Spooky Deep House

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Nothing too obviously euro or techy, just actual deep house which is somehow kind of spooky or eerie or unsettling. What are your favourite examples of this? Talk about them.

(question asked for entirely selfish purposes obv)

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:23 (nineteen years ago)

My favourites that come to mind right now:

Rise Aschen - "Second Wind": that spectral little synth chord change, the sly saxaphone, the smacked out diva reciting listlessly, "your body can't stop won't stop..."

Tiny Trendies - "The Sky Is Not Crying": maybe my absolute favourite of this sort of thing? The stabbing bass groove! The overwrought dub spaciousness! Those synths! The mournful vocal!

Mark Bell - "Woman Cry" - so stiff, so dry, so desiccated, the subtle roboticness of the groove isn't just compulsive, it's about compulsion. And the marvellously mysterious vocal: "I know I shouldn't do it... Deep inside my heard I know the thought of you will never go. We shall always be as one, and from this place you're never gone..."

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:31 (nineteen years ago)

Carlos Sanchez Movement - "Love & Respect": such a majestic track, all those intergalactic bongos, and the whispered incantation "Respect your brother... Respect your sister..."

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:39 (nineteen years ago)

Dan K - "Sunburst": more bongo action, this one is tribal drums caught in this enormous windtunnel, ghostly electronic sounds swirling around like an enormous kaleidoscope.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:42 (nineteen years ago)

Although maybe I'm heading too much into euphoric space travel territory with the last two.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:44 (nineteen years ago)

i have nothing to add to this except these/your descript. sound really good. i wish we could still ysi...

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 02:05 (nineteen years ago)

i think you might need to track down vahid for this thread to really take off

― hector (hector), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 02:32 (nineteen years ago)

Problem Kids - "I Will Lead": the way the vocal starts off like it's being reflected through a maze of steel spikes, then later the track is put through an electronic blender which crushes its spine, then those unforgettable syncopated snare hits, and all the while in the background this guy is whispering "yeah!"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 03:33 (nineteen years ago)

Fantastic idea for a thread Tim, please keep them coming. I've managed to track down the Carlos Sanchez track so far and I want to hear more!

― Jena (JenaP), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:27 (nineteen years ago)

i wish we could still ysi...

indeed...

― Jena (JenaP), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:27 (nineteen years ago)

painful teaser

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:28 (nineteen years ago)

these descriptions

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:28 (nineteen years ago)

HI DERE

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:41 (nineteen years ago)

I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ... WHERE TO START?!?

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 05:42 (nineteen years ago)

'the sky is not crying' is so good. why just one single, tiny trendies??

― indie disco dancer, sweet romancer (haitch), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 06:10 (nineteen years ago)

he's the archetypal nuphonic artist = quality over product.

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 06:16 (nineteen years ago)

I asked another thread: is Adam Goldstone's other stuff on his own name anything like "The Sky Is Not Crying"? I can't remember if anyone answered my question.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 06:40 (nineteen years ago)

Adam's one album for Nuphonic is grate. Seek. Don't think it's very Tiny Trendies-ish, though. i hope he makes another album but I think he's sticking to DJ'ing these days.

― Jay Vee's Return (Manon_69), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:08 (nineteen years ago)

I wouldn't exactly call this "spooky", but "Black Hole" by 16B certainly skirts the dark side...

does Theo Parrish count as "deep house"?...(I'm not even sure I know what that is anymore!)...if so, certainly "Falling Up", with it's beat-as-nagging-portent-of-doom, would qualify...

― hank (hank s), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:32 (nineteen years ago)

Well, it's not really deep, but if your flexible about it, The Fairy Tale by Biosphere creeps the shit out of me.

― Thomas Mehlt (Tokyo Ghost Stories), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

my favourite spooky deep house track is probably 'dreamworld' by ego trip which is a roger sanchez production that sounds unlike anything else he ever produced. it uses strangely detuned electronic brass sounds and ominous strings over basic 909 beats and then breaks down into a swirling ambient section with a deep male voice saying as i looked across the still waters, a voice spoke to me from the darkness. it said...'this is the threshold to your subconcious, the unfathomed depths of your mind. herein you will find enlightenment and inner peace. here your horizonss have no limitations, for this is your dreamworld'. then the 909 and eerie strings kick back in and the detuned brass melody takes over again causing complete meltdown amongst the more chemically enhanced people on the dancefloor.

it always made me think of what bernard hermann might have created if he'd ever made a house record. i was going to write something about early 90's new york deep house on my website but never got round to it although i did upload an mp3 of this to my server. i'm not sure if posting a link to it would contravene the ysi rule so i'd probably best not.

