Dust and Grooves - Rare Vinyl Record Collecting & Crate Digging Photo Blog

Markey Funk - Jerusalem, Israel

2012-01-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

Hello again,

Here is Markey Funk, a Jerusalem based music producer and vinyl collector.

Taken while visiting home about a year ago, here is a personal message from Markey.

Enjoy and come back,

Eilon & the Dust & Grooves team.

Hello to all Dust & Groove readers.

This interview took place a while back, and since then I've been through some major changes in my life as a musician and record collector. First, I've finally turned my attention to the local scene and opened an Israeli groove and psych section. I also have a number of Hebrew floor killers in constant rotation.

My knowledge is still not as deep as in other genres, but I've got good mentors to lead me. My musical tastes also expanded to include early electronic music (like BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Mort Garson and Dick Hyman), library groove, psyched-out jazz, heavy psychedelia and teen-age beat from around the globe. Besides that, in spring 2010 I started writing about popular music history for the Jerusalemite urban culture magazine "Af" (www.afknows.com) (Hebrew word for "nose"). In February 2011, Mt. Scopus Radio, where I had two weekly shows for 4 years, stopped broadcasting, so right now I don't have a proper regular way of sharing tons of music that I discover every given day. But I do take part in the summer seasons of Teder radio-bar (www.teder.fm) and still contribute mixtapes once in two months to Kol HaCampus in Tel-Aviv. Also another great change is that recently I've released the first vinyl record of my own music - it's a 7" by my sitar-beat side project, called Les Hippies, which was released through Audio Montage Entertainment label and is distributed worldwide by Kudos.

http://www.kudosrecords.co.uk/release/AMDLT001/Les_Hippies_Souci_Marigold_.html

Recently I've also completed another special project that hopefully will see the light in a vinyl LP form next summer... and yes, I've also started filling the mainstream gaps in my collection, so now sometimes you may also hear me play Donovan, Black Sabbath, Marc Bolan and Hendrix.

In addition to tunes from the records that I mention here, I've incorporated two of my newer finds, one of which is by a soviet beat-group, and the other is from my favorite Israeli psych gem - a nice way to complete the puzzle of my musical taste and connect it to my own biography.

Markey Funk mix tape for Dust & Grooves by Dust & Grooves on Mixcloud

Q: your full name, age and where do you live?

A: Markey Funk, 28, Jerusalem, Israel

Q: What do you do for a living?

A: Djing, producing music...

Q: What was your first album? How did you get it? At what age? Can you describe that feeling? Do you still have it?

A: Russian bootleg of Beatles' “White Album”. Got it for my 10th birthday. For the first time it was something related in my mind to the grown-ups' world, 'cause I thought I had to be as old as my dad in order to have records. I still keep it, 'cause it's still one of my first influential albums.

Q: What prompted you to start collecting? what age did you start ?

A: Basically – sampling. Inspired by DJ Shadow and classic Ninja Tune stuff, I started to look for the stuff that I could cut and create my tunes from. On the other side, inspired by Cut Chemist's “Rare Equations” mix-tape, I realized that all this stuff that I can sample I can also spin as a DJ.

Q: Do you remember the day when you switched from being a record listener to a record collector?

A: Guess that's when I decided to take a few records from my dad's collection with me to Israel. Even if some of them we had ripped to mp3.

Q: take them with you to Israel? where from?

A: From Minsk, Belarus.

Israeli pressing of Gershon Kingsley's "Music to Moog By" with completely different front cover artwork, which was happening here from time to time.

Q: So, you were raised in Russia under a communist regime. how did your dad get his records?

A: Well, I was born in Soviet Union, but it fell apart by the time I was 9. :)

As my dad told me, buying eastern European jazz and rock in 70's wasn't an easy task - copies showed up at the stores very rarely and in small quantities, so living near the socialist Poland made it a bit easier. But most of the American and British classic rock in my dad's collection first existed on reel-to-reel tapes and only by the early 90's he had a chance to buy some of his favorite records (mostly Zeppelin and Beatles), since they were reissued in Russia (without any proper permission or license from the original artists/labels, of course).

Q: Initial interest in music? were you influenced by your family?

A: Well, music was always playing in our house. Beatles, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jesus Christ Superstar... and since my sister got interested in rock, and later new wave, punk and all the related stuff, this interest got me too... at the age of 6 I went to study piano in a music school in Minsk... dad was taking me to the classical and free-jazz concerts... at the age of 12, after first hearing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, I understood finally that music is what I wanna do...

Two records from my dad's collection that turned me on to jazz - Rudolf Dasek "Dialogues" + Jazz Carriers "Carry On".

Q: Why vinyl?

A: First there's romantic reason. The round shape and the spiral structure, that reminds me of the way the whole space is more or less built in... the simplicity of use in DJing... the sound, off course...

Q: Presently, are you focusing on any specific genre in your collection? Are there other factors you consider when buying records- Producer? Pressing years? Artist of the album jackets?
A: Well, I'm into every thing that has groovy or psychedelic feel to it... since Israel is a place where a lot of people from all over the world are coming to. And they always bring their music with them. So, there's always a way to discover music from somewhere else – eastern Europe, western Europe, Mediterranean area, South America, north Africa, even Japan or Iran. Also, I guess it’s due to my sister’s deep influence, I’m never interested in famous names or major labels. I like the element of surprise in digging. I like discovering great moments on a non-promising looking records. Everything that’s new to me makes me curious, although there’s a number of names, labels and periods of time in certain places that I’m paying attention to.

Q: Do you have a run of a label or artist in your collection where you are either working on or have completed collecting an entire catalogue of output?
A: Well, since discovering Milton Nascimento, I’m buying every record with his name that I happen to find. Even tribute and cover records, ‘cause his writing is so brilliant that it can’t be even ruined by bad production. Thanks to my dad’s influence, I put my hands on every record that has “Polish Jazz” logo on it, as well as every record by the great polish rocker - Czeslaw Niemen. Although, at the end of the day, I never hunt for records to complete any discography or catalogue. You may already realize that I like the element of occasion in digging.

Q: Do you travel to find records? where? how often?

A: I've never made digging travels. But when I go some place I always try to find any store in the area that sells records..

Q: living in Israel, such a tiny country with complicated neighboring countries, how do you really find records? do you go to flea markets? or just record shops?

A: I don't think that my way of finding records is that much different from any other person in the world. You know, I go to record shops and flea markets, buy records from my fellow dealers or from other collectors, order new stuff through web-stores, and sometimes I just receive them from my friends' friends, or from my parents' friends, or even from people that I meet at my gigs. Sometimes I find the records, and sometimes the records find me.

I always sympathize to irregular kids records and I'm always into creative sleeve design. So this record for me was exactly what it's called - "Honey on Toast". Mmmm...Yummy! :)

Latvian band Zodiac is often compared in its importance to Kraftwerk. This was the first and most successful electronic band in Soviet Union, where the sythesizer music didn't get enough hype to become a separate scene, like in Germany, France or the States.

