hill" (1996), Justin Hayward's best solo album since "Songwriter" (1977) and one of Hayward's best ever ballads. All his trademarks are here - haunting melody (with the simplest but most beautiful intro), emotive lyrics, complimentary arrangement and that unmistakeable glorious voice.

from The View from the Hill (CMC International / BMG)


capsized  performed by Sarah Harmer  2000
Recommended by mitchiavelli [profile]

This song is haunting. The lyrics are about loss and are bouyed by a simple arrangement of guitar and organ.

I like this album more with each listen.

'You Were Here' is the first solo album from Ms. Harmer who is also one of the principle members of a Canadian folk/pop group called 'Weeping Tile'.

from You Were Here (Cold Snap/Universal in Canada - Rounder Records)



Catolé  performed by Orquestra Jean Kelson  1965
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is a jazzy, haunting track from an LP I bought in Brazil last year. I've tried hard to find information about Jean Kelson, but the only mention I've found (other than those I've made myself) is in one of Ed Motta's excellent archived radio shows at his official site (http://www2.uol.com.br/edmotta/sala.htm). Ed plays a different track from this album, Munganga.

Catolé sounds musically like a variation of Baden Powell's classic 'Berimbau', and opens with an incredibly catchy refrain featuring piano, percussion and trumpet. Gentle male voices then come in and flesh out the melody. The entire album is great. I wonder what the chances are of it coming out on CD...

from Berimbau e Bigorrilho (Copacabana CLPS 21012)



Cavaleiro Andante  performed by Abilio Manoel  1970
Recommended by gregcaz [profile]

This song is simply unreal. It starts out in a kind of 4/4 samba groove with a highly prominent cuica and a funky strummed acoustic guitar chord progression before the super-catchy pizzicato-violins riff comes in, and Abilio's mellow voice singing the melody. It's sunshiney and catchy, with a bit of a haunting aftertaste, very Brazilian. I can never hear this song enough times!! Abilio Manoel is a Sao Paulo-based singer-songwriter from the late-60s-70s (still active) who wrote a few moderate hits without attaining even a Marcos Valle level of popularity. Good for Marcos, since Abilio's work would have caused me a few sleepless nights if I were him. And both on the same label, too! Abilio's stuff is hard to find, but very worth the effort.....I've already given Dusty Groove the heads-up about the CD....

from Pena Verde (Odeon)
available on CD - 20 Sucessos (EMI Brazil)




  delicado: sounds great; I look forward to checking it out!
Coffee Talk - Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix  performed by Jazzanova  2001
Recommended by secularus [profile]

Although this track is not my favorite from Berlin's Jazzanova, I think it best represents the best bits of of their own work and their remixes for others. This track is a few years old but has been newly remixed by Japan's Fukutomi. Jazzanova are at the forefront of the nu jazz scene in the dance world. Beginning with a soulful piano introduction, the tune breaks into a heavy bass driven uptempo beat, sprinkled with a bit of a jazz scat, and a sample of a very haunting and seductive flute solo that sounds as if it has been lifted from an old soundtrack. The song however is not as simple as this review and must be listened to carefully to appreciate all that it offers.




Cruel Sister  performed by Pentangle  1970
Recommended by rum [profile]

A bewitching song about a young woman who, to win the hand of a handsome knight, does her rival sister in. The dead girl then comes back to haunt the �black-haired bride� as a harp fashioned from her breast bone and three locks of her hair. �Cruel� may seem too kindly a description of a girl who when her sister pleads, �Oh Sister, Sister, let me live, and all that�s mine I�ll surely give� says, �It�s your own true love I have and more, but thou shalt never come ashore� before abandoning her body to the rough North Sea. Cruel? Should the sister therefore be scalded for her little� transgression? She�s an evil and monstrous sister, surely? But then this is centuries past, a time when sibling murder and human harps were commonplace. I am not likely to understand in this more civilised 21st century. Which may be why the kids don�t really dig British folk music anymore, or the mighty Pentangle. And it�s a crying shame because this is a stunning track, hauntingly sung by Jacqui McShee. I hesitate to use the term �masterpiece� in case that great oracle of musicaltaste.com, fmars, overhears and tells me that I�m wrong.

from Cruel Sister



  konsu: Alright.In your own special way you've convinced me rum. I've been told for years to pick up some Pentangle by certain freinds (the ones who hear me playing Steeleye Span). Surely I must be missing out on something... I will consult the great one.
  rum: Heh-heh, thank you. I�m certain you�ll appreciate these, you�ve got eclectic taste, you�re not gonna be out for my blood (unlike all those that have begged and borrowed, stolen from their dying grandmothers, to buy Manowar CDs). And they�re no way as folk folk as the Span, they spin out an equally eclectic mix of folk, jazz, blues, rock and Elizabethan dances. It�s time people stopped harping on how great it was that the Velvets, the Stooges, punk etc made you wanna go out and form a band. So simple they sounded. Pentangle are so incredibly talented, so learned, so jazz, but still so unassuming and cool, they make you want pack up the band, trash the guitar, and burn down your house. Or is that Jet? I don�t know now. Well anyway the �Sweet Child� album is the one.
Cucumbe  performed by Edda Dell’Orso  1975
Recommended by human-cannonball [profile]

Italian singer Edda dell'Orso is the voice backing many soundtrack scores and lounge-beat tracks by Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Alessandroni, Armando Trovajoli (and his 'Mark 4'). This is a Cinecitta-composer Romolo Grano composition for the cult fantasy-drama TV-series 'La Montagna della Luce'. A very deeply and sensually voiced Edda accompanies the slightly latin-flavoured, percussive funky-jazz piece; the haunting funky bassline and a very gentle tenor present throughout the track complete this exotic, obscure jazzy soundtrack.


available on CD - Up!!! The Second (Schema (Italy))


daniella  performed by Shack  1999
Recommended by simon [profile]

a song perched on the end of Shack's half realised album'H.M.S Fable'album-a haunting folk ballad that is close to death and as beautiful as a sunny winter's morning...the melody spooks you and as the head brithers are no starngers to the perils of hard drugs it makes the song even more poignant.the Head brothers continue to remain the U.K's most underrated songwriters-sort of like the older,wiser and more sussed father's of the Coral and all those new scally psych bands that will never be anywhere as good as this...investigate!!!

from H.M.S Fable, available on CD


Das Licht  performed by Ruth Hohmann & Erbe Chor
Recommended by HoboTech [profile]

Incredibly haunting melody from East Germany's 60s sci-fi series. This song brings half remembered experiences of things yet to come into my mind. Quite soothing.

from Kosmos - Soundtracks of Eastern Germany's Adventures in Space


Daybreak  performed by Best Of Friends  1970
Recommended by gregcaz [profile]

Had it been released under different circumstances, this song might have been one of the enduring soft-rock classics of the early 70s. It's got a catchy, haunting melody and one can easily imagine it charting alongside Bread or Seals And Crofts or whoever.

Best Of Friends were essentially the East Coast-based songwriting/guitar duo of Bing Bingham and Joe Knowlton. I'm not sure how, but Eumir Deodato and legendary bossa nova producer Roberto Quartin took a shine to them and recorded this album for Brazilian release on Quartin's eponymous experimental label of the early 70s. The album even features Dom Um Romao on drums. It's actually a straight-forward pop-rock album of its era, with little to no Brazilian overtones. This same duo would later make an album on RCA as "Joe And Bing."

This title track was also covered by Astrud Gilberto on her 1972 "Now" LP, arranged by (coincidence?) Mr. Deodato himself....

from Daybreak (Quartin)


Diamond Sea  performed by Sonic Youth
Recommended by Reina [profile]

mellow, beautiful, haunting song...good for summer night listening




Dracula i love you  performed by Tuca
Recommended by moondog [profile]

If anyone ever wondered why Francoise Hardy never did an album as good as La Question this woman might well be the answer. For it was Tuca that was responsible for, well as i have figured out at least, the songs, production and string arrangements on that particular album. Tuca only made three albums herself, all of which is flawed, but at her best shows her influence on the la question album. With a voice somewhere between nara leao and joyce her songs really did come onto her own on her last album Dracula i love you. The title track is a haunting ballad that almost sounds if Kate Bush had been born in Brazil. Well, nearly i must add because i had so high expectations after the la question album so i was a bit disappointed when i heard her albums. But you could only imagine what great music Tuca could have done. This track at least shows her enormous potential and a sense of atmosphere that i haven´t heard from any other brazilian artist. Tuca tragically died in 1978 after trying losing weight to fast. Does anyone know more about her?

from Dracula i love you


Early Sherwood  performed by Philamore Lincoln  1968
Recommended by geezer [profile]

From a recent cd re-issue of a for once real lost classic from the enigmatic but well connected Mr Lincoln. This sort of mines the same seam as Syd Barrett but this is psyche pop firmly rooted in English folk/folkloreand the joining of a collage of three different song parts,what some would refer to as an opus or epic.Haunting nursery rhyme intro makes way for weird fairground interlude and lysergic distraction before concluding with the painfully beautiful intro section,before finishing way too early for its own good.They dont make them like this anymore and couldnt if they tried this is from a different time and place.

from The north Wind blew South
available on CD - The North wind Blew South


Easter Parade  performed by The Faith Brothers
Recommended by tonyharte [profile]

During the early days of 1982, I was as a 'wet behind the ears' 19 year old suddenly sent to a faraway war in the (previously unheard of) Falkland Islands. This deeply haunting, passionate and heart-rendering track by the much missed Faith Brothers, encapsulates much of the mood, confusion, passion, patriotic pride and dark bitter reality of that horrific time. Now no longer naive at 42, my mind still screams and my heart still aches ... as I listen .. and remember.

