Music Tuesday: Ryan Adams goes goth, haunted music and more

As Halloween approaches, youtube.com/music is getting overtaken by a succession of demons, vampires, ghosts and ghouls. (Oh my!) We launch our creepy tunes today with a comical video and playlist from singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, who unveils his love for all things black metal, and then we explore a musical movement that bases itself on the notion of being haunted.

Ryan Adams Goes Goth
The alt-country crooner returned earlier this month with a lovely album that re-establishes him as a roots musician worth listening to. While the singer-songwriter loves him some acoustic guitars and heartfelt songs, when Halloween approaches, Adams cranks up the death metal and consorts with demons from other dimensions. F'reals.



Introducing Hauntology
We thought it was time to explore a genre that’s based on, as some have said, the logic of the ghost, and the uneasy coexistence of the past and the present. “Hauntology” is music that flickers at the edge of your vision and jostles lost memories. Named for a concept first introduced by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, hauntological music is what it sounds like: music that's haunted by the past, invaded by spectres even as it strives to live in the present. There's no easy definition, nor is it a neatly defined musical movement. That said, many artists (particularly British electronic artists) fit into its wavering confines. Check out some of the best, spookiest videos this genre-that's-not-a-genre has to offer.



The Goat Rodeo Sessions
This week’s featured video has no overdubs and no Auto-Tune...and we can guarantee you nobody’s taking their shirt off. But don’t let that dissuade you from watching the debut video from this bluegrass/classical supergroup. Yes, you read that right. The great cellist Yo-Yo Ma teams with Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers; Edgar Meyer, who is easily one of the world’s greatest bass players; and fiddler Stuart Duncan for an album. “Attaboy” captures the group’s synergy live, as well as the beautiful home it finds between the artists’ respective genres. Because sometimes all you need is good music. Here it is.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator.”