Latest Episodes and News
4.1: Sting – …Nothing Like The Sun (1987)
Sometimes, you find yourself growing up. You realize that some of the things you believed and thought were solid in your life really aren’t – and in fact are even harmful to you. You find you have to question those things to create a new path for yourself. You’ve got to start again. This was Read more about 4.1: Sting – …Nothing Like The Sun (1987)[…]
Deeper Cuts season 4 arrives September 22!
We’re baaaaaaacccccckkkk! Deeper Cuts, the podcast that takes deep dives into albums with deep meaning returns for its fourth season starting on Tuesday, September 22 with subsequent episodes dropping on Tuesdays during September and October. This six-episode season features multiple genres and artists as Shannon Dohar, Graeme Burk and Rob Jones explore an album that Read more about Deeper Cuts season 4 arrives September 22![…]
Want to be on an episode of Deeper Cuts? Here’s how!
Every episode of Deeper Cuts opens with someone telling us about an album that was important to them and why. You can be that person. All you need is a phone! All you have to do is this: Record yourself answering this question: “what was an album that you found important to you at some point Read more about Want to be on an episode of Deeper Cuts? Here’s how![…]
The COVID Sessions 3: John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch (original soundtrack) (2019)
Welcome to Deeper Cuts: the COVID Sessions — a three episode miniseries which finds the Deeper Cuts trio taking deep dives into music with deep meaning for us right now as we shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Living in modern times can be exciting, and also terrifying. Sometimes, it feels like we’re just Read more about The COVID Sessions 3: John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch (original soundtrack) (2019)[…]
The COVID Sessions 2: Bruce Cockburn – Night Vision (1973)
Welcome to Deeper Cuts: the COVID Sessions — a three episode miniseries which finds the Deeper Cuts trio taking deep dives into music with deep meaning for us right now as we shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now during the COVID-19 lockdown, a lot of us find ourselves waiting. We’re waiting for Read more about The COVID Sessions 2: Bruce Cockburn – Night Vision (1973)[…]
The COVID Sessions 1: Fountains Of Wayne – Traffic and Weather (2007)
Welcome to Deeper Cuts: the COVID Sessions — a three episode miniseries which finds the Deeper Cuts trio taking deep dives into music with deep meaning for us right now as we shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his time sheltering in place, Rob turned to Fountains of Wayne’s 2007 album Traffic and Read more about The COVID Sessions 1: Fountains Of Wayne – Traffic and Weather (2007)[…]
Holiday Special 2019
It’s that time of year again, Deeper Cuts fans; the season of our holiday gift exchange! With some (actually, quite a lot of) trepidation in the hopes that our gifts are yuletide treasures rather than lumps of coal, the Deeper Cuts trio explore a range of musical styles from synthpop to blues-rock to yet another Read more about Holiday Special 2019[…]
3.6: ABBA – Super Trouper (1980)
Home. What does it mean? What associations do people commonly hold about what their home means to them? How can music help to tie us to home, especially when one is far from it and missing it? When Graeme went to a military school at the age of 12, ABBA’s penultimate 1980 album Super Trouper Read more about 3.6: ABBA – Super Trouper (1980)[…]
3.5: EELS – Daisies of the Galaxy (2000)
Sometimes, it’s just time to move on. And yet, after struggles, trials and tribulations and painful endings, sometimes that’s not the easiest thing to do. How do you find the right path? How do you redefine your life once an important chapter has closed? This is a situation we all face in one way or Read more about 3.5: EELS – Daisies of the Galaxy (2000)[…]
3.4: Green Day – American Idiot (2004)
Rebellion. Anger. Even disillusionment. These are only some of what makes up the human experience. This may be even more pertinent during our youth, and when times of great turmoil are reflected in the headlines, and in the lives of the people we know. It could also be just about the drudgery of our existences, Read more about 3.4: Green Day – American Idiot (2004)[…]
3.3: Mavis Staples – Have a Little Faith (2004)
The world can be a place of trouble and darkness. But in that darkness, there is hope to be found if one is open to doing so. That was just the message that Rob needed as grim world events were coming to a head and as the call to fatherhood to a baby daughter beckoned Read more about 3.3: Mavis Staples – Have a Little Faith (2004)[…]
3.2: Backstreet Boys – Backstreet Boys (1997)
Some music in our lives gets us at a young age. It bonds itself to our DNA for the rest of our lives, connecting us with memories of unfiltered teenaged joy, posters plastered onto bedroom walls, and the reckless abandon of dance moves and hairbrush microphones in front of the mirror. Our first pop album Read more about 3.2: Backstreet Boys – Backstreet Boys (1997)[…]
3.1: Wendy Carlos – Switched-On Bach (1968)
People are constantly doing things to improve themselves, to help make themselves a little smarter (or make themselves think that they’re smarter). Sometimes music can be part of a self-improvement. That’s what Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach was for Graeme; as the revolutionary electronic music album started the a-little-too-serious teenaged Graeme on an excursion into the Read more about 3.1: Wendy Carlos – Switched-On Bach (1968)[…]
3.0: The Band – The Band (1969) (Happy 50th Birthday Rob!)