Q: Tell me a crazy story over a certain record

A: I have this romanian Prog record by the band Savoy. I remember I bought it alongside near 20 records at the bookstore, where they sell records for one price for everything – no matter what it is. I couldn't even remember what was there or have I listened to it when I came home. Few years later I found famous “Record Collector's Dreams” catalogues and in one of them I found a familiar record cover... since I've known stories of the artwork being used a few times on different record covers (something that has been happening pretty much in the Soviet Union and eastern european countries), I didn't really believe I seem to own the particular record mentioned in the catalogue... but later I decided to check anyway. How surprised was I to find out that I do have it for quite a long time!

Q: Love, hate, obseesion, passion, pride, joy, anything else… what would best describe the relation to your collection?

A: Love, not for collecting – for music in general

Q: Can you name some of the stores, trade shows, flea markets, thrift shops you go digging?

A: Black Hole, The 3rd Ear, Off the Record, Hod HaMachat and The 13th Floor (RIP) – in Tel-Aviv. Balance (RIP), Prozack (RIP), Literature Gallery and Trionfo - in Jerusalem.

Q: List 5 rarest 45's or LPs.

A: Leon Antoine Demo-45, Tribo 45, Lancaster Kiwanis Steel Band LP, Mehr Fooya "To Bemani Wa Mann” (Iranian version of “Tintarella di Luna”), “Musical Offering – Music for ANS Synthesizer” and records by Esther Jungreiss.

This one makes me proud. Another record that turned me even more no to Brazilian psychedelia and 70's underground. Tribo now can be called a supergroup consisting of Joyce, Nana Vasconcelos, Nelson Angelo, Novelli and Toninho Horta - each one a star in his own right. The b-side of this single, "Peba & Pobo" is also included in the famous Odeon compilation "Posicoes", but I couldn't find any information about the a-side - "Tapinha".

"Musical Offering", a collection of experimental pieces made by russian composers on light-based synthesizer "ANS". That one turned me on to experimental analogue electronic sound.

Q: Tell me about a record that's too weird to believe, even for a die-hard record fiend?
A: ”You Are a Jew” by Esther Jungreis. She used to be a jewish preacher. I’ve got Hebrew and English versions of this spoken word album, English version of which was recorded live at Madison Square Garden. She’s talking with passion comparable to stereotypical Black baptist preachers!

I've got two versions of Esther Jungreiss' "You Are a Jew". Hebrew and this one - in english, performed in Madison Sq. Garden. This is one of the weirdest records in my collection. Female jewish preacher - doesn't it sound weird enough already? :)

Q: Is there an album/45 you are unsuccessfully trying to find?

A: Akvarium “Treugol'nik” - true russian psychedelic classic. It was never released on record, but on tape. My dream is having an original reel out of the few that were released back in 1981 and having it reissued on vinyl.

Q: Do you have any dirty secrets in your collection? Perhaps a Wall of Shame?
A: I think the main wall of shame in my collection is the shocking absence of mainstream in it. I’m known as funk DJ, but I hardly have James Brown or The Meters albums; I’m known as a psych DJ, but, to be honest, I bought my copy of “Surrealistic Pillow” only a few weeks ago; I love jazz, but I hardly have any classic jazz records; I love three of the first Funkadelic albums, but I never tried to buy their original pressings. I always find myself giving up on the classic stuff in order to buy some more obscure records from God knows where that only few people heard of. Only recently I started to pay attention to the big names. And it’s confusing sometimes. People come to me, when I DJ and ask if I have this and that classic tune, but all I have to propose to them is a funk cover of Cream, German covers of Sly Stone or Led Zeppelin and Brazilian covers of Beatles or James Brown. And actually these covers sometimes sound much groovier than the originals! :)

Q: Do you have any digging buddies that you share your spots with or do you go out solo?
A: I’m never able to get my digging pals out to shop together. We never had a day when both of us had money to spend. :)

Q: Have you ever had a dream or nightmare about digging for records? Can you recall a particularly funny or weird one?
A: I never had a nightmares about digging, but sometimes I have a bizarre nightmare that I forget my record bag somewhere on my way to the show. And I always carry with me some stuff that I’m not sure I could ever find again.

Q: Out of your entire collection, there must be few records that you like going back to at any time. What makes them so special for you?

A: Well, usually these are the records that I was deeply influenced by.

Milton Nascimento e Lo Borges - “Clube da Esquina”. The spread full of pictures kinda puts you in the atmosphere in which this record was made. And faces... it's like this album really came out of community of people and not just one-two masterminds...

Hell Preachers Inc. - “Psychedelic Underground”. Very special psychedelic image. Kind of style that always drops me back to the classic psychedelic movies. Basically, I'm very into graphic design, I did artwork for all of my releases, pretty often make posters and flyers for my shows and events, so I am constantly having my inspiration from cover art.

Diving deep to Ultimate Spinach's "Mind Flower"

Q: What importance do you give to the album art, when digging? Would you buy an album just for it’s cool cover? If so, name one. Where you ever fooled by a great cover with bad music?

A: Since I get a lot of my inspiration from visual things, I can learn a lot from the record cover. That's why sometimes I buy records because of interesting artwork. Sometimes, indeed, the only good thing about the record is its cover. Like The Clebanoff Strings' “Like Paganini”.

Q: Any words of wisdom, advice or knowledge you want to bestow to all the fellow diggers out there- both amateur and veteran alike?
A: I think the best thing about digging is discovery. That’s what makes the digging and the music itself a very exciting thing. Collecting music is not only about owning records, it’s about being able to discover them for others. Every artist that steps into the studio and hits the record button, hopes that his recording will be heard by as many people as possible. Most of those artists find their way to obscurity.
We, record diggers, are, probably, the last hope for their creation to reach the listeners’ ears. There’s no use in a 1000 dollar record, if you never play it for other people. Music is created to be heard, and being able to share it with others is a great privilege.

www.markeyfunk.com
www.myspace.com/markeyfunk
http://markeyfunk.bandcamp.com/album/forgot-the-word
http://markeyfunk.bandcamp.com/album/souci-soleil-couchant-7-amdlt001
http://www.kudosrecords.co.uk/release/AMDLT001/Les_Hippies_Souci_Marigold_.html

Mustafa - Istanbul, Turkey

2011-10-31T19:51:00.001-04:00

In the same trip to Istanbul, in my search for record collectors and vinyl, I came across Bengi Berksoy and her beautiful shop in Taxim, the modern part of Istanbul. Her shop is located in an old school shopping bazaar, with a variety of second hand shops, book shops and old posters and memorabilia.

Turkish Delights by Dust & Grooves by Dust & Grooves on Mixcloud

Bengi welcomed me to her shop and showed me a few pieces of her private collection. We listened to some Turkish Funk and some more Psych records, and most importantly she connected me to one of her favorite customers, Mustafa.
Mustafa collects mostly Turkish music with a strong affection to a specific artist, The Transvestite artist Zeki Muren. I was lucky to be accompanied with my friend Aytac and his writer friend Cagil.

Since Mustafa speaks no English, we have decided Cagil, who's a talented writer and a journalist, should write this article and interview Mustafa. It was a great and unusual experience for me, letting someone else do the talking and asking the questions. so here it is, the story of Mustafa. Enjoy!!

Turkish Retro Delights, Tea Cups, Cigarettes and Mustache – A Perfect Turkish Experience

Words by Cagil M. Kasapoglu ; Photos by Eilon Paz

In the hunt of vinyl record collectors, digging into a quite suburb of Istanbul was not in the agenda yet we were not late to discover hidden Turkish retro delights that Mustafa had proudly preserved in his humble basement. Stepping down on a narrow stairs, we ended up in a storage-like basement with piles of records replaced on dusty wooden shelves alongside their old counterpart, a bunch of cassettes.

Soon after the “thin belly tea cups” were filled up as a sign of perfect Turkish hospitality, Mustafa introduced us to a perfect blend of psych, funky tunes spiced with Arabesque melodies aired from his dusty “Garrard” player.

Tea cups put alongside a pack of cigarettes ready to fuse and Mustafa’s unavoidable moustache appearing in every corner of the basement were all about to sum a traditional “Turkish experience” which began with the melancholic tunes of Arabesque.

At first glance, it seemed to be quite unexpected to match a classy collection and a former Turkish truck driver who would invest on rare records just for his own pleasure. But Mustafa and his overwhelmingly rich shelves proved the opposite!
All the records he owns would probably be well enough to provide him with necessary finance to improve his living conditions however, the life long journey he took to obtain the records will no way be evaporated with money!

“I can sell my collection with only one condition: To start a new one!”

The first vinyl he picked out of his wooden shelves was indeed his favourite record. A psych track of Anatolian rock king, Baris Manco and his track named “Daglar Daglar [Mountains Mountains].” Unlike many other Turkish versions of this specific record, Mustafa obviously owns a unique German edition dating back to 1970s.

This particular one has indeed a special meaning for him.
“I used to sing this song with my wife and son, while driving across the mountains on our way to Istanbul.” For a late comer immigrants like Mustafa, Istanbul is of course all about the obscure mountains at first which soon turn out to be a “golden soil.” But Mustafa’s longing for his homeland is mostly faded by the retro delights of Baris Manco and his touchy lyrics referring to the challenges that a life bears for lovers!
Other rare records that he has of Baris Manco are the ones he arranged with the Belgian band Les Mistigris’ “Big Boss Man” and “Baby Sitter Quelle Peste” which is not only unique with its content but also its rare cover picture of Baris Manco with his bare figure whose moustache and long hair had long been legendary marks of his popularity.

While Baris Manco’s Anatolian rock tunes were echoing in the room, Mustafa had already passed to consume his second pack of cigarettes and his fifth cup of tea.
The vinyl records were clearly not the only retro pieces in this basement. The furniture, the carpet and the empty wine bottles kept from 1970s were all setting a perfect scene drawn from old Turkish movies in which Mustafa would definitely have played a leading role with his “charismatic” mustache. Mustafa’s fidelity to his mustache is actually derived from his fidelity to the first record he had listened when he was only 12 years old. Ever since his passion for Yildiray Cinar whose disk was the first sipping black circle introducing him into the majesty of vinyl world doesn’t seem to be eroded at all.

The very moment he gets hit by the pang of melancholy is when Yildiray Cinar’s psych- Arabesque tunes circle in the room. That’s also when his goose bumps become hardly unremarkable.
Apparently Yildiray Cinar was long sharing Mustafa’s solitude in his humid basement, with the loyal company of a tea cup and a pack of cigarette, and that’s when he’s been talking to his moustached idol, well, mostly to his appearance on the cover of course. “I’ve been waiting you for 25 years, now it’s your time to wait me till I get a cup of tea before we re-join.” With his thin mustache placed in between his sharp nose and thin lips, combined with bold, dark eyebrows, Mustafa looks like a genuine copy of his idol, Yildiray Cinar whose fame as a Turkish folk music performer was climaxed during the 1960s and 80s.

As a committed vinyl collector and Anatolian rock admirer, Mustafa continues to display his favourite albums of other popular psych-rock singers as he calls “National rock heroes”: Erkin Koray and Cem Karaca.

The variety of his collection clearly proves that he is not only into Anatolian rock and psych funky tunes, but also a loyal admirer of Turkish classical music.
The tangible vivid sound of a vinyl combined with a bit of Arabesque lyrics about love and a pack of cigarette is all what Mustafa needs to dive into his melancholy and let his tears drop, which set the case only for the records of Zeki Muren: “Turkey’s Sun of Art”.

“Each time I listen to him I find myself in tears. The sorrow of his songs reminds me my own misery...”

Zeki Muren was the most prominent singer of his time with his unique treacly way of singing and his over-sized high hills and glittering stage costumes. Always dressed in a sublime perfection and wore a highly remarkable eye-liner, Zeki Muren’s pictures on vinyl covers are no different than of his stage performances. Mustafa’s dream is to complete his collection of Zeki Muren but before taking a deep breath from his fag, he fetches a longing sigh. “He’s the only one I can’t afford to afford...”

Staring at the bulk of records dispersed in the room, our eyes get caught by porn-like funky covers of Ajda Pekkan, the “Superstar of Turkish Pop.” With a sense of self-pride and self-worth Mustafa says that her records were the most expensive ones he had bought from the flea market.

Apparently some desires such as the long-life passion of vinyl collection are not definable with money for Mustafa but more with a sense of pride and ultimate existence he feels in the presence of his rare records. When it’s time to leave our never emptied tea cups and dusty tunes behind, Mustafa doesn’t hesitate to express his enthusiasm with half of his mouth while the ashes of his fag spread around... “For the first time in my life I feel like reborn and discovered. I hope my passion will be spread to other Turks as well.” His wishes on spreading the vinyl passion to Turks are indeed favourable, well honestly, as long as they don’t all come up with a moustache...

Once again I would like to thank Cagil and Aytac for making this story and helping me around.
Keep Diggin
E

Emek Can Tulus - Istanbul, Turkey

2011-08-28T18:25:00.011-04:00

Hey there,

Once again we gonna step back in time. About a year ago I traveled to Turkey for a couple of days job. needless to say, I had to take this great opportunity to find some records and record collectors.

I made a brief research before I arrived and found a few excellent young collectors with an interesting eclectic musical taste. in the next couple of post I will feature some great Turkish collectors, New School and Old School. Let me start with the New School.

Here is Emek Can Tulus. A great gentle guy. beyond his knowledge in Turkish music, his taste is pretty eclectic and broad. American Jazz and Soul on one side and Turkish Psych on the other.

