"MAD WORLD" MICHAEL ANDREWS FEAT. GARY JULES (2002)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Donnie Darko

“Mad World” is one of my all-time favorite Tears For Fears anthems. The opening electronic beat, apocalyptic synth overtures and ominous vocal delivery gave the new wave movement a new voice and a new mood. I didn’t think a cover could ever be greater than the original, but the Michael Andrew take for the Donnie Darko soundtrack exceeded all my expectations. It was a perfect cover to complement the dark, sad end scene in the film.

By stripping down the sound and slowing down the RPMs, Michael Andrews created a unique film score that brought TFF’s profound lyrics to the forefront. Like what Johnny Cash did with Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”, the deliberately slower pace in Andrews’ vision for “Mad World” gave the lyrics a harder, darker edge—and prove that, as great as the music was, the words of the song have always been the most powerful thing about the song.

“And I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had.”

"DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'" JOURNEY (1981)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Show: The Sopranos

What an incredible voice. The things Steve Perry can do with his voice are incredible. He can belt it. He can go ballad. He has the vibrato. And he seems to have unlimited range, going higher and higher and higher. “Don’t Stop Believin’” is one of the most iconic songs of the eighties – a song that brings with it a deep sense of nostalgia for me. It has a way of lifting my spirits every time. And if I could sing remotely close to Perry’s key, I would be singing this all the time.

“Don’t Stop Believin’”, as great as it is, was a bit of an unexpected choice for the final scene of one of the greatest television shows in history. In a gut-wrenching scene, I could sense the end was near as Tony put a quarter into the jukebox at the diner to play the Journey anthem. Season after season, Tony’s family started to feel like family. To think of this scene as their final meal together is too much to swallow. The end scene was simultaneously too much and not enough.

"INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS" STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK (1967)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

The 60’s sounded like a concoction of different genres – soul, doo-wop, garage rock, folk, proto-punk, straight-ahead rock and, of course, psychedelic rock. The latter is probably the genre that comes to mind first for many of us – and most likely involves images of Woodstock in our heads. This was the playground and realm for many big acts, including Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Yardbirds, the Dead and a lesser-known band by the catchy, peculiar name of Strawberry Alarm Clock. They had a few songs on the radio, none bigger and more popular than “Incense and Peppermints”, which plays at the Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club as Austin and Mrs. Kensington arrive and dance inside.

The first time I heard the song was 30 years after it hit the radio waves. The movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a mocking celebration of the 60’s – its spirit, fashion, vernacular and music. “Incense and Peppermints” is one of the soundtrack highlights, maybe only trumped by Quincy Jones “Soul Bossa Nova”. There’s a YouTube video of Strawberry Alarm Clock performing the song where something off is noticeable right away. Mark Weitz’s organ riff might’ve been the musical highlight of the track, but the drummer stole the spotlight. The drum kit was situated at the front of the stage with the guitarists, bassist and organist in the background. A few bars into the song we hear drummer Randy Seol delivering the first verse. It’s not the only time we heard a drummer sing by any stretch – Phil Collins, Don Henley and Roger Taylor all shared this somewhat unusual claim. But Seol’s setup created an unforgettable inverted poise for the song and the era.

“Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind. Incense and peppermints, the color of time.”

"SEYMOUR STEIN" BELLE & SEBASTIAN (1998)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: High Fidelity

I have unreasonably high expectations for movie soundtracks — and those expectations are even higher when the movie is about music. So when High Fidelity came out in theaters, I wanted something epic. Nick Hornby’s book is one of my all-time favorite reads, mostly because it truly captured the obsessive, and often ridiculous passion we have for music. While the movie soundtrack left a lot to be desired, “Seymour Stein” was one of the few bright spots in my mind.

The Belle & Sebastian classic wasn’t even officially on the soundtrack album, but it appeared in the movie and there’s even a reference to the new Belle & Sebastian single written into the script. “Seymour Stein” is probably one of my favorite B&S songs because of that sleepy, melodic, retro vibe. It’s not something I’d listen to in large doses, but it’s a reminder of that interesting little niche that B&S has carved for itself in the music world that no one else can claim.

“Half a world away. Ticket for a plane. Record company man, I won't be coming to dinner.”

