weird screwed up clown, carnival, circus music

I absolutely love that Crispin Glover song "Clowny Clown Clown" and I just felt I should have more music like that. It just reaches this amazingly satisfying place and I cant quite describe why. I think I have a general attraction to the offbeat or downright evil circus sound.

I'm sure Residents have done this but I've not really explored their immense discography yet.

I could imagine people saying Insane Clown Posse but what I've heard doesn't appeal and as far as I know, they never really used a blatant circus sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6b_lSQst0

Idiot Flesh - "Fancy"

Buddy Judge (once of The Grays) made a whole album of creepy clown/circus music in the late 90s called Profiles in Clownhenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W456uR_X38

Demented Carnival vibe within:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMRbDF-Ea8M

more creepy carnival fare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AREuQ2NqmpM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPvZ3uFDwxA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyciLWAv9BA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVQ0Ye2Togs

I feel like there's an example of this on Stand! but I'm not thinking of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwY429W8Zk

This probably doesn't count but when I was using my (long time back) salsa teacher's stereo to tape part of Fred Frith's Speechless, she said it sounded like Cirque du Soleil music. I can't remember exactly which track it was, but I think it was this one

That's a great album incidentally.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Carny

Clowny Clown Clown was the last track on a comp LP i had that was full of punk bands like DOA and Social Distortion, it was the best track on there by a mile.

Japanese actress Yuki Aoi made an odd concept album about a park at night, this song is called something like "Carousel Horse's Tail" and is about a cat that is looking for it's owner in a fairground, hence all the circus type music. i can't explain the tiny hat tho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1q-Phj_L4

The Idiot Flesh, Fred Frith and Nick Cave suggestions are really good and that Alice Cooper song is unexpectedly lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3MbVoLYns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ_xLzrw_lM

"Rue Fortune" by Roedelius, on "Jardin au Fou". I can't find a Youtubes though.

Maybe this?

Human League - Circus of Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAQXNPmuwRY

sMoKio- Carnival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L0gbOKKVJ4

Jozin z Bazin- Speed REMIX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYOP-9ztIQ

The music from the fashion show scene in Liquid Sky has this kind of feel, maybe?

Fashion Show

Clowny Clown Clown was one track on an lp with several somewhat similar tracks. I think there was some concept or something behind it, though could just be that that concept was the quirkiness of Crispin himself. I have the cd somewhere I think, don't remember having lost it anyway. But also don't remember the last time i saw it.

you could also check out Motherhead Bug the band led by David Ouimet where he led a small big band of a mix of rock & non-rock instruments through tracks populated with characters who seemed like a cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Jim Thompson or Tom Waits. I love the lp anyway, wish there wasmore of it woul love some live audio or preferably video too. There was a follow up group called Sulphur based in similar ideas but with a female singer.

There's also Semiramis Dedicato A Frazz which is early 70s Italian prog with a 16 year old lead guitarist. They worked with pretty weird carnival influence. Another lp I really like anyway. Probably one of teh best of its genre.

People have probably already menytioned Tom Waits on the early 80s material like Swordfishtrombones etc actually I'd guess taht was about the main one. Rain Dogs seems somewhat more mainstream not having listened to it in a while.

Also reminded of Einsturzende Neubauten's track Trinklied which is on 1/2 Mensch and seems to be based on some weird medieval folk stuff.

I think i should have used the word circus instead of Carnival when I was describing Semiramis

Young Gods - Charlotte

Add N To X- Steve's going teach himself who's boss

DJ EJ Ejucation - Volume 27 - Track 3

this is the one Motherhead Bug song I know, I'm posting this w/o giving it its first listen in like five years but when I was 16 or something this messed w/ me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYqU3gAvvhs

this was the first thing I thought of when I clocked the title, probly cos I was listening to Faun Fables earlier. according to the comments this is a cover? didn't know that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGbeeoZ_ayg

I love that Semiramis album but I never thought of the circus listening to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRQhtINGXqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHgN502Y244

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQm1reEw-dM

This performance scared me half to death when I was 6 years old :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZxIm7xM_s8

have we seriously gone this long without a mr bungle song

impressively rubbish stuff, ilm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnLNXquIBVs

best song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSCq4pecwKs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7PNwLefMM

I've a vague idea some Piano Magic would fit the description. I'm sure there's a Tindersticks track too though perhaps that is more fairground than carnival.

Influenced by:
Eno-back in judy's jungle
Animal Collecrive-peacebone
Magazine-motorcade

I mean
Magazine-great beautician in the sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpnjcom99iQ

The Stranglers- waltzinblack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SNfdXQoSfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJs1zx0BWz4

'Where I Want To Be' from Chess

reminded of this by the Boyd Rice vs Tim Rice poll

the Flaming Lips - Felt Good To Burn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0MQbruifIE

all summer long we refused to die
we just slept and fucked and got high
and all we'd steal, we lit up on the ferris wheel

^^^that lips song is one of the best things they've ever done

The Cameos- Powercut

Combustible Edison - "Carnival of Souls"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtzhOkhjOg0

Silent Hill sountrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KW36U_G43g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhONueld26M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pk8fSMu-00