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Liner Notes (February 4th, 2023)

Posted by Jason Tate
Flower

This week’s newsletter has thoughts on the “new” Thrice album and other music I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I liked, 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.

A Few Things

  • What is the most successful movie of all time? It depends on how you want to slice up the data. Fun with charts!

In Case You Missed It

Music Thoughts

  • The most significant album of the week for me was Thrice revisiting The Artist in the Ambulance. This is an album that has meant a lot to me over the years and one of the most monumental album release days of my entire life. I’ve played the original version of this album so many times it is practically part of me. And when you’ve had that kind of relationship with a record, the idea of it being changed is scary. Hell, sometimes even hearing better-quality versions of songs I’ve been listening to for years takes some getting used to. So, I walked in with some trepidation about this one. And then immediately fell back in love with this album and these new renditions. I knew the band was never a fan of the mix on the original, and you can see they wanted to let these songs breathe more, and that’s where I hear the biggest difference. These songs sound less compressed, meatier, and Dustin’s vocals have an earthy tone that adds an extra layer of gravitas. The original can’t be replaced, it’s something that’s attached to one of the most formative summers of my entire life, but there’s something about this new version that feels refreshing and comforting. Like buying a new hoodie, trying it on, and having it fit like a broken-in favorite. This release pushed me back on a big Thrice binge for the rest of the week, but I also found myself craving another listen of this at least once a day. I can’t believe they pulled this off; yet again, it’s Thrice. That’s what they have been doing for decades now — blessing us with greatness and defying all expectations. I consider myself lucky to have grown up with their music and blessed to have these songs as part of the fabric of my life.
  • Bearings are a band in the same vein as The Maine, Grayscale, or Slowly, Slowly. It’s catchy pop music with an evident pop-punk influence. The weather is currently fighting against my desire to listen to music that sounds like the surface of the sun ate pop rocks, but their latest album Hello, It’s You is a perfect glimpse at the hopeful summer ahead.
  • Raye’s new album, 21st Century Blues, really is an incredible piece of work. It combines strong narrative songwriting with some monster floor-stomping ear worms. I’ve only been able to listen to it twice so far, but both times have had moments that stopped me in my tracks to mutter, “yeesh, that was awesome.”
  • I made it up to track 5 (“Courtney F****d Kurt”) of the new Mod Sun album, rolled my eyes, turned it off, and decided I’d have to try again later. There are always at least a few tracks I end up enjoying on these albums and at least one that makes me go, “how did that not get cut?” That song being in the first half of the album didn’t bode well for the album’s chances today. I think Girlfriends do this sound better and with more fun.
  • I rediscovered Tokyo Police Club’s Forcefield this week. This led to me again going through their discography a bit and realizing that I like Forcefield and can never get attached to anything else. I keep trying, but that record captures a sound I enjoy so perfectly, which is probably why I’d venture I’m the outsider of that fan base.

The Stats: Over the past week, I listened to 41 different artists, 61 different albums, and 504 different tracks (623 scrobbles). My most-played artist was Thrice (duh), with their revisited new album the most-played record of the week. Here is my Top 9 from last week, and you can follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm.

Entertainment Thoughts

  • After finishing season four of The Bureau (quite good), we started Interview with a Vampire as our new nightly show. The reviews convinced us to give it a try and so far (three episodes in), I’m really enjoying it. Dark, gory, but with a bit of wit, gothic eroticism, and humor mixed in. Pleasantly surprised so far.
  • After finishing Players we also went back and re-watched the first season of American Vandal. A classic. I had forgotten how funny some of the scenes are and how perfect Jimmy Tatro is as Dylan.

Random and Personal Stuff

  • Not much here this week, just taking it easy around the house today.

Ten Songs

Here are ten songs that I listened to and loved this week. Some may be new, some may be old, but they all found their way into my life during the past seven days.

  1. Thrice – Hoods on Peregrine
  2. Bearings – Better Yesterday
  3. Stand Atlantic – Kill[h]er
  4. MAGS – Elephant
  5. RAYE – Black Mascara.
  6. Dustin Kensrue – Hide and Seek
  7. Tokyo Police Club – Beaches
  8. Lagwagon – Bury the Hatchet
  9. Sam Russo – Young Heroes
  10. Tony Sly – Capo, 4th Fret

This playlist is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Community Watch

The trending and popular threads in our community this week include:

The most liked post in our forums last week was this one by David87 in the “The Last of Us (HBO)” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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