Surprise! Before the new season of Deeper Cuts debuts next week, we did a bonus episode as a surprise party of a podcast for our beloved Deeper Cuts co-host Rob Jones, who turns 50 today (February 15, 2019)! Join Graeme and Shannon as they talk about a favourite band and a favourite album of Rob’s, The Read more about 3.0: The Band – The Band (1969) (Happy 50th Birthday Rob!)[…]
Deeper Cuts season 3 debuts February 19th!
It’s been a while, but we’re back! Deeper Cuts, the podcast offering deep dives into albums with deep meaning returns for its third season starting on Tuesday, February 19th with subsequent episodes dropping on Tuesday throughout February and March. This six-episode season will include, as you might expect, albums that from across the musical spectrum Read more about Deeper Cuts season 3 debuts February 19th![…]
Be on an upcoming episode of Deeper Cuts!
We’re back in a month or so with a new season of Deeper Cuts! We’ve got all kinds of cool albums, great discussions and amazing stories to tell you. But we need you to help us! As you know, every episode of Deeper Cuts opens with someone telling us about an album that was important Read more about Be on an upcoming episode of Deeper Cuts![…]
Holiday Special 2018
Happy holidays, Deeper Cuts fans! In anticipation for our upcoming third season, we have the 2018 edition of our holiday episode. This time, the Deeper Cuts trio gather around the yuletide tree to exchange gifts to celebrate the season. What gifts are we exchanging? Music, of course. Each of us gave another of our group Read more about Holiday Special 2018[…]
2.9: Bruce Cockburn – Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws (1979)
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. Read more about 2.9: Bruce Cockburn – Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws (1979)[…]
2.8: Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959)
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 Read more about 2.8: Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959)[…]
2.7: Nanci Griffith – Flyer (1994)
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 Read more about 2.7: Nanci Griffith – Flyer (1994)[…]
2.6: Tori Amos – Under the Pink (1994)
Sometimes, 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 Read more about 2.6: Tori Amos – Under the Pink (1994)[…]
2.5: OK Go – Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010)
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 Read more about 2.5: OK Go – Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010)[…]
2.4: Tom Waits – Mule Variations (1999)
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 Read more about 2.4: Tom Waits – Mule Variations (1999)[…]
2.3: Anne Murray – Let’s Keep It That Way (1978)
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, Read more about 2.3: Anne Murray – Let’s Keep It That Way (1978)[…]
2.2: Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1971)
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 Read more about 2.2: Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1971)[…]
2.1: Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1999)
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 Read more about 2.1: Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1999)[…]
Deeper Cuts returns June 5th!
The podcast that offers deep dives into albums with deep meaning returns for a second season starting this June! Recording has begun for season two of Deeper Cuts. Hosts Graeme Burk, Shannon Dohar and Rob Jones are back discussing albums that mean something to one of them and pondering some of the universal themes that Read more about Deeper Cuts returns June 5th![…]
Deeper Questions: Restful Refrains!
Life can get busy, hectic. Sometimes, it’s just all too much and we need some respite from the grind. We need quiet time, or at least space to refasten our anchors to solid ground. Music can help with that. It can soothe us by way of gentle tones and comforting melodies. It can remind us Read more about Deeper Questions: Restful Refrains![…]
Deeper Questions: Mirthful Melodies!
Our favourite music provokes an emotional response. Sometimes, it provokes a physical one, too – laughter! Whether silly or sophisticated, wacky or risibly wise, the music that makes us laugh can hold the same kind of importance to us as the music that makes us cry, or dance for that matter. So, the deeper question Read more about Deeper Questions: Mirthful Melodies![…]
Deeper Questions: Re-Defining Cover Versions!
Across music history, cover versions have been plentiful. Some are good. Some are decidedly not! Some are earnest and reverential of the source material. Some depart from it in order to shock, or take the piss. But some stand out from the crowd by completely re-defining the source material. They get us to completely re-assess Read more about Deeper Questions: Re-Defining Cover Versions![…]
Deeper Questions: Tearful Tuneage!