Along with 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' (Eric Bogle, The Pogues et al), I believe 'Easter Parade' to be the finest song ever written about the utter desperation of war ... and life after the tea and medals have been dished out.

Would love to know if any Faith Brothers music is available on CD. (Tapes worn out and faded in the sun - a bit like me!). Can anyone help?

from Eventide



  Mr Greedy: I have some Faith Brothers tracks on MP3 format (Easter Parade, Fulham Court, A Stranger On Homeground, Eventide). How can I get them to you? Mr G.
  tonyharte: Many thanks - your not so Greedy at all! However, since my original post, the very kind Faith Bros frontman Billy Franks has sorted me out with a CD. He's a top lad - check out his solo stuff too. Regards and keep on keeping on! TonyH
  watford7: How can I get my hands on a DVD copy of Eventide? Does anyone have In The Country of the Blind on CD? Recommendation: Welcome To Comboland (collection of great songs from Raleigh/Greensboro/Athens area of US, some genius songs. Watford7
  TDQ: LOVED the Faith Brothers, saw them in Dublin many years ago with the Alarm and was bowled over. AM DESPERATE to get MP3s or CD`s of any of their work, happy to pay too. So if anyone can help, please please mail me on [email protected] Oh and Fulham Court was wasted as a Bside, my fave FB track, would love to hear it again... sniff sniff... Have vinyls but no way of playing them! Glenn
  tonyharte: TDQ - I went to billyfranks.com and then emailed him directly. He was happy to send CDs. I responded with a donation, but really, he does it out of kindness. Dead right about Fulham Court!
  eddie: I am dying to get hold of the album, eventide I think its called, the one with the burning broken statue on the front. My dad used to play this album all the time when I was his little tom boy! Wanted to get it for Fathers Day. Know he would be really surprised!! Does anyone have it on CD/MP3? Have checked out ebay and amazon to no avail :(
  eddie: Hoorah!!!! I went to billyfranks.com and downloaded it!! Brilliant!!!! :)
  tonyharte: Well done young Eddie! Your dad is clearly a man of good taste. You've make me feel mighty old now though. T'Internet is a wonderful thing ... sometimes.
  eddie: Indeed! We danced to it for hours when i was a little girl back in the 80's, and the look on his face was priceless when i started playing it! Brilliant again!!!! :)
El Pacino  performed by Bang Data
Recommended by rockolito [profile]

Acoustic gritty melancholic guitar, bossanova with electro Rap..haunting melodic chorus

from Maldito Carnaval (Rockolito Music)


Elephants  performed by Rachael Yamagata
Recommended by redhatbird [profile]

The lyrics and the instrumental composition truly envelop the listener immediately. It's a soft song, so it can be easily tuned out, but really pay attention to the lyrics and the background music and the story truly enfolds before your eyes.


available on CD - Elephant... Teeth Sinking Into Heart


Eloise  performed by The Damned
Recommended by elfslut [profile]

Here is a song that was done better when it was covered. This is a non-lp track, that the damned did in the mid 80's. Not only is it catchy, but you can't help but love the haunting voice of Dave Vanian.

from Light at the End of the Tunnel



  inbloom44: The Damned at their best.
first thing  performed by joop scholten  1972
Recommended by voshege [profile]

very first Dutch latin funk song on great latin album with haunting melodies...recorded in november 1972

from guitar man



  n-jeff: Yeah, theres an amazing Dutch latin thing going on, isn't there? It was amazingly cheeky of Soul Jazz to put "Jungle Fever" on the "Barrio Nuevo" compilation, implying it came out of New York. Have to keep a lookout for Joop Scholten, then.
Floods  performed by Pantera  1996
Recommended by King Charles [profile]

Starting off with the haunting echoing of steel string suspended minor chords, and quickly moving into the feeling of darkness, Floods reigns as one of the greatest metal balladry songs of all time. With a time of 6:59 (minutes and seconds), Floods deals with the internal struggle, elements of corruption, and dissolution of troubles (wash away man/ take him with the floods), that is not dismissed or watered down into a three-minute wad of sound. Pantera's pervasive composing abilities are seen not only in the length of this track, but it its bridges and structured solo set ups. Phil Anselmo delivers this song on the back of Dimebag Darrell's mighty 'steel' guitar effect, and of course the trademark bass drums and top-hat kicks of Vinnie Paul that have made Pantera so famous. The bridge perhaps extracts the greatest meaning from the song; it epitomizes itself on the power chord riff solos and Anselmo's godly muttering of "floods" (in which we can picture a Goliath or force of destruction coming in to obliterate all existence), which echoes throughout the solo. A rather dark song, Floods is characterized by its catchy guitar work (which contains a spectrum of minor and suspended shapes), and staircase wit/reflective backdrop mumbling vocals about the cold, harsh realities of life. Recommended to anyone who doubts this band's ability to do other than scream and wax metallic, Floods will not be a disappointing track. The bleak acceptance of moving onto new horizons or ways of life, leaving the old and dead behind and walking on down the road, is embodied in the ending solo, with the subtle sound of rainfall calming the listener in the end. 5 out of 5 stars for its genre.

from The Great Southern Trendkill



Fools in Love  performed by Inara George
Recommended by mellocello [profile]

A beautifully lilting modern waltz. Bittersweet fingerpicked guitar in the background and a wonderful haunting voice, I'm assuming Inara George herself. I'd love to learn more about the artist. A beautiful song of the bitter side of love, "fools in love they think they're heroes, because they get to feel no pain, i say fools are lovers' heroes, i should know, i should know because this fool's in love again." I just love songs like this. I first heard it watching Grey's Anatomy. So I looked on Amazon at the playlist for the soundtrack and found it. Definitely a great song in my book.
She has a website: www.inarageorge.com and unfortunately she just finished a tour.

from Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack


For one moment  performed by Lee Hazlewood  1966
Recommended by delicado [profile]

An incredible doomy pop masterpiece, 'For one moment' is a dark, haunting ballad, laden with rich strings. I guess what makes it stand out is the recording itself - Lee was a master of studio techniques, and so the whole thing has an uncanny, almost Phil Spector type feel to it.

from The Very Special World of Lee Hazlewood (MGM)




  plasticsun: Have you noticed that the string part sounds a lot like the string part in Scott Walker's "Plastic Palace People"?
  olli: Brilliant song, was going to recommend it myself, but luckily remembered to check for earlier entries. Always thougt this had kind of a Michel Magne feel myself..it's the swirling strings, i guess. Check out his version of Poinciana and Petrol Pop to see what i mean.
Girl Don’t Come  performed by Sandie Shaw  1964
Recommended by golden [profile]

From the minor key trombone intro to the teenage angst of the lyrics, this is a classic song of the 60's that totally encapulates the innocent era of the UK beat boom. Sandie Shaw was probably the best selling UK female singer from 64 to 69, slightly outselling her contemporaries Dusty, Cilla and Lulu and although she possessed a weaker voice than the others, what she lacked in volume she made up in style and interpretation. Sweet and slightly soulful with a quasi tuneless ache to her voice which epitomised a teenager stood up by some beatnik no hoper, she was only 17 and showed the ways of a woman several years older. In the UK it was the follow up to the massive UK No 1 ''Always Something There To Remind Me'' and was a massive Top 3 hit that should have gone all the way to the top.
I love this record - it sums up an era, it is the beginning of a suit of girl singers who changed then style of singing, from 50's twee to 60's ''dolly bird'' and it remains a classic pop single from a girl who held the record for the most No 1 hits for a ssolo female for 19 years

from n/a (Pye)



  shakeahand: Quite agree. One of my first LPs as a teen was a greatest hits - and for me she summed up the 60s female vocal. For big, brassy and emotion-laden power pop, see also Long Walk Home.
  Swinging London: It was initially released as the 'B' side of the much weaker: 'I'd Be Far Better Off Without You'. Someone, probably a DJ, flipped it over. I love the arrangement on this. It's full of atmosphere. It seems to completely capture the time. Another of her songs that has a similar effect is 'You've Not Changed', which wasn't as big a hit and seems to have been forgotten and is often excluded from Greatest Hits Comps.
Halleluja  performed by Jeff Buckley  1995
Recommended by elizabeth [profile]

An amazing arrangement of this incredible song, it is haunting and pleading and desperate.


available on CD - Grace (Columbia)


Hammerhead’s apartment  performed by David Whitaker  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is a beautiful bossa-tinged theme with a great blend of strings and brass. The flute/trombone melody is accompanied by an incredibly rich and airy string sound, which swells as the melody builds. The strings alone compel me to listen to this track repeatedly – their remarkably thick, drenched sound recalls some of my favorite Ennio Morricone pieces (particularly those on the fantastic ‘Mondo Morricone’ compilation). Musically, the entire ‘Hammerhead’ score seems to have been influenced by John Barry's Bond scores, and by the less goofy parts of Burt Bacharach's ‘Casino Royale’ score. As well as being a haunting movie theme, this track has elements of that classic loungey film score sound from the mid-sixties.

from Hammerhead OST (Colgems)




  nighteye: This song is excellent! Haven't seen the movie starring Peter Vaughan yet, but the bossa sound reminds me of the early John Barry pieces. I can't stop listening to it! Thank you Jonny!
I Don’t Know How To Love Him  performed by Cilla Black  1973
Recommended by Flippet [profile]

From her 1973 EMI Album "Day By Day" - this version of the song from the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" is regarded by the song's lyricist Tim Rice as THE definitive version. Cilla's interpretation of this wonderful song is absolutely magnificent. She brings her enormous capacity to convincingly interpret haunting ballads to its full potential with this song. Receiving extensive radio airplay when the album was released, had the song been released as a single I'm sure it would have produced her third #1 hit in the UK.

from Day By Day (EMI)
available on CD - Cilla In The 70s (EMI)


I want your kiss  performed by Lani Groves (with Phil Moore and the Afro Latin Soultet)  1967
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This one has really been haunting me. I recently heard this rare and sought after album, and was entranced by the opening track, a devastating vocal. Although Lani Groves sings in English, in a style very similar to Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, I knew that this was a Brazilian track that I had heard before.

