Liner Notes-12.May.2022

A second look at Life on Earth, some shoegaze reviews, and eco-vinyl

Photo: WhatHifi.com

NOTE: This was supposed to arrive in your inbox last Thursday (5/12). It would’ve helped if I’d actually set it to publish & ship. I’m sorry for the delay.
~Kevin—

“If Music is a Place — then Jazz is the City, Folk is the Wilderness, Rock is the Road, Classical is a Temple.”

~Vera Nazarin

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Sometimes there is a record that everyone is talking about that I just can’t get into. To be fair, one of the things I love about music is the diversity of opinion- there’s rarely anything objectively agreed upon, and that’s half the fun!

Illuminati Hotties? Couldn’t do it. The Regrettes? Sorry, no.

But I’m also self-aware enough to know that if I first hear something while in a shitty mood it’ll affect how I receive it. Ditto if it’s someone obnoxious talking it up.

I recently wrote about how it took me 30+ years to get into a record that was everyone’s darling. These days I don’t have that kind of patience/stubbornness/time, and if people keep raving, I’ll take a second to give it another listen.

The latest in that long line is Hurray for the Riff Raff’s “Life On Earth.”

Everyone was raving, and I was just…

But I gave the Alynda Segarra and co. a second listen and am glad I did. “Life On Earth” is a documentary of a world in turmoil, but also one of hope.

I realize that to a large extent, “doomerism” as the kids call it, can be a form self-expression…and therapy. COVID…inflation…the looming battle over Roe; we’ve seen some things. It’s a sketchy time to be in America.

There’s a thick smog of angst covering everything, and it makes sense that people express their rage, sorrow, and despair by writing wistful think pieces or screeching twitter threads.

Or, you know, by making a record.