Sponsor: Our Thanks to Lavisher

Lavisher

My thanks to Lavisher for sponsoring the website this week.

The band recently their new music video for “Syzygy.” The song comes from the band’s debut, self-titled, EP, which isup on Spotify and Apple Music.

Lavisher are a rock outfit from Chicago that often draw comparison to Failure, A Perfect Circle, and Queens of the Stone Age. The band describes their darkly uplifting songwriting as “minimalist poetry with stabs of virtuosity.” Front-man and principal songwriter Gavin Cushman III softens the hard edges with restrained melodic vocals while drummer Idin Alexander pounds rhythms into calculated eruptions.

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Liner Notes (September 28th, 2018)

After having done these roundups for almost three months now, I’ve finally decided to make them a little more official. What started as me just putting together some bullet points each week about new music being released has turned into a much lengthier and more thought out endeavor. I use them to talk about things I found interesting throughout the week, music I listened to, movies and TV shows I watched, a playlist of songs I enjoyed, and other observations. They’ve become a fun way to recap the week and hit my personal goal of trying to write more this year.

With that, I’ve decided to give them their own name and tag. We did a brainstorming session in the supporter Q&A thread, and after a bunch of suggestions, I landed on “Liner Notes.” So, for now, that’s what I’m going with. I’ve updated the past entries with this tag as well.

Usually these roundups are exclusive to supporters; however, I’ve decided to make this week’s free for everyone to give an example of what these end up looking like. This week ranks Jimmy Eat World albums, looks at the new macOS’s “Dark Mode,” and has my usual media diet roundup for the past week. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Review: Marissa Nadler – For My Crimes

Marissa Nadler

“When they take me down the corridor, they’ll secure my wrists with ties” Marissa Nadler croons in “For My Crimes,” the title track and album opener of the American songwriter’s eighth album. Nadler takes on the perspective of an individual on death row in a songwriting exercise, pleading to not be remembered for their crimes. The opening title track is a seemingly simple song. It’s not even close. “For My Crimes” – per the album’s press release, is labeled as “a sweeping, vaguely Southern drama of voices, strings, and acoustic guitar, that walks the line between character song and personal indictment by metaphor.” – I couldn’t agree more. The song brings listeners into a haunting atmosphere shaped by eerie backing vocals from Nadler’s friend and collaborator, Angel Olsen, clear and emotive acoustic guitar, and swells of strings. All these elements combined create a sprawling, remorseful story. In For My Crimes, Marissa Nadler seeks hard truths through turmoil. The album follows Nadler as she ponders whether love is strong enough to get past numerous struggles, from the distance to falling out of love. Nadler’s delicate, mesmerizing voice alongside gentle plucking of the acoustic guitar and layered strings form an unforgettable collection of songs to add to an already impressive discography.

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