Researching a song with as generic a title as 'I want your kiss' is hard though, and with no knowledge of who the composer was, most of the search engine results were soft porn stories. After a while I threw on Elis Regina's first album, Samba - eu canto assim, and happily found the information I was looking for. The original Portuguese song is called 'Sou sem paz', and was written by Adylson Godoy, who may or may not be the same person as Amilton Godoy, who was the pianist in the Zimbo Trio.

After all my research, I was disappointed to learn that this song has hardly ever been recorded; the only versions I know of are this and those by the Zimbo Trio and Elis Regina.

Trivia aside, this is a nice fusion of several of my musical passions. The chord sequence is unusual, delicate and surprising, and the vocal is passionate. I think it would be fair to say that Lani Groves doesn't have quite Elis's passionate delivery, but for me this is offset by the beautiful backing arrangement, featuring some great organ playing.

from Afro Brazil Oba! (Tower)



I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here  performed by David Crosby  1971
Recommended by schlick [profile]

A short but haunting wordless acapella piece which The Cros wrote in tribute to Christine Hinton, his girlfriend who died in a car crash in 1969. This sounds like something that would fit in on Tim Buckley's "Starsailor".

from If I Could Only Remember My Name (Atlantic)


Idol  performed by Amanda Ghost
Recommended by 37piecesflair [profile]

Haunting, and upbeat all the same time.

from Ghost Stories


If I Should Lose You  performed by Aretha Franklin  1964
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

This magnificent track is from the oft-ignored years Aretha spent at Columbia Records. Most of her material for the label consisted of religious songs and jazz standards and she truly shines here. She sings with a sense of urgency and a slight cry in her voice as she pleads with her love not to abandon her. As much as I love her Atlantic catalogue, this song and the album it comes from are at the top of my Aretha Franklin list.

from Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington, available on CD


If You Go Away  performed by Dusty Springfield  1967
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

Dusty's intimate reading of this song is pin point perfect (no surprise!). Starting out in low quiet tones, the song crescendos as she promises anything to make her love stay with her for just a few minutes more. Heartbreakingly beautiful!!

from The Look Of Love (Philips PHS 600 256)
available on CD - The Dusty Springfield Anthology (Box Set) (Mercury 314 553 501)


Imagine  performed by John Lennon  1971
Recommended by bunwhisper [profile]

The most beautiful song ever written. John's signature song.

from Imagine (Apple Records)
available on CD - Shaved Fish (Capitol)


In the Aeroplane Over the Sea  performed by Neutral Milk Hotel  1997
Recommended by two-headed boy [profile]

I didn't know it then, but when I purchased the album 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' my world changed. When I put the album into my CD player, I did it with a naivete of someone who thought they'd 'heard it all.' I did it clumsily, with haste, handled like a Beatles or Beach Boys album, the way I had done for years. When I listened to the album I did it with reckless abandon while driving 38 miles per hour on my lunch break, and later in the drive-through at McDonald�s. These mistakes were inherited, and I refuse blame. They were passed through the genetic make-up of our peers and born out of the music we've been given; I didn't expect this! Well, our music has changed, and it did so without our knowing and our approval. This album proved and disproved an entire treatise of critical analysis on a generation of music that I thought I had known, and it did so with a fucking velvet sledgehammer.

The lyrics: "And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea, but for now we are young let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see." More lyrics: "What a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all around the sun, what a beautiful dream that would flash in the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone from me." The melody: A timeless, haunting thing that was metaphysically resurrected from a wiser place. The voice: Wrenched out of the jaws of a holocaust from 50 years ago, we hear a possessed Jeff Mangum invest his soul. The sound: An apocalypse that can reinvent the turntable by it�s simplistic form; with a saw, guitar, drum, bass, horns, and lord knows what else all handled with deceptive elegance of a garage mechanic constructing a supermodel. And, lastly, the spirit: A tragedy and rape of virginity known only to the persecuted and executed; the ghost of Anne Frank materializes long enough to show us her world, and in her hands we are strangely at peace.

This song is a gift very few will experience. It is endless in its reach and should be accepted like a sibling into your collection. It will one day prove itself beyond category, but for now it is a masterful novel from the hands of a mysterious songwriter who should know how sincerely I cherish his songs.

from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea



  karlmort: this album is going to make a huge impact on you if you dare to listen.
  evolutum: All I have to say is that I agree with the above. My wife and I had this song played at our wedding reception. With tears in our eyes we danced. I would like to have it played at my funeral.
  umbrellasfollowrain: Whenever I hear that someone loves this album as much as I do this strange things happens where I want to draw you all into a bearhug where we cry our fears away all through the long night.
  el.oh man.: this song can make you feel so many emotions at once. it truly is a wrok of art. there is almost no way that you wouldnt like it. everytime i hear it, i fall in love with the amazing writing talents of these guys.
  pullmyhair: This is one of my most life-changing albums. It does something to me, almost spiritually. If people have an open mind, they need to hear this.
It's what's really happening  performed by Wendy and Bonnie  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A wonderful track. As you may have read elsewhere, Wendy and Bonnie were young sisters who wound up releasing an album on the Skye label, which was owned by Cal Tjader, Gary MacFarland and Gabor Szabo. This recording benefits from some superb session musician work, and opens with a bluesey riff. The arrangement is simple, with a haunting organ joining the guitar and drums, and the Wendy and Bonnie singing and occasionally harmonizing over the top. The voices are clear and carry the melody very well. This short song has a rather enchanting moody feel to it, exemplified by the fade-out ending. The mix of earnest female vocals and great session musicians recalls the Feminine Complex.

from Genesis, available on CD



jackie  performed by Scott Walker  1968
Recommended by klatu [profile]

This is one of the funniest songs I have ever heard. I play it when I have people over listening to music and they get the glazed-over "too much information" look, and I need something to confound expectations. Always with the warning that they need to listen to the whole lyric before breaking down in laughter or confusion. I don't know how closely this english version follows the original Jacques Brel french, but each lyric is more ridiculous than the last! But I thought the Albert/morphine episode of Little House on the Prairie episode was one of the funniest things ever, so maybe I am just warped. This is my favorite Scott Walker album, with the other great Brel tunes "next" and "the girls and the dogs", great originals like "plastic palace people", and the haunting slow version of the Bacharach/David "windows of the world".

from Scott 2, available on CD



  djfreshmoney: I heard this song in a record store and it's what made me want to listen to Scott and Brel. Absolutely, wonderfully timelessly bizarre.
  conan550: Hi again Klatu "Jackie" is one of my fav all time tracks.Its very idiocyncratic and the interpretation by Scott Walker is just right.A very underatted Classic! Regards Mo
jolene  performed by mindy smith  2004
Recommended by catch_her [profile]

wonderfully haunting re-make.

from one moment more


Julia  performed by Eurythmics  1984
Recommended by Mike [profile]

This is my favourite Eurythmics track by some considerable margin, though I also rate some others on the album quite highly. I consider "Julia" to be a classic of 80's electronica, with a rather haunting chord sequence underpinning an effective vocal line with extensive use of vocoder on Annie Lennox's voice. There is a bridge section (heard twice) which is rather derivatve of Vangelis's "Chariots of Fire" theme, but as the track progresses and builds up texturally, there is an undeniable emotional impact, and I always enjoy the various instrumental melodies and counter-melodies that appear.

from 1984, available on CD



  delicado: A fantastic track. It definitely rises above a lot of other songs of the period, even though it does feature an extremely cheesy guitar solo. And I still have the 12 inch of it that you sold me in 1987!
  Mike: Hold onto that 12"... a lot of great work was done in rock and pop during the 1980s. Rather like 1960s British housing, much of it has yet to reach classic status, but for some of it at least, its time will surely come!
Just A Touch Away  performed by Echo & The Bunnymen  1997
Recommended by dsalmones [profile]

This song was to be a key moment in the reformation of Echo & the Bunnymen. Ian McCulloch originally wrote "Just a Touch Away" back in the mid-Nineties, in the midst of the Electrafixion era, but felt it inappropriate for that band. Over time, the singer found himself shelving more and more songs, as it became ever more evident that Electrafixion's days were numbered. Eventually McCulloch played a demo of the song for Will Sergeant, who was decidedly impressed; soon after, the pair turned out the lights on Elektrafixion, re-united with Les Pattison, reformed Echo & the Bunnymen, and began work on their new album, 1997's Evergreen. "Just a Touch Away" would take pride of place within, its evocative atmospheres and haunting lyrics creating an eloquent showcase of the band's new styles and sounds. Today, the song is Sergeant's favorite track from the set, proving McCulloch was right to have so much faith in it all along.

from Evergreen, available on CD


la planete sauvage  performed by alain goraguer  1973
Recommended by olli [profile]

this entire soundtrack to the film la planete sauvage comes highly recommended. never seen the film, but it can�t possibly be as good as the soundtrack suggests.
chilly, funky instrumental orchestral music. there�s a really haunting recurring theme through the album, nice use of choirs and twangy guitar too.


available on CD - la planete sauvage (soundtrack)



  HoboTech: Actually, the film La Planete Sauvage is quite good. There are lots of really great visuals that go perfectly with the music. It can be a bit slow at times, and the music is fantastic on its own, but I urge anyone towards viewing of this masterpiece of French cinema.
Laura  performed by Julie London  1955
Recommended by delicado [profile]

'Laura' has long been my favorite standard. The tune is elegant and haunting, and completely devoid of some of the schmaltzy feel that plagues many popular standards.

