Big Data
Mar 19, 2015
Big Data's highly-anticipated debut album, 2.0, will be released on Warner Bros. Records / Wilcassettes on March 23rd. Guests on the album include Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Twin Shadow, Jamie Lidell, White Sea, Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Dylan Rau of Bear Hands, Dragonette, and Kimbra.
When asked about the album, Big Data aka Harvard grad Alan Wilkis explains, "With each song on 2.0, I set out to explore a specific issue or moment in technology, and lyrically they are often voiced from the perspective of the "bad guy" in the narrative. One song, for example, was inspired by the mood experiments that Facebook famously conducted in 2012 on 700,000 of its unsuspecting users, their consent in the experiment of course already implicit in Facebook's terms of service.
"Another song was inspired by the Internet of Things, framing the relationship between the human user and his or her interconnected devices as romantic but verging on extreme codependence. Another song pictures the NSA's public statements and private thoughts on Edward Snowden in the tone of a spurned or betrayed ex-lover. I had the immense privilege of collaborating with a host of incredible vocalists on 2.0, and at the end of the day I just hope these songs make you smile, dance, and think a bit."
Big Data's first EP, 1.0, was released in 2013, on Wilkis's own Wilcassettes label and features the songs "The Stroke of Return", "Dangerous", "Big Dater", and "Bombs Over Brooklyn". They are best known for their single "Dangerous", which features Joywave. It hit #1 on the Mediabase Alternative chart.
After performing several shows at SXSW, Big Data will return home to New York for a record release celebration at Bowery Ballroom on March 24th. The Bowery show kicks off a run of headline dates across the US for the rest of March and April along with festival stops at Firefly, Sweetwater 420 Fest, Big Guava Festival and Untapped Fest.