My Favorite Soundtracks I Own

Movie soundtracks feel like a 20th century idea in 2023. Sure, motion picture soundtracks still get released to varying results. Twenty long years ago Spider-Man jubilantly somersaulted over skyscrippers to “Vindicated” and “We Are” in theaters across the globe. Today the film and movie industries chase the same cultural moment only achieved by Tik Tok and a clean shaven Christopher Carrabba.

Soundtracks help put the time and place in a movie plot into context, and when executed properly elicit the required emotional response from the audience to emphasize with the film. Air, a rare example, effectively sets viewers into the American 80’s with “Money for Nothing” and with “In a Big Country” endears you a bit to Sonny Vaccaro on his way to meet the Jordans. These collections of songs affix you to characters, story, and ultimately the film and songs themselves.

There are quite a few soundtracks beloved in my life like Adventureland, Superbad, and many others but I don’t own most of them. Some were never pressed on wax while others cost more than a decent espresso machine. Still, I flipped through my coffers to find my favorite soundtracks in my collection. It didn’t take much time to pick out my favorites.

Hair pulling difficult to select just one song to feature from Pineapple Express, but the humor derived from “Electric Avenue” swirls together like cookies and cream frozen yogurt. Comedic perfection for a goofy dope in 2008. Only pressed once for Record Store Day in 2017, only 1,800 green grass marble copies exist. Looking back this may have been the first year I lined-up at Lou’s Records for RSD.

Over the years Pineapple Express became a stable in my household for hosting friends for game nights, pre-gaming before hitting the city, or just chilling at home responsibly (I stress very responsibly). Through my twenties and into my thirties this soundtrack outlasted the rewatchability of the film itself. There’s more here than just rocking with Eddy Grant or M.I.A.’s “Paper Airplanes” which only appeared in the movie trailer.

It introduced me to Peter Tosh with “Wanted Dread or Alive” which pushed me to explore reggae beyond Bob Marley. Also an amazing cooking song. Robert Palmer’s “Woke Up Laughing” garnishes the final cherry on top of real friendships established in the final scene in Pineapple Express. On brand ending for a Judd Apatow film but with an underrated choice swan song.

No other film better appreciated the dysphoria of the American workplace than 1999’s Office Space during the Y2K transition from 20th century to the 21st. Packed with breakroom bangers like Biz Markie’s “Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee” and a “9 to 5” cover Office Space offers the best after work soundtrack over cheap beers with the neighbor and breast exams on channel 9.

The Geto Boys however catapulted the humor of the movie into the either of meme immortality. “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” perfectly embodied Peter Gibbon and the audience’s lifelong pursuit of a carefree lifestyle of not giving a fuck. “Still” lives on forever as proof you can hear memes. Never has brutalization of janky technology been more satisfying.’

One could argue Geto Boys delivered three enduring tracks when Michael Bolton spits Scarface’s “No Tears” in rush hour traffic. One of the hardest tracks on the soundtrack highlighted by Michael locking his car door, lowering the stereo volume, and self-censor a certain no-no word when passing by a black man selling flower bouquets.

When I hear Seal’s cover of “Fly Like an Eagle” I visualize Michael Jordan gliding through the heavens of the hardwood for a majestic layup. It’s not a choice either. Call it automatic or conditioned, Michael Jordan’s omnipresence in popular cultural even reached me at 5 years old in Denmark. I never saw him play on TV until he unretired (again) in 2001, after I moved to the USA.

Space Jam capitalized on the cultural phenomenon of Jordan in 1996 with Bugs Bunny and the institution of the Looney Tunes universe. The soundtrack had to match the star power of the movie, so why not call on B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J, and Busta Rhymes for cascades of bars on “Hit ‘Em High” the Monstars’ theme.

Quad City DJ’s “Space Jam” theme set the bar for hype for anyone born in the late 80s and early 90s. That elation never goes away when I hear it, no matter how old I get. Doesn’t hurt it was the first CD I bought with my own coin.

R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” spun on repeat through my boombox and MTV. I stress, at the time, it was the reason I bought soundtrack. I had no clue Kelly sexually abused children which ultimately tainted my feelings towards all of his music. Yet some affinity remains. I cannot deny how aspirational that song was in 1996.

