"WHERE IS MY MIND?" PIXIES (1988)

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: Fight Club

While it may not be in the upper echelon of my personal Pixies favorites, “Where Is My Mind?” has cultural implications that far outweigh the rest of this great band’s catalog. That’s, of course, because of Fight Club, which was not just a terrific film, it was a cultural phenomenon. Controversial and influential, Fight Club ended with this song — and then continued on in public discourse and in private fight clubs across the U.S.

“Where Is My Mind?” is an introduction to the irresistible, jarring world of the Pixies. It’s a coming out party of quiet-loud-quiet dynamics that mimicked the cinematic rhythms of the movie and that would define the Pixies imprint on the music world. They weren’t Nirvana. Or Radiohead. Or Smashing Pumpkins. But they were the ones that influenced all three. We may not have any of those bands without this song. What I’m drawn to on this track: Black Francis going from tentative to full-blown insane. I also think the simple, pervasive guitar riff trumps the mini guitar solo.

“WITH YOUR FEET ON THE AIR AND YOUR HEAD ON THE GROUND, TRY THIS TRICK AND SPIN IT, YEAH.”

"GIRL, YOU'LL BE A WOMAN SOON" URGE OVERKILL (1994)

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: Pulp Fiction

The idea of covering a Neil Diamond song isn’t anything new. Long before Urge Overkill did it, others tried their hand at the task and created covers that were even more iconic than the originals. UB40 brought “Red Red Wine” to the masses. And The Monkees made “I’m A Believer” a classic. But Urge Overkill was a bit of an unlikely participant in the Diamond cover caravan. They rocked a lot harder and opened for Nirvana and Pearl Jam at the time they recorded the song. But their cover of “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” is a cultural icon, ushering the song into the mainstream consciousness as part of the Pulp Fiction movie soundtrack.

There’s more to “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” than the catchy chorus. The song thrives on several tempo changes and strumming styles and the underlying flamenco persona on Diamond’s version is still there though slightly toned down. In the song, it feels like the girl rushes through the red muleta and emerges as a woman on the other side. The guitar certainly plays a prominent role in Urge Overkill’s music. But here, it. takes a backseat and the vocals take centerstage, making it a perfect track for the heroin overdose scene.

“CAN'T COUNT ALL THE WAYS I'D DIE FOR YOU, GIRL. AND ALL THEY CAN SAY IS ‘HE'S NOT YOUR KIND’.”

"SISTER CHRISTIAN" NIGHT RANGER (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: Boogie Nights

Boogie Nights rode on the back of a vivid, throwback soundtrack — and Night Ranger was at the helm. Call it a glorified karaoke anthem or a cheesy power ballad, but the one thing “Sister Christian” has is that it sticks. Arguably the most memorable musical moment of Boogie Nights, it’s difficult to turn off the melody once the song comes on – and it becomes an impossible task when you get to the iconic chorus. I’m always sucked into its excessive, long-haired, hard rock world, for better or worse.

“Sister Christian” is a musical paradox to the Boogie Nights scene that it appears in. It’s steady, resolute, that’s what makes it a power ballad. But beyond the cymbal crashes and soaring 80’s guitar riffs, even the opening piano chords are unflinching. It’s the rock in a completely unstable scene that feels like it’s about to erupt at any given moment. The sounds of those gun shots are impossible for the characters to prepare for. It just happens. But with “Sister Christian”, you feel the groove and the rhythm, and you know exactly where it’s going – and when. Maybe that dynamic is what makes “Sister Christian” so likable beyond the movie, too.

“YOU'RE MOTORING. WHAT'S YOUR PRICE FOR FLIGHT IN FINDING MISTER RIGHT? YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT TONIGHT.”

"NEW DAWN FADES" MOBY (1994)

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: Heat

Heat is one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s not just a crime thriller. It’s the story of how hate and respect can indeed co-exist. It’s a reminder that we might have a lot more in common with our enemies than we might dare think. And few movies capture the dark, ominous and isolating veneer of L.A. as powerfully and as beautifully as Heat. Michael Mann needed an equally ominous soundscape, which he found in Moby’s cover of Joy Division’s “New Dawn Fades”. It’s the musical background for an unforgettable chase scene. When Pacino catches up to De Niro, he doesn’t take him in for questioning. He takes him to coffee.

While Joy Division’s original felt like it played out inside a dark cellar, Moby’s version sprawls across the L.A. cityscape. There’s an expansiveness felt in the performance and the production. The guitar riff soars up while the bass notes descend down. Can anybody be on the same level as Ian Curtis? Maybe not. But Moby certainly fared well in getting inside Curtis’ skin and into his shoes for a few epic, haunting minutes. I can’t think of a better track to rear its head as Heat neared its climax.

