Here is one annual tradition I can uphold: a video of a Halloween light show. This year, I bring you a house that looks like it’s singing along to Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters theme:
This recording of Christopher Walken reading Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven is musical in the sense that there are occasional bursts of heavy metal guitar amid reverb, ravens cawwing and other sound effects, which some listeners seem to have found very annoying, but I rather liked. I’m wondering, now, what more of Poe’s work would sound like with suitably sp00ky audio illustrations.
Normally at this time of year I post the video for Panic! at the Disco‘s Almost Halloween, because it is sweetly ridiculous and deep down I still love it.
But on the surface I can’t watch it any more. The band that made that video is gone, ne’er to return.
And I’m at a crossroads with my affection for the band, as it is currently incarnated. My fondness fades, but lingers, a little like a ghost. There’s a new record coming, and a tour, there have been singles, and I have watched from a bemused distance. All of my favorites are gone, but I can’t quite let go, not yet.
The video below is for The Emperor’s New Clothes, and it encompasses the things I have always liked about Panic!: Brendon’s voice and range; sumptuous theatricality; Brendon in a dramatic costume; and singing skulls. It also has neat bit at the beginning that functions as a “Previously, on Panic! At the Disco . . .” and ties yet another disparate era of style to the one that came before.
I can’t decide if my interest for their (his) constant reinvention has evaporated or merely gone into hibernation. But I am, for now, here for one more round.
![Panic! At The Disco: Emperor's New Clothes [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7qFF2v8VsaA/0.jpg)
The last time we heard from El Xicano was approximately this time last year, when he joined us for an installment of A Good Read A Good Listen and A Good Drink. His long-awaited EP La Grande Paura (The Great Fear) has at long last been turned loose upon the world, and it is just as delightful as I remembered.
By delightful I mean: Perfect for a rainy day just on the edge of chilly, as it is here. You could probably also sort Halloween candy to this music. Or carve a pumpkin. Perhaps work on the final touches of your costume.
Check it out:
