If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie — a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days — but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.
Liner Notes (July 15th, 2019)
Well, this one ended up being quite long.
In this week’s newsletter, I share some thoughts on new music from Frank Turner, Shura, Good Riddance, Sum 41, and quite a bit more. I share a love letter to Stranger Things and go through the rest of my media diet from the past week. There’s a playlist of ten songs I loved, some thoughts about Lil Wayne and Blink-182 and the drama of last night, and some random thoughts about what I worked on (and failed at) on the website this week. Plus, I share a couple of iPhone wallpapers I like. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Updated Recommendations
Once a year I update a bunch of my recommendation posts around the website to see if new things need to be added to them, this year I’ve made updates to:
- Favorite Headphones
- Misc. Recommendations
- Favorite Software
- Favorite Albums
- Favorite Movies
- Favorite TV Shows
Also, I tossed out an ask on Twitter for recommendations of blogs or websites (about any topic) that people recommend reading. I like to ask this every once in a while to refresh what I have in my feeds, so if you have any recommendations of websites I should be checking out and reading, please let me know.
Liner Notes (June 5th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by fireworks and scared pets.
In this week’s newsletter, I write about the new music sharing pages I created, talk a little about the Taylor Swift/masters thing, share some thoughts on new music out this week, and go through my usual media diet rundown. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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GoRuck Having a Sale
GoRuck are having a sale. They’re the best backpacks in the world and I really like their packing cubes as well.
A Simple Streaming Music Sharing Page for Chorus
The music streaming service revolution has been one of the biggest, and most exciting, developments to the music and technology world in my lifetime. We went from driving to a store to buy music, often without ever hearing it beforehand, to having countless hours of music in our pockets with virtually no limits to what we could discover and listen to with the mere press of a button.
As someone that runs a music website, and now a weekly newsletter, that often includes recommendations about new music, I’ve long struggled with just how to share those recommendations with the most people. On this website, I often link to the YouTube video in the post itself for instant listening and then will link to Apple Music and Spotify when appropriate (or if the song isn’t on YouTube yet) since those are the two biggest streaming platforms. I like those short URLS that a lot of labels and PR people are using these days that aggregate all of the streaming platforms into one place for easy sharing; however, what I really wanted was something that I had a little more control over. What if I use a service like this and then it goes under, and all my links die? All of a sudden hours of meticulously linking music recommendations on this website or my newsletter could end up having dead links. So, after coming across the excellent Song.Link service and their API, I decided I would be best served in creating something for myself. That way I could easily create a place to share a song or album, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the URL going away in a few years or it not being updated as streaming services come and go.
The end result is a page that includes links to all the big streaming services, as well as a YouTube video for quick streaming if it exists, and links to purchase the music as well. For example:
Liner Notes (June 28th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you with a massive craving for pizza.
In this week’s newsletter, I share a new fun productivity tip I started using this week, talk a little about the current project I’m working on, and share thoughts on music, movies, and TV shows I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved and a rant about political debates. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Sign Up for My Newsletter
Like my blog?
Subscribe to my Liner Notes newsletter.
It goes out once a week, on Fridays, and it’s filled with the same sort of stuff I’ve been writing or sharing in my blog for years. However, now it’s in one easy to digest and read newsletter. There’s music thoughts, movie thoughts, a ten song playlist of music I’ve loved each week, and recommendations and cool shit I’ve seen online.
There’s no spam, I won’t ever sell your email address to anyone, and I think you’ll like it. Subscribe here.
Liner Notes (June 21st, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by the immortal phrase, “I wish it were longer.”
A whole lot of music stuff to write about this week, including thoughts on the new Blink-182 single, the three-album drop from Dashboard Confessional, a bunch of new music, and my first impression of the new Banks album. Plus, I go through my regular media diet rundown, share a playlist of ten songs I loved last week, and write about some other stuff. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Liner Notes (June 14th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by those newly formed habits you never thought’d have.
In this week’s Liner Notes, I write about new features in the forums, share some apps I really like, and offer thoughts on a whole bunch of new music that’s been coming out these past few weeks. There’s also my regular media diet rundown and a playlist of ten songs I loved this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Liner Notes (June 7th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by a belly full of funfetti cupcakes.
In this week’s newsletter, I write about Apple’s WWDC keynote and announcements, share thoughts on new (and old) music I listened to this week, and do my usual media diet rundown. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week and some Chorus wallpapers. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Limited Edition Pride Logo Version of Chorus.fm Merch
Today I’m excited to launch a special limited edition collection of Chorus.fm Pride Merch. I’ve created a new LGBTQ+ pride rainbow version of the Chorus.fm logo and it’s up on a variety of t-shirts, tanks, v-necks, hoodies, mugs, and more.
