As 2011 comes to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the year by our guest editors.
This week, singer/songwriter Richard Buckner releases Our Blood (Merge), his first new music since 2006’s Meadow. The nine-track LP was recorded by Buckner at his upstate New York home studio with pedal-steel guitarist Buddy Cage (New Riders Of The Purple Sage) and drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth). Buckner kicks off a co-headlining tour with labelmate David Kilgour (the Clean) on August 16 in Los Angeles. In the meantime, Buckner will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Buckner: Work, creative work, can be allusive. Sometimes it needs to be drawn out, and sometimes it needs to be abandoned. Its loss is felt when it can’t be found, and then other times, it suffocates with deadlines or burnout. To keep this small world charged, I do a few things: I have separate areas for writing and music and don’t allow businessy documents or non-work stacks of worldly things to invade specific areas. Also, I’ve found that shuffling the furniture and tools around in the various portioned areas can help: In my music studio, every so often, I’ll take some instruments out and store them in my attic, then bring others down to replace them. Even moving a desk to the other side of the room or changing artwork on the walls can help, too, to place me in a fresh environment when entropy creeps in. Also, sometimes, I’ll give myself handicaps to work against, like limiting the use of certain tunings, stringings or playing patterns. Any direction is a good one if you’re trying to avoid autopilot.
