The Poet Macabre

This is, I suppose, my entry for the first day of the Halloween Countdown 2008.

I'm not totally sure I can post something every day-- I may try to pace myself, skip a day or two every so often, so I don't use up all my 'good stuff' the first week. I'll most likely aim at things I have edited myself, in some way... Which brings us to this curious little file.

The Poet Macabre.

A little backstory: There's a strange & quaint little album, pipe-organ played alongside percussion instruments, called 'Fantasy In Pipe Organ And Percussion' -- Get it now at Amazon, that & 'Pipe Organ Favorites' both credited to one allegedly French wunderkind called 'Georges Montalba', together on one c.d.

Legend has it that Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church Of Satan, once claimed he was actually the organist on these albums, the mysterious Mr. Georges Montalba. Turns out, though.. LaVey's claim has allegedly been debunked-- so the story goes, Montalba was actually a former child prodigy from California, by the name of Robert Hunter. More about that in this article. in The Village Voice

Whatever the truth, the record itself remains an oddity-- it's kooky & strange, great for Halloween ambiance-- why, it even has the Danse Macabre as one of the tunes. Rob Zombie took a sample from it to use on Sinners, Inc., even... I won't share the album, as it is still in print & available for sale. But you know my policy... I'm perfectly comfortable editing one track into a parody, and sharing that.

'Dave' over at Mostly Ghostly Music Sharing recently shared a recording of yet another Satanic figure, Aleister Crowley, reciting poems. One of these, "the Poet" was also sampled by Rob Zombie, in the film House Of 1,000 Corpses. So, I just had to get these two crazy kids together!!

Along the course of trying to edit together Montalba's 'Danse Macabre' with Crowley's The Poet, I discovered something truly freaky.. the words of the poem fit the tune!


Here's the short-but-freaky result of my tinkering, which is now my first entry in the 'Halloween Countdown', suitable as a bookend for your Halloween mixtapes. (nudge, wink...)

Click to download: The Poet Macabre

Heck, this one's pretty 'out there'... I wasn't even planning on sharing it when I started. Happy Freaky Halloween, everybody!!!

UPDATE!

A previous reply suggested that I made the organ music a little too loud, so I've tinkered with the file & made it a little clearer.. longer, too. Here's the 'extended' version; a full 2 minutes, plus!

Click to Download: The Poet Macabre, Extended