Music

Evil Night: The Dork Forty Halloween Mixtape!

October 16, 2018 // 5 Comments

So it’s that spooky time of year again, and here on the nerd farm, that means it’s also time for our annual Halloween mixtape. Or a virtual version thereof… Last year, we had fun with a bunch of rockabilly tunes from the Monster Kid era. So this year, I thought we’d take it in a more serious direction, with a collection of 13 songs filled with murder, betrayal, and macabre desire. I’m calling it EVIL NIGHT. Here’s your cover: And here are the songs. Hope you [...]

MONSTERBILLY HOLIDAY!!

October 30, 2017 // 0 Comments

So the nerd farm’s shut down and locked up tight this week while we enjoy our Halloween vacation. But we had a little downtime today, and thought we’d share a little Halloween treat: the Dork Forty Halloween mix tape, MONSTERBILLY HOLIDAY! First, to set the mood, a Nerd Farm favorite since we were wee tykes… …and a tune of wonderful pedigree that we just discovered this morning: Next up, the hottest gothnik chick ever to crawl out of a tomb, Tarantula Ghoul! Even [...]

When the Man Comes Around: Johnny Cash Sings About Logan

April 4, 2017 // 2 Comments

Back in the Seventies, when the Marvel Comics editorial staff was still doing its damnedest to sound like Stan Lee, they would occasionally make reference to something known as the Dreaded Deadline Doom. That was when their freelancers, for whatever reason, couldn’t get the book ready in time. These days, of course, we just call that “Wednesday.” (*rim shot*) (Thanks, folks! I’ll be here all week!) Anyway. The Triple D usually meant that, instead of getting the latest chapter of [...]

Graveyard Gospel: The Dork Forty Halloween Mix Tape

October 16, 2016 // 0 Comments

So I do a Halloween mix tape just about every year. It’s my favorite holiday, and I like to share my enthusiasm with friends. Plus, it keeps my hand in the mix tape game, which is a low art form to be sure, but an art form I greatly enjoy practicing. This year, I found myself getting into sort of a gothic country groove, with lots of dark swampy twang and crazy redneck cabaret. It’s a sound I’ve loved for a long time, something I’ve come to call… Graveyard Gospel. [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 31: Back to Zach

October 31, 2015 // 0 Comments

Aaaaaaannnddd… We made it! It’s Halloween! And this year, I thought we’d finish the mixtape the same way we started it: with a little something from Zacherley the Cool Ghoul. I’ve talked about Zach at length before, so I won’t go into it all again. And besides… I’m sure we’ve all got more important things to do today. Costumes to don, children to kill — er, I mean… lovely Halloween urchins to give razorblade apples — dammit! [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 30: Werewolf!

October 30, 2015 // 0 Comments

Not much to say here. Southern Culture on the Skids is one of my all-time favorite bands. Southern-fried rock and surf that never loses sight of its sense of humor, even when it’s delving into horror. Their all-spooky, all-the-time album Zombified is the go-to for SCOTS’ contributions to the world of Halloweenie music, but tonight I’m sharing a tune only available (as far as I know) on the spooky music compilation album Halloween Hootenanny: “Werewolf.” Enjoy! [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 29: Yig Snake Daddy

October 29, 2015 // 0 Comments

Dipping back into the HP Lovecraft bucket for tonight’s entry in the Halloween mixtape. We’re also revisiting Yig, this time in a form a bit more in keeping with the original story. Well… I DID say “a bit.” That, as you can probably tell, is the cover for Cthulhu Strikes Back, what may have been the first proper full-length album from the Lovecraft-influenced rock band Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. They take their name from a line in Lovecraft’s story [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 28: Marianne’s Knife

October 28, 2015 // 0 Comments

Every so often, when I was growing up, I’d see “Mack the Knife” on a compilation of Halloween music and, only being familiar with the Bobby Darin version (and only passingly familiar with that), I wondered why. Then I discovered The Threepenny Opera. Written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in 1928, The Threepenny Opera is a socialist farce set in the less glamorous parts of Victorian London. Its hero (or antihero, if you must) is Macheath, aka Mack the Knife, a vicious [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 27: Delia’s Gone

October 27, 2015 // 0 Comments

Tonight, the Halloween mixtape brings us to a song that I think I share every time I do this: “Delia’s Gone,” by Johnny Cash. I’m not sure why the song holds such a grim fascination for me, honestly. In part, I suppose it’s because it’s a murder ballad, and a good one. It’s also Johnny Cash, who I do dearly love, and this was the song that turned me on to his work. Slapped me right in my punk rock loving face and got me to widen my musical [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 26: Up Jumped the Devil

October 26, 2015 // 0 Comments

I wouldn’t call Nick Cave’s music “Halloweenie.” I mean, a lot of it surely is appropriate for the Halloween season. But his stuff’s got teeth in it. His best songs bite back. And that, really, prevents me from using the diminutive in relation to them. I mean, I can only imagine what his reaction might be… Yeah. Yeah, probably something like that. And that’s not a guy I really wanna piss off. So understand, I’m including his music among [...]