April 14, 2018

Book Suggestion: The Snowball

Book Suggestion: The Snowball

abduzeedo
Apr 14, 2018

Source: Abduzeedo Books

April 13, 2018

SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: Buck Meek

During the SXSW 2018 event, SXSWfm interviewed Alexander Buck Meek who was here to showcase his solo project, Buck Meek. He sat down to discuss his roots in Texas, making the big move to New York, and his time as the lead guitarist in the band Big Thief. Read an excerpt of the interview below, and listen to it in full on our Mixcloud.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with Buck Meek

Buck Meek Interview Highlights

Is this your first time playing at South By?

Buck Meek: It’s our first time playing under the name Buck Meek. I’ve played the last two years with the band Big Thief.

Why was coming to SX so important?

Buck Meek: The number one reason, to be honest with you, is that I grew up here, and I always grew up coming to SXSW as a kid. My dad and I always used to come and we had so much fun. I think that for me it’s just really exciting to be a part of that in a different way now, from behind the scenes.

What made you decide to do this side project as Buck Meek? Was this before Big Thief?

Buck Meek: I’ve been writing music on the side and writing songs for a long time. Big Thief took over a lot of my time for the last four years, and in the last six months I’ve just been prioritizing my own project more. So Big Thief has been going out a little bit as a trio here and there – one our of four tours I say they go out as a trio which gives me some time to work on this project.

How has growing up in Texas shaped your music?

Buck Meek: Well, I grew up listening to so many great outlaw songwriters and blues musicians out in the woods in Wimberley. And a lot of the old western swing players from Bob Wills’ band were living out there. So I was exposed to a lot of that western swing music and the narratives of country.

You released Cannonball! a couple weeks ago. Talk me through the writing process.

Buck Meek: That was a song I was processing a breakup four years after the breakup, which is often how I write. After the initial mourning process of this breakup, I was just flooded with so many positive feelings about this woman – all of the bittersweetness and everything. But also, it was really easy for me to compare that as a memory to the pain, I suppose. Almost as if it was happening at once – to feel the memory of the positive aspects and the beauty of our relationship with the pain and how they intensified each other into this even more bittersweet feeling. So with the verses against the chorus – the verses are these memories and the conversations between her and I.

When can we expect more music? Is there going to be a solo tour?

Buck Meek: We just crossed the dessert, [Twain] and I playing as a duo. But I’m going to be going out with Margaret Glaspy for a week and a half. And then more solo dates out to California. And I’m putting out more singles until the album comes out in May.

Tune in to hear the full interview with Buck Meek below. Look out for his new album coming out in May. Keep checking our Mixcloud page in the coming weeks as more interviews with 2018 SXSW Showcasing Artists are released. You can listen to SXSWfm 24/7 via our online player.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with Buck Meek

2018 Showcasing Artist, Buck Meek – Photo by Shelby Magness

The post SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: Buck Meek appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

April 13, 2018

Nike Air Max 270 Illustration & Typography

Nike Air Max 270 Illustration & Typography

AoiroStudio
Apr 13, 2018

Source: Abduzeedo Illustration

April 13, 2018

The Daily Chord Weekly Recap – Friday, April 13

Music news comes from a number of locations. Of course, there’s the studio and stage, but there’s also the boardroom, the courtroom, the non-physical internet space and the abandoned Toys R Us. The Daily Chord scouts all of these places and shares six pertinent links each weekday. Subscribe to the email blast, and don’t miss a day.

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Monday, April 9

• Meme, myself and I: How pop’s new gen deal with social media anxiety
  Post from The Guardian
• Irish trad music’s ‘lovely girls’ want to talk gender balance
  Post from Irish Times
• EMI FAQ: A beginner’s guide to what could be this summer’s biggest music industry auction
  Post from Billboard
• The man who discovered Prince explains what is was like to discover Prince
  Book excerpt from Noisey
• The story of Jean Grae, one of rap’s greatest lyricists, in 8 songs
  List from Pitchfork
• ‘Invasion Of Privacy’ is Cardi B’s victory lap
  Review from The Ringer

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Tuesday, April 10

• Fleetwood Mac fires Lindsey Buckingham
  Post from Rolling Stone
• YouTube hack hits popular music videos
  Post from The Verge
• Is UK drill music really behind London’s wave of violent crime?
  Story from The Guardian
• Music Modernization Act to be introduced Tuesday
  Post from Variety
• The Thermals announce breakup
  Item from Consequence Of Sound
• Johnny Cash ‘American Recordings’
  Review from Pitchfork

