Song of the Day

Song of the Day > All Episodes

March 4, 2020

Ben Buck: “Spirits” (prod. Flobama)

By: Jack Anderson

If there’s one Austinite family that gives you more bang for your buck…it’s…well…the Bucks. You’ve got renowned drummer and Antone’s Records Shop co-owner Mike Buck alongside two of his children, Billie Buck (who just won the 2020 Austin Music Industry Award for Best Poster Artist), and of course, tireless hip-hop performer and promoter Ben Buck.

Also known as “Filthy McNasty”, Ben’s continued to hone his skills since well before his high school graduation, having become a champ on beatboxing, live looping, at-home production, and of course, rapping his friggin’ brains out. Buck’s unbridled confidence, witty lyricism, and overall mastery over his craft has impromptu landed him onstage with legendary heavyweights (perhaps most notably Ghostface Killah) and at Austin City Limits, not to mention a permanent featured spot in Big Wy’s Brass Band. The adoption of a famous WWII graffiti character into his own branding has stayed strong in the semi-recent shift from McNasty to Buck, following up a series of mixtapes with his debut album Kilroy.

The Kilroy release show is this Friday at Empire Control Room and if you’re not in-the-know about Buck’s ferocity as of yet, imbibe the Flobama-produced album opener, “Spirits”!



Episodes

May 2, 2024

Mikky & The Doom: “Garbage, USA”

In most situations, if you got it, flaunt it. But in an industry that demands infinitely more from your ears than from your eyes, if the hottest person on the planet doesn’t have the pipes to match their looks, they probably don’t have a shot at succeeding as a singer. So let’s talk newcomer Mikky […]

Listen

May 2, 2024

Henry the Archer: “ViolinT”

If this late Spring’s got your spirits shook up and you’re looking for some renewed motivation to tend to your garden (be it literal or figurative), we’ve got a DFW act that’ll make you go hard in the yard. And that’s on behalf of singer-guitarist-keyboardist R. Hennessy, AKA “Henry O”, who’s been hitting the mark […]

Listen

May 1, 2024

Emily Shirley: “Morning Light”

It’s the classic end to an encounter. You meet someone new. Sparks seemingly fly. You have fun for a night. But when you wake up ready to tell your new boo you’d like to see ’em again…they’re long gone. Hell, and in the modern era, that might all happen on just on an app alone. […]

Listen

April 30, 2024

Grandmaster: “Castle Door”

Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan. Not that you’d be able to tell from […]

Listen

April 29, 2024

Trip Cigs: “Comeback Kid”

When a seasoned musician wades out of their genre comfort zone, you love to hear it. Because the technical expertise, jam stamina, and songwriting skills are already in place, but opening the gate to different inspirations and influences is always a welcome breath of fresh air. So let’s talk Rod Gator, who – as you […]

Listen

April 24, 2024

Viben: “Pablo Picasso”

Lyrics are a fickle field. You can be wordy as hell, hoping that at least one line sticks in listener’s minds. Or, you could just loop the hell out of some barebones sentences – guaranteed to have a lot more hypnotic staying power through sheer repetition, especially in the realm of dance music. Now let’s […]

Listen

April 24, 2024

Rett Smith: “Sunsets”

In terms of musical association, at least outside the world of film soundtracks, U.S. southwestern scenery often gets associated with country. But there’s a certain psychedelic quality to our regional deserts that we just love to see artists embrace. Folks like Rett Smith, based here in Austin, but bred out of West Texas, so you […]

Listen

April 23, 2024

Ruel Thomas: “I Am Today”

Any profession requires quotas…whether that’s how many tickets you write or how many kids pass your class. And when music is your source of income, the obvious metric to measure by is quantity of shows played. But as with any creative endeavor, there’s an opportunity to move the needle in many directions, which makes “success” […]

Listen