Written as an instrumental for the 1944 film of the same name, this was composed as a piano-based number, and so Julie's version is perhaps not the most orthodox recording. However, it's incredibly powerful and atmospheric, and I *think* it's my favorite version.

The entire track lasts just 1 minute and 40 seconds. The first verse is sung as a solo voice without any accompaniment other than the spooky reverberation effect. When the music does come in, it's provided by a small jazz trio led by Barney Kessel. Kessel's delicate jazz chords and picking complement Julie's voice beautifully.

from Julie is her name, available on CD



Les Fleur  performed by 4 Hero  2001
Recommended by macka [profile]

I got this CD from a mate a while back and I didn't take the time to sit down and listen to it until about a week ago, that was a mistake! This is a great tune with quite haunting vocals, which remind me of Scarborough fair in a strange way, uplifting chorus mixed with great double base sound.


available on CD - Creating Patterns




  konsu: Wow! This came up at random and I was suprised to see no mention of Minnie Riperton at all ! This is a remix of an amazing tune by Charles Stepney that he wrote for Minnie's "Come to my Garden" LP. It seems no one has heard this incredible record! Please, please buy it! It just became available on CD again in the USA and it's about time! I love 4 hero's take on it, they show the utmost respect to their influences just as any good sample artists should. Check out their D&B albums under the monikers "Jacobs Optical Stairway" & "Tek9" as well! Kudos!!
  hewtwit: Most music lovers in the UK know the original tune from Giles Peterson's amazing INCredible double mix cd. Anyone who's not heard this classic should get it right now - excellent tunes. Years later when 4 hero came out with this remix we were all pretty disgusted. they added nothing interesting! It's just a longer version of the original! For a great 4 hero remix - check out black hole of the sun on the same mix cd mentioned above!
Let Me In  performed by Osmonds  1973
Recommended by Flippet [profile]

Often dismissed as a teen band - the Osmonds in their hey day were prolific and produced some of the best and most soulful of the early to mid 70s pop scene. Their record sales and popularity at the time are a testimony to this fact. This song is a fine example of their ability to maximise the potential of a song. A haunting love ballad, the song was a huge hit in its day and reveals their excellent voices and musicianship at its very best. The Osmonds set the template for the boy band phenomenon of the late 90s - but their pop legacy should be seriously reassessed by critics of this music genre.


available on CD - The Very Best Of The Osmonds (Polydor)


Life In Mono  performed by Mono  1996
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

The vocalization of a persistent daydream delivered with a truly ethereal sound. I find this song hauntingly beautiful. I was also lucky enough to come across a promotional-only CD single that features two great house mixes by Jonathan Peters although sadly, they are both edits that clock in around 4 minutes each.

from Formica Blues, available on CD



  delicado: Yes, a superb song. Simple, but beautiful. The tune reminds me of 'The Shadow of your smile'. The singer's voice echoes that of Claudine Longet nicely, and they appropriate some elements of classic film music in order to create a compelling backdrop. I have the US-issue CD single, which also includes 4 mixes and an instrumental version. None really match the elegance of the original though.
  yonderboy: This track got a lot of exposure as part of the "Great Expectations" soundtrack. The entire cd is quite good as well. Formica Blues was Mono's only full length effort, though there are several cd singles available. A wonderfully successful example of how trip-hip and jazz/lounge styles work well together. Reminds me of Love Spirals Downwards' recent cds Temporal and Flux. Mono's vocalis Siobhan de Mar moved on to do work with Cocteau Twins frontman Robin Guthrie. Their band, Violet Indiana is on Guthrie's Bella Union label.
  Mike: It's very appealing but I also find it almost comically artifical and that I tire of it very easily.
Little One  performed by Beck  2002
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

Melancholy and haunting. This song overwhelms me.

from Sea Change (Universal)



Love Ridden  performed by Fiona Apple
Recommended by jeni [profile]

This song is so haunting and beautiful.

from When the Pawn


Macumba  performed by Nicos Jaritz Sextet  1978
Recommended by human-cannonball [profile]

The famous Austrian percussionist Nicos Jaritz recorded a local best-seller LP in 1978 called 'Macumba', full of percussion-heavy jazzy pieces with a latin feel. This is the title track, a haunting flamengo-flavoured mid-tempo jazzy groove with a flawless interplay between a heart-breaking Spanish guitar and a tenorsax solo. I haven't been exposed to many tunes like this, it's really most entertaining, and very, very fresh-sounding!

from Macumba LP (Amadeo Osterreichische)


Manon  performed by Serge Gainsbourg  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A lovely, dark, haunting song with an intricate string arrangement; this really got me hooked on Gainsbourg as soon as I heard it. Musically, the song dazzles me - the arrangement flows beautifully and sounds very original (to me, anyway; if I'm wrong, please help steer me in the direction of more recordings like this!). Serge is a great vocalist here as well. At times he whispers, but some lines he really spits out - 'a quel point je HAIS......ce que tu es...' The guy was a genius.

from Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg, available on CD




  Mike: I must agree with you (it seems pretty appropriate to do so as you introduced the song to me yourself a few years ago) - this is a very beautiful song, very beautifully and expressively sung, and the arrangement is frankly stunning. This is definitely one of those Gainsbourg tracks which really hits the heights in every department. Surely worth a listen, even to those who can't stand the bulk of Serge's output.
  tempted: Scott Walker has some similarly haunting orchestral arrangements but as a singer he's a sheep whereas Serge's a wolf. A great sheep, though.
Mia Madre Si Chiama Francesca  performed by Milva  1972
Recommended by robert[o] [profile]

Stunning, Italian, auburn chanteuse Milva sings a set of Ennio Morricone, produced and arranged by the maestro himself in 1972.
Need I "say" anything else?
Utterly brilliant, and this song is a highlight amongst highlights!
La diva Milva sings the daylights out of this swooning ballad - soaked in a downpour of strings, acoustic guitars and sci-fi background vocals.
I guarantee your heart will break in twenty-nine places as you listen.
(But I do have to ask - does anybody out there know from what soundtrack this songs originates?)

from Dedicato A Milva Da Ennio Morricone, available on CD



  eftimihn: I absolutely agree, Robert! This is one amazing album, check out the maestros collaboration with Mireille Mathieu (Mireille Mathieu chante Ennio Morricone from 1974) as well if you haven't done that already, it's equally impressive emotionally. To clear things up, this track originates from the "La moglie piu bella" soundtrack from 1970.
  robert[o]: Tanx for the info - and Ms. Mathieu's LP is really great likewise - as is Milva's collaboration w/Francis Lai from 1973
Midnight Loom  performed by Steve Roach  2000
Recommended by JerMan [profile]

a haunting ambient experience.

from Midnight Moon (Projekt Records)


Misty  performed by Billie Holiday
Recommended by inbloom44 [profile]

Her voice is so flawless and haunting.She gives me chills.





  vallesivan: im been looking for this complete cd set for along time, but still cant find it, please let me know in wish album i can find this song (Billie Holiday Misty). thx
Mon Amie La Rose  performed by Natacha Atlas  2001
Recommended by Mike [profile]

I am not familiar with the original by Francoise Hardy, but consider this version to be very hauntingly expressive. The artist's interesting and highly effective fusion of the middle eastern and western is as prominent as in her other recordings.

from Gedida, available on CD


Moon River  performed by Innocence Mission
Recommended by followyourbliss [profile]

Everyone knows this song from "Breakfast At Tiffany's" but this is the most gorgeous version I've ever heard. "Karen Peris is blessed with the most hauntingly beautiful voice". It's a b-side from their Birds Of My Neighborhood" cd.





Moon Time  performed by Dudley Moore  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

The soundtrack to Bedazzled is remarkably good, one of a few much-hyped records floating around in my head that has actually lived up to my expectations. This instrumental is notable for its haunting mood and astonishingly beautiful chord sequence. The flute melody, lush strings and gentle latin percussion combine beautifully. Musically, it's one of those pieces that's so good you want to cry.

from Bedazzled OST, available on CD




  standish: Hats off to Dudley for the whole soundtrack. Sparkling, serious and intelligent music - I totally agree about the goosebump chord sequence that reappears throughout the album. Haven't found any other stuff by him that's as good - maybe "Genuine Dud" if you're into piano trio jazz.
  Mike: What a gem! Very arresting, and good enough to listen to several times in a row, each time finding things to marvel at in the harmony, texture, overall structure, melody...well, pretty much everything.
Moonlight Shadow  performed by Annie Haslam  1989
Recommended by elfslut [profile]

This song is from Annie's debut self titled album. If you enjoy that new age celtic sound, this is a song that you shouldn't miss.

