Track List: April – Breezy Days & Stretching Legs

Trevor Graham Apr 8, 2019

Welcome back to Track List, your monthly dose of 30 songs aimed to match the time of year, sequenced into a playlist for you to vibe out to however you see fit. Hopefully some names will be familiar, and hopefully some will give you a new discography to dive into. Drop me a line with some of your seasonal favorites and check back every month for a new playlist.

You can find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music and read more about the selections below.

Liner Notes (April 5th, 2019)

Jason Tate Apr 5, 2019

Another week is in the books.

This website turned three years old on Monday and as a thank you to everyone I’ve made this edition of my weekly newsletter free. You’ll find some thoughts on music I listened to this week, my weekly media diet roundup, and some news on the new Chorus.fm shop that will be launching early next week. There’s also a playlist full of ten songs I loved this week. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

The Third Anniversary of Chorus.fm

Jason Tate Apr 1, 2019

Today marks the official third anniversary of launching this website.

This year was another great one for the community. There were quite a few new features added to the website, and we saw good growth in pretty much every metric that matters to me. One of my goals for the year was to start writing a whole lot more, and that morphed into a weekly newsletter that is now regularly over 1,500 words a week. I didn’t podcast nearly as much as I wanted to, but the episodes we did release I’m really proud of. My goals for 2019 are to try and figure out a way to make regular podcasting a thing I can do again, continue my weekly Liner Notes, add some new features to the forums that have been on my to-do list for a while now, and start re-thinking what a redesign of the main website could look like and what it would take to write that code and implement it.

I’m able to do these things because of the support of so many of you. I can’t thank those of you have become supporting members of the website enough. That this number, specifically, keeps increasing is why I know I can keep doing this website for another year. It’s because of your support that this website can exist and I can work on it each day. If you’re not a supporting member yet but enjoy visiting and reading, I’d love if you’d think about signing up. We’re getting so very close to this being the only job I have to have, and I’m getting excited thinking about the possibility of diving into a significant code re-write and re-design and not having to worry about needing to stop and take a freelance job in the middle.

I always find it fun to look back on the past year and evaluate everything that has taken place, over the past twelve months we’ve seen:

3,684 new articles posted on the main site. (13,086 total)
1,912,545 words have been published all time.1
802,906 new forum posts were made. (2,700,066 total)
11,381 new registered accounts. (93,338 total)
1,367,965 likes given out since last April.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that visits this website each day. It’s been an incredible journey from AbsolutePunk.net to Chorus.fm and beyond. I feel extremely lucky that I get to do something I love and care about each day and it’s a true pleasure to be able to talk about music, pop-culture, entertainment, and technology with so many of you.

1,053,621 written by me.↩

DC Comics Celebrates Batman’s 80th Anniversary

Deanna Chapman Apr 1, 2019

DC Comics hosted a Batman panel at WonderCon on Friday, March 29th to celebrate the character turning 80. The panel was moderated by Sam Humphries, and the panelists included Greg Capullo, Peter Tomasi, Joëlle Jones, Becky Cloonan, Scott Snyder, and Tom King. They shared their experiences with the character and even had a couple of big announcements.

The first announcement was the changing of the Detective Comics logo. The second was a new comic from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Batman: Last Knight on Earth. The panel gave attendees a sneak peek at some of Capullo’s artwork on the title and its safe to say that I’m excited for this one. While I’m not entirely caught up on the work that the two have done since New 52, I’ve seen enough to know that I’m in for the long haul with both creators.

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Liner Notes (March 29th, 2019)

Jason Tate Mar 29, 2019

I can’t believe it’s the end of March already.

In this week’s newsletter, I share some early thoughts on the new Bad Religion album and go through some of the albums and songs out this week that I enjoyed. I also go through my usual media diet and share a playlist of ten songs I loved this week. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

The Maine (Encore Episode 161)

Jason Tate Mar 26, 2019

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by Pat and Garrett of The Maine. We talk about the band’s upcoming album, You Are Ok, and dive into working with Matt Squire, talking about a few songs on the album, and exploring the band’s progression over the years. We also talk about growing up in this music scene and how it’s changed from the early days of AbsolutePunk.net, and we end with a discussion of redefining success and being independent. This was a whole lot of fun and I think everyone will really enjoy it.

Jason Tate Mar 22, 2019

It’s a lot harder to write when basketball games are going on.

In this week’s roundup, I look at the music I listened to and enjoyed last week, go through my usual thoughts on entertainment, and share a playlist of ten songs I loved. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

Nightmarathons – “Reset” (Song Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Mar 19, 2019

Pittsburgh punks Nightmarathons are releasing their debut LP Missing Parts on March 29th through A-F Records. Today we’re excited to bring you the latest single from the album, called “Reset.” It’s one of my favorite songs on the album and Chris Feigh said described it as follows:

Reset is about a denial then dread of our transformation with age and what we’ve become with a longing for the past, wanting to go back.