Music is sometimes at its best when it helps us make a connection to our own feelings about things, whatever those feelings happen to be. Maybe it has an impact on us because of the bottomless sorrow or indescribable joy as described by narrators in the song. It makes it easy to put ourselves in Read more about Deeper Questions: Tearful Tuneage![…]
You can be on Deeper Cuts! (Kind of…)
We need you … to tell us about an album that was important to you at some time in your life, and why! In a little less than a month Shannon, Rob and Graeme will begin recording a new season of Deeper Cuts! We’ve got an exciting season lined up with some great albums and some Read more about You can be on Deeper Cuts! (Kind of…)[…]
Deeper Questions: Story Songs!
Sometimes, songs tell us the story of our own lives. Sometimes, they tell the stories of others. And in some cases, those two things even intersect. What are our favourite story songs? What is it about them that brings relatable themes forward, and even create a sense of empathy while wrapping everything in a beloved Read more about Deeper Questions: Story Songs![…]
Deeper Questions: Duets That Do it!
As Marvin and Tammi once said, it takes two, baby. With that in mind, what duets and vocal blends from two singers are the pinnacle to the principle that sometimes, it takes two voices to really bring out the magic in a song? That’s this week’s Deeper Question, gentle readers. How did the Deeper Cuts Read more about Deeper Questions: Duets That Do it![…]
Deeper Questions: Favourite TV Theme Songs!
Television is more than just a visual medium. Some of the best music we remember comes from the opening songs and themes to our favourite TV shows. Some are cheesy. Some are very catchy. Some are both! So, which TV theme songs do the Deeper Cuts Trio love to this day? Since all three are Read more about Deeper Questions: Favourite TV Theme Songs![…]
Deeper Questions: Foreign Language Favourites!
They say that music is the international language. Sometimes, melodies, tones, and atmospheres that music can create can transcend everything even if the lyrics are in another language. That’s this week’s Deeper Question, Deeper Cuts fans: What piece of music, song, or even whole album had immediate impact even when delivered in a language that Read more about Deeper Questions: Foreign Language Favourites![…]
Deeper Questions: Defiantly Happy Songs
In these dark days of political upheaval and world-class asshattery at the very top tiers of power, we all want to accentuate the positive. So, what songs make us look up from our shoes, and tell us to quit our mopin’? That’s the Deeper Question of the week: defiantly happy songs. It’s those tunes that Read more about Deeper Questions: Defiantly Happy Songs[…]
Deeper Questions: Early Radio Faves!
At one time, and even still for some today, the radio served as the primary vehicle for discovering the world of pop music that we continue to love throughout our lives even as our tastes change. So the Deeper Question this week is: What’s the first pop song on the radio that you remember hearing Read more about Deeper Questions: Early Radio Faves![…]
Deeper Questions: The Tingles!
Hey, Deeper Cuts fans! We’re excited about upcoming season 2 of our show which we’ll be recording very soon. In the meantime, we thought we shouldn’t keep you hanging. So, this is a new series that’s exclusive (at least right now!) to this site; Deeper Questions! Every week, or as often as we can anyway, Read more about Deeper Questions: The Tingles![…]
Holiday Special: John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together (1979)
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 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 Read more about Holiday Special: John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together (1979)[…]
9: Supertramp – Breakfast In America (1979)
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 Read more about 9: Supertramp – Breakfast In America (1979)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Eight
You might think all of us at Deeper Cuts have gone Hollywood with this week’s Spotify playlist. It’s only logical that you feel this way. But we don’t think you’ll be saying goodbye stranger to Supertramp’s Breakfast in America anytime soon. I mean, oh darling, if you ask Graeme there hasn’t been a better album from the Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Eight[…]
Beethoven addendum: Classical music recommendations
Sometimes we have to cut material from the podcast. From episode 8, we have Graeme, Rob and Shannon offering their recommendations of other classical pieces to listen to. Graeme suggests Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers wake) and Thomas Tallis’ Spem in Alium; Rob recommends Claude Debussy’s La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Read more about Beethoven addendum: Classical music recommendations[…]
8: Beethoven – Mass in C major
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 Read more about 8: Beethoven – Mass in C major[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Seven
Beethoven’s Mass in C encompasses many human states: mystery, contemplation, joy, exultation, dismay, wonder, adoration, love. It tells the story of the Mass but makes small and large innovations in how it tells that tale. In short, it’s a welcome addition to the albums covered by Deeper Cuts and we have it on this week’s Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Seven[…]
