Nerd Music: Weekend Mixtape, Movie Soundtrack Edition

Summer is here, and with it, summer blockbusters. For this weeks mixtape, I went back through soundtracks to find the six* best songs from nerdy/geeky movies. I only accept songs that first appear on a soundtrack - which means Change (in the House of Flies), by the Deftones gets left off, even though it was on every damn soundtrack in 2000. However there are some great songs here, some from very bad movies (quick disclaimer: my taste skews pretty heavy, so I am sure I left off your favorites. Feel free to drop your contributions in the comments!):




No Shelter, Rage Against the Machine, Godzilla (1998): Remember how awful this movie was? But the soundtrack was... pretty good. It included a terrible remix of Brain Stew, with Godzilla shrieking in it, and a Jimmy Page/Puff Daddy... song(?) that I actually like way more than I should. Strong offerings from Ben Folds Five and Wallflowers as well, but No Shelter is one of the best Rage songs ever.

Metro, System of a Down, Dracula 2000 (2000): My favorite song on this list, and one of the best covers of all time. The rest of the soundtrack is so-so, but put Metro on repeat. Also... was this movie any good? I honestly don't remember.

Historia Calamitatum, Rise Against, Punisher: War Zone (2008): Vastly underrated movie, and doomed to remain there with Daredevil and Punisher being awesome on Netflix. Soild soundtrack, though, if you're in the mood to rock out.

This is Halloween, Marylin Manson, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Probably the best movie, and overall soundtrack, on this list. Maaaaybe this song shouldn't technically be on here, since it is a cover of the song from the movie, but... this song was MADE for Marylin Manson, so I'll take it.

*Take a Look Around, Limp Bizkit/Scum of the Earth, Rob Zombie, Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)  I know, I know, Limp Bizkit. But Still. This whole soundtrack is great - with I Disappear by Metallica, Butthole Surfers, Foo Fighters covering Pink Floyd... It's so 2000, and so great, and don't you dare say otherwise.

Your Soul is Mine, Mushroomhead, Saw VI, (2009): I despise the Saw movies with my entire being, but I love Mushroomhead, so... Here it is. A pleasantly creepy song to close this list out.

NERD MUSIC: Weekend Mixtape (3.11.16)

Greedo Died by the Hand of Solo

Finding nerdy references or themes in metal isn't hard- for plenty of bands, that is their entire catalogue. Others, it's slightly more subtle. Mushroomhead- one of my favorite bands ever- peppers their music with references, including the one above. Their videos are basically horror movies (and they are all huge horror fans). And, of course, the whole fortythree thing that everyone's* favorite SciFi author uses comes from Mushroomhead.

Fun, nerdy side note: The band is from the same suburb of Cleveland that most of my family is (the oft-referenced 216), so I have seen them several times when I have gone back. After one show, I ended up hanging out with Rick/Stitch (pictured), their DJ, and we were talking about the samples he uses.

"Who do you use when you need some creepy kids voice?"

"I just grab one of the band members kids and ask them what Star Wars action figure they want, and buy it for them if they say something creepy."

I wonder if Kubrick bribed the twins in the shining with nerdy toys.

Your mixtape this weekend has two sides- Side A is the more chill, if your Friday involves hanging out at home, and maybe writing (the romantic life of a writer- home on Friday night!). Side B is for if you have a little more excitement planned. Feel free to use it as an interlude for the whiskey-fueled horror movie marathon that it would pair so well with.

Side A:



Side B:


*Where 'everyone'=like three people