Dust & Grooves going Turkish.... Compiled by Emek Can Tulus by Dust & Grooves on Mixcloud

Dust & Grooves's Cloudcasts on Mixcloud

Q: Your full name, age and city?

A: Emek can Tulus , 33, Istanbul, Turkey

Q: What do you do for a living?

A: I am an artist & illustrator. I used to be a partner of a record shop (Deform music) but i quit the store business 2 years ago.

Q: What was your first album? How did you get it? At what age? Can you describe that feeling? Do you still have it?

A: The very first vinyl album that I bought with my own money was Jefferson Airplane’s “After Bathing at Baxters” LP. I bought it on flea market when i was 13 in 1990, those were the days most people where trying to get rid of the vinyl albums because the vinyl records were out of time. I was an amateur underground comic fan then and was making some money on comics business. The most interesting thing about that record was the front cover illustration which is a work by Ron Cobb who is a killer illustrator for newspapers in the 70’s. I used to have his album of works and just because it I bought that J.A. LP. I still have both of them the ron cobb illustrations album and J.A. LP.

This is my first record bought my very own money! Ron Cobbs' great sleeve art attracted me to buy it. Had no idea on the music back then ! Today i still like it.

Ron Cobbs' german pressed album, bought at the same days with the LP. What a talented guy !

Q: What prompted you to start collecting? What age did you start ?

A: after 1990 I started to collect vinyl, at the times i was mostly buying hardcore punk & grindcore and death metal stuff via mail order before the days of internet. Then i started to dig into Rock, Garage ,Psychedelia to Post Punk and new wave and then Funk and Jazz. I was buying every record that looked interesting to me both conceptually and musically.

Q: Why vinyl?

A: Because the vinyl is very handsome, you can see it, feel it, smell it. It’s something real, not fake like the CD format. I mostly prefer second hand stuff because there is a story behind each record. Somebody created, recorded , produced and manufactured them, then somebody bought them from the market and threw it out or re-sell them to somebody else. That’s the magical point of the obsession to listen or collect vinyl. I am always one step after, when i was start to collect vinyl they were always second hand.

Turkish Psych from early 70's. Kind of a movie soundtrack with interesting sleeve which shows an historic rebel and poet named "Pir Sultan Abdal" from the 16th century.

Q: Any specific genre? What attracted you to this specific genre?

A: Not really. I am always digging for something original at least something real, something wonderful that players dedictate themselves to create a work of their own with a pure soul. The records I have varies from free Jazz to Grindcore, from Garage-Punk to Turkish Kitch and whatever, you name it. I love Naplam death and John Coltrane in the same time, Neil Young and Jacques Dutronc in the same time. It’s all about the creativity, the energy, the approach to create some sounds interesting.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about the vinyl scene in turkey? What are the most collected genres in turkish music?

A: Late sixties and early 70’s anatolian rock records. This is a combination of rock music with turkish folkloric traditions. Some of them are really killer ones. When they have both the energy of a young noisy rocker and the traditional elements of turkish musical history that deepened in the centuries, there are many good turkish vinyls. Most of the collectors are after these records because they are really rare, especially in good shape. The collectors scene now is bigger than back in the 90’s, but i must say that most of the collectors are after the objects not the concepts. I don’t like the collectors who are looking for the original pressings of the rolling stones or led zeppelin worldwide singles discography . It’s not about the music. They can just go and try to live in the past.

Q: From looking around record shops in istanbul, I noticed that the priced are pretty high, considering the cost of living in istanbul. Was it always like that? Or is it a trend of the last years? Is there much interest among international collectors in Turkish music?

A: The record stores are really expensive because there are not enough records to sell and not enough collectors to buy them. Someone has to pay $ 20 to buy a common pink floyd LP, which is actually $ 2 in europe or usa. There is a very strong interest for the Turkish records on the international market. There is something wonderful in the turkish records, the singles and albums by Erkin Koray, Baris Mancho, Selda just to name a few. Go and type them on eBay, see the results...

George Gruntz - Noon in Tunisia. recorded with some tribal arabic musicians, and released only in germany that record is pure music!

Q: Can you recommend a few record shops or dealers who deal with Turkish vinyl?

A: Zoltan Records

Caferaga Mahallesi, Sakiz Sokak No: 15/d

Kadikoy District / Istanbul

Ph: +905353534157

Deform Music

Turnacibasi Mahallesi, No: 45

Cukurcuma / Beyoglu District / Istanbul

Ph: +902122453337

vintage Records

Dr. Esat Isik Caddesi, No: 20

Kadikoy District / Istanbul

Ph: +902163302249

Q: Tell me a crazy story over a certain record that you bought / found

A: I called a guy who advertised on the newspaper. I went to the meeting point and there was a black limo. Only the driver was talking to me. I just looked at the records and made an offer. It was the only driver who talks seperately to me and to the owner of the records, that crazy mafia boss. Driver talk to the guy in the limo and got the money to bring him. I got a good pile of Funk records especially an original copy of Blue Ryhthm Combo’s Magumba LP which was pressed in Barbados islands. Killer funky album.

Q: Where do you go today to buy records? Do you do most of it online or do you still go digging in flea markets?

A: Antique stores, advertisements, flea markets and I have contacts of the stores in the city. Suddenly my phone rings and someone says they have some records to sell. I am buying records for about 19 years. I smell well. They smell good. I love records and records love me.

Q: Has record digging changed much in turkey since the online shops started to dominate the market? Or is it still old school?

A: It changed. For me it’s the best buy via cash face to face. I dont like the credit cards buy. But sometimes i have to.

Q: Love, hate, obseesion, passion, pride, joy, anything else… what would best describe the relation to your collection?

A: I am living and my collection lives too. You can make love in the bed and you can make love in the bushes too. It’s your decision. I am not a kind of guy who is proud of to have a collection of ten thousand records. The records and me, we are living together. And if i feel some of the records are unnecessary to keep anymore, i get rid off them. Sometimes i buy some of these records again, haha. Neither the records nor i am proud of each other.

Q: What's your partners' reaction to this obsession?

A: She has good taste in music, so no problem with the records. But sometimes she yells at me and says this record sucks if I listen too much to funky stuff.

Groovy instrumental Mod Punk Garage track by Turkish 60's band named Apaslar, which can be translated in english "The Apaches". The band took their name from the shadows' track "The Apache".

Q: Can you educate us with few corner stones in Turkish Psych/Funk/Jazz music?

* Erkin Koray- Mechul / ve single from diskotur label, never re-released yet. A crazy psyched-out LSD nightmare.

* Okay Temiz-Denizalti Ruzgarlari / Dokuz Sekiz from Yonca label, killer groovy experimental jazz/funk/avant-garde sound. * Cem karaca & apaslar – gilgamis 7” from Turkuola label, late 60’s moddish instrumental garage. * Ersen & Kardaslar- Metelik / yine seni tanirim from sahinler label, groovy psyhedelic funk with lots of wah-wah and fuzz guitars. * Fikret Kizilok – Aybatti from Sah label, a keyboard driven speedy instrumental dance song.

One of my all time favorite Turkish 7"es. "Denizalti Ruzgarlari" by Turkish master jazz drummer Okay Temiz. Strange drum & percussion effects blended with local grooves and moog sounds. Nice sleeve, indeed!

Back sleeve for the very same 7". Instruments include even an handmade ones named as "Sputnik 5" and "Frog".

Q: I'm very curious about the evolution of Turkish music and it's sub genres. can you tell us some more about different genres and it's leading artists? Can you refer to the Psychedelic era, how come there is so many Psych albums? and the more traditional side, the Arabesque? or Kitsch?

A: Turkish culture has a very strong musical journey during the centuries. The affects of eastern, Arabic, Persian & Indian music blended with local sounds and authentic instruments with the strong supports of black sea region, caucasian and balkan music.

In early to mid 60's, most of the turkish rock and pop musicians carbon-copyied the western stuff but around the late sixties it seemed there was a new start. Local folk tunes were covered by the young artists with western instruments and arrangements in a unique way. This movement later was referred to as "anadolu rock". Some major names include Mogollar, Baris Manco, Erkin Koray, Cem Karaca, Ersen and Selda.

More common musical styles like Turkish folk music of many centuries, there is also turkish classical music which remained from the Ottoman empire. it's urban music and aristocratic, combining elements of Soufi music, Persian music and urban culture of the old Ottoman country. some big names like, Munir Nurettin Selcuk, Safiye Ayla and Muzeyyen Senar.

Arabesque music, clearly influenced by arabic music of Oum Kaltoum, Fairuz and Rahbani brothers. Lyrics are mostly dark and suffering, major figure is Orhan Gencebay.

For the kitsch genre, I can say Zeki Muren is the key figure. He was a an extraordinary performer of Turkish classical music and one of the transvestites loved by the whole Turkish families. In the 60's and 70's he was dressing self designed costumes (Drag Queen style) and was highly respected.

Q: Can you name a few records that you like going back to at any time. What makes them so special for you?

Pure spiritual jazz by the great Marion Brown. We used to listen that one with a very close friend of mine who died because of a brain tumor. My friend Ismet who exactly looked like Marion, was telling me "stop playing that album. If not, i will steal it !"

A: I love the music which does not get boring if you listen to it again and again. There are some albums that i listen over and over and feeling as i am listening for the first time. New discoveries everytime i listen. Robert wyatt’s “rock bottom” album one of these ones. Many Coltrane albums in that way. Pink Floyd’s “The Piper at The Gates of Dawn” , Marion Brown’s “Sweet Earth Flying” , banana album by Velvet Underground, both albums by Joy Division, “Ege Bamyasi” by Can, Erkin Koray’s “Elektronik Turkuler” just to name a few...

Our favorite album, "Ege Bamyasi" by Can. Title is originally in turkish, meaning "Aegean Okra". Never bored listening to this one over and over.

This record is from my father. Autographed for him by the artist in the 70's. Turkish left-wing political folk.

Q: What is your favorite album art? Any special reason?

A: Oh, there are so many. Maybe it’s just because i am also into the visual arts. Many of the classic Blue Note albums are wonderful stuff but i have to say Donald Byrd’s “A New Perspective” is exceptional because it combines the title and the sleeve in an unique way. Also i love Albert Ayler’s “New Grass” with the upside down close-up photo of Ayler’s beard. The photo inside the gatefold sleeve of soft machine’s “third” album is also one of my favourites, if i would have a chance i wanted to be there, even only my feet are ok. I respect robert wyatt as my he would be my father. Gang of four’s “entertainment” album sleeve still stands very good in the punk rock genre. And a turkish seven inch single sleeve by Ahmet Sezgin, a minimalist kitchy combination of red , white and black. When i get bored, i look at this sleeve and laugh every time.

One of the masterpieces of 70's Turkish Rock/Psych, "Elektronik Turkuler" by Erkin Koray who still performs and records since 1957.

Q: Album that best makes the soundtrack of your childhood.

A: Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music”

Q: Album that scared you in your childhood?

A: Death’s “Scream Bloody Gore” album. I clearly remember i was scared when i listened to that album i was alone at home.

Q: Album playing right now:

A: We just played Nick Drake’s “Bryter Layter” album a few minutes ago. Very deep stuff, it’s a shame his departure was very early.

Thanks for reading and spending time in here.

Please help support the effort of bringing these stories to you by just forwarding this to a friend or post it on your Facebook page.

Thanks,

Eilon

www.dustandgrooves.com

Margaret Barton Fumo - Brooklyn, NY

2011-06-09T15:46:00.009-04:00

Hello Again,

This post must be one of the most unique posts ever published in Dust & Grooves. The obvious reason, in case you guys haven't noticed yet, is that Margaret is the first female collector featured here. yes, yes, it strikes me how few female collectors are out there. maybe there are more than meets the eye, but I have to say that tracking them down has not been an easy task.

Margaret Barton Fumo for Dust & Grooves by Dust & Grooves on Mixcloud

So,

Margaret lives in Brooklyn, NY. She greeted me at her place with a fresh batch of muffins, straight out of the oven. Great start for a lovely & nerdy photo/music session. Margaret's focus is on Psych and Prog Rock and she also hosts a radio show on East Village Radio named: No Pussy Footing. check it out when you need a fix for some Psych soulful music.

http://www.eastvillageradio.com/shows/nowplaying.aspx?contentid=1296&showid=16580

Q: What do you do for a living?

A: I work for Joel at Tropicalia in Furs in the East Village. Sometimes I write for film magazines. I'm recovering from years of arrested development spent in graduate school.

........ STOP!! before we go on with the interview, here is a little update from Margaret, since this interview took place a while back.

Well, I stopped working at Tropicalia, only because I found another job where I can make more money, but Joel is still my #1 fuzz brother and Tropicalia will always be my favorite record store...I also dropped my radio show after three years on East Village Radio and now I just DJ for fun, at bars and parties, for friends, etc. DJ'ing for radio is a really special thing when you have the freedom to experiment, play downtempo or weird/long tracks, or just bullshit on the air--but DJ'ing out is also great when you can really tune in to the crowd, get them dancing and sometimes catch their reactions to new sounds. So I like to DJ here and there, but so far I haven't committed to a regular night to keep it fun. Plus I'm small, and carrying heavy records around is a real pain.

The big thing that happened since these photos were taken was a devastating fire in my neighbors' place. The fire department came to stomp it out and completely destroyed my apartment in the process. They ripped out every window and all of the ceilings, covering the whole apartment in debris. I came home and it looked like a hurricane had hit the place. Of course my #1, immediate concern was my records. Then my record player and my video projector. Everything else could have gone to shit, for all I care. And luckily my records were saved, just really dusty and burnt-smelling. But that first night we weren't sure what was going to happen, if the place was going to collapse or looters would come in and steal shit or what. The Red Cross came and deemed the place unlivable and I was running around trying to make Sophie's choice picking which ones to "save" and freaking out. At first I was pulling out the more expensive ones, but cheap ones are valuable too, and you just can't choose. I would have felt incomplete with just a selection, since a record collection has an identity of its own, as a whole. And our collections represent us, in a way. They represent the different facets of our interests and tastes. I'm really grateful that I ultimately got to keep them all. Apparently the fire department carried the hose up to our place but decided not to use it. If they had, my records would have been ruined. So I feel very lucky. Now I live in a better apartment in BedStuy, and my collection is much bigger! I'm still going....

Q: What was your first album? How did you get it? At what age? Can you describe that feeling? Do you still have it?

A: I can't remember exactly. My first records were from my dad's collection-I remember loving this record of the Oscar Peterson Trio doing songs from West Side Story- ha! I still have it, too. Let's say that was my first album.

Q: What was your Initial interest in music? Did you have any influence from your family? Or perhaps your best friend?

A: I definitely inherited my appreciation of music from my dad, who is an obsessive jazz man. Though his enthusiasm kind of worked against him as I was growing up, because I hated jazz as a kid. It was non-stop jazz education in my household, and I wasn't having it. I love my dad, and I'm so grateful to him for shaping me into the music nerd that I am today. But I wouldn't open up to jazz until I reached my early twenties and heard John Coltrane's Infinity album, the one that was released posthumously with Alice Coltrane's tacked-on arrangements. Then I started to dig into Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra etc. It's typical of 70s psych/rock fans, but I love that stuff. And now I like a lot of earlier jazz too. So thanks dad.

John Coltrane-Infinity. Sometimes I find the string arrangements on this album a little too sentimental, and sometimes I don't. It's nonetheless unique, and it encouraged me to give jazz music another try.

Q: Why vinyl? You mentioned that you started with CD’s and moved to vinyl. Can you remember that period? What do you think made you collect only vinyl?

A: This is going to be a short timeline because I'm still young (29). I listened to some of my dad's records as a kid but I started out buying tapes. When I was 13 or 14 I bought a few dubbed cassettes and a paperback copy of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange for 50 cents at a stoop sale, and one of the tapes turned out to be The Velvet Underground & Nico album. For years I had no idea what the hell I was listening to on that tape, but I loved it. Needless to say, The Velvet Underground and Anthony Burgess totally rocked my world in the 8th grade! I guess I started collecting music heavily in my late teens, when I started working. At first I would spend all of my tips from the coffee shop on CD's at the record store down the block, then eventually started digging into the record boxes on the floor. Now CD's are just a pain in my ass and an eyesore in my apartment.

Q: I don't know if you noticed, but you are the first female collector featured here in Dust & Grooves. any insight on that?

A: Of course I noticed! And I feel very honored! First I want to say that this blog is already an amazing collection in itself, because all of the people featured on it are different. My favorite thing about Dust and Grooves is seeing how different people store and organize their collections, value their records and share stories. Not everyone on here is a professional DJ, but everyone sincerely loves music. It's great! As for the girl-record collector thing, there are a lot of us out there but we're still a minority. It always annoys me when people assume that my knowledge of music (or film) is stilted because I'm a girl, but on the other hand, until more girls wise up and start getting into more male-dominated hobbies like record collecting I can't really fault guys for being surprised when they find out that I do actually know a thing or two about music. I hate being looked at as an anomaly or gimmick but to a certain extent I am. I know that just being a girl made my radio show more appealing to the higher-ups at the station but other DJ's and listeners ended up reaching out to me because they liked the music that I was playing. And I hope that your readers will like my contribution to your awesome blog.

Q: So you are into Prog Rock and Psych. How did you get into this specific genre. Can you trace it back to the source?

A: It all ties in to years of working in retail, I have to say, and having a lot of listening time on my hands. I spent about 5 or 6 years working in a small used bookstore in Philly, where I was usually by myself. (R.I.P. Big Jar Books, by the way). So I would listen to music alone in the store all day long. At a certain point I started to get sick of lyrics and got pretty deep into guitar jams and extended instrumentals. There were already enough words in the books in the store. Then I started to get into the more "progressive" sounds, although that term is of course subjective. Prog rock became a new thing for me, and it just clicked. And introduced me to a lot of other genres along the way.

Jerry Moore-Life Is a Constant Journey Home. This is an excellent folk-rock album. Soulful singing with nice guitar playing by Eric Gale. An uncharacteristic album for its label, ESP-Disk.

Q: What’s your digging habit in these digital days? Do you go out to dig in basements and fleas, or are you an eBay expert? Has things changed for you since the web days?

A: I'll admit that I am an ebay expert, at the risk of coming across as a loser and going against the digger code of conduct. I guess I'm not really a digger. I'm a researcher, a seeker, and a browser (sorry for the zen-speak). But anyway, I didn't really consider myself a collector until I hit ebay and "the sickness" that I see every day in our customers at Tropicalia kicked in. Before people got into downloading music I would use eBay as a learning tool, browsing through certain seller's stores and then researching particular albums using that piece-of-shit Allmusic guide site, hoping for an abbreviated audio clip or two. So I bought a lot of albums-both of the albums by the psych-pop band The Moon because I caught sight of the covers on eBay and then looked them up.

I had to put my Netflix account on hold a few months ago, because my bank account balance was especially low and I wanted to be able to bid another $5 on a record. That's a little sick, but I won the auction! Of course I've always made the rounds in record stores and occasionally flea markets too, but my favorite discoveries tend to come about through sharing and trading with friends and other DJ's at the radio station, and from building friendships with other record store owners and employees who offer me recommendations or kindly set things aside for me that they think I might like.

Q: Name some holly grails from your collecting history.

A: Gal Costa's second album. It's not only an amazing Brazilian record, in my opinion it's one of the top psych albums. Her backing band (Os Brazoes) uses their incredible musical talents to freak the fuck out, and her screams and vocal improvisations are amazing. Joel gave me an original copy in mint condition for Christmas, and I nearly passed out when I took it out of the bag. What a great boss! Maybe he thought I would take a break from draining his psych and prog stock afterward, but so far that hasn't happened. In general though, original Krautrock albums are pretty tough to find because (in my opinion) in addition to the rarity factor, they carry a wider appeal within the whole 70's Psych/Prog/ Whatever genre. They're percussion-based and have cooler sounds that appeal to people who like other types of music, like Hip-Hop or Indie Rock or whatever. I mean, I've seen kids breakdancing to Can in the subway! Krautrock is just cool like that. I have some nice original Kraut albums, really gained through careful collecting over time. Because those are the types of records that burn upon ebay and sell for absurdly high prices.

Gal Costa's second album! One of my favorite albums in my collection.

Gal Costa's first album! This is an early 80s reissue, and I'm okay with that. I hate to be prissy about reissues, but I can't help it. Originals are always better.

