Deeper Cuts

Spirituality. It’s a pretty open-ended term. But one thing common across the faith spectrum (or the absence thereof) may be the sense of becoming part of something bigger than yourself and experiencing mystery and wonder. It isn’t easily defined and categorized as some systems of faith might have us believe. But it’s significant all the same. Former fundamentalist Christian Graeme associates Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist Bruce Cockburn’s 1979 album Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws as the soundtrack to a significant shift to how he perceived spiritual things. What were those things? What sticks with him now? What did his compatriots in the Deeper Cuts trio think? And what makes music spiritual? Open your hymn books (or just put on your headphones) and find out. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we've been adding all the other albums we've covered this season to it as well, so check it out! This is the final episode of season two of Deeper Cuts! We'll be back sooner than you

Music doesn’t always make it easy on you. It often challenges you. It shocks you. It confuses you. And through that, it makes you hear other music differently after a journey down a twisty path leading you through unfamiliar cultural and artistic territory to destinations you didn’t anticipate. Soon, you find yourself both challenged and delighted, too. That’s what Charles Mingus’ classic 1959 LP Mingus Ah Um did for Rob as a young jazz fan. What lessons did he take from it? What do his bandmates in the Deeper Cuts trio think of the record? What journeys did they find themselves on? Put on your porkpie hats and find out, dear listeners. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we've been adding all the other albums we've covered this season to it as well, so check it out!

Moving on. We all find ourselves at the end of one era of our lives and with a new one ahead of us. It can be exciting. It can be sad. It can be both at the same time. Sometimes, it happens when you’re a kid, and there’s a feeling of helplessness attached to leaving a place and a time behind you. That’s what Shannon experienced at one point as a child. It was Nanci Griffith’s 1994 record Flyer that provided the soundtrack during a time when life in one place was ending, and one in a new place loomed on the horizon ahead. How does the record resonate with her now with that state of things in mind? What did the Deeper Cuts trio think of the record and its themes, with many songs touching on what it is to be in motion through a series of endings and beginnings? Get your ears ready, kids, and prepare for take-off. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we've been adding all the other albums we've covered this season to it as well, so check it out!

Sometimes, that’s the best advice you can follow is shut up and listen. That way you learn more, particularly about the stories of others that often remain hidden from you, yet are vital to know and understand. During a period of discovery for Rob around the issues of feminism and the burdens placed on women by our culture, Tori Amos’ 1994 Under the Pink album served as his primary soundtrack. What role did the songs play in his journey? How do the Deeper Cuts trio react to the record, and how are the issues to which it alludes very much apply 24 (eek!) years later? Find out in this week’s episode. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we've been adding all the other albums we've covered this season to it as well, so check it out!

The comfort album: in times of trial, it offers just the right song to make things bearable. It give us lyrics that speak directly to us when we’re most in need. They make us feel less alone, and remind us that “this too shall pass” – sometimes very literally. That was Graeme’s predicament at one point. And it was OK Go’s 2010 record Of The Blue Colour of the Sky that provided the aural comfort food he needed to get through. What did the Deeper Cuts trio think of the album, though? What surprises lay in store, musically and thematically speaking? What layers of meaning did Graeme find in listening to the record these many years later? Delve in deeply with us, kids into own our little Rube Goldberg machine of an episode that reveals the healing power of a pop music. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we'll add the other albums we cover this season to it as well, so check it out!

Sometimes an album can offer you a point of departure: that moment when suddenly – WHAM! – everything clicks and new musical vistas are in front of you.  We return to a theme we discussed back in episode 7 of our first season as we talk about Shannon’s journey with Tom Waits, specifically with his 1999 album Mule Variations. In this episode, we talk about how we perceive music and its affectations. We talk about how we are confronted and challenged by music that comes out of left field in a way we don’t expect. We talk about how we’re charmed by it, changed by it, even annoyed by it. Graeme isn’t convinced, but Shannon and Rob certainly are – and lively discussion ensues! And after our journey is over, where do we end up? There’s only one way to find out, kids. Lend us your ears. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we'll add the other albums we cover this season to it as well, so check it out!

