Light and Darkness
Happy Halloween! It is a sunny and warm day here in NYC, so it should be fun for everybody who celebrates. We follow it only mildly, mainly by enjoying the decorations around us, which are not so numerous in the city, putting a few spooky items into our place, and listening to a Halloween playlist a few times.
There are many playlists to choose from, but we enjoy the classic party mix the most, which includes songs throughout the decades that have a supernatural or scary theme. Think of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which was curiously released in January in the US. My favorite Halloween-fitting song is “Monster Mash” by Boris Picket & the Crypt Kickers. Don’t ask me why; I have no idea.
We contribute to Halloween in our glamglare favorites with five songs that carry darkness and uneasiness in them. I like to listen to that kind of music all year round, but today, they offer an extra dose of gloominess.
If you prefer bright and uplifting, we recommend the debut album Drawn Like a Magnet by Siri Neel. The Danish singer started with songwriting while studying at the Brighton Music College. Then, she lost her voice due to an injury. “It would have been easier to pursue a different path in life rather than spending six years trying to regain my singing voice,” she says. But she could not simply give up singing, and now she is ready to release her debut album tomorrow. Read the full Q&A here.
Another exciting full-length debut album comes tomorrow from Italian singer, songwriter, producer, and guitar maven Ema Drei, aka Giungla. Her brand of music, which includes guitar, heavy beats, and electronic music, has fascinated us since her first release in 2015. She stopped by our place two times on the way to SXSW, and we became friends. Maybe we can encourage her to go to Brighton next spring?
Speaking of SXSW, the first 100 bands have been announced. There are many acts we don’t know yet, but we are delighted to find some glamglare favorites, like Ellur, Hachiku, and https://glamglare.com/artist/yndling. As promised, we will dig deeper and highlight artists you should not miss.
glamglare favorites
Listen to glamglare favorites on Spotify or below on YouTube.
As promised, here are five Halloween-y tracks that fit the spirit of the darker season. We start with Emika’s latest single. The Germany-based singer, producer, and composer has a hang for dark and sad pop music, but “My Consciousness” fits the bill particularly well. “The Forest” is one of my all-time favorite The Cure songs: join Robert Smith on his quest to find the girl who was never there. The next song is from the 2011 debut album The Entire City by Gazelle Twin, who was never seen unmasked at that time. Chelsea Wolfe brings darkness into sunny California since 2010. “Tunnel Lights” is from her 2024 album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She. “Ghosts” is from the 1981 album Tin Drum by UK synth-pop band Japan.
Song Pick of the Day
Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube and Spotify for the 50 latest Song Pick of the Day features or subscribe here to receive them into your mailbox in real-time. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.
- Arny Margret - I Miss You, I Do
- Kiki Kramer - Relevant
- Cream With a K - Break the Boy
- elijah woods - Skin & Bones
- Soccer Mommy - Abigail
Nine Photos of Talker at elsewhere
October was quite the busy month for us, filled with celebrating my birthday, my US citizenship, making our new home more our home, registering to vote, and getting a US passport going, meeting with NYC-visiting friends to just name some. Of course, we also wanted to see some great live music because talker, aka Celeste Tauchar, was finally in town again. She was performing at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere, touring together with Kississippi. Since we also had our wedding anniversary that very same day, enjoy here eight photos of Celeste’s intimate show plus a little couple selfie.
Photos: Elke Nominikat