Every holiday sounds like something. Valentine’s sounds like Burt Bacharach. St. Patties like Lord of the Dance. And Christmas like…well…kind of like a children’s cult. Whether you hate Halloween (guilty!) or not, it’s still a great opportunity for a baller playlist. So don’t expect no love songs, no odes to nature and good will. It’s all about the sick sick depravity that overruns Earth in the month of October (and a bit of November for Día de los Muertos…can’t forget our roots amidst all this gosh darn cultural assimilation).
Our Jalogüín Playlist is about eerie weirdo loops, dirty fat beats, and sometimes…a children’s choir or two for prosperity. So listen to our carefully curated picks (chock full of some of your favorite Latin hell raisers like Café Tacuba, Juan Son, Maluca, etc.), 13 tracks that will for sure soundtrack your night in with old Cronenberg movies, or your night out doing body shots with a dude dressed like Jesus while you adjust the stalkings from your slutty Where’s Waldo costume, or even your day at work (gasp!) feigning interest in your tasks.
But this endeavor was also a nice exercise for us. Flexing our inner creeper is no easy feat, you find out some dark things about yourself that are best left in the closet. We won’t over share. Plus, we realized a thing or two about other stuff, like:
- Is it just me, or is everything Ceci Bastida doing pretty DAMN awesome?
- Cumbia is the sound of the devil.
- Juan Son could have been a witch in another life.
Happy haunted listening!
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1. DJ TAZ
“Danza Macabra”
If anybody out there is planning on doing a Halloween mixtape, I urge them to use this track as an opener. It has the best intro ever.
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2. ASTRO
“Le Golden Ballon”
“Le Golden Ballon” sounds off like a Chilean Jekyll and Hyde, two voices (both lead singer’s Andrés Nusser) dueling with each other.
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3. CECI BASTIDA
“Ellos Dicen (They Say)” [ft. Sabbo]
Israeli DJ and producer Sabbo gave Ceci Bastida’s “Ellos Dicen” a spin and transformed it into a grittier version of itself, like walking alone down a questionable alley.
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4. PORTER
“Hansel y Gretel’s Bollywood Story”
I can just see Hansel and Gretel boiling in a cauldron while Juan Son and company ravenously taste test the kid sauce. Yum.
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5. DAVE RATA
“Penumbra”
You could easily mistake Dave Rata’s Hallucigenia Vol. 1 for the soundtrack of a horror flick. “Penumbra” is like the scene where the protagonist is alone in the dank dungeon, tortured by her captor, as her mind is racing trying to plot an escape.
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6. OZOMATLI
“Cumbia de los Muertos”
These muertos are not walking zombies. The song is more Day of the Dead than Halloween, but it’s a great song anyway. And I can’t help but recall that scene in Never Been Kissed where Josie Grossie eats way too many pot brownies with rastafaris and does splits on stage. Classic.
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7. MARIA Y JOSE
“Semana Santa”
Religion is supposed to be scary sometimes. María y José definitely knew this when he made his debut album Espíritu Invisible, packed with dark, religiously-charged tunes like “Semana Santa,” which is like sitting in a confessional burdened by guilt.
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8. MALUCA
“Loca”
Leave it to a girl who calls herself “La Mala, La Bruja” to come up with a jam that, with its wonky synths, is equal parts dance-floor-ready, equal parts intimidating.
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9. DAVILA 666
“Mala”
I know, I know. “El Lobo” would have been the obvious choice. But “Mala” is a perfect song to slut it up to while picking out the right pair of fishnets to go with your latex hot pants. Plus, their name is already riddled with satanicness.
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10. CAFE TACUBA
“Rarotonga”
There’s strangeness in the namesake, along with sounds of scarecrows and cackling, all wrapped around the proclamation of “La vi morir.” Jalogüín should always include some Cafe Tacuba.
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11. TRIANGULO DE AMOR BIZARRO
“¿Quiénes Son Los Curanderos?”
And if you want more guilt-tripping religious talk, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro’s got plenty for you with “¿Quiénes Son Los Curanderos?” and its warning chorus, telling you to behave because Jesus is watching.
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12. KUMBIA QUEERS
“Kumbia Zombie”
Everybody likes zombies. Cumbia-dancing zombies have to be intrinsically more likable then.
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13. JUAN SON
“Mr. Owl”
Jaloguín Playlist MVP Juan Son does it again, this time solo. “Mr. Owl” is a dark fairy tale told in the shaky voice of a frightened child and the eerie voice of the owl that has been watching him from above. It’s delightfully creepy.
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