Joe Jackson Night and Day Addendum: Steppin’ Out of a Comfort Zone
In episode seven of our podcast (which you can listen to right here!), we talked a lot about the expanding musical possibilities that Joe Jackson’s Night and Day album helped me discover beyond the borders of top forty pop. But in parallel, Joe Jackson himself was on a journey all of his own around the Read more about Joe Jackson Night and Day Addendum: Steppin’ Out of a Comfort Zone[…]
7: Joe Jackson – Night and Day (1982)
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 Read more about 7: Joe Jackson – Night and Day (1982)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Six
Ever found an album that promises the latest top 40 hit by a new wave artist and then it turns out to have Cuban influenced salsa numbers, songs ruminating about living in New York, jazz (and not the cool kind AM radio played) and lyrics that explored urban living in 1982 in all the many Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Six[…]
6: Indigo Girls – Rites of Passage (1992)
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 Read more about 6: Indigo Girls – Rites of Passage (1992)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Five
Songs about motion, songs about journeys, songs about destinations, songs about places and people long past… all these things and more can be found in the Indigo Girls’ 1992 album Rites of Passage, the latest addition to our Spotify playlist, which includes almost every album covered on Deeper Cuts. Put on some headphones, put on Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Five[…]
XTC Apple Venus, Volume 1 Addendum: The Influence of Judee Sill
For every great record, there is almost always another great one behind it. Sometimes, there’s even an entire body of work that helped to inspire it. Shannon, Graeme, and I aren’t the only ones who have albums that hold deep meanings! This idea is absolutely true of XTC’s Apple Venus, Volume 1, a record that Read more about XTC Apple Venus, Volume 1 Addendum: The Influence of Judee Sill[…]
5: XTC – Apple Venus Volume 1 (1999)
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 Read more about 5: XTC – Apple Venus Volume 1 (1999)[…]
4: The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving (2000)
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 Read more about 4: The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving (2000)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Three
Songs of living in Winnipeg, being awkward, dealing with the hard work of relationships and evaluating your life choices through a garage sale are among those being examined this week when the Weakerthans’ 2000 album Left and Leaving joins our Spotify playlist. Give it, and the songs on albums covered on previous episodes, a listen. You Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Three[…]
Bonus Content: The Sesame Street Record’s deleted final track
If you listened carefully to our “3 minutes more or less” summary of The Sesame Street Record, you might notice that there was one final track in that that’s not in our Spotify Playlist. That’s because the original release of The Sesame Street Record was an LP, on a vinyl record with two sides. The Read more about Bonus Content: The Sesame Street Record’s deleted final track[…]
3: The Sesame Street Record (1970)
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 Read more about 3: The Sesame Street Record (1970)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Two
We’ve got rubber duckies, musings on what is up and what is down and meditations on being green, alongside determinations of the most impossible word you’ve ever seen, what people (and Big Birds) have two of, and just how a face can make you feel inside. That’s right: The Sesame Street Record (1970) comes to Read more about Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week Two[…]
2: Ani DiFranco – Not a Pretty Girl (1995)
Everyone needs a role model. This is true even for 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 Read more about 2: Ani DiFranco – Not a Pretty Girl (1995)[…]
Deeper Cuts Spotify Playlist: Week One
We have everything from British synthpop to Folk/Punk as our playlist covers our first two episodes: Tears For Fears’ The Hurting and Ani DiFranco’s Not a Pretty Girl. We’ll be adding future episodes’ albums to this list every week, so keep checking back.
1: Tears For Fears – The Hurting (1983)
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. Read more about 1: Tears For Fears – The Hurting (1983)[…]
Deeper Cuts starts October 19
Starting on Thursday, October 19 is Deeper Cuts, a new podcast from the team who brought you A Year With the Beatles and Reality Bomb. Featuring Graeme Burk, Rob Jones and Shannon Dohar, Deeper Cuts explores albums of personal significance. The premise is simple: every week Shannon, Graeme or Rob will pick an album that has Read more about Deeper Cuts starts October 19[…]
About Deeper Cuts
Everyone has an album that was important to them at some time in their life for different reasons. Everyone has albums that were special to them at different times in their life. It was the album they played all the time in college, or the album they listened to incessantly when they were in love with someone, or the album they danced to as a five year old. Deeper Cuts brings together three people to listen to those albums and discuss them.
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Deeper Cuts is brought to you by...
Shannon Dohar
Graeme Burk
