The excellent site Open Culture published a post yesterday pointing to the out-of-print album, Closed on Account of Rabies: Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The recording, released in 1997, asked actors and singers including Christopher Walken, Jeff Buckley, Gabriel Byrne, Marianne Faithfull and Iggy Pop to read the works of the early American gothic author over varying atmospheric sounds and music.
The results are, needless to say, dramatic.
Below, the late Buckley takes listeners through Ulalume, leaving them to await Buckley's yet unmatched falsetto:
And here is Iggy Pop's bellowing take on the classic Tell-Tale Heart:
You can stream the complete album over at Paris Records.
Related:
Louise Burns shares her Shuffle Playlist, featuring Iggy Pop