____twoism

BoC isn't really known for being a creepy band, and they have few tracks that could be considered creepy compared to Aphex or Autechre. There do seem to be a few unsettling ones, however, which brings me to this question: which BoC tracks do you all consider to be the creepiest? Why? What sort of mental images do they bring into your mind, what do they remind you of?

I'll start with a couple I find to be a bit unsettling:

Opening The Mouth: I used to skip this one a lot, something about the breathy voices still creep me out a little. It's like discovering an ancient artifact you just weren't supposed to, messing with things you don't know about. I still have trouble making it through the whole thing without feeling uncomfortable.

You Could Feel The Sky: There is almost nothing about this track that doesn't sound creepy to me. The vocal pad falls right down into the uncanny valley, something about the “it's in your head/take my hand” sample is just really troubling, and the screaming towards the end also contributes to the mood. It sounds like being in a field in the middle of the night, seeing faint faces that aren't there, the sky closing in on you.

Semena Mertvykh: I always skip this one. Before I heard it, I saw people describing it as bleak and depressing and I had a vague idea of what it might sound like. What it actually sounded like was way different, and much bleaker than I had envisioned, in a different sort of way. I've only listened to that song once or twice.

Telepath: The processing on the voice is a bit unsettling, as are the weird background voices. It's a really cool track, but a bit eerie.

House of Abin'adab: I never found it all that creepy until recently, now it seems a bit unsettling. Reminds me of being in a dark basement, looking out of the window and seeing lights in the distance.

Tell me what your thoughts on the matter are, I'll be very interested to hear them!

In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country. that main synth line always haunted me. also i get the waco vibes from this one moreso than any of the other ones.

is in the details

Beware the friendly stranger

See Ya Later

BOC isn't known for being creepy? The majority of their songs are creepy, or at least dark.. to me at least. Anyway, creepiest ones i'd say are

House of Abin
bizarre unsettling sound, always skip it

Beware the friendly stranger
severely creepy sound. Probably the creepiest song i've ever heard, but also pretty in a way.

Intro to everything you do is a balloon
Super somber and creepy melody.

Diving station
Contrast of the wobbling piano and background noise makes it the most uncomfortable track i've heard.

The color of the fire
I don't think I need to explain this one.

Semema
extremely bleak and depressing sound.

Concourse
This one could either be seen as creepy, or very pretty and mysterious.

Chinook
Sounds evil and abrasive. Also reminds me of Requiem for a Dream soundtrack.

House of Abin'Adab
I love seeing that this piece creeps everyone else out, too! It sounds like a carsick child in a fever dream. So good!

Circle
I want to hear the full version of this more than anything else in their catalog. It sounds so cold, haunting, claustrophobic, and isolated. It's perfect.

The Smallest Weird Number
It sounds like the opening scene of some old cartoon where the camera pans across a peaceful scene of a meadow in the morning ... and then it all melts.

Seven Forty Seven
Such an intense, swirling, psychedelic journey. There is so much happening in this song that is leaves me feeling uneasy and overwhelmed. Particularly this weird, muffled sounding string line that comes in around the 4:15 mark. Something frightening about it. Cuts me to the bone and I love every second of it.

Beware the Friendly Stranger

That's why!

mechanismj wrote:House of Abin'Adab
I love seeing that this piece creeps everyone else out, too! It sounds like a carsick child in a fever dream. So good!

Circle
I want to hear the full version of this more than anything else in their catalog. It sounds so cold, haunting, claustrophobic, and isolated. It's perfect.

The Smallest Weird Number
It sounds like the opening scene of some old cartoon where the camera pans across a peaceful scene of a meadow in the morning ... and then it all melts.

Seven Forty Seven
Such an intense, swirling, psychedelic journey. There is so much happening in this song that is leaves me feeling uneasy and overwhelmed. Particularly this weird, muffled sounding string line that comes in around the 4:15 mark. Something frightening about it. Cuts me to the bone and I love every second of it.

Beware the Friendly Stranger

That's why!

Ah yeah Circle is another creepy one I forgot about. I think Circle was actually an early version of house of Abin now that I compare them, or maybe the other way around. They both seem to have the same general note pattern, and similar wailing sounds.

Smokes Quantity always gives me an under-the-skin feeling. Like when something's not right but you can't figure out why.

Opening the Mouth - The first time I listened to Geogaddi I was alone in a big empty field surrounded by trees. It was the middle of the afternoon but hearing this one still unnerved me.

