DescentBB

I need mood-setting, slightly depressing music. I'm thinking stuff along the lines of The Mars Volta's "Televators". Any suggestions?

There are some parts of this that you might like.

Theres also some movie scores by Alan Silvestri that might be to your liking. ("My First Bus Ride" and "We're In Trouble" from 'The Mummy Returns' for example)

Peter Gabriel's No Way Out is somewhat of a downer.

I've always liked the soundtrack to the computer game Riven. I'm not sure if you could find it anywhere (I saw it by chance in Borders), but some of the music on it is very moody and almost depressing.

DCrazy wrote:I need mood-setting, slightly depressing music. I'm thinking stuff along the lines of The Mars Volta's "Televators". Any suggestions?

When I read your subject I thought you wanted custom music...but if it's commercial music you're after, you didn't say if it had to be instrumental or not.

Anyway, "mood-setting" and "depressing" in the same sentence makes me instantly think of Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead, you know...the various trip-hop artists. Portishead's self-titled CD is especially "depressing"; Massive Attack's Mezzanine might be good for your purposes too.

I always found Bad Religion to be a downer style of music, no wait, that's more of an angry style.

Try listening to some Orbital.

DCrazy wrote:I need mood-setting, slightly depressing music. I'm thinking stuff along the lines of The Mars Volta's "Televators". Any suggestions?

the mars volta gives me wood. such an underrated band compared to the garbage now a days.

if you want depressing dig out some 80's the smiths records.... excellent quality wrist slitting stuff.

Massive Attack i usually wear my headphones to sleep with some of their tracks playing.

Have you listened to any Tori Amos? She doesn't have a lot of male fans, I guess because of the usual subjects of her lyrics, but she's an excellent songwriter and usually slightly depressing, and I think would fit in with the style you're looking for. Little Earthquakes or Under the Pink are the usual albums people start with, but you might be crazy enough to prefer Boys for Pele.

I also second the Peter Gabriel recommendation, but I especially recommend Security for depression, Passion for mellow instrumental music, and the first untitled album (the one with the car) for quirkiness.

Autechre - 'Amber' (Beautiful sad melodies, and without the glitchy stuff of the late Autechre)
Godspeed You Black Emporer! - 'Yanqui U.X.O' (might be a bit too leftwing for you but it's mostly instrumental anyways).
Fields of the Nephilim - Elizium (the only perfect album I have ever heard. Songs are about 8 to 16 minutes, each. You should not be bothered by early 90ies Goth, though, although songwriting and the musicians' skill is more like Prog-Rock. They really manage to depress you, but lift you back out at the end of a song --- they are masters of climax/resolution).

Nephilim sounds like a bad version of Iron Maiden.

I've heard some Godspeed You Black Emperor (a left-wing friend of mine introduced me to it ) and I don't remember disliking it. I'll try it again.

Autechre... hmm...

I've listened to some Tori Amos and her music is landscapey. Definitely a good thing.

Those soundtrack recommendations are also along the lines of what I'm looking for...

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them all out.

aphex twin - b+w stripesII (off of his SAWII album)

ENYA

Coincidentally, my band recorded a song called Enya that is just the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

Also, I'm listening to some Front 242 right now... Skinny Puppy was a bit of a turn-off but this stuff seems pretty good. The "Requiem for a Dream" soundtrack is similar in style and appeal.