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Liner Notes (May 16th, 2021)

Posted by Jason Tate
Fruit

This week’s newsletter walks through some podcasts I found interesting this week, as well as some random thoughts on movies, TV, and music I enjoyed over the past week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs, 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

  • This is coming to you late because I got my second COVID-19 shot yesterday, and I wanted to see how I reacted and any side effects that may have been coming my way. Yesterday my arm got pretty sore, and last night there were some body aches, and I got the chills, but at just about precisely the 24-hour mark, everything went back to normal. So, I feel virtually 100% at the moment and figured I could sit down to write a little before relaxing a little in front of the TV before the start of another week. Anyone that knows me, even a little, knows I absolutely abhor shots. For whatever reason, I’ve had a phobia of needles for just about as long as I can remember. So if I can get the shot, anyone can get the shot. If you haven’t yet: I’m imploring you to make an appointment and go get it done. If you hate shots like me, I recommend sunglasses, a drive-through clinic if you can find one, and just close your eyes, look the other way, and squeeze a baseball or something in your offhand. I felt nothing, even though my brain was screaming bloody murder at me the entire time.
  • I was the guest on the Long Live the Music podcast where we discussed MxPx’s catalog, ranked the albums, and I shared how I got into the band and why I’ve stayed a fan all these years. I really enjoyed the part where we talked about why the band continues to resonate and if we think they have another “great” album in them in their future.
  • Speaking of podcasts, this episode of the Ezra Klein podcast talking with Cal Newport about all the problems with email/Slack and how companies expect their employees to work these days was quite good. The dive into how this hyperactive hive mind leads to burnout, and worse work, I thought just about hit the nail right on the head. I’ve said this for years, but I think if one’s inbox (or a Slack channel) ends up becoming one’s to-do list, that’s where a bad path lies. Avoid that at all costs.
  • Another week, another heartbreaking tale of abuse from someone in our music scene. This time, the allegations are against Chris Conley of Saves the Day. I don’t have anything new to say that I haven’t written before. I feel for those hurt and am just so exhausted and disappointed.

Sponsor

A message from this weeks sponsor:

Welcome to Your Favorite Record, a podcast where I talk to the designer behind the album artwork. Hear the stories straight from the source of what it was like to create the art behind some of your favorite records.

In this first episode, we sit down with Mike Joyce, the designer behind Fall Out Boy’s debut album Take This to Your Grave. An iconic record for Fall Out Boy fans and music fans alike. We talk the entire design process for the record, fonts used and why, the almost album cover options, the almost album names, and what it was like to work with the band at the beginning of their career.

Huge thank you to Mike Joyce for taking the time to sit down and chat with me to chat about this pivotal record. You can find and support Mike at stereotypenyc.com and at swissted.com.

I created this podcast because I was inspired by album art at a very early age, in fact this record (TTTYG) specifically is the reason I turned to design and wanted to be a graphic designer who worked in the music industry. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as a fan and as someone who is genuinely curious on the meaning and inner workings of album artwork.

In Case You Missed It

Music Thoughts

  • This was a relatively light music week for me this week; I just didn’t find a whole lot of time to have music on. I did take a few spins through the new Kississippi album, and I’m enjoying what I heard. It’s definitely poppier, but there are some really interesting melodies and some fun tunes.
  • The other albums I listened to this week were the latest from Middle Kids, and the new one from St Vincent. Both good. Beyond that, there was a lot of Chaser, Offspring, Pulley, and some While She Sleeps thrown in as well.

Entertainment Thoughts

  • We continue our trek through the excellent Bureau. The third season has been even more intense, and I think the way they can work all these characters and stories together is very impressive.
  • The Mitchells vs. the Machines was just delightful. One of the better movies I’ve seen in a while.
  • I was also impressed with Nobody, which is a sneaky contender for one of the better action films in recent memory. I promise I will annoy Hannah by quoting that “zero to sixty in about to find the fuck out” line for many years. If you like movies like John Wick, this will be right up your alley.
  • And rounding out a run of outstanding movies for us, we watched Together Together last night. I was worried it was going to run into some of the rom-com tropes, but it artfully dodged virtually all of them. It’s understated and restrained in just the right way. Well done.
  • Dark on Netflix was one of my favorite shows in years, so to say I am extremely excited for 1899 would be an understatement.

Random and Personal Stuff

  • Not a whole lot here this week. Hmmm. Stay hydrated?

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. Action/Adventure – Nothing Left
  2. BigCity – Bad Habits
  3. Dessa – Talking Business
  4. Joy Oladokun & Maren Morris – Bigger Man
  5. Lucky Boys Confusion – Hey Driver
  6. Middle Kids – I Don’t Care
  7. Lights – Batshit
  8. Not on Tour – What Future
  9. Alex Lahey – On My Way
  10. SYML – DIM

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 sophos34 in the “Accountability in Music” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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