"WISE UP" AIMEE MANN (1999)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Magnolia

The movie didn’t inspire the music. P.T. Anderson clarified that Aimee Mann’s songs actually inspired the film. It’s about the rhythm and sounds of life – where the feeling of isolation is excruciating and unavoidable. The frog scene may be the most iconic moment, but, for me, the most memorable scene was the ensemble performance of “Wise Up”, when each cast member took turns singing the song. What would’ve been a disaster move in another movie just made perfect sense in Magnolia. It just worked. And it wouldn’t have been possible if Aimee Mann didn’t write and record such an incredible song.

It’s interesting that some of the most beautiful songs we know are also some of the most sad songs we know. “Wise Up” is one of them. There are many great Aimee Mann songs on the soundtrack, but what made this one unique was how Mann spanned a range of emotions in a single vocal performance, going from fragile to assured, hopeless to fearless, all within three and a half minutes. While “Wise Up” wasn’t written specifically for Magnolia, it seemed to perfectly convey the condition of each of the characters in the film so well, making it one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.

“YOU'RE SURE THERE'S A CURE. AND YOU HAVE FINALLY FOUND IT.”

"EIGHTIES" KILLING JOKE (1984)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Weird Science

As a young teenager growing up in the 80’s, “Weird Science” was pure fantasy. Kelly LeBrock was like a goddess that stirred the hormones of boys with just a blink of her eye. We all wanted it to be real. The characters were extreme. Anthony Michael Hall, the epitome of the nerd. Bill Paxton, the definition of dirtbag. Robert Downey Jr., the false facade of cool. The music was extreme, too. Everything was fueled with large doses of testosterone. The highlight of the soundtrack is Killing Joke’s “Eighties”, which played full blast at a party downstairs while Robert Downey Jr. was upstairs making amends with Anthony Michael Hall.

Killing Joke played it hard. They were louder and brasher than other post punk outfits. Listening back to the track, I can hear foreshadowings of Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden and Nirvana. It sounds eerily similar to the trio of Cobain, Grohl and Novoselic. The guitar is relentless in “Eighties”, tearing through the song like a hurricane with a variety of hooks. The lyrics seem to function like an ode to a grittier, darker, dystopian version of the decade.

“Eighties - I got the best, I'll take all I can get.”

"ALONE IN KYOTO" AIR (2004)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Lost In Translation

The Lost in Translation soundtrack is a rare gem. It celebrates established revered acts like dream pop pioneers The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. It also gives us an early look at two bands – both from France, but representing opposite ends of the electronic spectrum. One is Phoenix on the synth pop side, the other is Air on the ambient side. My favorite track on the soundtrack is Air’s “Alone In Kyoto”.

“Alone In Kyoto” is a powerful reminder of the simplicity and beauty of an instrumental. With no lyrics to hide behind, every single note and texture is perfect. Every element is critical, not fluff. “Alone In Kyoto” took a classical approach to ambient, painting a rich, delicate soundscape that captured the feelings of isolation stewing throughout the movie, as Charlotte strolled by Kyoto’s beauty on her own.

"PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT" THE DREAM ACADEMY (1985)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

It takes guts to cover a Smiths song, because if you dare to you sure as hell better not f##k it up. Well, The Dream Academy succeeded. They produced a version that seemed to have its own identity and pay homage to the great Manchester act at the same time. The song appears in the museum scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Ferris, Sloane and Cameron are playing hooky and end up at the Art Institute of Chicago. In a twist, the scene doesn’t provide comic relief. Rather, it provides relief from the comedy. And there’s no song better to create the mood than “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”.

The Dream Academy version is less morose, more euphoric. I mentioned in a previous post on Mental Jukebox that The Dream Academy occupied a rare space in music during their time where their songs seemed to resemble dreamlike states. As the band name suggests, we go to The Dream Academy to learn how to dream and imagine again. Listening to their Smiths cover, it’s easy to get swept away and lost in the music, whereas in the original version it was easy to get self-absorbed. It’s like that Art Institute scene where Cameron is squinting intensely at the pointillism of a Seurat painting. He realizes there’s so much more when you look closer and deeper, beyond ourselves and into the art of life.

“SO, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, LET ME GET WHAT I WANT. LORD KNOWS IT WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME.”

