MUSIC is not a GENRE

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “If It Feels All Right” (from PARTS AND LABOUR ) ~~~~ This week I give you a long overdue lovefest on Fountains of Wayne, possibly the greatest power pop band ever. Melding driving rock with hooky pop, Fountains of Wayne set the standard laid out by bands like The Beatles, Squeeze, and Big Star. Every album is full of gems...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “Let It Wreck Your Mind” (from SYNCOPY FOR THE WEIRD ) ~~~~ Part 3 of my Great Producers series is on the 1970s, the decade when music recording realized its full sonic potential. This was due to massive expansion in both technology and creativity.  Those developments influenced each other in ways that propelled music forwa...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's yet another BONUS MxTRA for Season 8! It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for THREE reasons: 1. It's just after the holidays & I need an extra week to get new content ready for you; 2. This podcast needs your support, and I want you to know what kind of exclusive content you get when you join me on Patreon; and 3. It's a vital top...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC feat. The Drop – “You Know You’re Right (No Fun Pushy Mix)” ~~~~ To close out 2025, I’m doing a slightly premature catchup episode – your comments, my corrections & thoughts, etc.  After I flesh out everything y’all have said in the final third of this year, I’m going to talk about what kind of music podcast you really need t...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG NICK – “My Xmas Wish” (from the upcoming album, VALLEY OF THE UNRELEASED )   In the sixth installment of Quick Takes from the Continuum , I wrap up my 2025 playlist, and the year itself. I’ll sum up where my playlist was midyear, then fill it out with everything I’ve added since then. I’ll also weigh in on my favorites for the ye...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG  REC – “Fall” (from PARTS AND LABOUR ) ~~~~ Life is long – if we’re lucky. The longer it is, the more we look back. If that looking back is with fondness – and maybe even a desire to return to the “good old days”, it’s called nostalgia. As music lovers, we ALL experience nostalgia. Those songs & bands we grew up with tend to mean...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's yet another BONUS MxTRA for Season 8! It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for THREE reasons: 1. It's a microtopic on producers, something I'm really passionate about; 2. It's the holiday season & I need an extra week to get new content ready for you; 3. This podcast needs your support, and I want you to know what kind of exclusive...

I spend an hour with Shaka Mitchell - father, education advocate, and creator of the Come Together Music Project Come Together Music Project Website Connect even more with Shaka: YouTube iTunes Spotify Instagram Shaka's  Substack   BONUS MxTRA: Shaka & Nick Come Together Through Music ~~~ SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~ *intro/outro music credit:  REC - "Sing Owwt" *mid roll...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG Nicky DeMatteo – “I’ll Be There”   The first PODFAST of Season 8 is all about Northern Soul.  It was a movement of music fans, shops & labels starting in the North of England in the late 1960s, that centered around old American soul records with a beat you could dance to, and especially the more obscure tracks. I go through the p...

I spend an hour with Doug Gouger of NovA and the Black Holes. He's a musician, songwriter, producer, magician, video director, balloon twister, face painter, and standup comic. We get into all things music and beyond, including his run-ins with Jerry Garcia & the Hell's Angels. Hear all of Doug's music here: www.novaandtheblackholes.com And stay to the end to hear the FEATURED SONG:  NovA and the...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG NICK – “Sample” (from the unreleased home EP, BLACK-EYED SUSAN ) ~~~~ I’m jumping right into Part 2 of my new series on great producers through the ages. This week is all about the 1960s, when multitracking became a thing pretty much everywhere. I’ll name some prominent producers from the decade, talk about the tech, and list my...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG NICK – “That Is All I Need” ~~~~ Introducing a new series – The Great Producers. I’ll be covering seminal producers decade by decade. Producers are a vital part of the music recording process. But that wasn’t always the case. In this first episode, I go over their pre-history & origins, and the early development in the 1940s-50s...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's the first BONUS MxTRA of Season 8! It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for THREE reasons: 1. I was psyched to dive into this topic, and equally psyched to share it with you; 2. Life gets busy & I need a schedule break, but want to make sure you still get an episode every week of the year; 3. This podcast needs your support, and I...