Photo by Chris Hardy

Crate Dive #1

In searching for some writing inspiration I figured why not take a deep dive into my expansive collection of 336 records. Still not certain how we got here as I infamously shat upon vinyl collecting in my youth. I blame hanging out and eventually living with my friend Amelia during my late 20’s. Either way my collection has grown exponentially since COVID and moving in with my fiancé. Take a look at some of my favorite diamonds from the rough of my crate.

Back in the heat of COVID in 2020 I spent a lot of time online with my closest group of friends. Honestly, I look back at those times fondly since I got to reconnect with them. We were all scattered around California at the time. My buddy Jake found Pops Tuna on Reddit and shared his Bandcamp with us on Discord. I was instantly hooked on “Say What You Think” and eventually Lame Fiction, which I still contend was one of the best albums of 2020. A little over a year ago I connected with Joe from Pops Tuna and he was nice enough to send me this postcard flexi-disc. Definitely one of the most items in my collection and a personal favorite.

The tale of how I actually found Clever Girl has been lost to time; however, I definitely found them during my college days which were my peak years of excavating obscenely talent bands from obscurity. No Drum and Bass in the Jazz Room was just one of many discoveries during those years. The band broke-up soon after uploading to Bandcamp in 2010 but unbenounced to them their album organically grow a cult following for the next five years. In 2018 they pressed the record for the first time and sold every single copy for sale in hours. I was lucky enough to grab one of 150 yellow copies. It’s been over 13 years since it’s release and I still regularly put on this masterpiece while reading a book or scuttling around the house.

I visited Japan for the first during Golden Week in 2017. My buddy Andrew was living and teaching English in Nagoya at the time. Part of my incredible adventures took me to the city of Nara, where the local deer roam free (and bite your ass cheek if you leave biscuits in your back pocket). Just down the street from our hostel Deer Guesthouse lies a hole in the wall record shop called Django. Like many sleepy foreign towns the hours of operations seemed a little discretionary and the seasoned gentlemen running the shop took an oblivious approach to customers.

I got his attention by asking if he had anything by The Pillows. He seemed a little shocked I knew who they were and unfortunately didn’t have any Pillows, but he offered Ranmadou’s self-titled record from 1972. This happened to be a 2001 repress but I came to find out there aren’t a lot of these out there. Super interesting rock and heavy blues from 1970’s Japan. I can imagine The Pillows possibly hearing this record, or others like it, growing up in Hokkaido. It’s a very warm record and clearly reminiscent of American blues and rock of the late 60’s. Truly a time warp, but in a positively thought provoking way. Kind of difficult to track down this album online for digital consumption but I highly recommend it if you’re into digging deep into old defunct blogspot sites.

Somehow I got obsessed with yet another band after their break-up. Headroom hailed from Manchester and made just a handful of songs, which you can find on Bandcamp. They pressed two 7″ singles from those songs. I managed to acquire Carry Me Away easily but not their self-titled 7″ until I somehow got in touch with someone at Dog Knight Productions. Whoever was running things for them at the time was on tour in his own band but was kind enough to send me the 7″ after he returned home. This self-titled single only popped up recently on Discogs after last being sold in 2018. Hard to come by, especially since it made for an excellent beginning for an emotive pop punk band. Reminds me a bit of Citizen’s Youth record.

Long story short, my high school journalism and social justice teacher fronted Tamora before becoming a teacher. Knowing him during high school years makes song titles like “Put A Quarter In Your Ass Cause You Played Yourself” totally make sense. He was always polite but underneath it all had an enjoyable sick sense of humor. I never got mp3’s of his music while in high school, which in retrospect was a mistake. I saw there was a copy available on Discog recently so I had to get it. Man did these guys throw the fuck down! This 7″ will definite put lead in your pencil before unleashing your best mosh moves in the pit. I happened to get number 295 out of 300. There aren’t many of these out there. Pretty unique record in my collection and a one of a kind teacher in my life.

