It seems like every time I sit down to write an intro to an issue of our little mag, I end up apologizing for the fact that it's so damn long in coming. And yes, here we go again: sorry, once more, that this has taken so long to finish. A lot of folks have put a great deal of work and encouragement into this issue, for which we here at SCR are sincerely, eternally grateful, and we'd like to apologize for the delays. We're still alive and kicking, although you've probably noticed some changes -- we're all-electronic for the forseeable future, for one thing. It was a hard decision to have to make, but the reality is that this is a money-losing endeavor, and putting together a print magazine takes ten times longer than updating it online. We may go back to print one of these days, but it'll be a while, I'm afraid. Anyway, we hope you'll stick with us in this brave new phase of e-zine-ness; we think the new design's pretty swanky, at least...
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, why, exactly, did issue #5, the one you're reading right now, come out so damn late? I could blame it on the downturned economy (which does somewhat account for the "new" digital SCR), the looming war/domestic distraction with Iraq, the long-overdue redesign (which, incidentally, took forever; thanks to Kim for the great new design and Marc for helping out with the formatting -- it never would've happened without you two), or the fact that a puppy requires a lot more attention than I'd bargained for, but that wouldn't be true, not really. Being the Co-Publisher/Editor/Whatever Guy of this mess, and the one most responsible for putting it all together, I'll raise my hand: it's all my fault. After the events of last fall, far gone though they seem at this date, a year later, music just didn't seem that important in the grand scheme of things. Over time, I gradually realized that I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd watched a band play, or listened to a CD for fun, and not because I was expected to come up with some witty analysis of the music's intent. Listening to music had become a job, an obligation, and not a particularly enjoyable one, at that. As the days wore on, I got more fulfillment out of playing gardener than I did music, and the magazine drifted off to the back of my conscious mind, a little nagging thought that made me grimace every time I thought about it.
Thankfully, it didn't last. I was sitting in a coffeeshop a while back, listening to a Superchunk CD on my headphones (because I had to write something about it, again), when it hit me that I was going about this all wrong. Music isn't for analysis, partly because there's really no good way to write about the sounds you hear and the emotions they make you feel. It's those emotions that are the important part -- music is meant to uplift, to entertain, to give you hope, to make you smile, to keep you warm inside like good whiskey. Music is its own reward, and it doesn't need to be analyzed.
Does this mean I'll never be writing a review again? Nah -- if that were the case, you wouldn't be reading this. In fact, the situation's the opposite -- I started SCR way back when out of a sheer love of music and a desire to share it with others, and I'd like to think that's what we're headed back to with this issue (which we like to call "The Reviews Issue," for reasons that'll become obvious when you check out the reviews page. This magazine will (hopefully) continue for a good while yet, and we'll keep on talking about music, analyzing music, and enjoying music, but remember one thing: don't take it too seriously. Listen to music because you enjoy it, not because we (or anybody else, for that matter) said you should.

Jeremy Hart
10/14/2002
Starbuck's, Meyerland Plaza, Houston, TX