Are you tired of your passion for music taking a back seat to your day job? Are you tired of your fears & excuses getting in the way of your goals?  I will guide you to finally write the song that’s been inside you for years in just six weeks, by unlocking the confidence, clarity, and craft you’ve had all along.  Find out more, and schedule a free 30-minute call:  https://www.nickdematteo.com/thes...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “Sing Owwt” (from SYNCOPY FOR THE WEIRD ) ~~~~ In this week’s thrilling conclusion, I dive into the rest of Kool & the Gang’s career, starting with their most successful album, and continuing to this very year. How much of their work do you know from the late 1980s and beyond? Did you check out after their success waned, or...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “Make Me Break Like Everyday” (from SYNCOPY FOR THE WEIRD ) ~~~~ Consider this a companion piece to the episode on the Pointer Sisters. Kool & the Gang are yet another band with a few hits in the ‘70s, and mega hits in the ‘80s, that we take for granted, because we’re unaware of how long they’ve been together & how much oth...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “Any Universe” (from THE SUNSHINE SEMINAR  and RECcollection: THE BEST OF REC 2007-2020 ) ~~~~ If you’ve been a fan of this show, you know that one of my favorite production eras is 1978-82-ish, and that many of my heart artists are New Wave. So you can imagine how psyched I was to discover the Dylan Jones book, Sweet Dream...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “You Make Me Wanna” (from SYNCOPY FOR THE WEIRD  and RECcollection: The Best of REC 2007-2020 ) ~~~~ There are artists whose presence we take for granted. They had hits, and those hits define them in our memories. But we might overlook how long and rich their contributions have been, and miss out on some of their greatest m...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG REC – “Make Me Mic My Mouth” (from SYZYGY FOR THE WEIRD  and RECcollection: The Best of REC 2007-2020 ) ~~~~ I’m kicking off Season 8 with YOU. Lots of you chimed in on a bunch of last season’s episodes and beyond, and you KNOW I love to chat.  Since Season 7 started with an episode titled “Hey A$$holes…”, I considered taking a g...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's YET ANOTHER gift BONUS MxTRA episode. It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for TWO reasons. ONE - so you know what awesome bonuses you get if you join Patreon (link above & below). TWO - Season 7 is DONE, Season 8 doesn't start until late September, and I don't wanna leave you hanging.  In this BONUS MxTRA, I talk about bands & gen...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's YET ANOTHER gift BONUS MxTRA episode. It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for TWO reasons. ONE - so you know what awesome bonuses you get if you join Patreon (link above & below). TWO - Season 7 is DONE, Season 8 doesn't start until late September, and I don't wanna leave you hanging.  This BONUS MxTRA is in honor of the long awai...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's YET ANOTHER gift BONUS MxTRA episode. It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for TWO reasons. ONE - so you know what awesome bonuses you get if you join Patreon (link above & below). TWO - Season 7 is DONE, Season 8 doesn't start until late September, and I don't wanna leave you hanging.  In this BONUS MxTRA, I go over the history of...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ Here's YET ANOTHER gift BONUS MxTRA episode. It's a PATREON EXCLUSIVE that I'm sharing for TWO reasons. ONE - so you know what awesome bonuses you get if you join Patreon (link above & below). TWO - Season 7 is DONE, Season 8 doesn't start until late September, and I don't wanna leave you hanging.  In this BONUS MxTRA, I talk British invasions...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ FEATURED SONG NICK – “Too Good To Me” (from WHAT IT IS ) ~~~~ To close out Season 7, I’m doing the 18th volume of Death is DUMB . Every year sees its share of major music deaths, but some years & year clusters have more significant deaths than others. It’s looking like 2025 is one of those. I talk about the major music deaths so far this year,...

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST! Join Patreon Get some merch ~~~~ This week’s PODFAST you could call the SUMMER EDITION. Taking down the rhetoric and literally jumping into the fun. I do a big ol’ verbal mashup of songs featuring the word “jump”, starting with its first surge in the 1930s and going right up to this year.  I break down why this word has been so ever-present, and why that’s important. AND I ra...