We have long been making mixtapes, but have found that the loose themes of seasons/covers songs are not fruitful enough to post regularly. Variations on a Theme will be a monthly post where we make a list of songs that fit a specific topic. We hope to get creative with the themes, so expect a wide range of weird and wonderful subjects explored through songs.
The second, and most important part of this feature is reader participation. We want to hear the songs that we have missed or forgotten, so yell at us on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, send us an email, write us a letter! We’ll share the suggestions, and if we get enough we might even make a Readers Mix to go along with our own.
For our second theme in the Variations… series we have gone for Dante’s Inferno. Between the five resident WtD writers we have assembled a nice varied list that ranges from electronic and folk to metalcore and angry, noisy spoken word. Rest assured though that they are all listenable, entertaining songs in their own right. There are probably other, better sonic representations of hell out there which are omitted 1) they are practically unlistenable, and 2) often made by misogynistic/misanthropic people we’d rather not give coverage to (although the curious among you should google Stalaggh and Gorgoroth).
The five of us have only read bits and pieces of Inferno, so don’t expect a detailed, blow-by-blow musical reenactment of the entire plot.* Instead, we’ve picked a selection of songs that go some way to capturing the feel of the piece while tracking the general narrative. So we start in a forest, take the ferry across Acheron and begin the descent, passing some weird and hellish things (listen to that Guilt song!) before ending up at Satan himself.
You can listen to the playlist in the player below. What songs would you have included? What tracks just scream HELL to you?
Tracklisting:
1. Lost in the Chrome Forest – Chrome Sparks
2. Charon – Keaton Henson
3. Oh God! Everybody’s Dead – Down I Go
4. Winged/Wicked Things – Sunset Rubdown
5. Worms – Youth Lagoon
6. The Devil’s Crayon – Wild Beasts
7. Demon Host – Timber Timbre
8. Count to Nine – Kong
9. Mephisto in the Water – Jenny Hval
10. Heretics – Andrew Bird
11. Fiery Death – Siskiyou
12. Ghosts Will Burn – Parts & Labor
13. I am a Vampire – Right Away! Great Captain
14. Under Ice – Kate Bush
15. Satan Made a Mansion – Coma Cinema
16. Bloody Murderer – Cursive
17. Piggy – Guilt
18. Lucifer’s Symphony – Japandroids
* Also, please excuse any crimes against the Dante canon.