Annie's voice has a haunting quality about it...without sounding like every other female vocalist in her genre. Her music is definitely worth taking a second listen to.

from Annie Haslam


Morning  performed by Cal Tjader  1971
Recommended by gregcaz [profile]

Clare Fischer's oft-covered Latin jazz classic was first recorded by the man himself on a 1966 album whose title escapes me right now. Cal Tjader first cut it on "Soul Burst" the same year, but the truly classic rendition for me is the 1971 Tjader re-recording on "Agua Dulce." With a smooth, flowing Rhodes-based sound, some synth effects floating around and none other than Wendy & Bonnie on backing vocals, this version is the one to beat.

from Agua Dulce (Fantasy)
available on CD - Descarga (Fantasy)


Mr. Sellack  performed by The Roches  1979
Recommended by swaltonb2003 [profile]

It's sort of your typical folk,barbershop quartet,with a couple of jazz and rock touches. The lyrics are funny and sad and just about anyone can relate to them. The Roches voices are gorgeous and the melody will stick with you for decades(believe me !).

from The Roches, available on CD


Mundo Civilizado  performed by Arto Lindsay  1997
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautiful and really unique track which merges Brazil with electronica (Arto is Brazilian, and a guy called DJ spooky added some beats). It opens with a bare, spacey beat. Fragmented guitar, vocals and organ drift in and out until the song builds into a climax with a simply beautiful synth-string sound. The song manages to be uplifting while retaining a slightly spooky twin-peaks type of feel to it.

from Mundo Civilizado, available on CD




  secularus: Arto sings in such a sensual and soothing way. His most recent albums are well worth checking out.
  G400 Custom: Hmmm. I know he's Brazilian and everything, but I think Arto Lindsay's best stuff was done before he went all Latin on us. Listen to his guitar on the first Lounge Lizards album, when he manages to go 40 minutes without playing anything actually recognisable as a note.
Nothing Takes the Place of You  performed by Toussaint McCall  196?
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

A beautiful song by a rare artist. I would never have heard this gorgeous song if it weren't for filmmaker John Waters. It is about a man who is completely devoted to his faithless love. He will sit and wait for eternity in the hope that the woman he loves will return. The vocal was recorded inside a small closet and the acoustics provide a haunting sound in Mr. McCall's voice. He is accompanied by piano, a soulful organ, and percussion. This song alone is worth the purchase price of the Hairspray soundtrack!! Pick it up today!


available on CD - Hairspray - Original Motion Picture Sountrack (MCA-6228)


O Verona (Reprise)  performed by unknown  1996
Recommended by cryofthecelt [profile]

After the prologue of Baz Luhrmann's controversial, modern retelling of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet," the audience is blasted away by a hoard of harmonious voices chanting a loud, haunting song to the beat of an angry drum. This song, in which a narrator begins "Two households, both alike in dignity...", is called "O Verona," the song which Baz Luhrmann himself calls "an almighty orchestral chord." Its sister song, "O Verona (Reprise)" is uninterrupted by the narrator, and the listener is able to appreciate its musical quality in a fuller fashion. Personally, I couldn't decide whether to recommend "O Verona" or "O Verona (Reprise)" to you. They are both extraordinary recordings on what is, I believe, one of the greatest musical scores to a motion picture ever produced.

from William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet Volume 2, available on CD


Out of this World  performed by Buddy Merrill  1966
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Ok, I feel kind of lame for recommending two tracks called 'out of this world' in one sitting, but as soon as I remembered this one, I felt compelled to recommend it. Before I became completely obsessed with the kind of smooth bossa-influenced stuff I've been recommending, my big thing in music was that it had to be twangy. This is quite twangy, but in a very tasteful way. An incredibly haunting song whoever it is performed by, 'out of this world' here gets its other-worldliness from Buddy's incredible multitracked guitars - the main tune is played on the slide guitar, while several other parts relentlessly pick out accompaniments. It's hard to categorize this track really - it's not remotely funky or particularly rocking, yet it's very catchy and undeniably compelling.

from Latin Festival (Accent)


Past, Present & Future  performed by The Shangri-Las  1966
Recommended by 4givemyNglish [profile]

Haunting melody inspired by the Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Lyrics are truly depressing for a so called "girls band" and this song so unique has been qualified as one of the saddest ever made in the sixties. The Shangri-Las is a fascinating and under-rated band that deserves to be re-discovered. Quick list of recommended songs : Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) -yes they did this too!-, I Can Never Go Home Anymore, Give Us Your Blessing, Leader of the Pack, etc...


available on CD - The Best of the Shangri-Las (Polygram)




  delicado: This song is utter genius. 'just don't try to touch me... because that will never happen again'. They are indeed under-rated. It's strange really. There are CD compilations out there, but they all seem to marketed in a budget kind of way.
  jeanette: There's hot debate as to what this song means... I've read that it's about a rape survivor which kind of makes sense but I think it has too much mystery to it to define completely. George "Shadow" Morton surpasses even the greatest hopes for girl-group trash-drama. As to the compilations, there's a great one on RPM called "Myrmidons Of Melodrama". Strangely, its available in two different covers, with slightly altered tracklisting (a few songs on one not on the other and vice versa) but either one contains all their best tracks and some amusing "Radio Spots" with Mary Weiss (lead singer) giving tips on how to behave on a date. "Don't barge on ahead like a baby elephant" she advises; "you'll get attention all right, but it won't be favourable".
  milhouse-paris: The two different versions of "Myrmidons of Melodrama" are quite different, not only because of the tracklisting, but also becouse the most recent one(2002, by RPM) has stereo versions of 5 songs. I'm not sure that these songs sound better in stereo than in mono...
  delicado: I now have the newer 'Myrmidons' comp. So many great tracks. My favorite bit of this song is right at the end when she says "I'm all packed up and I'm on my way - and I'm going to fall in love ... but at the moment, it doesn't look good ... At the moment, it will never happen again."
Pink Frost  performed by The Chills
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

Classic New Zealand psychedelia .... jangly guitar, haunting, evocative lyrics, fragile vocals and an otherworldly feeling which perfecly evokes Dunedin. The best New Zealand pop song ever written.

from Kaleidoscope World, available on CD




  delicado: I saw The Chills at my first ever gig in March 1990. They were really good actually, but somehow I never followed up and bought any of their records. I will have to check this one out. Playing at the same show were McCarthy, whose records I did buy, and who became Stereolab.
Pink Girl  performed by Shauna Burns  2005
Recommended by musicman [profile]

If you like Tori Amos, you'll love this new pianist named Shauna Burns. To hear Pink Girl, go to www.myspace.com/shaunaburns

from Every Thought (Red Rock Music 634479118579)
available on CD - yes (yes)


Requiem Mass  performed by Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart  1791
Recommended by kaptnunderpnts [profile]

this music is absolutely haunting. it is powerful and heavy, yet has moments of absolute finesse.




Ruby Don�t Take Your Love to Town  performed by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition  1969
Recommended by nicegeoff [profile]

Kenny Rogers provides quite the haunting lead vocal on this track. The jaunty drums and choir vocals only enhance the creepiness.

from Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town



Salvation  performed by Citizen Cope
Recommended by Reina [profile]

Citizen Cope has such a great voice, very soulfull. Salvation is a slow, stark, haunting song.

"But I just kept playing like I had nothing to lose, he turned the third on himself because the bastard knew...salvation..."




San Francisco  performed by Butterfly Joe  1999
Recommended by m.ace [profile]

The opening line may be, "I left my heart in San Francisco," but from there it deviates into its own song, a lovely and unsettling ballad of love gone awry. A haunting melody and swelling, Spector-like production (strings, accordion, chimes, etc) make this one to listen to repeatedly.

from Butterfly Joe, available on CD


Seance on a Wet Afternoon  performed by John Barry  1964
Recommended by nighteye [profile]

I love John Barry's work, he always seam to be able to score anything with excellent results. This song is no exception, taken from the movie 'Seance on a Wet Afternoon' from 1964. Haven't seen the movie my self so I can't really say what the premise of it is, but IMDB says it's a crime-drama about a self-styled psychic in London. Groovy eh?

This song is however great, Barry relies heavily on haunting flutes and trombones to create a some what eeire feeling, and it really works. Just listening to this song makes me think of a rainy gloomy dark afternoon in London. Now if I only could get a hold of a copy of the movie...


available on CD - Ultra Lounge: Vol 16 - Mondo Hollywood



Set Out Running  performed by Neko Case and Her Boyfriends  2000
Recommended by mitchiavelli [profile]

'Set Out Running' is from Neko Case's second album 'Furnace Room Lullaby'. The album was recorded for Mint Records in Canada and is licensed to Bloodshot Records in the US.

Case has matured as a writer and 'Set Out Running' is proof. It is a haunting song of love, loss and fear, and never fails to move me I listen to it.

Keep an eye-out for a new release from Case. It is called 'Blacklisted' and is set to be released in the summer of 2002.

Neko Case and Her Boyfriends are currently on tour opening for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

from Furnace Room Lullaby, available on CD


Sleeper 1972  performed by Manchester Orchestra
Recommended by DearPrudence [profile]

Andy Hull is a fantatic and unbelivable singer. Manchester Orchestra is a great band. And this may be their best song. The lyrics are heartwrenching and haunting.