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Wednesday, April 11

• Music industry growth back at Britpop levels, BPI says
  Post from BBC News
• How to make your music streaming experience more social
  Post from Wired
• Music publishers win major copyright fight over streaming of legendary rock concerts
  Post from Hollywood Reporter
• Yvonne Staples, member and manager of the Staples Singers, dies at 80
  Obituary from NY Times
• Bb-bad to the bone? Small Kentucky bar faces potentially steep fine for music
  Story from Lexington Herald-Leader
• Portland music festival sues Coachella for monopoly, ‘restrictive’ contracts
  Post from Portland Business Journal

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Thursday, April 12

• Sweeping new legislation highlights just how much music and tech need each other
  Post from NPR
• Mariah Carey: My battle with bipolar disorder
  Post from People
• Apple Music hits 40 million members, names a new leader
  Post from CNET
• The outrage over Coachella’s radius clause is misguided and uninformed
  Commentary from Uproxx
• Purevolume shutting down
  Post from Brooklyn Vegan
• The new jazz torchbearer: Kamasi Washington on his musical message
  Interview from Rolling Stone

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Friday, April 13

• In the loops: The female producers making hip-hop waves
  Story from The Guardian
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe gets her day in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
  Story from NPR
• Rockstar must cut some music from GTA IV, but plans to replace it
  Post from Kotaku UK
• Spotify acquires music licensing platform Loudr
  Post from TechCrunch
• Five arrested for holding illegal rave in abandoned Toys R Us
  Post from Variety
• Gustavo Santolalla’s music travels from TV to film to concert stage
  Profile from The Frame

The post The Daily Chord Weekly Recap – Friday, April 13 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

April 11, 2018

SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: Twain

During the week of SXSW 2018, SXSWfm interviewed Matt Davidson, the frontman of his alt-country project Twain. They discussed the impact of social media, thoughts on spirituality, and his upcoming release focusing on the meaning of being a “man child.” Read an excerpt of the interview below, and listen to it in full on our Mixcloud.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with Twain

Twain Interview Highlights

How many times have you played here?

Twain: Six times.

Why is coming to SX so important to you?

Twain: Can I be honest? I want to play music for a living because I can’t do anything else. That’s not the main reason, but I’ve tried to do other things. Can’t do anything else. And it’s very important to me on one hand that I make a material life out of music. That’s hard to admit. Then I find it’s necessary to come and be visible…and then suddenly one day, you wake up and there are months and months of shows booked, and tours planned, and wonderful people helping you, and it’s a dream. Truthfully, last year at South By helped me organize that. I made contact with my label who put my last record out, began working with my fantastic booking agent, Jim Romeo, and it actually worked the way South By is traditionally supposed to work, or dreamed to work for the upstart musician.

Tell me about some of your inspirations, or your creative process when you write…

Twain: I meditate quite a lot – in practice, not so much sitting, but in the day. I like to think about problems that are happening in the world, and mostly problems that are happening to me. I think about a lot of internal problems and certain discomfort of the soul and body that I feel. When they become really intense and it’s time to write a song, then that’s how I make the words – thinking about the different problems that I feel.

Every song [on the album Rare Feeling] has a different story, but is there a theme? Or did you write music and it just all came together?

Twain: There’s not a theme. It was mostly some stuff we recorded in my buddy Scott’s toolshed. He’s one of my heroes and he invited us to hang out. We ended up taping most of the record and they were just songs from a couple year’s period of time. I’ve looked for a theme in them and I haven’t found one. There’s love songs for different people, there’s a few songs that are vague, there are spiritual numbers. But the record I’m working on now has a pretty distinct theme: being a man child.

Well what’s next, you said you are working on that next album, when can we expect that? Are there more shows to come?

Twain: In terms of recording, we are going to put out a record over the summer that’s two EP’s. One is Alternator which is out. But the other one is called Radiator and that’s basically side three of Rare Feeling – more songs that didn’t fit on one disk. That will be available over the summer. Hopefully by the end of the year another full length. I’m touring quite a lot. Going back to the East Coast after this and then to Europe for six weeks. And then lots of festivals – Nelsonville Music Festival, the Lost Sierra Hoedown, and then some more exciting ones that I’m not at liberty to discuss yet. It should be a fun summer.

Tune in to hear the full interview with Twain below. Keep checking our Mixcloud page in the coming weeks as more interviews with 2018 SXSW Showcasing Artists are released. You can listen to SXSWfm 24/7 via our online player.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with Twain

2018 Showcasing Artist, Twain – Photo by Shelby Magness

The post SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: Twain appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music