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SBTRKT – SBTRKT

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This post is syndicated from Indie Shuffle.

Sounds like: James Blake, Jaime xx, Burial

What’s so good?

There’s something to be said about the anonymous producer, the artist who chooses to hide behind a mask and forgo all marks of physical identity. Greats like MF Doom, Deadmau5, and the gents from Daft Punk all perform in disguise. Why do they present themselves this way? In a culture where the creator can play the part of celebrity, is it a noble effort to force the hand of the art itself? Is it an attempt to retain personal privacy while in the public eye? Or is the artist simply… shy?  What’s going on behind the mask?

Whatever the reason, SBTRKT is a producer who clearly puts his musicianship first by eschewing all norms and expectations for a mostly — in the traditional sense of the genre — electronic record.  That’s not to say it’s not an innovative album. In fact, the opposite is true. SBTRKT incorporates the wobbly, arrhythmic sensibilities of fellow electronic and R&B line-toers like James Blake, Com Truise, and Jaime xx while infusing his own point of view.

We hear hints of dubstep paired with a similarly clean production sound, developed with the finessed ear of maybe a daylight-driven Burial or simplified Clubroot. The silent upbeats we hear are filled with meaning, just as the vowels omitted from his name.

Read More »SBTRKT – SBTRKT

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 25]

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I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think about the type of person you’d NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. “Thought is the seed of action.”

(Author: Harley Schreiber)

I’ve come dangerously close to becoming someone I’d rather not be. There’s a slippery slope when it comes to determining our identity, particularly as we get older and tend to try on different shades of personality in the quest to discover our true selves.

In this process, there seems to be a youthful inclination driven by the desire to please everyone. The modus operandi is to be a completely agreeable person, for the fear of limiting our connections and opportunities by getting in our own way. In actuality, we can be completely authentic, free as can be –  so long as we dip the criticism in a bit of sugar.

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 25]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 22]

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Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

(Author: David Spinks)

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 22]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 21]

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Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” is a great line from Emerson. If there’s no enthusiasm in what you do, it won’t be remarkable and certainly won’t connect with people on an emotional basis. But, if you put that magic energy into all of your work, you can create something that touches people on a deeper level. How can you bring MORE enthusiasm into your work? What do you have to think or believe about your work to be totally excited about it? Answer it now.

(Author: Mars Dorian)

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 21]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 20]

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Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”

(Author: Jen Louden)

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 20]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 19]

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Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trusting intuition and making decisions based on it is the most important activity of the creative artist and entrepreneur. If you are facing (and fearing) a difficult life decision, ask yourself these three questions:

1) “What are the costs of inaction?” I find it can be helpful to fight fear with fear. Fears of acting are easily and immediately articulated by our “lizard brains” (thanks Seth) e.g. what if I fail? what if I look stupid? If you systematically and clearly list the main costs of inaction, they will generally overshadow your immediate fears.

2) “What kind of person do I want to be?” I’ve found this question to be extremely useful. I admire people who act bravely and decisively. I know the only way to join their ranks is to face decisions that scare me. By seeing my actions as a path to becoming something I admire, I am more likely to act and make the tough calls.

3) “In the event of failure, could I generate an alternative positive outcome?” Imagine yourself failing to an extreme. What could you learn or do in that situation to make it a positive experience? We are generally so committed to the results we seek at the outset of a task or project that we forget about all the incredible value and experience that comes from engaging the world proactively, learning, and improving our circumstances as we go along.

(Author: Dan Andrews)

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 19]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Day 11]

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Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

(Author: Fabian Kruse)

For the record, this is the most difficult post yet. It’s taken 4 days to let it simmer because the topic hits close to home.

I’ve been in situations where I’ve been highly encouraged to imitate others in order to reach my dream. I’ve been asked to create content based on what’s been done in the past, mainly to fall in line under existing categorical expectations.

I’ve felt pressured to move to “cool” neighborhoods and have occasionally felt ridiculed for pursuing personal passions like fitness, veganism, or nerdier quests in my career. Even petty things like wearing high heels when I’m already pretty tall.

Although I have a heightened (ha) awareness of it,  I never really cared much about being judged. And I never let it affect my decision-making process.

Yet for some reason in my work, I could never trust myself enough to be unique. I thought that I needed to do what everyone else was doing in order to be any good. What I didn’t know is that the “good” comes over time with originality, practice, and purpose.

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Day 11]

The #Trust30 Day Challenge – Day 7

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“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” – Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge – Day 7