Our 2020 installment on Local Memory, a public history project on music in Austin, is The Wild Side of Life: The Rise of the Honky Tonks, 1940-1950

Wild to see Khruangbin really breaking out. Good Houston.

Thankful to take my son to see the protestors on High St. to give him something real in which to ground our conversations about this. Sorry it hasn’t felt safe to participate more. Hoping for justice for killer cops and peace for our Black neighbors.

Pretty into this little guy from a 15th century Italian herbal, a collection of images from which we published today.

More than 17% of the Wikipedia entry on PrimeCo, once the largest wireless phone service in the U.S., addresses itself to the line “switched from Motorola to a PrimeCo phone” in Lil’ Troy’s “Wanna Be a Baller.” As it should.

The Backlist archive is just small enough to make dead-stupid hand-formatted HTML (with some light automated templating) the simplest way to build it out. Old-fashioned and soothing.

Finished first ragmask from some of our wax print stockpile, some quilt batting, and a variation on the straps using paracord.

Sun is shining. Listening to Long Shadow Duo. Making my first ragmask.

Joshua Smith makes 1:20 scale miniatures of real buildings like this Discolandia storefront in San Francisco.

Gave up on going back to sleep. Listening to Emily A. Sprague’s new Hill, Flower, Fog. Very calming.

Laurel Canyon vibes from this new Mapache record are good for being stuck indoors.

I’m into miniatures, fiber art, and cooking, so these videos are right up my alley. www.youtube.com/watch

Tomorrow, Friday March 20, Bandcamp is waving their cut on all sales to help support artists who are having to cancel performances.

Confronting mortality by finally cataloging and organizing all of the books I will never have time to read on the basement bookshelves.

Very happy that I don’t have to choose between voting and potentially bringing the infection into my house with my kid today. Also nervous about the potential for this precedent to be abused in the general election.

I have a lot of Astral Spirits stuff. A lot of diverse, compelling material and great art direction on the packaging. Good Austin.

Binned Art is an interesting concept: anonymous sales allow artists to recoup costs and clear space while providing the opportunity to own original artworks to a broader audience.

I miss the in-store bakery flour tortillas from H-E-B so much. (My homemade ones are only a little better, but/and so much more work…)

Honorable mention to in-store bakery corn tortillas from Fiesta.

Revisiting Harmony Korine. Had forgotten the opening to Mister Lonely.

Austin Kleon on using your books as time capsules. I try to do a similar thing by using postcards, ticket stubs, restaurant cards, etc. as bookmarks and leaving them in the book when I finish.

Michael found some Billboard magazine surveys that show UT-Austin as one of the most active destinations nationally for big band touring in the Swing era.

Sahel Sounds will be releasing an EP each month in 2020 for a “Music from Saharan WhatsApp” series. Each one will be recorded on a cellphone and transmitted over WhatsApp to be available on Bandcamp for one month.

The first installment is from Agadez guitar band Etran de L’Aïr.

Interesting recent episode of Afropop Worldwide on the power dynamics involved in vinyl reissues of African music, particularly on the way that Western tastes shape what has been saved.

Some of the “outsider pedal steel” referenced here is new to me and I’m interested to check it out. Drag that Ricky wasn’t named and given credit for a broader influence across the Phosphorescent output. Also, don’t sleep on Gary Newcomb playing with Lil’ Cap’n Travis.

Looking forward to get the hardcopy of Issue #0 of new code::art journal.

PDF version is freely downloadable, and there’s some interesting stuff in here.

We brought this guy, Antonio, home yesterday to start the new year.