Terco. Nice Brazilian heavy prog. Great riffs.

Tom Ze-Estudando O Samba. This album is so great I don't know what to say about it. There's no one else like him.

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were a mediocre band with some really corny tracks, but I love them nonetheless. They've got a fascinating back story that you can read about here: http://members.chello.nl/cvanderlely/wcpaeb/history/wcpaeb1.htm

Q: I know that every “your favorite” question is a tough one, but try to remember. Can you name a few of your favorite album covers?

A: I'm partial to colorful, folk art-looking covers, like T2's It'll All Work Out in Boomland and the British band Nirvana's The Story of Simon Simopath . Eddie Hazel's Game Dames and Guitar Thangs is another favorite. Some of the packaging from the 70s is really out there. The hippies got indulgent. The poster insert for Donovan's Cosmic Wheels is just ridiculous, and Hawkwind's giant foldout cover for Spaceritual is something else [photos 21-23]. It's the perfect artwork for a pinnacle space rock album!

T2-It'll All Work Out in Boomland. Heavy prog-psych monster. The drummer, Peter Dunton, is also the singer. According to Youtube, he's currently living in Thailand and performs with a new formation of T2 in a local bar- alright Peter!

The guitarist Keith Cross (later of Cross & Ross) was a teenager when this album came out and he shreds like nobody's business. Why does he look like he's wearing a wig in this photo??

Nirvana (the British psych-pop band)'s first album-The Story of Simon Simopath.

It's got a wimpy sound, but I like it. They infamously sued Kurt Cobain's Nirvana.

Eddie Hazel-Game Dames and Guitar Thangs. I didn't have much money when I bought this album, but I had to have it. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for Eddie Hazel.

Donovan practicing his transcendental meditation in my bed.

Hawkwind's giant foldout cover for their live album Spaceritual. This cover was clearly made by and for people using drugs. Boobs in space.

Q: Is there a specific musical instrument that attracts you when listening to music?

A: Fuzz guitar. E-bow-ed guitar playing. The mellotron (obviously). The harmonium, all kinds of synths, the mini-moog, hammond organ, moog taurus bass pedals, the Gizmotron! Slap bass is also a guilty pleasure of mine. Prog-sounds vary depending on the sub-genre. If you really want me to get specific, Mike Oldfield's guitar solo on Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom album kills me. "Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road" is the track. It's three slightly different versions of the solo layered over each other.

Q: Tell me about a dollar bin record you would never part with?

A: Queen II. I think I payed $2 for it at a record store in Brooklyn. My ex played it for me back when I first started to get into prog. I was skeptical then, and maybe a little scared of it. A few years later, the $2 price tag made it a low risk purchase, and I went for it.

Queen II - I've played the entire black side on my radio show on two different occasions. Sorry listeners, I hope you made it through.

Q: Tell me about a closed down record store / Flea market you will grieve all your life!

A: EAT Records in Greenpoint, without a doubt. Now it's just a restaurant, but it used to be my personal favorite-the selection was always interesting even when the stock was low, and the prices were very fair. It also provided me with an invaluable set of friends when I first moved to New York a few years ago and was living nearby. It's where I met my friend Jeff Conklin, who introduced me to East Village Radio and is the most fun person to DJ with, ever. Doug Pressman, who used to sell records there, now has a great shop in Williamsburg called the Record Grouch, and I'm anxious to see what the previous owner Casey Block decides to do next. I'm behind him 100%.

Q: Tell me about a record that's too weird to believe, even for a die-hard record fiend?

A: I'll tell you something that's weird to believe - this one track on the Osmond brother's Brainstorm album, "Gotta Get Love." It's completely unreal. Mormon prog-psych at its finest...that's not saying much, but you get my drift.

The Osmond's-Brainstorm. I went through a big Osmond's phase a while back, digging as deep as I thought I could looking for gold-well apparently I suck at this because it was just recently that my friend Doug Mosurock turned me on to "Gotta Get Love." The rest of the album is trash. Michael Lloyd (formerly of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and the American band The Smoke) produced this, and their Crazy Horses album. I couldn't wait to find it in a dollar bin; I bought this album immediately for $2 from a Mormon on eBay.

Robert Fripp and Brian Eno's No Pussyfooting. Frippertronics, man! Very cool layered guitar loops. I can't remember where I found this, but I know that I bought it based on the cover alone, without having heard the music. My radio show is the namesake of this album.

Captain Beefheart's Mirror Man. I guess you could call this a progressive blues album. "Kandy Korn" is great. I've given up on trying to keep the cover in good shape-I'd rather enjoy listening to it than let it sit there quietly and look pretty.

Q: Who is the weirdest character in the world of digging?

A: Oh boy. There are too many, and it's amazing how closely they resemble the characters I had to interact with when I was buying and selling used books. It would be rude to talk about specific people, but there is one guy worth mentioning, because he's actually very nice and often pleasant to deal with...he's just obsessed with collecting Rudy Ray Moore albums. He has to own every Rudy Ray Moore album ever made, down to the last naked boob. Other record store employees in New York probably know who I'm talking about. I've also heard stories from my Brazilian friends about a guy who only collects Gal Costa's India album...you know, the one with a closeup of her cameltoe on the cover. He must wallpaper his room with that cover or something.

Q: Who has the toughest record collection that you have ever seen?

A: My friend Cesar has the toughest record collection that I've never seen. He lives out in the Bronx, so I have yet to make it out to his place, but I know for certain that his collection is painful. I have him to thank for introducing me to Catherine Ribeiro a few years ago. After he gave me mp3 rips of his personal copies her music grew on me slowly and I recently bought an entire lot of her records from a seller in France. Though I still need a copy of Ame Debout, one of my favorites. Super weird shit!

Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes-Paix. French, political, progressive-folk! What else? This lady is a true "acquired taste." I'm hooked!

I love this 45 by Birth Control, a German prog band that's very hit or miss, mostly due to their awkward English vocals. This single, "Hope," isn't on any of their studio albums, and was released instead as part of this cool "Progressive Pop" series on the German label Ohr.

Margaret the Prog Lady

Host of "No Pussyfooting" on East Village Radio

Rich Medina - Philadelphia, PA

2011-04-18T14:37:00.000-04:00

Hey there,

Please welcome Rich Medina, a D.J. , a poet, music producer and an amazing music collector.

Q: What was your first record album? How did you get it? At what age? Can you describe that feeling and do you still have it in your collection?

A: Believe it or not, the first record I bought with “my own money” was a copy of the KISS “Alive” Concert LP. I bought it at Crazy Eddie’s in Eatontown NJ, after making some chore money. It was 1980, and I was growing more and more into rock and roll, aside from actively participating in the complete spectrum of hip-hop culture. KISS had THE ILLEST costumes to me at the time, next to PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC, like Rock & Roll Super Villains with the make up and all that! I remember vividly, that record made me feel like I knew something that other kids didn’t know, probably because family members who had a taste for rock music didn’t surround me.