Slipped Away  performed by Avril Lavigne  2004
Recommended by hopefully86 [profile]

Haunting, soul-wrenching, avril sings her heart out about not getting to say goodbye. For anyone who wishes they had one more chance. Rock/popish.

from Under My Skin


Smell Memory  performed by M�m  2000
Recommended by dedismo [profile]

Like children's music with break-beatish percussion, melodious and warm with a haunting ending. Elements of Aphex Twin, Autechre. I like how the ending keeps you wanting more. Each of the band's four members was in their late teens when the record was released.

from Yesterday was dramatic, today is ok, available on CD



Sol Da Meia-Note  performed by Sylvia Telles  1963
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is a really stunning Brazilian take on 'Midnight Sun' - a really haunting song written by Lionel Hampton. It starts with a creepy, ornate string arrangement and Sylvia's vocal in Portuguese is stunning. The whole album is great.

from Bossa Balanco Balada, available on CD



  shida: Hi, I think have a mistake in the name of the track. The real name is "Sol da meia noite". Cheers
  delicado: Very good point shida - thanks for that. I've updated it now.
Soul Meets Body  performed by Death Cab for Cutie
Recommended by mellocello [profile]

Another haunting song, Soul Meets Body is beautiful. "You're the only song I want to hear, a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere . . ." I like where this genre of modern rock is evolving, it's rather unique, definitely going to buy this album and see what else it has on it.

from Plans


Strange and Beautiful (I’ll Put a Spell on You)  performed by Aqualung  2002
Recommended by fr0mthepast [profile]

Slow and haunting music, accompanied by lyrics that really hit the heart. I like it so much because of what I see when I hear it, I can just see the song in picture format in my head. That sort of thing doesn�t happen often. And who doesn�t connect to unrequited love?

from Aqualung



  Mike: Matt Hales is a very good artist indeed. I'm sure that he's British rather than American, though!
  thiagofreitas89: It's a great song, it gave me chills when I first heard it on The OC!
Strange Fruit  performed by Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra  1939
Recommended by tinks [profile]

"Strange fruit hanging/from the poplar tree"...one of the most haunting songs ever written. Holiday recorded this song about a lynching several times throughout her career, but this original version features a performance so intense that it is impossible to beat.


available on CD - 1939-40 (Classics)



  Swinging London: Nina Simone's version of this is also very beautiful.
  space: An extremely important and agonizingly beautiful song.
Summer (The First Time)  performed by BOBBY GOLDSBORO  1973
Recommended by callgirlscene [profile]

This story-song uses an imposing repeating piano riff, 12 string guitar, a little tasteful organ, and dramatic wistful strings as it recounts someone's first, well, lay. On a hot June day/night the singer loses his virginity with a older Southern belle. The version on the Honey CD though isn't as good as the original Bobby Goldsboro vinyl- it seems too lavishly produced, and is from the Summer of '42 soundtrack.

from SUMMER (THE FIRST TIME) (UNITED ARTISTS LA-124)
available on CD - HONEY (REMEMBER)




  Arthur: Millie Jackson covered this song and takes all the saccharine out of it!
  pottymoon: 'Summer the first time' by Bobby G doesn't have an ounce of Saccharine, it is a powerfully evocative track taking me back to when I was 19 (and that's 32 years ago!)so completely that I can smell, taste and feel everything as if I'd dropped back into 1973 from a time machine! And if you think that I write with Saccharine, then hey,I get paid for it!
  commonsense: I am just listening to this tack as I am typing and it really is an excellent example for nostalgia. The way the song is constructed makes it easily slip into your mind and float downstream to past encounters...
Summetime  performed by Nina Simone
Recommended by kaptnunderpnts [profile]

instrumentally, it's extremely simple. it seems to have nothing more than simple percussion and a haunting, eerie piano. and then comes the voice that makes this song just so thick. it's my favorite version of the song. the version i have is live and actually sounds pretty lo-fi. look for that one. i got it off the internet and have no information for it.




Sunken City  performed by Les Baxter  1961
Recommended by nighteye [profile]

This is one of Baxters best songs, although there are many incredible Les Baxter pieces, this one really stands out from the rest. The title 'Sunken City' is perfect, you really feel like you are floating in the bright blue ocean, searching for a lost city. The instruments Baxter chose for this song are interesting; oboes, a haunting choir along with some vibraphones and piano chords, the result is however amazing.
Listen to this song late at night with the lights dimmed.

from Jewels of the Sea (Capitol)
available on CD - Exotic Moods of Les Baxter



Suzanne  performed by Leonard Cohen  1968
Recommended by eve [profile]

I loved this song the moment I heard it. The melody is really nice, and Leonard Cohen does his standby trick of singing slowly and hauntingly about mysterious women wearing "rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters." Very romantic in a seventies way. if you like Bob Dylan's voice, you'll probably like Leonard Cohen, although the content is different.

from Songs of Leonard Cohen



  n-jeff: I find too much Leonard Cohen can be a little on the bleak side, but this song is a real gem, A shiny, strangely uplifting jewel. I also have a version by Jack Jones, and I'm pleased that Jack Jones covered this song, in many ways its braver for him to have covered such un mainstream material than, say, Johnny Cash. My Girlfriend, however, finds Jack Jones' version very disturbing.
Sweet Breeze  performed by Vernon Greene & the Phantoms  1958
Recommended by tinks [profile]

A stunning late 50s R&B ballad that would not sound out of place in a David Lynch film. Greene's backing group, the Phantoms, live up to their name by providing some of the most haunting background vocals ever committed to vinyl. Lay on Vernon's tortured lead, and you have something quite extraordinary indeed.

from the single Sweet Breeze (Specialty)



Syncretism  performed by Annabel
Recommended by Hartfairy [profile]

The vocals are both soothing and hauntingly beautiful along with the music. It has a heartfelt, yet sorrowful feel to it.




T.B. Sheets  performed by Van Morrison  1967
Recommended by schlick [profile]

Slow but haunting and bluesy tune about a gal dying from lung disease

from Blowin' Your Mind (Bang)


Tears  performed by Chameleons UK  1986
Recommended by justicebritches [profile]

The original track off of Strange Times is haunting with a kind of 16 Candles-esque jangle shoegaze chorus. It's beautiful and haunting in a way that will conjure the victories and pratfalls of long term relationship.

from Strange Times, available on CD


The Great Gig in the Sky  performed by Pink Floyd (featuring soloist Clare Torry)  1972
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

One of my favorite tracks from this classic album. Clare Torry's vocals are absolutely haunting without saying an actual word. I always used to visualize being sucked up into space (undoubtedly because of the song's title) when I heard this song. Then I watched it with the Wizard of Oz and now I always invision Dorothy Gale in the eye of the storm...

from The Dark Side of the Moon, available on CD


The Happiest Day Of My Life  performed by Queen Anne’s Lace  1968
Recommended by gregcaz [profile]

Soft-rock magic. This song is breathy, light, and perversely sad-sounding. Maybe wistful is the word. The album is in the finest Free Design-sounding tradition, including covers of Beatles, Bacharach, Paul Simon, "Sally Go Round The Roses," and such top-shelf originals as this. Truly splendid.

from Queen Anne's Lace (Coral CRL 757509)



The Look Of Love  performed by Dusty Springfield  1967
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

A great song that describes the joy in reuniting with the one you love after being separated. Two versions of this song were recorded. This version appeared on Dusty's album of the same name, and the other version was used in the film 'Casino Royale'. This album version is superior simply for the fact that the sound engineer put a slight echo into the vocals and it gives this song a haunting sound that makes the beautiful words even more lovely than before.

from The Look Of Love (Philips PHS 600 256)
available on CD - the Dusty Springfield Anthology (Box Set) (Mercury 314 553 501)


The Lord Is Back  performed by Eugene McDaniels  1971
Recommended by human-cannonball [profile]

The first track on the seminal 'Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse' LP McDaniels cut in 1971 is the most furious and energetic of the album. Spiritual afro-soul-rock with a politically aware attitude. A very 'dirty' psychedelic electric bass guitar with a top-class drummer (Alphonse Mouzon) comprise a hard-hitting rhythm section to remember. I prefer this very bluesy track over the more obvious selections from this top-notch release, e.g. the haunting Jagger the Dagger, and Freedom Death Dance.

from Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (Atlantic)




  konsu: Nice choice!I always liked this song too but could'nt get anyone to pay much attention to his work.One of the more social/politically charged soul jazz records.Cherished by hip-hoppers for years,and sampled quite a bit.Needs to stand again on it's own merits!
The River(live)  performed by Bruce Springsteen  2000
Recommended by giant [profile]

Ok, Ok, cut it out, we all know Bruce went ultra commercial and slightly "rock n roll artificial" there in the eighties but what the mainstream listener doesn't know, is that Springsteen has some very powerful songs tucked under his belt. Similar to the Beach Boys, Bruce is widely known on the weight of his biggest commercial succeses, ie. "Born in The USA", however he has written some incredibly moving songs, most of them acoustic on such albums as "Nebraska" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad." Here is Bruce in the vein of our great American folk singers like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash(who has covered a Springsteen Song)in one of the most tender and haunting songs, sung live, Harmonica by bruce as well, and it is called "The River" This concert was also televised, and the tear I noticed in his eyes as he performed this lovely and sad song further shows how much he brings and to what depth he is able to express.

from live in New York City
available on CD - live in New York City



  phil: Hm - a very good friend of mine is really into Bruce Springsteen, and out of the respect I hold him in I have tried listening to the Boss' stuff. And I really began to like this one - I have a live version of this from Barcelona which is really very moving, in which Bruce talks about failing his medical for the Vietnam draft.

It always strikes me as - er - outdoor music, quite different from the hair-splitting, neurotic, urban stuff I usually listen to. Definitely worth a listen if you have previously sniffed at the springsteen but are willing to have another go - as giant says, it's real great american folk singer stuff.

Incidentally, while recording my band's last demo, the rest of the band described a solo I played as 'sounding like bruce springsteen'. A small chill ran down my spine.

