Jason Tate’s Top Albums of 2021

Best of 2021

I once again find myself writing a best of the year list. Just like I have done so many times before. But this year is interesting because 2021 signaled a music renaissance of sorts in my life. I’ve always listened to a lot of music, but about mid-way through the year, I found a fire lit inside of me that re-sparked the passion. I started seeking out new music like I hadn’t in years; I started returning to old favorites and keeping them on repeat; I revisited albums and bands that never clicked for me to see if I had missed something. And now I am faced with the impossible task of trying to put all of that in a tidy little list. I’ve done my best and, like usual, included my entertainment rankings as well.

You can subscribe to my newsletter if you’re interested in a weekly rundown of the music and other entertainment I consume, and the staff compiled best of 2021 list can be found here.

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My dad helping me complete the whole Blink-182 collection, and Hannah helping me add to my Thrice one.* And I’m officially very much out of space to store records. Which is probably a problem given I just ordered more with Xmas gift cards. 😬 #vinyl #thrice #blink182

She picked the Thrice record from my list specifically because of the joke/bit from the Always Sunny podcast talking about the band and their stickers. Which continues to crack me up.

Liner Notes (December 24th, 2021)

Happy Holidays

Happy Christmas Eve!

With tomorrow being a holiday, I figured I’d try and write up my newsletter a little earlier to make sure something got written up. It was a slower music week, but there are some thoughts on new stuff (Half Past Two, Hot Mulligan) as well as some revisited classics (The Ataris), and a run-through of my quest for decent masks, automating changing macOS icons, and commentary on other entertainment I consumed over the past week.

This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Merry Christmas to me. Apparently I’m going full @drewberinger and making my feed only records and shoes. (These reminded me so much Miles Morales that I had to grab them.)

Liner Notes (December 18th, 2021)

It was a relatively slow music week for the industry and in my life last week, but I did watch a bunch of holiday films and start working on my end-of-the-year list. As always, there’s a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed last week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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2021 Holiday Gift Guide

Gift - 2021

For the past few years, I’ve put together a little gift guide in December full of things that I think make great gifts and are a lot of fun to give or receive for the holidays. This year it took me a little longer to get some time to write, and this week I’m on vacation, so, I finally found a minute to sit down and see what I could come up with. So, here we are, probably too late. Everything on the list is something I’ve used and enjoyed and recommend. I have recommendations posts for software, headphones, and miscellaneous stuff around the house, so the things on this list will be more focused on stuff not included in those posts and geared toward things I’ve come across in the past year or so and think would make good gifts.

I used my Amazon affiliate link when the product showed up there, which gives our website a slight percentage back if you make a purchase and therefore helps fund our continued existence.

If you’d like to get me a gift, becoming a supporting member or gifting another user a supporting membership for a year would mean the world to me. And, if you’re looking for something in just about any price range with a Chorus.fm or AbsolutePunk.net logo on it, check our merch shop.

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Liner Notes (December 11th, 2021)

Snowflake

This week has a lot of thoughts about Underoath’s new album and then a walk through other music I enjoyed this week (American Football, Neon Trees, Faye Webster) before looking at some other media I consumed and sharing a playlist of ten songs I loved. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (December 4th, 2021)

This week’s newsletter has me revisiting some polar opposite discographies (Strung Out, Simple Plan) as well as looking at some new music I enjoyed this week (Hippo Campus, The Options, Hastings). And, as always, I look at some entertainment I’ve been consuming and share a playlist of ten songs I liked last 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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A few weeks ago I started working on a new weekend project. I wanted to build a mini-computer that could sit on my desk and display what I was currently listening to. A simple idea. After completing it, I figured I should write up the entire process, because if I don’t blog about it … did it really happen? (Link in stories or at chorus.fm)

Now Playing: My Raspberry Pi Weekend Project

Raspberry Pi

A few weeks ago I started working on a new weekend project. I wanted to build a mini-computer that could sit on my desk and display what I was currently listening to. A simple idea. After completing it, I figured I should write up the entire process, because if I don’t blog about it … did it really happen?

I’ve compiled everything I used in making the little device, and walked through the process below. Most of it is pretty straight forward if you’ve ever worked with a Raspberry Pi or Unix before, and I documented the tutorials I used as well as the actual code I used for the website.

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