Photo by Joseph Pearson

1652 Days

Pianos Become the Teeth released their fifth studio album Drift this Friday to unremarkable fanfare. It’s been over four and a half years since their last record Wait for Love appeared in equally unassuming fashion.

This is not a criticism of Pianos but a sad commentary on their work going mostly unnoticed within their own community.

Where is WashedUp Emo? Where is “The Wave” these days?

Along with Touché Amoré, Pianos firmly remain one of the best, still doing it, from the revival and wave scenes. Fifteen years onward they continue topping themselves with each release.

So what happened during the 1652 days between Wait for Love and Drift? Pianos almost broke up after scrapping their follow-up album but found new life and purpose during the pandemic.

Crazy to think there’s a whole other Pianos album out there on a hard-drive but that’s a blog for another day. This occasion celebrates Drift and the 1652 days that came before it. Where was I on February 16th 2018? Well I was still in San Diego working for fledgling finance company I won’t name but they no longer exist under their original name and were investigated by the FBI.

February 16th also happened to be my last day at this company before moving on to an actual career opportunity that helped me get to where I am today as a junior project manager.

I still remember my exit interview with this passive aggressive HR person. “So I see you’re making a career change?” This statement pretty much defined my experience there, but I happily moved on. I knew I had found a place that gave employees so many opportunities if they were just willing to take advantage of it.

I was so fucking ready to prove myself. I spent the weekend and following President’s Day Monday getting myself mentally relaxed and ready to work. The next 1600 days would be the most life altering days of my life.

Today I’m engaged (finally), living where the sky looks like Toy Story clouds, and traveling regularly. I’m fortunate. Just lucky to be here. Those 1600 days were not easy. There were many moments I wanted to quit on the career path I’d taken. I had genuine doubts about continuing to date someone on the opposite side of the country.

Perhaps Pianos went through similar stages.

Once we acknowledge our thoughts of uncertainty, and swim with those feelings briefly, then we can understand the consequences of the decision(s) we might make.

Choosing to continue pursuing my now fiancé and endure through difficult situations at work paid off over the next two years. The coming pandemic only justified those decisions. The lockdown in general just fast tracked the eventual outcome to relocate my life and career to Texas. Scott Galloway’s Post Corona cerebrates effectively this phenomenon and delineates how the pandemic pushed global trends by ten years in a matter of months.

The lockdown drove Pianos back into the studio to redeem their fizzled follow-up to Wait for Love (again, I still wanna hear it). Drift zags in the opposite direction from its predecessor’s reach towards radianence in its musical arrangements and dare I say tenderness for life and all it encompasses in its emotion and lyrics.

“Out of Sight” sets the tone immediately with it’s quiet and deliberate pace. Some have called this record dark. I prefer daybreaking and more textured than any other record. The early hours before dawn are usually the quietest until the sun finally beams over the horizon. “Genevieve” beautifully pulls you into serenity until the band illuminates into one of the few explosive moments of the album.

“Easy” by far is my favorite track. 1652 days ago I’m certain Pianos were not capable of communicating these kinds of lyrics without any sonic grandiosity. They’ve been trying to get here since “Hiding” almost ten years ago. It would be easy to presume they’re restraining themselves but that’s just not the case.

“The Days” wonderfully follows up subtly with vivacious drum and bass, and loud axe and vocals. “Hate Chase” effectively operates the same way in the vain of The Lack Long After, just without screaming.

This whole record seeks serenity but doesn’t ignore who its creators are. Pianos still love loud moments but it’s not all they are anymore. Each song flows smoothly from one to the next. The album’s run time lingers slightly but bows out just before things begin to drag.

“Buckley” conveys the ideal summation in experiencing Drift and what the band tried articulate musically. Only the drums give any kind of accent or punch to the track. Everything else only serves to texture the landscape, until exhilaration unleashes through like eureka. Emotionally blows your hair back.

Who knows what Piano’s scrapped record would have been like, once again, would love to hear it, but shelving it proved right. Couldn’t be better than Drift. No other Pianos record is, except maybe the next one.

I don’t know what the next 1652 days holds, for me or them, but whenever the next Pianos Become The Teeth project is I’ll be there ready.

Photo Credit: Micah E. Wood