The Scientist  performed by Coldplay  2002
Recommended by cryofthecelt [profile]

I've been a huge fan of the UK-based "wuss-rock" band Coldplay since their debut album "Parachutes." One night, as I was watching a much-anticipated episode of my favorite TV show, "Smallville" - an episode called "Rosetta" guest-starring Christopher Reeve - I heart the heart-rendering chords of lead singer Christ Martin's piano and thought aloud "Hey, that's Coldplay!" I hadn't yet heard that song, so I surfed onto a "Smallville" fansite to check the title and found that it was called "The Scientist" from Coldplay's most recent album "A Rush of Blood to the Head."
"The Scientist" is a song that will remind you of being in love - more likely, of being in love with someone who doesn't love you back or with someone whom you pissed off and doesn't want to be around you anymore. It's basically the most perfect song about unrequieted love. It is beautiful and haunting, as many of Coldplay's songs are. Give it a listen. You won't regret it.

from A Rush of Blood to the Head, available on CD


The Way of the World  performed by Justin Hayward  1996
Recommended by elfslut [profile]

As a huge Moody Blues fan, I'm always excited to hear a new track by the frontman, Justin Hayward. This track from his 96 solo album is one worth listening to.

Somewhere between 91 and 96, Justin learned to handle his guitar like George Harrison. You'll notice this if you listen to the Moody Blues' 99 offering Strange Times, but that's not the point. On this particular song, you get the Harrison-like guitar-riff along with the haunting vocals that Hayward is famous for. Combined the two are a powerful mix. This song and all the others on the CD are worth taking a listen too.


available on CD - The View From the Hill


The wind blows her hair  performed by The Seeds  1967
Recommended by Mirko [profile]

One of my all time favourites.This is garage psychedelia at its best.It has a haunted manor feeling with the organ sound (Darryl)which is just hypnotising.The lyrics are also perfect.One of those mistery songs which were blasters but did not make it for some reason.

from Web of Sound



  stupidwall: i like mr farmer alot better
  olli: can't seem to make you mine is pretty good, too.
Thesen & Antithesen  performed by Brainstorm  1972
Recommended by human-cannonball [profile]

A long, wild, complex, dark, almost haunting jazz-rock piece that has changed the way I faced German 70s rock. It's in par with the rest of the tracks on the excellent 'Smile a While' LP by this legendary rock band. It's not very hard to find, and I believe it has been re-issued on CD.

from Smile a While (Spiegelei)


Trouble Every Day  performed by Tindersticks  2001
Recommended by bobbyspacetroup [profile]

From the film of the same name. This has to be one the darkest songs from the Tindersticks. It features the lush string arrangements that the band has been shying away from lately, and incorporates some soulful pizzicato effects. Guitarist Dickon Hinchcliff contributes vocals along with Stuart Staples. Haunting.


available on CD - Trouble Every Day (Beggar's Banquet)



Um Girassol da Cor de Seu Cabelo  performed by Milton Nascimento / Lo Borges  1972
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

This entire album is beautiful and fascinating. I seem to be a sucker for rather melancholic, afflicted, and intoxicating sounds, so here I go again. The first half of this song is slow and haunting, I don't understand Portuguese, but the tone sounds like a filmic remembrance of tragically lost love, with yearning lyrics paired to beautiful piano-led orchestration . In the middle of the song there is a break of dark, doomy strings, followed by the second half, which is a quicker tempoed revisit of the first half, taking the form of a psychic climax.

from Clube Da Esquina


Unchanging Window  performed by Broadcast  2000
Recommended by tempted [profile]

Broadcast are the perfect retro-futuristic band. They make space age pop like no one else today. Haunting Moogs, fuzzy, reverb-laden guitars and tight bass and drums. Trish Keenan's voice sounds like an understatement with its simple, effortless tone. For lovers of Morricone, United States Of America and Stereolab.

from Noise Made By People, available on CD



Vitamin C  performed by Can
Recommended by Maximum_Bygraves [profile]

Trance inducing teutonic pschonaughts build patterns up with a haunting celtic feel to the instrumentation and even a touch of Brel. Otherworldly and modal in constuction with a stunningly memorable chorus.

from ege bamyasi (spoon)


Wake and Kill  performed by Ennio Morricone  1966
Recommended by texjernigan [profile]

From the Soundtrack to the movie, "Svegliati e Uccidi," which I think means wake and kill, this has a typical spy thriller sound. That's something taht I couldn't really tell you, having not grown up in the era, but when I was showing my dad a lot of the music that I've searched out, he certainly laughed a quite a few of the tracks. Still, I find the melody haunting and cool, especially that highly distorted yet delicate guitar work.





War  performed by Onra
Recommended by Churchill [profile]

A brief and understated mix of haunting vocal samples, subtle guitars, hip hop beats...
Taken from Onra's Les Chinoiseries- a collection of tracks that sample music from China and Vietnam. Whole album worth a listen!

from Les Chinoiseries


Warmth of the Sun  performed by The Beach Boys  1964
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Another of my favorite Beach Boys tracks, 'warmth of the sun' is a haunting ballad, sung astoundingly beautifully (Carl Wilson does the lead vocals) over a twangy picked electric guitar. From the astounding album 'Shut down vol. 2' which also gave us 'Don't Worry Baby'! 6 years ago I thought that the Beach Boys were pretty much 'Surfin' USA and other surfer hits'. I'm glad I was able to get beyond this - there's so much to discover!

from Shut Down Vol. 2 (Capitol)
available on CD - Surfer Girl/Shut Down Vol. 2 (Capitol/EMI)



We Could Be Flying  performed by The Singers Unlimited w/ Art Van Damme  1974
Recommended by Festy [profile]

This was the first version of this song that I'd heard, but have since discovered that it has been recorded many times. The song is written by Michel Colombier & Paul Williams and this version is somewhat haunting, whilst, at the same time, it's also spacey and heavenly. The lush vocals give the song its "other worldly" sound.


available on CD - Afternoon Tea Music - Clear Herb Tea (Universal Music)




  Mr Steal: I only ever heard this once - been looking for it ever since. It's truly lovely. I should say that Scott Walker does a really nice version of the song on his much-maligned (but actually pretty OK - albeit covers only) LP Any Day Now.
What Have You Done?  performed by Motion Soundtrack  2003
Recommended by SOYA [profile]

This song is amazing! The guitar is haunting, Marc Wild is the Sh#t! I especially love the lyrics. "futhermore falling and never quite landing, your seeing with eyes closed, your dreams". What have you done is a master piece. Chad Horton ( the lead signer)AMAZING! Beautifully talented band, DON'T MISS OUT, CHECK THEM OUT!

from THE BRIDGE, available on CD


When I Was a Young Girl  performed by Feist
Recommended by ThisNameIsTaken [profile]

inspired by traditional American Folk Music 'When I Was a Young Girl' contains beautiful vocals, haunting lyrics and a great beat.

Leslie Feist is an incredible artist and i would highly recomend the entire album 'Let It Die' (preferably the 2004 re-release).

from Let It Die, available on CD



Where did you all go  performed by Thirteen moons  1987
Recommended by moondog [profile]

One of these songs that i never tire of, that sounds as fresh and moving as the first day i heard it twenty years ago. Thirteen moons were like no other swedish band i have heard before or after.A haunting melancholy sound that in lesser musical hands would have sounded unbearably pretencious. If scott walker were to sing the swedish books of psalms in a folkjazz setting you are close but nah. This track though is instrumental and have one of the most powerful stringarrangemnts i have ever encountered.

from Origins (Wire)
available on CD - origins/little dreaming boy


Where is my mind?  performed by Pixies  1988
Recommended by Groucho_75 [profile]

The 'Best Of' album, 'Death to the Pixies' is full of classics, but if I had to choose one it would be Track 14 'Where is my Mind?'. Its haunting and uplifting at the same time, its got that epic feel to it which makes it seem like more than just a song, plus it kicks arse simply as a rock song! Not sure if I understand entirely what its about, but heh, music is also just about an emotional experience.


available on CD - Death to the Pixies


White Bird  performed by It's A Beautiful Day  1967
Recommended by G400 Custom [profile]

Any North American readers may already be familiar with this haunting folk-rock number, as I believe it's a bit of an FM staple over there. For UK-based music fans such as myself, however, it's a bolt from the blue. Imagine a combination of The Mamas & The Papas and Jefferson Airplane at their spookiest, with shedloads of virtuoso violin and flanged percussion all the way through.

One more note: the self-titled album from which this song comes has an absolutely gorgeous cover (see http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000000DPF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg), but the re-release is just white type on black - shame on Columbia.

from It's A Beautiful Day, available on CD




  konsu: Unfortunately, nothing quite this good is an FM staple in the US. Their market is crowded with crap mook-rock like Boston or Journey... Although I have heard their stuff on more "educated" radio, like say NPR or maybe college-based freeform playlists. Great stuff!
  G400 Custom: I love Journey and Boston as well... does this make me a mook? :-)
  konsu: ;) Escape was one of my first records... I have no shame!
  artlongjr: This song got substantial airplay when I was a boy, back around 1970...I loved the melancholy sound that it has. I got the CD as a gift and it is pretty good, although "White Bird" is by far the best song on it. This was one of the second generation San Francisco bands that came up after the Haight-Ashbury era.
Who needs forever  performed by Astrud Gilberto  1967
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Quincy Jones is renowned more for his great arrangements than for his melodies, but I think this tune, from the soundtrack to 'the deadly affair' is really great. It's a slow bossa with a haunting lyric. Astrud sings in her trademark cool, detached style. I never grow tired of hearing this one. Astrud seems to have made a few impromptu appearances on film soundtracks, and I'm always on the lookout for more; one other great one was the Ennio Morricone score 'casse' (burglars), on which she sings two tracks.

from The Deadly Affair (Soundtrack)
available on CD - The Pawnbroker/The Deadly Affair



who needs forever  performed by astrud gilberto  1966
Recommended by coffman [profile]

This exceptionally haunting and lyrical song by Quincy Jones has received its definitive interpretion by Astrud Gilberto with arrangement and accompaniment by the Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley. The melancholy urgency of the piece resonates well with the dark/sad tonality that pervades so much of Bossa Nova music, though its character is also reminiscent of certain otherwise very different pieces from the bebop era, which had a formative influence on Quincy Jones' music. There is definitely the remote influence of Charlie Parker and especially Dizzy Gillespie. It's truly a completely unique piece. The drifting melody which seems to skirt over the chord changes has a beautiful inevitability. Only a very gifted and skilled musician could have contrived such a beautiful work. So Quincy Jones deserves especial credit for crafting this song from the film "The Deadly Affair."

