If you’re looking for a soundtrack to send that Halloween party of yours off with a bang then why not work yourself up to the witching hour with a suitably themed Halloween mash up mix. Nineteen suitably mixed tracks that fuse horror soundtracks with hip-hop and dance. Tons of film soundtrack samples chucked into the cauldron with bits and pieces of fire and brimstone styled rap from all over the shop. Not an immediately familiar soundtrack for the uninitiated but suitably dark enough for the occasion.

As if often the case with mixes of this nature a lot of it has its tongue planted firmly in its cheeky, along the way you’ll hear Dracula samples mixed with pitch black dub bass lines. Then it’s off into rockier territory with cutups featuring bands The Hives and I suspect I heard a bit of Oasis in there somewhere.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Halloween cut up without tracks like Monster Mash (nice little house backdrop tacked on to this) and Ghostbusters (mixed with Obie Trice). The fact that this is a mix for a specific occasion means it has something of a shelf life (unless you’ve got gothic tendencies, in which case you’ll be giving it a hammering after Halloween is over). However for the night itself it does the business.

Looking ahead to December White Rose Movement will be releasing the single Love Is A Number. I’ll tell you, its like new romanticism never happened. Think soaring vocals over a chilly slightly glitchy guitar backdrop and you have a half decent middleweight puncher of a single. Backed with mixes from the likes of Blackstrobe as well (yay).

Closer to the present day Union of Knives have an EP out November 4th, Operated On (the title track) is from their album Violence and Birdsong, Along with three new tracks, melodic stuff it too in a somewhat dark synth driven way. The title track for me however remains the best effort mixing the best sensibilities of Radiohead and Depeche Mode (brooding accompaniment and fragile Thom Yorke-esque vocals), however they bring enough of their own style and individuality to the table making this one to consider for your collection. Also this time round check out Ross Ross Ross by Sebastian a gorgeous slab of bass driven funky breaks that has a certain double jointedness about it in terms of being dance floor friendly (ironically if you’re a Mac user obtaining tracks via download then for this one avoid 7digital.com and its proprietary wma format, I couldn’t get the download to work, foolish of me considering it was available on iTunes).

Finally if you’re more inclined to drift towards a less electronic more “pop” vein of music have a go at Ali In The Jungle by The Hours (out Nov 6th), melodic with a killer lyric that name checks some of the last century’s better underdog scenarios (Ali and Foreman’s famous clash, Homer Simpson’s journey down the mountain, Beethoven’s deafness…et al). The cultural references alone make this an essential purchase and if it ain’t in your head yet it will be soon.

There’s enough there to keep you happy for the duration. So until next time ,Happy Halloween…