OCTOBER 29, 2011 3:13PM

October 29 - Translucent Black Capes Back on the Rack

Rate: 4 Flag

I wouldn't blame you if you're rolling your eyes right now.  Bauhaus's "Bela Lugosi's Dead" has possibly become a stock Halloween cliche, no matter how much you enjoy its Gothic bombastic pomp (and I do).
Likewise, the French lounge-core act Nouvelle Vague may seem to be a cute one-trick pony of no real substance, a band dedicated to making breathy, loungey bossa-nova covers of punk, post-punk and new wave songs.  If you don't believe they could go far enough with this, check out their cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck."
But here they take on Bauhaus's classic, and it works because of the eerie organ, guest singer Dea Li's vocals which to me suggest Lucy Westenra's point of view, and because they cut the indulgent prog rock length of the original track (the Sisters of Mercy are also known for indulgent song lengths).
The montage of clips from 1932's Dracula is a beautiful compliment.  Those Universal Pictures Golden Age horror classics have a lot of impressionistic beauty to them, perhaps their biggest value; a possible future topic for this blog.

Author tags:

31 days of halloween, travel, belief/religion, fright, spooky, gothic, music, fiction, horror fiction, horror movies, terror, horror, salon, open salon, chillerpop, halloween, too drunk to fuck, dead kennedys, vampires, post-punk, loungecore, samhain, all souls day, all saints day, all hallow's eve, bela lugosi, bauhaus, bela lugosi's dead, universal pictures, dea li, nouvelle vague, dracula

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This is pretty eerie and atmospheric; the music does complement the movie well, although I've never heard of this group. But for some reason this whole combination (movie, song, lead singer's voice) reminded me of another tune: What Your Are by Drill. Also sort of appropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow4S5jetaDY

Margaret Feike

October 29, 2011 06:47 PM

I like the idea of a future blog on that topic. Your insights are opening a different world to me.

Rita Bourland

October 29, 2011 07:36 PM

A breathy, lounge cover of the DK's TDTF? Okay, must check that out, chuckling already. Drac/Bela goes nicely with Dracula ... a neat cover but I still love the Bauhaus original.

In the early 80s, I dubbed in a segment of "Bela Lagosi's Dead" as the background music for my video copy of Ed Wood's "Glen or Glenda" ... it worked well.

VariousArtists

October 30, 2011 12:06 AM

Somehow I missed this, but now that I have found it, I'm keeping it! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I cannot wait to check out more music and it is a beautiful compliment to the film.

Midwest Muse