Why It Matters

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  • Deep Cuts: Money Talk

    Look, we all go through lean years when we first step out on our own. Sadly, those lean years never end for some, and for more and more people they go on a hell of a lot longer than they should. Just keep it in mind, okay?  We all struggle sometimes.  If you’re on top…

  • 129. Count Your Coins and Throw Them Over My Shoulder

    Savannah was fucking hot, and I was even fucking-ier poor. Unless I could bum a meal off another SCADdy, I was down to eating peanut butter because it was all I had, aside from a jar of mustard.  It wouldn’t have mattered if I had something to cook, anyway — I couldn’t afford to use…

  • From the Stacks: Platinum Blonde – Standing in the Dark

     Oh lord, where to begin.  These guys were inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in 2010, and good for them.  I mean, at least they aren’t Celine Dion.

  • From the Stacks: David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht’s Baal

    In many ways this is the most interesting record in the Bowie discography.  This five track EP accompanied Bowie’s 1981 BBC appearance as Bertolt Brecht’s horny, murderous title character.

  • Deep Cuts, Reader’s Choice: Alex Johnson

    I met Alex Johnson thanks to Why It Matters just a couple of short years ago.  Since then we’ve been fast friends on Twitter (follow him at @koolwriting) and have exchanged mail both real and electronic. Alex was kind enough to send me a cast recording of Storm: The Musical, written by the man himself. …

  • Interview With Alan Schmidt on Boomtown Rats Website

    A few weeks ago I had the tremendous pleasure of meeting Alan Schmidt, a new best friend I’ll never meet.  We enjoyed our conversation so much that we’ve kept it going, and the more we chat the more fascinating I find him. Our Man Schmidt is as funny as they come, and his behind the…

  • 128. Staring at the Sea, Staring at the Sand

    Lee G. came to check out SCAD, or at least to visit.  I was thrilled to see him, as if reuniting with my long lost conjoined twin.  How that separation may have occurred is a bit of a mystery — maybe a gigantic baloney slicer accident.

  • From the Stacks: Jane’s Addiction – That Ain’t Country

    I think that this is the first Jane’s bootleg I purchased, most likely from my buddies at Green Hell Records on Hollywood Boulevard.  It’s a double album set comprised of two 1988 era shows, which for me will always be the Jane’s sweet spot.

  • From the Stacks: Riot – Fire Down Under

    You are looking at one of the most reviled album covers in the history of metal.

  • The Neighborhood Kick Off US Tour In Sacramento May 20

    The Neighbourhood is one of those bands that reminds me that pop music doesn’t have to suck.  Debut album I Love You dropped last month, following an EP released last August.  Both include the track “Sweater Weather,” which is infectious as they come.