Astrud's delivery, so typically limpid and restrained, only serves to heighten the intensity of this darkly passionate song. The subtle but somehow fierce organ playing of Walter Wanderley acheives a sizzling romanticism that perfectly complements the reading of Astrud's apparently detached fatalism.

In my opinion, this track is a true musical masterpiece. Its remarkable economy of means is a testament to the skill of the composer as well as the artistry of the performers. In fact, it's a nearly perfect combination of expressive means and poetic intent. The beautiful resolution, with Astrud's perfect striking of the high B-flat over the half-diminished F-minor seventh, is a moment of sublime dramatic intensity, though profoundly understated, as is typical of her finest artistic moments. One is reminded of Miles Davis. Her poetic skill is rooted in subtlety.

I have listened to this extraordinary track hundreds of times, and always experienced chills rising up on the back of my neck. How amazing that this incredible musical gem was omitted from the original album A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness. Perhaps it was too intense, too heavy; whatever the case, it's a truly remarkable piece of music.

I'm truly grateful to have discovered this great albeit minor musical masterpiece. There's really nothing else quite like it! The sizzling but subtle sensitivity of the rhythm section (Claudio Slon on drums, possibly Joao Gilberto on guitar and Jose Marino on bass) adds an intensity to the piece which helps project the almost existential tone of the song.

I'm really swept away by this obscure and neglected work, which attains -- for me at least -- to a peak of poetic intensity really rare in music. As is usual with Astrud at her best, it accomplishes its artistic ends with what seems like the most minimal of means. But subtlety is always the avenue to the most profound of artistic experiences. I think this is a remarkable example -- one of the greatest -- of the wedding of popular music and high art. It is a truly perfect performance. In my opinion, its greatness increases rather than diminshes with repeated listenings. There is only one word for that -- it's magic!

from A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, available on CD



  rio: you must pick-up the quincy jones soundtrack (released with the score to "the pawnbroker") with astrud singing "who needs forever". The lush quincy jones score is hauntingly beautiful, and astrud never sounded better. This version is the real deal for me..
  rferus: Amazing guitar on this piece.
Who wants to live forever?  performed by Queen
Recommended by inbloom44 [profile]

So Epic and Haunting.





  konsu: Isn't this from the Highlander soundtrack? ...nice.
  inbloom44: yes it is.
wide to receive  performed by morrissey
Recommended by fourdoublefour [profile]

Like "Lost", written by Spencer Cobrin. Haunting melody, just discovered it. This guy Cobrin has some secret and awesome talent, come on up man and lets see what else you can do.





  kohl: yeah, it's quite a grower. off maladjusted if i recall correctly. and who'd think morrissey would ever give us an 'internet' song?
Willow’s Song  performed by Lesley Mackie  1973
Recommended by leonthedog [profile]

A sensuously haunting track, from the equally haunting soundtrack of a notoriously haunting film. Sparse, but slowly layered and building with anticipation. Don't know much about the late Paul Giovanni, but he surely hit a home run with this entire soundtack.


available on CD - The Wicker Man (OST) (Silva)



  n-jeff: Lovely stuff, but strangely, disquietingly, indistinct. One of the tracks that got me sacked from a regular pub DJ slot. haha.
Winkin, Blinkin and Nod  performed by The Big Three  1963
Recommended by rum [profile]

If you ask any industry bigwig right now what�s gonna be the next big thing, they�ll all say the same, �Sea Shanties�. Every one of them. You think I�m joking? Well listen up ignorami because I�m not.

You might have noticed ripples rolling in from the Indie scene on both shores of the Atlantic, as The Coral, The Decemberists, and others, have romanticised the plight of the seafarer, but now Shanties are due to hit the mainstream, and hard. As I write this Richard X is in his London studio working on the final mix of �Salty Seadog�, an explosive slab of �neo-shant� purred over seductively by Rachel Stevens. Cathy Dennis, my old pal from our days changing skates at Norwich Rollerama, told me yesterday that she�s just sold three �Shanties� to some �top name artists�. For legal reasons I�m not allowed to say who, but let me assure you these are white hot names. The kind of names that kids get on their knees and pray to. So, you see, Shanties are big business. I�ve also heard that Jennifer Lopez, J-Lo, �Loopy� Lopez, Jell-O, whatever, never one to miss a passing fad, is rumoured to be changing her name to One-Eyed-Jenny. Make of that what you will, might just be street talk. Now what concerns me is the forthcoming release from Britney Spears. This you may have heard about. It�s called, �Wingin�, Blingin� and Not!�, and it�s a �fresh� adaptation of the 19th century poem/song, �Winkin�, Blinkin� and Nod� by Eugene Field. I know this song from the glorious version by Cass Elliot�s pre-fame folk trio, The Big Three. It�s less a shanty than a bewitching lullaby, intended to lull a child into restful slumber, as Winkin� and gang sailed not in rusting trawler through the bleak North Sea, but, �in a wooden shoe/off on a river of crystal light/into a sea of dew.� And it contains some of the most hauntingly beautiful oooh ooohs and aahh ahhs ever waxed, as Tim Rose and Mama Cass harmonise the rolling waves of slumber. Nevertheless because of it�s sea-faring theme (�we�re going fishing for the herring fish/that live in the beautiful sea�), it�ll probably get caught up in the nets of the inevitable �Sea Shanty Fever� cash-in compilations that will soon litter our shores like syringes and floor tiling. I wanted to draw your attention to it now before it gets beaten blue and bloody by the Spears, and rattles out over supermarket tannoys the world over.

from The Big Three



  n-jeff: Obviously Mr Scruff is well ahead of the field then, with three songs about Fish (ing) on his first LP...
  tonyharte: Yo ho ho, me hearties. Well I never. Thanks for the tip/warning Rum (where's the bum and baccy?) I predict that this year (in the UK) will belong to The Coral.
  konsu: Um... what about Weens album "The Mollusk"? That was shit was shanty-city! So, whats next? Weavers laments??
Wonderful  performed by The Beach Boys  1966
Recommended by Yammer [profile]

By 1965, Brian Wilson's professional and personal lives were in such a state of constant panic that it was almost inevitable that he would turn to readily available forms of rock star relief. While his self-medication (and underlying mental illness) would ultimately render him into a poster boy for an imaginary DARE campaign, the early, merely marijuanic phase of his regimen yielded a brief but vivid string of almost absurdly gorgeous pop masterpieces. While a couple of these are permanently stamped into the forebrains of all radio listeners over a certain age ("God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations"), some remain almost unknown. Which brings us to "Wonderful," found on the Beach Boys box set, and remade a few years ago as part of the Don Was hagiography. It is a curious, brief (2 minutes) tune, austere in production (harpsichord and vocal) but staggeringly rich in harmonic interest. The melody evokes pure serenity and has no noticeable roots in any previous American pop style. Van Dyke Park's lyric is typically insane; what little one can make of it seems to dovetail with Wilson's growing religiousity, yet feels entirely physical, even pagan -- a sort of boy-loves-wood sprite nature idyll making the first movement of a really great ballet with set design by Maurice Sendak. Or something.


available on CD - Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys (Capitol)


your hidden dreams  performed by white noise  1969
Recommended by olli [profile]

great electronic effects-laden psychedelia from their 1969 album "an electric storm". a spooky and beautiful track with lots of echo and spacy non-melodic digressions. oddly, it stays quite coherent despite all the insane stuff going on in the background. Female singer, beautyful breathy voice, kind of a "nico light-" thing going on.
the track "firebird" from the same album is also highly recommended.

by the way, i�m pretty sure each member of broadcast have their own copy of this album. The song "marooned" on wire's 1978 album "chairs missing" shares some melodic qualities with this track. would probably sound great if mixed together..

(if you're interested in aquiring the whole album, it�s pretty hard to come by, at least in vinyl form. i think it's been reissued on cd by some obscure label, but as i only have a cd-r copy, i'm not sure. side a is very good, but from what i heard they ran out of studio time, forcing them to make side b a bit more...shall we say, "experimental" in order to make it lp lenghth...)

from an electric storm




  standish: My dad's prog-rock friend brought this album over when my dad got his first proper stereo in 1972 and played us the scary side... These days, I love "Firebird" and "Here Come The Fleas". Quirky UK electronica by (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) Delia Derbyshire and David Vorhaus.
Zuhalterb�ssatle  performed by Harald Paulsen & Lotte Lenya  1930
Recommended by james [profile]

It seems unlikely to be able to pick one song from the threepenny opera that stands out above the rest since the thing in itself is so honed to perfection (and never moreso than in the very early recordings). But as a microcosm of the whole this track (track 8) encapsulates perfectly the balance between the borrowed idiom of the popular musical style and the squalor of the lyrics. there is a jaunty middle section in which Mac recalls how he would slip out of bed to let one of the whore Jenny's clients in, mix them a drink and treat them well. Then comes a duet and they sing together of how they long to return to that whorehouse and to those happy times. At the end the music lingers with added, disconnected percussive sounds, in which time the ambivilance and ironies all resonate, creating a moment of perfection for the work as a whole, where all meaning vanishes and mere rhythm persuades.

from Die Dreigroschenoper Berlin 1930 (Telefunken)


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