An Album Recommendation: If You're Sick of Horror Movies, Listen to 'Visions of Bodies Being Burned' by clipping. this Halloween
It's a little embarrassing, but in spite of countless hours spent listening to music and curating playlists in the two years I've spent as DJ at UIC Radio, I don't possess any knowledge of musical theory or really even the language to talk about music in an evocative or critical manner. It's a shame, because Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping. is one of my favorite experimental hip hop albums of all time, and everything I want to say about how good it is would read like the literary equivalent of gesticulating passionately but wordlessly at a vinyl copy of the album while occasionally hitting you in the face with it to drive the point home.
Let me say this. If you don't like hip hop, you should listen to this album. If you aren't a fan of experimental or noise music, you should listen to this album. If you have ears, you should listen to this album, and if all you possess are two shallow pits on either side of your face where ears once were but no longer reside, you should at least read the lyrics to each song and try and picture a melody.
Visions of Bodies Being Burned is a masterclass in storytelling through music. There is no overarching story it's trying to tell, the only theme is horror, making it like a series of flash-fiction short stories running the gamut from She Bad, where a group of friends find a cabin in the woods, not knowing it's haunted by the ghost of a vengeful witch, or Check the Lock, in which a man spirals into paranoia after coming, probably through unsavory means, into a large amount of wealth.
Daveed Diggs is, above all else, a storyteller and a poet, and each song paints an extremely vivid picture of the horrors its characters are experiencing. From their surroundings to their fear and pain, everything is laid out in such macabre detail all while Diggs narrates their stories in a cheeky, irreverent tone, like a serial killer chasing their prey knowing they can't get away.
Look, I know you've seen Scream. You've probably seen Nightmare on Elm Street too, and Halloween, Chucky, Friday the 13th, etc., etc. You might be planning your umpteenth rewatch this month to get into the mood of the spooky season. If you want a unique horror experience, though, put aside some time to listen to Visions of Bodies Being Burned in full, and let the narration paint 13 different horror short films in your head as you listen.
Also, try not to think about Hamilton.
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