"IN THE AIR TONIGHT" PHIL COLLINS (1981)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Show: Miami Vice

Before the mainstream pop tendencies of No Jacket Required came this Phil Collins anthem that became larger than life without crushing the charts. It was a dark period in his personal life, and the musical explorations in the song reflected the prog DNA of Peter Gabriel and early Genesis that we don’t typically associate w/Collins’ solo career. The song became larger than life in one of the greatest scenes in television history, occurring in the pilot episode of Miami Vice. Nearly a full minute goes by with no dialogue. The scene almost entirely takes place in a car. Crockett and Tubbs, barely saying a word. Phil Collins saying everything that needs to be said.

The power of “In The Air Tonight” can be boiled down to two moments, both revolving around the percussion. First, the creepy, ominous drum machine in the opening, a peculiar instrument of choice for a drummer. And second, the explosive drum barrage at the 3:40 mark, which is arguably the most famous drum break in music history. One showed Collins’ reclusive, detached persona, the other revealing an outburst of emotion. Deeply personal, but something music fans could feel on their own. Absolutely brilliant.

“I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR ALL MY LIFE, OH LORD, OH LORD.”

"IN YOUR EYES" PETER GABRIEL (1986)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: Say Anything

One of the most memorable movie scenes from the 80’s is when Lloyd Dobler lifts his boombox high above his head outside of Diane’s house with Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” blaring from the speakers. At the time, most guys — myself included — knew immediately that Lloyd made us all look like second rate romantics in that single moment. Some of us were pathetic enough to copy the move with our own love interests because we were too unoriginal to think of our own thing. Whether you’re guilty as charged or not, the scene is engrained in the mind of every 80’s child — and the scene is nothing without the song.

I remember the first few times I heard “In your eyes” I didn’t and I couldn’t fully appreciate it for what it was. The more you listen to it, the more you realize it’s far more than just a great pop song. It’s sage, not sappy. It’s world music, not worldly. and it remains ambiguous as to whether “In your eyes” is about romantic love, or love of god, or both. I bet Lloyd had no idea.

“ALL MY INSTINCTS, THEY RETURN. THE GRAND FACADE, SO SOON WILL BURN. WITHOUT A NOISE, WITHOUT MY PRIDE. I REACH OUT FROM THE INSIDE.”

"FIREPLACE" R.E.M. (1987)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

It seems appropriate to end this month’s look at my favorite deep cuts with a song from an unabashed album rock band. At least that’s the R.E.M. I knew and loved. The band that focused more on albums than singles, and made a living crafting some of the finest deep cuts any vinyl record or cassette has seen on either side of the pond. Document is one of my favorite R.E.M. records and its depth can’t be denied. The back half of the album, for the most part, exists in the band’s sweet spot: mid-tempo. That’s where we find the fan favorite, “Fireplace”.

Man, I love this song. There’s an intensity and urgency with its prodding pace and emotive minor chords. The lyrics and melodies are Stipe to the core. But the saxophone comes out of nowhere, doesn’t it? This isn’t a cheesy eighties’ sax solo though. It’s much more experimental. It wears its emotions on its sleeve. No apologies. Nothing contrived. “Fireplace” does what the best deep cuts do. It gives us something different, something a bit more daring.

“Crazy, crazy world. Crazy, crazy times.”

"WHITE, DISCUSSION" LIVE (1994)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

There might not be a more important album from 1994 for me than Throwing Copper. It was a saving grace in many ways. The recognition that rock could survive – and even thrive – past this grunge era. Leave the plaid shirts and thrashing guitar feedback at home, but bring the bangers out in full force. It’s like Live took the Pixies blueprint of quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, skipped over the grunge sound, and landed somewhere different. I played the album to death from beginning to end. It’s deep, for sure. Just have a listen to this under-the-radar track, “White, Discussion”.

It seems ironic that a band that intentionally veered the grunge template has a song whose structure is reminiscent of Pearl Jam. But that’s the way Live goes. Those minor chords cascade down as Kowalczyk’s vocals evoke a Vedder-esque rant. The quiet parts erupt like molten lava into the loud parts. Or maybe more like an exorcism of the establishment. So many bands have tried to do that in an authentic way. Live actually pulled it off.