Your parents’ music. It can shape your own taste in various capacities. Or it can give you something to rebel against. Sometimes, it can be both. Either way, the music your parents put on when you were a kid isn’t just a soundtrack to your childhood; it’s a part of the tapestry of their personalities, of what they value. And that in turn helps to tell you something about yourself, as well. These threads are a part of Graeme’s connection to Anne Murray’s 1978 record Let’s Keep It That Way, an album bought by has parents on the basis of "as seen on TV". But, what did the Deeper Cuts trio think of this album and its unbridled excursion into MOR country pop, as well as (on many levels!) into Canadian passive aggression, albeit an affectionate one. There’s only one way to find out, kids: have a listen! Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we'll all the other albums we'll cover this season to it as well, so check it out!

Sometimes you find your favourite music. But in those rarer moments, that music seems to find you. That’s the experience Rob had with 1971’s Bryter Layter by singer-songwriter Nick Drake. The record was Drake’s second album, exploring English folk-rock textures with some chamber pop and jazz thrown in, and with some interesting lyrical content to ponder, too. The Deeper Cuts trio talks about that and the album that finds you: music that seemed as if had been waiting for us all our lives. They also discuss the surprises found in Bryter Layter even years later and the beauty that can be found in its details: hopefulness and melancholy living together in an enchanting way that enfolds the listener every time. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we'll all the other albums we'll cover this season to it as well, so check it out!

Break-ups! Autobiography! Pop crossovers! Season 2 of Deeper Cuts kicks off with a HUGE record from the late nineties, and a formative one for Shannon to boot while she was a musically curious 14-year old. Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill consolidated the nu-soul movement as it connected with hip-hop, reggae, and other genres by the end of the twentieth century. It also provides some clarity on some of the ways that young people learn, correctly and incorrectly, about how love works and how it doesn’t. Dipping our toes back in for season 2, Graeme, Shannon and Rob talk about all of that as they navigate through a musical and cultural landscape unfamiliar to them... and discover how compelling it is, and how relatable the themes they evoke are, even today. Our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album. Each week, we'll all the other albums we'll cover this season to it as well, so check it out! Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast, and to rate and review it on iTunes, or make a comm

What is it about Christmas and holiday music? One thing’s for sure, it definitely takes us back to our childhoods. That’s precisely where the Graeme, Shannon, and Rob went on this special holiday episode of  Deeper Cuts; specifically, to the 1979 album John Denver and The Muppets - A Christmas Together. They discuss favourite tracks, common themes, and what makes for a great Christmas record (and even throw in a few Muppet impressions for good measure!) Together, the Deeper Cuts trio explore why this album still checks all of the boxes, and why our favourite holiday music stays with us no matter how old we get. So, look what’s under the tree for you this episode, everyone. And Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you! As ever, our Spotify playlist has all the songs from this album and all the other albums we covered in our first season, so check it out! Deeper Cuts will return in spring 2018 with its second season. But you can stay connected to us on our twitter feed at @deepercutscast and visit our websi

Pop music; we all have to start somewhere. For Graeme, pop music was a big part of his journey as a pre-teen, skipping a grade in school and finding himself surrounded by the monstrous reality known as Junior High School. During that time of awkwardness and alienation, it was Supertramp's massively popular 1979 album Breakfast in America that made him happy and gave him solace. It was his starting point to music he could call his own. In episode 9 -- the final episode of this first season of Deeper Cuts -- we talk about pop music starter albums and what makes a good one. We talk about the dreaded middle of the road, and there are a few differences of opinion along the way, as you'd expect from music fans. And we re-discover the importance of a vital mantra; like what you like, friends! Take the logical step, and listen in now!

Classical music. It’s old. It’s complex. It can be intimidating. But somehow, the best of it goes beyond mere academic appreciation and makes you feel things. This is especially true if, like our Shannon Dohar, you get to participate in it. Shannon performed Beethoven’s Mass in C as a member of a choir and this piece became a signpost for her to what the possibilities are, helping her to form an appreciation for music as a whole. In episode 8 of Deeper Cuts, we talk about classical music and its relationship to the feels. We talk about how sacred music of all kinds intersect along common musical lines. Somehow, we talk about hockey and baseball, too. And we also talk about how music like this can be truly communal. So, take your place in the choir and we’ll begin.

