Almost anything by Ghoultown, a band that specializes in “Gothabilly” music: a blend of minor-keyed rockabilly, spaghetti western soundtrack twang, and mariachi music, all conjuring up horror-Western images: the dead rising from their graves on Boot Hill, zombie gunslingers, killer bandits stalking the desert, and real ghost riders in the sky.
Tom Waits has a lot of dark, sinister-sounding music. Listen to songs like the twangy “Goin’ Out West,” the noir-sounding “Jockey Full of Bourbon,” “Reeperbahn” (influenced by Weimar-era cabaret music, like Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill), and the self-explanatory “And the Earth Died Screaming.”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also specialize in dark, spooky, sinister – an Australian singer-songwriter obsessed with American South and its Gothic traditions. They have an entire album called Murder Ballads, based on the ancient songwriting tradition of songs of murder and death. One of my favorites is “Henry Lee,” a haunting duet between Nick and P.J. Harvey, where she kills him. He also sings a song called “The Mercy Seat,” about an innocent convict dying in the electric chair, which was covered (and made even more creepy and dark) by Johnny Cash.
Mr. Bungle, one of the many side projects of Faith No More singer Mike Patton, combines everything from heavy metal to swing to funk to creepy, evil-sounding carnival music. Patton is a very versatile vocalist, who can do everything from Sinatra-style crooning to demented growling and howling.
Portishead’s music is extremely lush and sexy, but there’s no denying a lot of it is on the eerie, haunting, “not quite right” side. Some call their style “trip-hop,” which uses jazz, electronica, samples, and what sounds like spy movie soundtrack music to create a smoky, sultry sound, almost always in minor keys, led by the ethereal voice of Beth Gibbons. They make great music for having sex with the femme fatale of your dreams, and then pursuing her killer through fog-covered urban streets fraught with danger. Massive Attack and Morcheeba have a lot of similar-sounding stuff, but Portishead is my favorite.
Finally, Morphine, a 3-piece band with a distinctive “low” sound, consisting of the late Mark Sandman on vocals and 2-string bass, Dana Colley on booming baritone saxophone, and drums. A lot of their stuff was minor, mournful, and melancholy.
Wow, it turns out almost all the music I love could be considered “sinister”-sounding! I hope others chime in, validating my choices and adding their own, but I’ll probably be back with more later. I’m a sucker for any dark, minor, cinematic music.