Thomas Ligotti's The Bungalow House

I'm thrilled to announce that I've been given a tremendous opportunity to score the soundtrack of a reading of Thomas Ligotti's The Bungalow House as a forthcoming vinyl-and-cassette release. Ligotti is a longtime literary hero of mine and my relationship with his work goes back twenty years, so it still seems unreal to me that this amazing opportunity has surfaced. He is one of ten living writers that are part of the ongoing Penguin Classics book series, and Penguin has already republished his first two brilliant short story collections, Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe as one book. His work is incredibly nightmarish, bleak, dreamlike and most often about characters outside of what is perceived to be normal. The writing is in part connected to the cosmic horror tradition of H.P. Lovecraft as well as the gothic horror of Edgar Allan Poe but expands heavily on those masters with a surrealism found in the work of authors such as Bruno Schulz and Roland Topor. Ligotti is also known for his association with David Tibet's legendary music project Current 93, where they collaborated on some enormously powerful works together in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Penguin will be republishing Ligotti's philosophical horror masterpiece, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, later this year.

The reading of The Bungalow House is wonderfully performed by horror author, voice actor and ventriloquist, Jon Padgett. He is a longtime friend and associate of Ligotti and I highly recommend his excellent debut collection of horror short stories, The Secret of Ventriloquism. I scored the soundtrack to The Bungalow House, playing acoustic and electric guitars, piano, synthesizers, harmonium, singing bowl and dragon bell. Additional sound by Lee Bartow who provided voice and effects processing during the dream monologue reading section on the vinyl version. Barry Knob masterfully produced the entirety of the score and also contributed electronic strings, bass and effects processing.

Author and Thomas Ligotti scholar, Matt Cardin has contributed a stunning piece about The Bungalow House and it is easily one of the most beautifully written works I’ve ever read about Ligotti’s fiction. As if that wasn’t enough, Jonathan Dennison has conducted and included a great new interview with Ligotti. This LP is a dream release in every possible way.

A special pre-order for The Bungalow House is now live on the Cadabra Records site and is open until Friday, February 2nd. This special, "The Bungalow Tape" edition includes a limited cassette release consisting of alternative material in addition to the LP release. There is a regular sale ("The Derelict Factory" edition) as well for the vinyl-only release.  All direct orders from the label will also include a 18 X 24 inch poster of the unbelievably awesome cover art by the talented Jason Barnett. 

Order The Bungalow House HERE.

Listen to an audio premiere on Modern Vinyl of the The Bungalow House which contains the first five minutes of the 55-minute album HERE.

The record label releasing The Bungalow House is Cadabra Records. In my estimation, it is one of the most exciting labels out there. Cadabra specializes in what is aptly self-described as "nightmares on vinyl" and categorized as "spoken arts." Some other releases include assorted classic works of Robert W. Chambers, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Ashton Smith, Roland Topor and others. From the all-new and original paintings, to the phenomenal readings and atmospheric soundtracks, Cadabra is a totally singular operation that releases exceptional products with much attention to detail on every level. The sound quality of each release is top-notch as well. (Cadabra has recently been awarded "best sound quality" awards in 2017 as determined by Modern Vinyl.) Beyond that, each release also serves as a striking physical object. From a musical standpoint, I'm also beside myself to have The Bungalow House released by the same label that puts out scores by Maurizio Guarini of Goblin as well as my all-time favorite soundtrack composer, Fabio Frizzi, best known for composing the soundtrack to Lucio Fulci's extraordinary movie The Beyond as well as the majority of Fulci's other most celebrated films. In short, label head Jonathan Dennison is a visionary. I'm honored and excited to work with him.