Have you ever felt a page of your life turn, moving from one chapter to another? It’s a common experience that can be tumultuous but also pretty exciting, too. During a time of transition for Rob, it was Joe Jackson’s 1982 album Night and Day that provided the soundtrack. It was what we term an "experimental album" that provided a means of opening new musical vistas for him, from the world of top 40 hits and new wave anthems to the world of jazz and after-hours Latin rhythms and back again. This is our focus for episode 7, as the Deeper Cuts Trio proceed to steppin’ out into these themes of transitions, new musical possibilities, undercut expectations, and wicked piano breaks. Step along with them!

Road trip! It’s a common and very welcome battle cry, even if we’re just taking a journey by ourselves. The best and most memorable road trips are very often, if not always, accompanied by a great soundtrack. For Graeme, that soundtrack was Indigo Girls’ 1992 offering Rites of Passage, an album that he took with him on his first solo trip abroad. In our sixth episode, the Deeper Cuts Trio – Graeme, Shannon, and Rob – talk about that record, and also about the common denominators of what makes for a great road trip soundtrack. So, put on your travelling shoes, good people, and we’ll begin our journey together …

Location, location, location. Sometimes, a record is vivid enough to make you feel as though you’re in one as you listen. Maybe it can even help you make sense of your physical location, too. For Rob Jones, XTC’s eminently pastoral and Anglocentric 1999 album Apple Venus Volume 1 provided both of those things to him as a Canadian living in England trying to decode his surroundings and his life at the same time. As usual, Rob is joined by co-hosts Graeme Burk and Shannon Dohar who talk about cultural context, ecstatic lyrical imagery, all things British, and literary references that fascinate and confound all at once. Open your ears, if not your Norton Anthologies, and have a listen.

Very often, we outgrow the place where we’re from. That can be one of the signs that we’ve come of age. But leaving an old familiar place and finding a home in a new one is rarely simple, especially when you’re young. That’s the subject of our discussion around The Weakerthans’ 2000 album Left and Leaving, a go-to album for our own Shannon Dohar. In the episode, we talk about the minutiae of life as expressed in “found lyrics”, densely packed metaphors, emotional awkwardness and missed connections, and the nature of coming-of-age tales in general. So, don’t sit on the fence (between past and present tense…). Get stuck in, good listeners!

Chances are, our first encounters with music was that which was aimed right at our hungry little learning minds and dancing little feet. For generations of kids, including our own Graeme Burk, a heavyweight in this department was the original cast recording The Sesame Street Record, released in 1970. Like the groundbreaking TV show it was based on, the music was designed to entertain and educate in tandem, with the songs imprinting themselves on many not only as artifacts of childhood, but also as well-written and well-played music in their own right. What else makes for great children’s music? How does it differ from any kind of music we listen to and enjoy even as we reach adulthood? That’s our topic in this third episode of our podcast. So, don’t be a grouch. Dive in!

Everyone needs a role model. This is true even those who become role models themselves later on including Shannon Dohar. At one time, Ani DiFranco’s 1995 album Not A Pretty Girl served as her template, including the cover art that informed her ideal wardrobe! Shannon, Graeme, and Rob discuss the album that explores the complexity of adult relationships, control over one’s own work, and coming-of-age in an often cruel and morally questionable world. We talk about open tunings, earnest lyrics, various genres found in the music itself, and (of course) how this record connects with Shannon and with her two companions long after the age of purposefully ripped t-shirts and bangles has passed.

Being a teenager is tough. We all have those albums that we went to for solace when we were slogging through our teen years that helped us to realize that we’re not alone in our awkward gloominess. Rob submits this one as his go-to teenage angst record; Tears For Fears’ 1983 debut album The Hurting. With Graeme and Shannon, our questing Deeper Cuts trio explore the themes of emotional states of mind reflected in the music, how lyrics connect with an audience, and how a once treasured album holds up (or doesn’t) all these years later.