"POT KETTLE BLACK" WILCO (2001)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

The paradox of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s timing is both chilling and redemptive. Released one week after September 11, 2001, this album flew under the radar for several months. While the world was turned upside down, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot seemed to turn things right side up, but in the experimental Wilco way. It’s regarded as one of the finest albums of the decade. And, like many music fans, it’s my favorite Wilco record hands down. The songwriting, introspective and immersive. The experimentation and the risks, uncompromised. And the melodies, they feel almost effortless. That’s the case with heralded tracks like “Jesus, Etc.”, “Heavy Metal Drummer” and “War On War” as well as with deep cuts like “Pot Kettle Black”.

There’s an immediately familiarity to it thanks to the borrowed riff from The Cure’s “In Between Days”. As a music fan, this never made me angry. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m always happy to hear it. It’s an unexpected surprise that gives the song an endearing quality. Was it intentional? Perhaps Tweedy’s lyrics are an admission: “Every song's a comeback. Every moment's a little bit later.” At the two-minute mark, “Pot Kettle Black” seems to transform into a two-bit video game, grounding the moment in deep nostalgia. Like “Heavy Metal Drummer”, it’s a song that brings you back in its own unique way.

“Every song's a comeback. Every moment's a little bit later.”

"TEA IN THE SAHARA" THE POLICE (1983)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

Synchroncity is an anomaly in music history. It contains some of The Police’s biggest hits, including “Every Breath You Take” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”. These songs were accessible for a wider audience. But this same album also birthed some of the band’s most experimental tracks, including “Mother” and “Miss Gradenko”. Synchronicity spanned several genres, from hard rock (“Synchronicity II”) to jazz (“Murder By Numbers”). But, more than anything, it was a study in space. The Police knew how to use space to their advantage as good as any other band out there. “Tea in the Sahara” is a solid case in point.

The song theme is inspired by a book that Sting read by Paul Bowles called “The Sheltering Sky”. There’s a story within the greater story about three sisters who wait to have tea in the Sahara with a prince. It’s a story of gratification and dreams pursued, achieved, and lost again. The story required an atmospheric approach to the instrumentation, which Andy Summers created through space and layers. His guitar thrives in open space with a series of feedback expressions and echoes that immediately transport us into the scorching desert. Copeland’s percussion approach is light and airy like the Sahara sand. “Tea in the Sahara” is a soundscape that appears like a mirage and then seems to vanish into thin air in an instant.

“WE HAVE THIS STRANGE OBSESSION. YOU HAVE THE MEANS IN YOUR POSSESSION.”

"FALLING ASHES" SLOWDIVE (2017)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

The eponymously-titled album was the band’s first studio output in over 20 years. It’s highly unusual for a band to come back to record like that after such a lengthy hiatus. It’s even more unusual for a band to arrive in such spectactular form as Slowdive did in 2017, like not a single day passed since 1995’s Pygmalion. Their most recent studio album not only held up, it became my favorite Slowdive record. A big part of that is due to the strength of the final track, “Falling Ashes”.

What’s great about “Falling Ashes” is that it doesn’t depend on distortion and pedal effects to create the atmosphere. There’s an overwhelming expansiveness to the whole album where Slowdive uses some of their tried-and-true techniques, but “Falling Ashes” shows us a maturation to the band yet this is still undeniably Slowdive in every way. Impossibly beautiful. Unflinchingly contemplative. Utterly immersive.

“Love of my life, GRACE of my night.”

"MOTORWAY TO ROSWELL" PIXIES (1991)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

By Trompe Le Monde, the Pixies were past their prime. But they were still true to their identity, refusing to cave in to the direction of the sounds that surrounded them. The Pixies are the influencers, not the influenced. The kings of quiet-loud-quiet, loud-quiet-loud, and all their variations. They were forerunners to the grunge movement. And yet their music is unusually resilient, holding up year after year, decade after decade. And there’s no better place to start than one of the deep cuts from Trompe Le Monde, “Motorway To Roswell”.

A bit more melodic and poppier than we were accustomed to hearing from The Pixies, “Motorway To Roswell” was as tame (song reference intended) as the band got. Black Francis gives the screaming and howling a rest, and sings in a way that gives the melody more power. But this is no softie. Santiago’s guitar still lights up like a three-alarm fire. While Trompe Le Monde may not be their piece de resistance, I find myself tipping my proverbial hat to originals like “Motorway To Roswell” more so than the covers.