Corsair has a kind of creepy but beautiful sound at the same time. It's more haunting in a good way than creepy, I think.

B06 & B08 from R35TT are both kind of creepy. B08 sounds really cool though.

Music for Pylons is a bit creepy at first...I really like it, sounds like an abandoned factory at night or something.

The Devil Is in the Details sounded really creepy when I first heard it but recently it's started to sound almost calming. Strange...

Those are my picks.

Nonononono, Semena Mertvykh is the best, yes its "creepy" but its one of their most immersive tune they've made, sends chill down my spine, I love it.

Diving station as to be the most calm thing they've done after 5D, I don't get why some of you get a creepy vibe from it

TheStatPow wrote:Nonononono, Semena Mertvykh is the best, yes its "creepy" but its one of their most immersive tune they've made, sends chill down my spine, I love it.

Diving station as to be the most calm thing they've done after 5D, I don't get why some of you get a creepy vibe from it

Well he was asking about creepiest boc tracks, so Semena fits that bill. Also Diving station is very uncomfortable, it's caused because of the extreme contrast of a calm piano and strange background noise. It makes you feel like the piano is trying to cover up something very dark, and you're waiting for something to happen.

sherbert head

Diving Station sounds like the hold music for the boat ride over the river Styx.

The Devil is in the Details, Opening of the Mouth, and especially Dawn Chorus - like disorienting heat in an ominous summer.

Man I loved those Henry Kane scenes in Poltergeist 2 when I was a kid. Probably planted the seed of being fascinated with cults and their leaders.

In terms of creepy tracks, A13, Statue of Liberty, In the Annexe, You Could Feel the Sky, A is to B as B is to C are all in the conversation, along with what I consider to be a trilogy of sorts, House of Abin'adab, Circle and Uritual.

Mexicola wrote:Diving Station sounds like the hold music for the boat ride over the river Styx.

I mentioned this a while ago but I put geogaddi in full over the 1912 silent film rendition of Dante's Inferno and, if one is patient, it honestly fits up. 'A god with hooves a god with horns' is played the moment you see the devil and so so many other things. The devil is in the details is accompanied by snakes moving in time with the 'beat'. Little glitches in the reel of film from the original production are accompanied by randomly placed sounds in the tracks etc etc. More than anything else, each song fits aesthetically over what is being shown and the film ends at around halfway through corsair (the final track on regular releases). Oh and over the horizon radar plays as Dante recognises a deceased friend of his suffering below him and is helpless to do anything.

Will anyone actually legit sit and watch this instead of watching the first ten minutes and saying that it doesn't fit very well, it doesn't become uncanny and interesting until after they have left purgatory.

I will upload it in parts on youtube if people show an interest

Valotonin wrote:I mentioned this a while ago but I put geogaddi in full over the 1912 silent film rendition of Dante's Inferno and, if one is patient, it honestly fits up. 'A god with hooves a god with horns' is played the moment you see the devil and so so many other things. The devil is in the details is accompanied by snakes moving in time with the 'beat'. Little glitches in the reel of film from the original production are accompanied by randomly placed sounds in the tracks etc etc. More than anything else, each song fits aesthetically over what is being shown and the film ends at around halfway through corsair (the final track on regular releases). Oh and over the horizon radar plays as Dante recognises a deceased friend of his suffering below him and is helpless to do anything.

Will anyone actually legit sit and watch this instead of watching the first ten minutes and saying that it doesn't fit very well, it doesn't become uncanny and interesting until after they have left purgatory.

I will upload it in parts on youtube if people show an interest

Do it!! If it's as synchronous as you say that sounds like an amazing experience!

15Dreams wrote:
Do it!! If it's as synchronous as you say that sounds like an amazing experience!

Started up and now I'm on my way. I will find a geogaddi-related thread to post it in for all that may wish to see it.

Here you go:

Be patient and you shall be rewarded. The first ten minutes are relatively benign until they start getting deeper into the circles. I would say twelve minutes in is a good place to start for those more easily distracted.

Mexicola wrote:Diving Station sounds like the hold music for the boat ride over the river Styx.

nope

Yup

Diving Station never did it for me in terms of creepiness. In the Annexe and Dawn Chorus, definitely. The first time I heard those rushes of noise in Dawn Chorus I was thinking they were going to get louder and louder. Nerve shattering.

I'm going to add Gyroscope to the list. The track always seemed a little bit more frightening after you find out that some of it was recreated from a dream.