Two years ago, when I was working on this column’s debut, I wrote about Bruce Springsteen’s “Book of Dreams” and what the song means to Julie and me. During the…
Basement Songs
157 Articles
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Scott Malchus has had a copy of the remastered Rubber Soul since last week, and he hasn’t been able to listen to anything else. Read his thoughtful review in this week’s edition of Basement Songs.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Southern California resident Scott Malchus has fire on his mind this week — and memories of listening to this song from Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
No, not that Joe Jackson. This week, Scott Malchus ruminates on the nature of creativity, his relationship with his father, and his own motivations for writing, all against the backdrop of a track from Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
As summer draws to a close, Scott Malchus looks back on two months of time spent with his vacationing kids…and cranks the Ramones.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
It’s time for another edition of Basement Songs — and this week, Scott Malchus has John Hughes on his mind.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Scott Malchus returns to the basement for another week, and regales us with the story of how Sammy Hagar sparked a personal epiphany.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Scott Malchus kick your ass. Scott Malchus kick your face. Scott Malchus kick your balls into outer space!
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Take a moment to sit back, relax, and listen to the following piece of music. ItÁ¢€â„¢s Á¢€Å“Clair de lune,Á¢€ written by French composer, Claude Debussy, performed by pianist John OÁ¢€â„¢Conor…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
The Kinks’ State of Confusion was just the second LP I ever purchased. With loose change IÁ¢€â„¢d saved from scrounging around in the couch or picking up from the piles…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
The kid from Maple School broke away and dribbled down the court. Just five steps ahead of me, he had a wide open lane for an easy layup. As he…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
The summer vacation. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the Basement Songs, during my childhood, when school let out for the summer, my parents would pack up the…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
IÁ¢€â„¢m running through the streets of industrial Los Angeles cursing to myself. My eyes are searching, desperately scanning the sidewalk and disintegrating asphalt for a coat hanger. The sun beats…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
I awoke with a knee in my back and a song in my head. Crammed into a bed with Julie and Jacob, I teetered on the edge hanging over a…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Who could have imagined that sunny California would be overcast and chilly the entire week my family traveled to Ohio without me? The gloomy weather seems to fuel the grayness…
Scott Malchus
4 Min Read
While perusing the excellent selection of music stocked at the Burbank Public Library, I happened upon SugarlandÁ¢€â„¢s Love on the Inside misplaced next to Keith UrbanÁ¢€â„¢s 18 Kids greatest hits…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Scott Malchus has gone back downstairs for another week of Basement Songs — and this week, the Indigo Girls’ “Galileo” is on the stereo.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Sitting on the patio at my brotherÁ¢€â„¢s house, as Sophie and her cousins laughed, splashing in the pool and Jacob glided though the air on the swing set, something unexpected…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
My first couple years in college, after school let out for the summer in early May, I would climb inside my parents’ red GM van and drive down to Athens,…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
IÁ¢€â„¢d like to pay tribute to my mother-in-law, Judie, a woman whose perseverance has set an example not only for all of her kids, but for all of us to…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
Spring is in the air, and the baseball season is still young — which has Scott Malchus thinking about the eternal hope of the hardcore fan while listening to John Fogerty’s “Centerfield.”
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Have a seat. Sit back. Press play and let the music slip through your skin and into your mind. That yearning you feel from the melody, that longing for love,…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
I wasnÁ¢€™t supposed to be at this concert. A conscious decision was made not to spend money on a ticket to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band when…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Each spring when Great Strides rolls around and we begin fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Julie and I do our best to write a letter that grabs peopleÁ¢€â„¢s attentions…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
On a warm spring afternoon, with my school bag swung over my shoulder, I took a leisurely walk home from Forest Elementary School, shuffling my suede Thom McAnÁ¢€â„¢s along the…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
A winter chill crept into our sunny spring Sunday and we all donned heavy coats to go to a baseball game. Tickets to the World Baseball Classic between the United…
Scott Malchus
3 Min Read
My brotherÁ¢€â„¢s black five-piece Rogers drum set stood in our basement like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey: Mysterious, imposing and full of wonder. As a prepubescent boy, I…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
On Sunday mornings, I’d drag my ass out of bed and wander over to the cafeteria to replenish my fluids and put some food in my stomach. After that, maybe…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
Through the eyes of my son, IÁ¢€™ve been reliving a part of my youth in the form of colorful costumed super heroes from cartoons and the pages of comic books….
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
This week I received word that an old high school classmate, Steve Zella, is missing after a kayak accident in the Texas community where he works and lives with his…