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

you could give us the URL of the directory the mp3 may or may not be in tho ;)

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

i keep thinking of Mayer mix of Frank Martiniq's 'Adriano' in answer to this but it's probably either too euro or techy.

and Other People Place's 'You Said You Want Me' is perhaps melancholic rather than spooky, beh

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

Stirmonster that track sounds amazing. From the description it's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about.

I guess the historical precedent for the vibe I'm talking about is Frankie Knuckles' Jungle Wonz tracks - "The Jungle", "Bird In A Gilded Cage" etc.

Also Aphrodisiac's "The Song of the Siren"!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe:

Faze Action's "In the Trees" (less spooky than moody)
John Ciafone's "Chiapet"

― paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:00 (nineteen years ago)

I love those Jungle Wonz tunes, probably two of my favourite old Chicago records. Mike Perras "Beginning of Life" is also kind of on this vibe, really love that one.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:03 (nineteen years ago)

i love the jungle wonz tracks too, and aphrodisiac, mike perras and chiapet. i don't normally get nostalgic but it's reminding me of how much i used to love playing sets of those kinds of tracks. quite a lot of the early chicago stuff was quite spooky too - master c&j - dub love / farley keith - dub yourself to me, but for me it was a lot of the early strictly and nugroove 12"s which nailed this kind of mood. i hope it's ok to do this - the ego trip track can be found here

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:22 (nineteen years ago)

k alexi shelby ws great at this: "something about you" is proper sleazy in a spooky kind of way. also the heartbeat/coccoluto type italian deep house of the early 90s (eg. nightflowers "i know"(nightflowers instrumental)). i'm sure i have loads more on this tip, i will go away and think.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:29 (nineteen years ago)

subway - testing.....more nuphonic love.

it might be my fav electronic record ever.....dreamy, eeire and certainly spooky.

― matte (matte), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

x post - global house's 'night communication' ep on heartbeat was also deep n' spooky. there was another italian called sasha who was great at this sound too. i'm off to rummage for some of these records.

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:51 (nineteen years ago)

The Glasgow Underground 'Musique Tropique' comp had a bunch of great spookyish stuff on it, especially that 2 lone swordsmen remix of 'kingston':

http://www.discogs.com/release/370266

On a similar ciafone/chiapet/yoshitoshi tip, the first One Nation Under House mix cd they did had that killer dark NYC vibe all over it. Too bad Yoshitoshi went to prog shit shortly afterwards.

http://www.discogs.com/release/56921

― tylero (tylero), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

xpost.
i don't remember the italian sasha, stir. you don't mean shafty do you? i have the "deep inside of you" 12", it's definitely on that tip.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

here's the sasha dude.

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 23:16 (nineteen years ago)

cool, i'll have to try and check him out.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 23:34 (nineteen years ago)

Jay Naz - "All bridges lead to brooklyn" (Hot 'n Spycy)

Slightly stretched garage beat giving it a touch of awkwardness and a weird grating noise on every second bar with a deep voice intoning the title. Intro goes on like this for ages and then an incredibly pure and clear sounding electric guitar solo just plays over the top for the rest of the song, occasionally returning to a spooky little melody. It's really eerie.

― Jacob (Jacob), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 02:32 (nineteen years ago)

The obvious example of course which you should all already know is the Salt City Orchestra 'Out There' Mix of Marshall Jefferson vs Noosa Heads' "Mushroom" - actually I suspect a lot of Salt City Orchestra stuff might fit this thread but I'd have to go back and listen to what i've got to confirm.

What an amazing track though, the spoken word over the top alone would do it, but add those dazzling little synth hits and the ear-tickling percussion and it's just sublime.

It follows soon after "Woman Cry" on Andrew Weatherall's Live at the Social Vol 3 mix. I wish that entire mix was like its first four tracks (track number 4 being worthy of mention here: Victor Simonelli's "How Many Tears?")

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 02:36 (nineteen years ago)

Evelyn Jean - "A town near you" (Dig it International)

A really really odd record. There's one mix on it which is really stripped back, just a 4/4 beat and high hats with a paranoid little keyboard riff repeating every bar as she sings over the top in a very very tense way which never quite resolves itself. "gritty city, a town near you, some place called the city, a town near you". Occasionally a mans voice says "i'm never ever gonna leave this city".

It's spooky partly because it feels sort of unfinished or like it was supposed to sound completely different but they fucked it up and left behind this little oddity instead.

― Jacob (Jacob), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 02:37 (nineteen years ago)

Booka Shade, "Vertigo". First time I heard it I started thinking about ghosts.