Liner Notes (March 16th, 2019)

Jason Tate Mar 15, 2019

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this week’s newsletter. The news out of New Zealand is absolutely heartbreaking, and I can’t stop thinking about the direction our world is going in. So much hate and anger cheered on by the worst people. My thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.

My birthday is on Monday (gah, I’m getting older) so I’ve decided to make this edition free for everyone to read this week. A little celebratory gift, from me to you. If you like it, please think about becoming a supporting member of the website, the support from readers makes up the lion’s share of my income, and it’s how I get to keep running this website, and writing things like this, each week.

This week’s newsletter contains first impressions on upcoming albums from The Maine and Charly Bliss, as well as thoughts on other music I listened to this week. It has my usual media diet rundown from the past week, ten songs I loved, and a list of music I sent my sister when she asked about stuff to check out after not paying attention to new music for a few years. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Downhaul – “Notched” (Song Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Mar 13, 2019

Downhaul will be releasing their debut full length album, Before You Fall Asleep, on March 29th via Refresh Records. Today we’re excited to premiere the album’s latest single, the nostalgic “Notched.” Vocalist/guitarist Gordon Phillips had the following to say about the song:

“Notched” was actually the first song we had for this album. Musically, it represents a pretty significant departure from the rest of the album — probably because it is the oldest of the songs. I wrote about 90% of the lyrics for this song while sitting at the merch table during a show at Skylark Social Club after seeing a person who had the exact same nose shape as a person who once meant a great deal to me. Memories flooded back all at once.

Even though it’s a bit different from the other songs on Before You Fall Asleep, “Notched” is one of my favorites on the album and it’s sure to appeal to fans of indie rock heavyweights like The Weakerthans or The Hotelier. Check out the song below, and if you like it, be sure to preorder the record.

Liner Notes (March 8th, 2019)

Jason Tate Mar 8, 2019

Another week down.

In this week’s roundup I share my thoughts on new music out this week, and what I’ve been listening to (Maren Morris, Sigrid, The Get Up Kids), and go through the various movies and TV shows I watched this week (Aquaman, If Beale Street Could Talk, Shoplifters). There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week and a recap of various website improvements I made this week. The supporter Q&A post can be found here.

Track List: March – Holding Onto Winter

Trevor Graham Mar 7, 2019

While it may scratch more than one itch in terms of article and discussion content, it’s probably safe to say that the vast majority of us found Chorus.fm through a mutual love for music. Whether it’s listening to the classics that once mended your broken heart, or spotlighting new additions to soundtrack your growth — if you’re reading this, you’re probably the type of person that prioritizes a set of rumbling speakers before you even put on your seatbelt. You might also be the person that makes a night out of giving an anticipated new album a dedicated front-to-back listen — not daring to skip the three month old first single, of course. And hell, if you’re anything like me, you probably base what you choose to listen to on your surroundings. How long am I going to stand on this treadmill browsing my library before I eventually land on Yellowcard again, you ask? On average, maybe about 6 minutes. In any of those cases, and so many more, this feature is for you.

Welcome to the monthly Track List. Each month I’ll be handpicking 30 songs that I think match that time of year, and sequencing them into a playlist for you to vibe out to however you see fit. Hopefully some names will be familiar, and hopefully some will give you a new discography to dive into. Some may even show up on more than one list! The goal is solely to capture the essence of that season, and marry it to some tunes to we can all enjoy. Drop me a line with some of your seasonal favorites and check back every month for a new playlist!

You can find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music and read more about the selections below.

Pretoria – “Lafayette Ave.” (Video Premiere)

Deanna Chapman Mar 6, 2019

Pretoria is a four piece alternative/indie rock band out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The band added a new member, Evelyn Timmis, after their first EP and they’ve since been honing their sound. We’re happy to be premiering the video for “Lafayette Ave.” today.

Cuzco – “Old Dog” (Song Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Mar 5, 2019

Charlotte, NC, math rock band Cuzco will be releasing their debut LP, Sketchbook, on April 19th through Refresh Records. Today we’re excited to bring you the album’s first single, the six-and-a-half minute “Old Dog.” It twists and segues through bursts of horns and twinkling riffs that would make Toe. or TTNG proud with a bit of Clever Girl inspired jazz flavor. Check out “Old Dog” below, and if you like the song, be sure to preorder Sketchbook.

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Liner Notes (March 1st, 2019)

Jason Tate Mar 1, 2019

Oh, hi March.

This week’s roundup looks at what I worked on around the website this week, goes through my thoughts on music (including Marianas Trench, Japanese House, and the new Carly Rae Jepsen songs), and has my usual media diet from the last week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week, and the supporter Q&A post can be found here.