Space Witches (Halloween Lantern #4)

An unexpected visit came today from a host of 1950s retro-kitsch black cats and witches riding space rockets, (and some not-so-happy aliens), making an appearance at the Bindlegrim studios. This is style #4 vintage-style lantern (imagery with a ton of tiny details) that will have a possible listing this weekend...!

The gallery widget above examines each of the 12 panes (which are each different from one another) in closer detail... and here are a half-dozen photos showing the imagery in the round...

Also...  a short side note to stay tuned for a couple of Bindlegrim bagatelles. Here is some imagery from the second one under development..

There seems to be a bit of a jazz theme happening here. What started out at first as a grumpy moon covering his ears from the sound of raucous skeletons, instead transformed into a high-spirited band leader directing his quartet of band musicians.  I would hazard a guess that "Rumble Bones" is picking on a selection of tunes found on Bindlegrim's vintage Halloween music radio:

Witches, Rockets, and Bindlegrim Radio Waves

With The Haint House Halloween Hex Lantern #3 ending today on ebay, it was maybe past time to get to work on style #4... and this time it's a countdown to outer space adventure featuring witches and rockets! Below are a couple of images from the 12 being created for this new Halloween lantern, (and, btw, for those who might be keeping track, version #1 The Pumpkin Dream & #2 The Cornish Litany will be listed for sale shortly in the coming weeks).

This upcoming version (number four) was inspired by a series of 1950's plastic candy containers with goggle-clad witches riding space-age vehicles. Here's an example of these vintage pieces from the amazing collection of flickr member ghostofhalloweenpast:

With inspiration like that, it's hard not to have fun creating this space-age imagery, while listening to some moog and theremin, with spacey retro lounge music like Space Capades: Ultra Lounge 3, or instrumental rock like Telstar by The Tornadoes, or the darker side of eerie electronic experimental music with Louis and Bebe Barron's Forbidden Planet soundtrack... to name a few.

And speaking of music, that seems like a perfect segue-way to mention Bindegrim radio, which is now broadcasting on a DIY internet broadcaster station that I've enjoyed now for many years called Live365, and is featuring alot of the vintage Halloween music I've been discovering over the past many years.

Currently the Bindlegrim station is in construction-development mode, so the playlist may seem a little limited at this time, but I think audio folks will enjoy what is currently available. I have started off with a collection of Halloween-themed tunes from the 1920's to the 1950's, and, in future, plan to expand the music from those years as well as into larger time-spans reaching into the 1960's and beyond. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the humble musical beginnings, and feedback is always welcome.

Rock Schlock Vintage Halloween Music

Taking a break here from personal projects... (to look at a hobby of hunting down the more alternative side of holiday audio and video - those bits belonging to the more obscure catalog of holiday kitsch and novelty). At some point I'll have to create a more defined list of these interesting links.

For a couple of years I was mixing together old Halloween-themed music from the 1920's to 1940's. (See a short post on these really old tunes at Halloween Music at 78 RPM). This was great fun to share at Halloween... and really stunned people to hear that such songs existed for the holiday. (Most of us all hear the same old standard lists when it comes to jazz or 50's music.... and I'm so glad the internet has allowed us to get less "encapsulated views" of these eras).

grim (cover photo for a mix of vintage Halloween tunes)

As I started searching the internet for more content for these mixes... searching for terms like "ghost" or "Halloween" and the years.... I think I must have stumbled across one of my now favorite radio stations WFMU. This station has some awesome playlists archived! One of my favorites for novelty Halloween music (aside from the sadly defunct Greasy Kid Stuff) is a show called Fool's Paradise:

WFMU - Fool's Paradise

The show hosted by Rex Doane, is awesome all year, but check out the shows dated at the end of October for Halloween rock schlock and novelty sounds from the fifties and sixties. There's a two hour show for each year from 1999 up to the present!

Seriously cool connections to this station include the WFMU Ichiban (Japanese for #1) blog:

WFMU's Rock and Soul Ichiban Blog

Amd this artist and Ichiban blogger:

FLICKR: JRPOPARTZ