“WE'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING AND MORE. THE STRAIN IS TOO MUCH, CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE.”

"CRUEL SUMMER" BANANARAMA (1983)

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: The Karate Kid

Bananarama may not be the most exceptional singers in the world. Their voices were rather pedestrian. The trio would often forgo harmonies, opting instead to sing the same exact notes. Which begs the question, why did they need three singers? Well, the reason was because the three of them – Siobhan Fahey, Sarah Dallin and Keren Woodward – looked so damn cool in videos and on stage with their long, new wave-frizzed locks and 80’s fashion cues. They were fun. They were entertaining. And they were highly successful, locking in their spots on Band Aid, garnering countless hits in the UK, and even a couple of Top Ten showings in the U.S., including this song “Cruel Summer”.

Songs in the opening and closing scenes of movies tend to be the most memorable ones – and “Cruel Summer” was the opening number in The Karate Kid, the soundtrack for that first day of school for Daniel LaRusso, Ali Mills, Johnny Lawrence and the rest of the town. It was perfect for the scene. Bananarama sings the song intentionally with a monotonous dread. It sorta works, but it’s the instrumentation that gives the song its edge. Synth hooks and guitar riffs that were textbook new wave musicality. Question is, who composed those hooks and who plays them on the record? Seemed like either no one cares to know, or maybe some people cared too much that those musicians would somehow detract from the power of the female trio.

“IT'S TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. THIS HEAT HAS GOT RIGHT OUT OF HAND.”

"TO BUILD A HOME" THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA (2007)

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

TV Series: This Is Us

Music discovery is often happenstance. At times, we can find music when we’re proactively searching for it. But most of the time, it’s about being in the right place at the right time with the right people when a song comes on and our minds are blown. A lot of the music I’ve discovered is thanks to the recommendations of friends and coworkers. One coworker, in particular, introduced me to The Cinematic Orchestra and “To Build a Home”. He called it the most beautiful song in history. And I don’t think that enormous claim is very far from the truth.

The track never charted in the U.S. or in the U.K. But it has become larger than life in many ways. Ironically, it has played a background role, serving as the soundtrack in countless television soundtracks, most notably in a gut-wrenching scene from This Is Us. It was also featured in a figure skating performance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The irony is that it has been thrusted into the foreground, becoming intertwined with these TV show scenes and Olympic performances. It’s one of those songs that has the power to bring everything else around it to a standstill. Most beautiful song in history? I can get agree to that.

“OUT IN THE GARDEN WHERE WE PLANTED THE SEEDS THERE IS A TREE AS OLD AS ME. BRANCHES WERE SEWN BY THE COLOR OF GREEN GROUND HAD AROSE AND PASSED ITS KNEES.”

"TEMPTATION" NEW ORDER (1982)

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: Trainspotting

The Trainspotting soundtrack required vivid songs to match the movie’s vivid scenes. Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” and Iggy Pop’s. “Lust for Life” captured the mood and energy of two very well-known scenes. But in an atypical move, the director chose to only have the character Diane sing “Temptation” instead of feature the full New Order version. But as an homage to the band, the ‘87 version of the song made its way onto this brilliant soundtrack.

“Temptation” was somewhat easy to miss the first time around if you’re from the States. It was only released as a single at first — and only charted in the U.K. But the singles compilation Substance became a post-punk must-have in the late 80s, which gave me my first exposure to the song. Like the entire Substance double-disc, I loved “Temptation” from the get go. It was devoid of any remnants of Joy Division, but Sumner, Hooky, Morris and Gilbert reinvented a new sound together with swagger and tenacity. In my mind, it is one of the true great New Order anthems. Each band member firing on all cylinders.

“TONIGHT, I THINK I'LL WALK ALONE. I'LL FIND MY SOUL AS I GO HOME.”

"THE MAN IN ME" BOB DYLAN (1970)

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: The Big Lebowski

One of my all-time favorite movies, The Big Lebowski features a strong, diverse set of songs on its soundtrack — from a Gypsy Kings cover to a CCR staple. But no other song on the soundtrack embodies the film and The Dude more than “The Man in Me”. The song a director picks for an opening scene can sometimes make or break a film. It’s the mood setter. And the Coen brothers nailed it. There was no better song to kick off The Big Lebowski and top it off with the dream scene than with Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me”.