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 03:28 (nineteen years ago)

TOO OBVIOUSLY EURO AND TECHY

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 03:45 (nineteen years ago)

EUROPE HAS GHOSTS TOO

― indie disco dancer, sweet romancer (haitch), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 03:53 (nineteen years ago)

ROBOT ONES!

― indie disco dancer, sweet romancer (haitch), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 03:53 (nineteen years ago)

Vahid thanks for policing my thread but please suggest tracks too!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:20 (nineteen years ago)

I was going to say Subway "Testing" also!

A good Euro example of this, IMO, is Sebo K featuring Prosumer-Changes, on Mobilee. Really deep dubby chords, then this whispered vocal going "stop haunting me, it's over can't you see, i've moved on, long time ago".

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:00 (nineteen years ago)

i wanna hear that, i love prosumer's 'the craze'.

Subway's "Testing" is a good suggestion! It's weird, those really electronic synthy deep house records which almost verge on prog except they're softer. I think this is what Deep Dish/Yoshi Toshi were trying to do when they "went prog" at the end of the 90s so I'll always be a bit sympathetic to that inclination even if it didn't always work.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 13:23 (nineteen years ago)

Re Chiapet, I love "Westworld (Mediaeval Funk Mix)" which is perfect for this thread. What else should I track down?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 13:34 (nineteen years ago)

MOODYMANN = BLACK MAHOGANI

― Total Fucking Darkness (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

'tick tock' by chiapet is great too. it is quite similar to 'west world' but maybe even darker.

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 14:39 (nineteen years ago)

actually a key moodymann track might be "me and my people's eyes" from "mahogany brown". in fact that whole album has a seriously detuned theo parrish type feel to it.

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

"me and my people's eyes" has the creepy down-pitched threatening monologue, though. and it's all minor key bend string samples.

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

basement jaxx - "325"

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

hahaha...chiapet - 'tick tock'....

mental dark tune! the look on some people's faces when that comes in out of nowhere is cool!

― matte (matte), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 19:01 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks for the Ego Trip track stirmonster. Upon listening I realise it was sampled by Nu-Matic on their pop-ardkore track 'Spring In My Step' released on XL.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 19:04 (nineteen years ago)

I think this is what Deep Dish/Yoshi Toshi were trying to do when they "went prog" at the end of the 90s

And Tim's just reminded me of 'My Only Sin' from 'Junk Science' - spooky but maybe not quite smooth enough for real deep heads.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 19:08 (nineteen years ago)

- actually I suspect a lot of Salt City Orchestra stuff might fit this thread

"The Book"
http://www.discogs.com/release/2520

― tylero (tylero), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 19:41 (nineteen years ago)

yeah well, obviously moodymann...which immediately reminds me of the first scott ferguson 12" on his ferrispark label. "dump days" is the name of the track I believe. very deep, with a propulsive bassline and this eerie pad sound which eventually gives way to a cool vibes solo. also, charles webster's "your life" could fit the bill here.

― ml (mltronik), Thursday, 22 June 2006 06:16 (nineteen years ago)

What I really want is a recommendation of a DJ mix that has this vibe the whole way through (or as close to as possible).

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 22 June 2006 22:04 (nineteen years ago)

Andrew Weatherall Live@The Social?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 22 June 2006 22:06 (nineteen years ago)

I already have that though Ronan! And it's only the first third that really fits as well.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 22 June 2006 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

blunt to thread!

― Jena (JenaP), Thursday, 22 June 2006 22:38 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.discogs.com/release/140194

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 22 June 2006 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

Deep house + spooky = very restrictive IMO but Moodymann, T. Parrish certainly (esp. his white label 9/11 track or whatever it's called, what with TV recordings of people yelling in the streets and such). Meaning their copycats, or like-minded younger producers, can also sound ghoulish around the edges. The best I've heard is (obviously?) from Japan : No Milk and his Rhapsody label.

But I'm really far from base atm and cannot rummage along with y'all. NuGroove oldies sounds possibly OTM and in the spirit of SCO's

― blunt (blunt), Friday, 23 June 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

...The Book I'll unhelpfully mention Johnny Vicious' Activator (You Need Some) which is more dark than spooky. As for DJ mixes, I hear enough live & unreleased ones so cannot be arsched to check out the widely distributed stuff unless it's inescapable or particularly lame (trainwrecks pressed to hundreds of thousands of copies, now that's art).

― blunt (blunt), Friday, 23 June 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

Suges - We Belong To The Night!!!

― Tim F, Monday, 21 July 2008 14:05 (seventeen years ago)

REX THE DOG - 'I See You, Can You See Me?'

Rex The Dog presents the most amazing video of July 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5em55n

what a track !

Cabaret Voltaire moody vocals meets deep electro-house

― djmartian, Monday, 21 July 2008 14:35 (seventeen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.