If you simply have to have candy this Halloween, why not try Candylion? Sweeter than an all-day Gobstopper, gummier than six sticks of Bazooka, Gruff Rhys and Lisa Jen won’t scare you, ring your doorbell and yell at you, or even make you wear a silly costume. They might cut and fold some paper lions, play a wee set of bells, and make adorable faces at each other though. Perfect for screening at the next meeting of the Halloween Haters Club.

Surely there are fewer less scary, creepy, spooky, or ooky words ever sung than “A penguin and carnation/A lemon and Dalmatian/Though I look for inspiration/My favorite combination’s/Candylion”?

It’s practically November, which means a nip in the air and colorful leaves — or no leaves at all — for lots of people, but you’d never know it from Panda Bear’s new video, “Comfy in Nautica.” The clip for Person Pitch’s opening track is dappled in sunlight and sunny harmonies, lapping waves and overlapping sounds, and zooming sound effects echoed by the tricks the skateboarder pulls off as the video unfolds. The haze and lens flares just add to the feeling of endless summer — whether it’s actually here, or just a memory.

The six or so months after Hip Hop Is Dead was released, it looked as if Nas‘ statements were coming true. It’s not that there was a lot of truly bad stuff flooding the market (minus this um, masterpiece), there just wasn’t that much happening at all. A couple of lackluster albums from artists like Fabolous, Paul Wall, and Timbaland, a pretty quiet underground presence, and the crackdown on the mixtape circuit all seemed to point in the direction of a decline; rap was going downhill, and fast. Thankfully, the momentum in the second half of the year appears to indicate an upswing. The “showdown” between Fiddy and Kanye helped to bring hip-hop back into the limelight and mainstream consciousness (NPR’s Steve Inskeep saying “Mr. Cent” is possibly the funniest thing you’ll hear all year), and with upcoming releases from Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Wu-Tang, and hopefully Nas, 2007 may very well end on a bright note. Here are a few albums that have come out in the past three months that help restore a bit of faith in the genre.

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Over the past week, we here at AMG have wracked our (tasty) brains compiling a list of creepy, crazy tunes to help our readers set the mood for their Halloween celebrations. The creative feedback from our readers inspired us to cap off our series today with one more set of ten songs. (You can find our previous lists here and here.) As always, there’s a little something for everyone, but it’s far from definitive — feel free to help out your fellow revelers by leaving your own suggestions in the comments. Have a fun, safe and scary Halloween!

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Dim those bright lights just a little bit today, because a star is missing from the firmament. That’s right, celebrity (and singer and actor) Robert Goulet has died at the age of 73, while awaiting a lung transplant.

So, while you’re raising a drink, feast on the AMG-sanctioned greatest hits of his 50-year career, which takes you all the way from Camelot to Pixar. (And for his best work, if not the most popular, check out the disc that includes two of his solid early-’60s LPs, Two of Us/Begin to Love.)

• If Ever I Would Leave You [from Camelot] (sample)
• C’Est Moi [from Camelot] (sample)
• What Kind of Fool Am I? (sample)
• Something’s Gotta Give (sample)
• Here’s That Rainy Day (sample)
• Make Someone Happy (sample)
• The Impossible Dream (sample)
• You’ve Got a Friend in Me [from Toy Story 2] (sample)

Since fans had been asking why it had been months since Mikey Dread made any public appearances, the DJ/performer/reggae advocate’s record label Dread at the Controls issued a press release explaining it’s a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that Mikey and his wife Monika welcomed a healthy baby boy into their life this past October 12th. “The bad news is that Mikey Dread has been diagnosed with a Brain Tumor,” the press release explained. “He is in the care of the best Doctors at Duke University in North Carolina and is undergoing chemotherapy. Mikey is working towards recovery and does not give up his faith in God.”

Anyone familiar with Mikey can tell you that besides all the great work he’s done under his own name or with the Clash (try “Bankrobber” off the Singles collection or the dub cuts on Sandinista!) that his greatest gift could be his ability to communicate love of reggae music in a playful, informative, and intoxicating manner. Try his podcasts for a taste, then check this ridiculously fun flash animation, grab yourself a record from the record box, and let the music take over. Get well soon Mikey, we need you at the controls!

So, it’s Halloween Eve, otherwise known by citizens of Detroit as Devil’s Night. Seems like a pretty appropriate time to throw together a list of music influenced by the Devil himself. Let’s skip over the obvious numbers like Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” or Mötley Crüe’s “Shout at the Devil,” and dissect the songs that Christian fundamentalist groups really find freaky. These are the tunes that sneak praises of the evil overlord into our unsuspecting subconscious minds by means of subliminal messages recorded backwards into the record’s grooves. Essentially the theory is that when a message is reversed, it’s undetectable by the left hemisphere of a person’s brain, but their right side can decipher it and save it for usage later. (Rettelswen GMA eht ot ebircsbus.) If you remember, this was a big deal in the ’80s, when several rockers were taken to court under the premise that their music caused listeners to commit unspeakable crimes. Judas Priest’s singer Rob Halford had the perfect response to the accusations, explaining that if this was his actual intention, he would have embedded the message, “Buy this album.”

At the same time, if artists aren’t responsible for the messages that we hear when we spin our turntables the wrong way, then where are they coming from? Are they simply imagined? Is it coincidental that some of these lyrics are more meaningful backwards than forwards? Are these sentences just phonetic coincidences or is this the work of… hmmm… could it be… Satan?!!! Here’s a top ten list of scariest shout-outs to the man downstairs, complete with samples. Feel free to post your thoughts, comments, and experiences with the occult below.

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The Best of Soul Train episode aired across various parts of the U.S. the weekend of October 20 — yes, we’re still a week behind — was originally broadcast on June 8, 1974. This was the Staple Singers’ second of four appearances; given their love for the Soul Train Gang and the Gang’s enthusiasm for the Staples, you’d think the Staples were ambassadors not just for gospel or soul music, but the entire human race. Bunny Sigler, aka Bundino Siggalucci, who was promoting his first album for Philadelphia International — where he had co-written a handful of songs for the O’Jays albums Back Stabbers and Ship Ahoy — was the other guest. Sigler never had the stature of PIR’s Gamble & Huff, or even McFadden & Whitehead, but he eventually became a significant Salsoul label associate, working with Instant Funk, Double Exposure, and Loleatta Holloway.

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