Not your typical Dylan anthem, it felt like it was written and performed specifically for The Dude — a melodious homage to the main character. Beyond the opening scene inside Ralph’s Supermarket, it’s used again in the famed hallucination scene — and apparently Jeff Bridges has sung it and led audience participation at Lebowski Fest. It’s not just widely loved, it’s beloved. “The Man In Me” is The Dude put to music – with its “la la las” and stoner organ hook, endearing us to the main character from the very opening scene.

“STORM CLOUDS ARE RAGING ALL AROUND MY DOOR. I THINK TO MYSELF I MIGHT NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE. TAKE A WOMAN LIKE YOUR KIND TO FIND THE MAN IN ME.”

"THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (NAIVE MELODY)" TALKING HEADS (1983)

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: Wall Street

Talking Heads is one of the quintessential music acts of the decade. They helped round out the new wave genre with songs that dared to mingle in the universe of world music. No else did this. Songs like “I Zimbra”, “Slippery People”, “Born Under Punches” and “(Nothing But) Flowers” were global in scope. No one else could’ve made those songs. Their recording studios and concert stages were strewn with instruments most bands have never touched. But, if I’m honest, my favorite Talking Heads anthem is almost the antithesis of what made them so unique. The song is called “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”, which played on the closing credits of Wall Street.

It lacked funk. There was not a single polyrhythm to be heard. No djembe. No congas. No surdo. It was almost all synthesizers, with Weymouth switching to guitar while Harrison played the bass lines off a Prophet synthesizer. And here’s the kicker. It was repetitive as hell. Almost monotonous. Which is the brilliance of the song. Truly a naive melody, the song hypnotizes you with its sameness. It always puts me in a good space. It always gets me good. Locks me in its groove. After hearing it, I know. This truly must be the place.

“Home, is where I want to be. But I guess I'm already there.”

"IMMIGRANT SONG" LED ZEPPELIN (1970)

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: School Of Rock

Jack Black’s love of rock & roll is well-documented. His obsession with rock is felt every time he talks about it — from Rush documentaries to his Kennedy Center honorary speech for Led Zeppelin to the movie School of Rock. It’s like he was just being himself throughout the movie, not simply acting. Jack’s passion is its clearest when he belts Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” in the van scene like every fan wants to — if it weren’t for the fear of permanently damaging our vocal cords.

“Immigrant Song” is Zeppelin in a nutshell. I think that’s why I love this song so much. Mythic-inspired lyrics. Plant’s larger-than-life howl. Page’s epic guitar riff. Bonzo and Jonesy driving the rhythm forward like a wrecking ball. Who else can make Nordic mythology this appealing and infectious? The answer is nobody. Anything else would just feel and sound like a musical parody.

“WE COME FROM THE LAND OF THE ICE AND SNOW FROM THE MIDNIGHT SUN WHERE THE HOT SPRINGS FLOW.”

"SOUL FINGER" THE BAR-KAYS (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: Spies Like Us

If you’re an 80’s child, chances are you can’t think of Soviet missile control personnel parties without remembering this song. Spies Like Us’ unforgettable scene went back a couple of decades to uncover this instrumental soul fest from the late 60s. The movie itself featured some of the decade’s best comedians on the silver screen: Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd. “Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor.” The campiness of the acting, the film sets and the movie at large certainly extended its way into the soundtrack, which is most known for “Soul Finger”.

Overly simple and repetitious, “Soul Finger” checks two boxes for likability. First, it’s infectious. The kind of song you can’t get out of your head even if you tried. Second, it’s nostalgic, whether you grew up in the 60’s or in the 80’s. The electric guitar has its moment, but the soul of the song is the trumpet and saxophone. The two instruments are thoroughly irritating and whiny throughout the song, yet strangely irresistible. The band doubles down on the brass in later renditions, adding a trombone. The song is about as ludicrous as having a dance party at a missile control site, which makes it a perfect accompaniment for the iconic Spies Like Us scene.

"CANNED HEAT" JAMIROQUAI (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: Napoleon Dynamite

Quirky movies need quirky soundtracks. And that’s what Jamiroquai did for Napoleon Dynamite. The soundtrack had a heavy 80’s flavor, accentuated by acts like Cyndi Lauper, When in Rome and Alphaville. Just when we thought the movie might’ve been set in that decade, “Canned Heat” came out of nowhere in the “Vote for Pedro” dance sequence. It was a 70’s-influenced funk fest a la Jamiroquai that came out in the late 90’s.

“Canned Heat” and Jamiroquai’s entire Synkronized album prove that there are still artists out there that just do whatever they want to do, without caring what the public thinks. At its worst, it’s recycled disco funk. At its best, it’s a case in point that the artist performing the song should have just as much fun as the fan who’s listening to it.

“Nothing left for me to do but dance off these bad times I'm going through.”

"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.”