This week’s newsletter highlights a bunch of my favorite holiday music and the various pop-punk and alternative adjacent music that’s made it into my yearly listening playlists. ‘Tis the season. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Read More “Liner Notes (December 8th, 2024)”
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, or if you’re not in the States, just a good Thursday and start to your weekend.
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Read More “Liner Notes (November 30th, 2024)”
Turkey day is happening this week, so that means that Record Store Day Black Friday is right around the corner. This year’s celebration of indie record stores occurs on Friday, November 29th, 2024, and features a fresh slate of new vinyl reissues, exciting exclusives, and in some cases, the first pressings of many key titles. The full list of RSD Black Friday releases can be found here, but be sure to check in with your local indie record store to see what they will be carrying this Friday. In this preview, I’ll be diving into some of the most sought after releases and offer some tips for newcomers to secure these titles.
Read More “Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 Preview”
I guess it’s been a little bit, huh? We may have a lot to talk about.
This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Read More “Liner Notes (November 23rd, 2024)”
How are we in the middle of November already? How?
Each year I put together a small gift guide post full of things that I think make great gifts and are a lot of fun to give or receive for the holidays. Everything on the list is something I’ve used, 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 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.
Read More “2024 Holiday Gift Guide”
Last year, I wrote about the annual state of Chorus in August. The state of the website was, more or less, that costs had increased, ad revenue had decreased, and supporter revenue had more or less stayed the same.
This year, I’m only a couple of months behind my already haphazard schedule of checking in on everything. Packing up a home and moving will toss everything into disarray like that.
The story of the past year is similar, with a few new bright spots.
The website’s costs have remained flat. I forecast that within the next twelve months, I’ll need to upgrade the forum server’s hard drive space again (we’re a little over half full, mostly from image attachments).
Ad revenue continues to be predictable and predictably less than the year before.
Supporter revenue continues to be strong and growing, which is why I can run this website and community.
Read More “2024’s Version of the Chorus Update”
What was the first movie that disturbed you? The movie that got under your skin so bad its images haunted your nightmares. A movie where the mention of its title makes you shudder and cringe. A good movie, but you never want to watch it again. Being a huge horror fan, blood and gore doesn’t shock me much. My idea of cozy is curling up with my dog and watching a good horror movie, like The Exorcist. Very few movies scare or disturb me. But when I stumble upon a movie that truly shakes me or disgusts me, it’s something I never forget. For me, one of those movies is Nine Inch Nails’ Broken.
Released in 1993 by Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor and Coil’s Peter Christopherson, the movie is a companion piece to the 1992 Broken EP. The record was a response to Reznor’s then-label TVT and former boss Steve Gottlieb. After the success of 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine the label pressured Reznor to create a similar album. Wanting to re-create the success of that album, TVT refused to release anything else Reznor gave them. Not wanting to compromise his music, Reznor demanded his contract be terminated; his request was ignored.
This didn’t stop Reznor. Instead, he recorded his next project in secret under various pseudonyms to avoid interference from the label. The music was markedly different from Reznor’s debut album. This was harsh, aggressive, ugly, and intense. There were no catchy songs and radio-friendly singles here. Reznor knew the label would hate it, but that was the point.
Read More “31 Years Later: How Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Broken’ Blurs the Line of Fiction and Reality for a Terrifying Experience”
Hello July. We are once again halfway through the year, and that means it’s time to reflect on the best albums of the year (so far). Below, you will find both our combined staff top 30, as well as individual lists from our contributors and moderators. Hopefully, you will find something new to love.
Note: You can share your own list in our music forum.
Read More “The Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)”
A few months ago I was privileged to chat with Chris Johns and Bryn Nieboer of Stay Inside about the band’s new album, Ferried Away. After releasing two beloved records (2020’s Viewing and the 2022 EP Blight) with No Sleep Records, the Brooklyn-based quartet released their second full-length independently – from the artwork to the videos to the physical copies Stay Inside has been completely in control of this release. It’s also the band’s most complete album to date – pushing their creativity and songwriting to new levels resulting in a nine-track 35-minute journey that’s both intimate and universal. It’s one of 2024’s most essential records – one that has a staying power beyond a typical press or release cycle. Below, we discuss some of the background behind the writing and conception of the record, releasing the record on your own, and more. And you can catch Stay Inside on a few tour dates with Arcadia Grey this week.
Read More “Stay Inside”
Another week, another newsletter. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Read More “Liner Notes (June 15th, 2024)”
The first great pop-punk album of summer 2024 is here. Plus, some other random thoughts on other things. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Read More “Liner Notes (June 1st, 2024)”
This week’s newsletter has a couple of rants, one very random anecdote about drink habits, and a bunch of thoughts on music and other entertainment I enjoyed over the past 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.
Read More “Liner Notes (May 25th, 2024)”
Buckle up—we have a lot to discuss this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
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Read More “Liner Notes (May 18th, 2024)”
It’s been a few weeks, but we’re back! 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.
Read More “Liner Notes (April 27th, 2024)” Another Record Store Day has come and gone. Did you snag that coveted pressing of that album you had your eye on? Hopefully your experience was as good as mine was, and you were able to grab at least something on your list either in-person or online afterwards. In this article, I’ll be recapping things I noticed about the most popular titles going first, providing feedback on the pressing numbers for this year’s collection, and ways to keep vinyl fans engaged with their local record stores throughout the year.
Read More “Record Store Day Roundup: 2024 Edition”