I don’t make much money from the merch shop (like $3-$4 per shirt), but for the rest of this month I’m going to donate 82% of what I do make from the entire store (not just this collection) to LGBTQ+ organizations and charities.1
All the merch comes in variety of t-shirt sizes, colors, and types (if you’re curious about the brand of t-shirts printed on, you can find that information here).
Check out the pride collection here.
I’m not sure which ones yet, I’m still doing some research. Reach out if you have suggestions.↩
Liner Notes (May 31st, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by my two-day schtick of using sarcastic Taylor Swift gifs around the website.
In this week’s newsletter I reminisce on the 20 year anniversary of Blink-182’s Enema of the State, talk a bit more about The Dangerous Summer and everyone’s reactions to hearing the new songs, and share the three bands I’ll buy anything from before hearing a note of music. Then I go through my usual music, movies, and TV rundown of stuff I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I liked this week and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Liner Notes (May 24th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by a lot of caffeine, sparkling water, and the letter Q.
In this week’s issue I give my first (or more like seventh) impressions of the upcoming album from The Dangerous Summer (spoiler: I like it), go through some of the other music I enjoyed this week, and do my usual media diet rundown. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
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Liner Notes (May 17th, 2019)
Welp, we made through another week.
In this week’s newsletter, I look at my relationship with pop-punk in 2019, share some recommendations for ’80s sounding and/or inspired music, and give some thoughts on the new Carly Rae Jepsen album and other music released this week. Then I go through my usual media diet rundown of movies and tv shows I watched, and share ten songs that I enjoyed. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Liner Notes (May 10th, 2019)
New Blink-182 music week means I’ve got a lot to say.
I’ve decided to try something a little different, and I’m going to start sending out this newsletter to anyone that would like it via email. If you’d like to have it delivered to your inbox each week, you can sign up here. On the website itself, it will remain a supporter only feature, but I put a lot of time into it each week and want it also to reach more people. And I’ve heard from some supporters that they wish they could share it with a few friends, so I’m going to try this and see if it may be a happy medium. I hope that if you sign-up to read it, and like it, you’ll end up becoming a supporting member so that I can keep writing it. To give you an idea of what you’ll get each week, I’ve made this issue free for all.
In this week’s roundup, I write a lot about Blink-182’s new single and everything surrounding its release. I also share some thoughts on new music I heard this week and the albums coming out that I think are worth your time. Then I go through my usual weekly media diet, share a playlist of ten songs I loved this week, and share some of the new things I rolled out around the website.
This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
Reminder: If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, you can sign up here.
In the Spotlight Playlist (2019)
On Monday we unveiled the first batch of artists from our In the Spotlight feature, yesterday we shared the second, and today I’ve got playlists featuring all of the recommended tracks from the entire list. Hopefully you’ll find something new to love. Enjoy.
You can find those on Spotify or Apple Music.
In the Spotlight: 50 Bands You Need to Hear in 2019 (Part 2)
Yesterday we brought you part one of our annual In the Spotlight feature, and today I’m excited to bring you part two.
You’ll find the second group of 25 artists, along with blurbs, recommended songs, and sounds like comparisons, below. Tomorrow we’ll share a playlist of songs from the included artists.
In the Spotlight: 50 Bands You Need to Hear in 2019
Today I’m excited to launch the third version of our In the Spotlight feature. This is the annual feature that continues the tradition of the “Absolute 100” and hopes to introduce you to a whole bunch of new music that should be on your radar.
Just like years past we’ve compiled a list of 50 artists we think are worth your time. Some of the artists recently released their debut albums and some have been around for a while now. However, the one thing they all have in common is that we think they should be in the spotlight and are worthy of your ears. You’ll find the first group of 25, along with blurbs, recommended songs, and sounds like comparisons, below. We’ll release the second batch tomorrow and a playlist of songs from the included artists on Wednesday.
Liner Notes (May 3rd, 2019)
It was a nostalgic pop-punk heavy kind of week.
In this week’s newsletter, I share what new features I’ve been working on for the website and talk about my dive back into The Starting Line’s catalog. I also share thoughts on some of the new music released this week and go through my usual media diet. Plus, there’s a playlist of ten songs I loved. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.
This article is available exclusively to supporters of our website. Join now for as little as $3 per month and get access to exclusive content and a variety of perks. Plus, you'll be helping an independent publisher. Learn more here.
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