Spooky Grass 2006: This Might Be Your Last Farewell Ride

I have an almost-annual tradition of collecting scary or dark traditional songs around Halloween and making a "Spooky Grass" mix. No Bluegrass this year, but 2005 and 2006 has given us several new haunted Americana tunes of death, devils, and sin. Listen to them all at night, alone, if you dare...

1. The Wicked Messenger by Marley's Ghost from Spooked
Marley's Ghost had an album come out early this year, and to tell the truth it was a real mixed bag. I think for the most part their target audience is older folkies, and most of their songs just did not appeal to me. However, they have three songs on that album that absolutely freakin' appeal to me, diamonds in the coal, so to speak. The best of the three is this spooky rendition of an old Dylan tune. The most repeated theme of this playlist is the "chain gang hammer," which is featured prominently in the second half of this song.

2. Defender by The Kamikaze Hearts from Oneida Road
You need to listen to this band! The Kamikaze Hearts were a surprise to me, from out of the blue, but I've become a big fan. This is the most intriguing if not immediately approachable song on the album. I know that Justin loved this song when he covered it on Aquarium Drunkard. It's a strange Stephen King Gunslinger-esque alternate Western sort of tale, otherworldy and ancient, as if Fairport Convention sang Native American songs. (At the end of the song -- a chain gang hammer.)

3. Restless Sinner by The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from Howl
Holy crap this album is good! I knew from the first time I heard this song it was going into my next Halloween mix! No joke! BRMC can rock you, and on this song, they can lull you into a bluesy, almost Fairfield-Four-like Gospel tune that turns into a haunting chorus with, you guessed it, a fast chain gang hammer rhythm.

4. Creeping Round by Mike Therieau from Living From A Suitcase
Mike Therieau's Living From A Suitcase might just be the best album of 2006. I'm not ready to make that bold a claim just yet, but it is definitely in the running. He runs the gamut from Van Morrisson blue-eyed Irish soul songs to straight-up Country weepers to this work song, cursed and hell-burnt. This time the chain gang hammer is more of a thump than a ching -- like the smoky shades of sinners driving spikes in black basalt... forever. This is probably the scariest song of the whole dang mix.

5. Satan's Paradise by Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplin from Lost John Dean
After Therieau's frightening Creeping, let's clear the palate with a little Devil Swing by the amazing trio of Kane, Welch, and Kaplin. This is a soulful cautionary tune complete with a chain gang hammer backbeat, of course. "Papa don't go down that road, don't you know it's paved with sin... they will try to sell you lies, sell you Satan's Paradise..."

6. Dirty Knife by Neko Case from Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
You cannot have a Halloween Americana mix without a little Neko, for God's sake. Did I say that Therieau's song was the scariest? What was I thinking? This song is creepy. Did you notice its name is "dirty knife?" No kidding. Visions of blood, broken and haunted houses, children's stories twisted by madness... that pretty much summarizes her entire album, but at the same time... strangely beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful, which is classic Neko. Be sure to stick around for the orchestra hits and high female choruses... chilling. (What's that? Nope, oddly enough, no chain gang hammer. Neko is too graceful for that.)

7. Footsteps So Near by Casey Driessen from 3D
Casey Driessen put out one helluva solo album this year -- one of the best albums of this year, without question. This song is an up-beat but disturbing remake of an old Hot Rize tune about a man who kills his family and escapes the law by hiding in the forests and caves until his guilt and madness drive him back to society where he's killed. "Sometimes at night, I wake to the sound, of a man in the distance, making the rounds..." "I heard breaking branches of footsteps so near..." Casey does a pretty good job of singing this one too, not to mention some mad fiddle playing. Damn, I love Casey.

8. Little Ghost by The White Stripes from Get Behind Me Satan
This song is still my classic example of strange or inaccurate reviews by No Depression. The reviewer in No Depression called this song a "Bluegrass romp." I'm sorry -- I'm no purist, but I would never call this "Bluegrass." Anyway... A great song, funny, odd, and definitely twisted. Defintely the White Stripes. (And yes, there is a mandolin, but nary a banjo nor fiddle, and nope, no chain gang hammer.)

9. Farewell Ride by Beck from Guero
Beck? Yep. This is a strangely lop-sided song, lurching along in a zombie-like fashion, one leg jerking after another to a... CHAIN GANG HAMMER BEAT! Woohoo! Great song! Wonderful symbols of death, "two white horses in a line... carry me to my burying ground..." It's a dusty, Deadwood sort of cowboy song, full of swagger and spooks. "Some may say this might be your last farewell ride..." Gotta love rattlin' chains in a Halloween playlist...

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