"ROCKET'S TAIL" KATE BUSH (1989)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

If there’s an artist whose worth and influence are truly measured by their deep cuts – not their hits – it’s Kate Bush. I have nothing against “Running Up That Hill”, “Wuthering Heights”, “Cloudbusting” or “This Woman’s Work”. I will always love those songs. And those songs are all high influential. But it’s deeper into her albums when Kate often becomes even more daring, experimental and, best of all, unexpected. “Rocket’s Tail” is a case in point.

Hearing it back today, I’m struck by how ahead of its time this track was. This track alone is a blueprint for Florence + The Machine’s fourth and fifth studio albums. “Rocket’s Tail” is part beauty, part beast. It starts off with those achingly beautiful music harmonies. And then, seemingly out of nowhere at the 1:29 mark, the electric guitar solo launches explosively into the ether like it’s some Pink Floyd affair.

“You said, "Hey, wish that was me up there. It's the biggest rocket I could find
And it's holding the night in its arms.”

"MAYONAISE" THE SMASHING PUMPKINS (1993)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

Funny how music albums turn into time machines. You press “play” and then, just like that, you’re back in time. Somewhere great. Somewhere awful. I play The Smashing Pumpkin's’ Siamese Dream and I’m right back inside my dorm in my sophomore year of college. My roommate – who went on to become one of my groomsmen – and I lived and breathed music together. Going to shows. Picking up new CDs at Boston’s Newbury Comics. Writing record reviews for the school paper. And, best of all, blasting tunes like “Mayonaise” on our speakers.

“Mayonaise” is essential Pumpkins. Not an obscure track by any stretch. In fact, it’s considered one of the band’s best songs by some of their biggest fans. But it wasn’t one of Siamese Dream’s singles – and it is Track 9 on the album. A revered deep cut from the mid 90’s, it is languid and sleepy one moment, then the pressure valve releases and musical catharsis happens. “Mayonaise” – a playful spelling of the song’s theme “my own eys” was co-written by Billy Corgan and James Iha, which endears the song to me even more. It cannot be traced back to just the frontman, it’s the band’s song. And in 1993, it was our song.

“Pick your pockets full of sorrow. Run away with me tomorrow.”

"GUEST ROOM" THE NATIONAL (2007)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

Music is pretty much everything to me. All the best moments in my life have involved music in some way. It would be hard to imagine life without it. It would be hard to imagine life without The National. And it would be equally difficult to imagine The National without their breakthrough album, Boxer. The band had started to come into their own on the preceding LP, Alligator. But Boxer swayed with an incredible confidence. The back half of the album is no stranger to the spotlight. “Apartment Story” was one of the album’s singles, and “Start A War” appeared on the band’s setlists for a few years – even as the opener. But there’s a lesser heralded track that deserves mention here on Mental Jukebox: “Guest Room”.

Interesting thing about the “Guest Room”. It has all the elements that make The National a great band. The song kicks off with Bryan Devendorf’s trademark stuttering drum lines. Meanwhile, Aaron and Bryce do their thing on guitar creating atmospheric sounds with an intricate series of harmonics, chords and arpeggios. And Berninger is, well, Berninger. Waxing everyday poetic and singing so cool and so low on the outer edges of a bass range. My, how much I love this song and this band.

“They’re gonna send us to prison for jerks. for having vague ideas of the way to turn each other on again.”

"FLOOD" MOGLI (2017)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

My discovery of Wanderer came by way of the movie “Expedition Happiness”. Before then, I had never heard of Mogli. It’s a reminder, for me, that a lot of the music we love is discovered by happenstance. Music discovery at its best is rarely a thing you can engineer. It just happens. The thing with Wanderer is the songs all feel like deep cuts in a sense since the movie was more well-known than the music. But I love this album. And I love “Flood”.

Looking for a song to transport you somewhere undefined and magical? That’s “Flood”. It takes the simplest instrumentation and chord progressions – often just content with repeating the same note over and over again – to create an atmosphere. “Flood” is a paradox. It’s a soft landing for your soul one listen. And a hot air balloon ride for your mind the next. It seems to possess a permanent frost over it, yet it exudes an undeniable warmth.

“I'm holding on to the same sad song. But grace was gone all along.”