Q: What prompted you to start collecting? What age did you start? Was there a specific time or event in your life where you recall transitioning from just a lover of music to a collector of music as well?

A: I come from a family of “collectors”, though their reasons were far different than mine when I started. My parent’s parents migrated north from Alabama and the Kentucky/Ohio border near the turn of the century, via The Underground Railroad. With that, their need to keep and care for things they considered valuable stemmed from not truly having anything to call their own prior to migrating north. Being privy to many an adult discussion on the topic at a young age, it was natural for me to want to keep things I considered valuable, so that I could enjoy them for years to come. I really appreciate this gift from my family, because it taught me to care for my belongings and investments on a higher level now, as a man. I think I became a “collector” prior to leaving home for college. Basketball and academics had taken over my world at that point, but I was still busy DJing and buying records weekly. Having to step back from DJing and focus on passing classes and playing Division 1 hoops actually drew me much closer to my true passion, which I soon came to realize was chasing down music, and playing it for as many people as possible, as often as possible. College, basketball, and a real job were all interruptions to what I’ve come to believe I was born to do.

My man Chris from Groove Merchant in San Francisco put me on to this record a few years back when I was shopping there. I was already in the hole about 500 beans when he showed me this one, but realizing how sincerely rare it is. I had to drop another coupla stacks on the table and leave with this one, with my tail tucked, but man oh man, the amount of truly funky and nasty basslines on this Gospel banger should be deemed criminal. Drums and rhythm section everywhere, and in a completely different, almost secular demeanor than I’ve ever heard before on a Gospel LP.

Q: Why vinyl?

A: Vinyl is the origin of my personal love for music, aside from 8 track tape, my grandparent’s church, piano lessons, and 70’s radio. I was simply born during a time where these were the primary consumer mediums for music, so I really don’t know any better. I am not so much of a purist that I have bad thoughts or words for other mediums though. I think I went through that phase when the iPod hit the marketplace for like a year. Then, I found myself purchasing one and strolling the streets with 3,00 songs in this little machine. I found the merit in technology then for sure. But beyond that, the sonic quality of the vinyl format is so warm and full when compared to all digital mediums it’s ridiculous. There is no reputable argument for that point. Storage space is not the baseline issue when discussing the collection of music. The music and your relationship with that music is the baseline issue. Records in abundance on any level, or in any format, will get in your way if you are not intimate with them. I just come from the school that says until you’ve experienced the sonic depth of vinyl on a regular basis, even if just at home alone, you are shortchanging yourself of the main attraction at the musical circus.

Carl Holmes “Investigation No. 1 LP” was a treat that was passed my way by my man DJ Train aka Ari Saxe one day while attempting to buy him out of all of his funk and jazz joints. Super funky and aggressive B Boy demeanor in the rhythm section on this LP, from front to back. A real sleeper.

Q: Presently, are you focusing on any specific genre in your collection? Are there other factors you consider when buying records? Producer? Pressing years? Particular album cover artist?

A: I go after records whenever I have the bread to spend on them, plain and simple. Whatever I’m on the hunt for, I like to take my time and get as personal as possible with the shop and the joints I choose to listen to while I’m there. Sometimes relationships and conversations will bring you more bounty in your digging than just winging it and being a know it all. I gravitate toward different producers, vocalists, labels, genres, songs or LPs for different reasons, depending on things like; “Where am I playing next? What have I heard recently that inspired me to go find it for myself? What label is the new joint that so and so just did that banging remix on? Do they have a section that represents a weakness in my stash? What’s on the walls in here? What store would have copies? Is this a limited edition? I’ve been looking for this for years. etc.”

All of these things come into play for me when buying records, each and every time. I try my best to remain open to what I don’t know, in order for my strengths to remain sharp, and to also be consistently filling holes in the areas of my collection that are not as strong as I would like them to be. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown more peculiar about what I may or may not buy, based on what my needs are, upcoming gigs, and money more than ever since my son was born.

Q: Do you have a run of a label or artist in your collection where you are either working on or have completed collecting an entire catalogue of output?

A: I have the entire Black Jazz Records Catalogue, all of the Fela Kuti catalogue, Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Biggie, Jay Z, Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Redman, James Brown, Rawkus, Kindred Spirits, Soundway, Strut, Femi Kuti, Joe Clausell, Blaze, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Gary Bartz, The Ultimate Beats and Breaks Series, and I am close to completing my Cobblestone and Impulse Jazz catalogues as well.

Black Jazz Madness. One of my favorites is Henry Franklin

Q: How do you organize your collection?

A: I’ve always tended to arrange my music by genre fundamentally. Within each genre I tend to break things up by LP/EP, compilation, bootleg, 12”, and import. If it’s shelved, I love it. If it’s not shelved, it’s either new and unfamiliar, fresh off rotation, or in consideration of being liquidated. Well, those are the rules anyway. None of us active DJs have perfect looking stashes, or alphabetical, numerical, and astrological arrangement styles. When you are really using your records, it’s difficult to maintain that level of constant organization.

Q: Tell me a useful record storage / shelving tip.

A: I would say never over pack your records into soft carrying cases, because you will undoubtedly wreck sleeves and often bust edges off your vinyl as well. Buy the thick and clear library grade plastic sleeves too, to store your records in at home. They are expensive, but totally worth it for preserving the cosmetic and sonic integrity of your stash. I wish I knew this years ago because I learned the hard way over time that you will ALWAYS end up with some kind of damage to your sleeves, your bag, or even worse, your records, without protecting them in as many ways as possible. I got MAD valuable records with beat up sleeves and dings in the wax because it took me so long to get my head around being consistent in protecting my tools. As a collector, you can easily decrease the equity of your stash by having beat up wax. As a DJ, the record you disrespect in storage will soon embarrass you in front of a dance-floor.

Q: What do you look for in a record?

A: Honesty.

Alton & Hortense Ellis “Studio 1 Sessions” LP, full of that Alton Ellis magic, most notably Hortense’s version of “People Make The World Go Around”, such a deep and funky tune to begin with, and then the ragga twist on it is BONG! My man Gene Brown put me up on this when I told him I was trying to get my reggae weight up.

Q: What is your partners' reaction to your vinyl obsession? Is there a spot dedicated to your partner in your collection?

A: We met over music, and it’s really that simple for us. My lady was a burgeoning club kid and a dance class hound before we met. When we met, she began working with me, handling the administrative duties of keeping me booked and busy. I was also completing my first full length LP at the time, so she came into my world while I was in a period being VERY busy, and going through an accelerated period of creative growth. With that, time passed, she became a wonderful manager of my business affairs, we grew personally closer, developed a very real and loving relationship, and had our beautiful son Kamaal Nasir. My lady has been extremely supportive, and she has actually been an enabler to my habit. The only other person in the world who supports me more vigilantly is my mother. My Baby Maker 45s are dedicated to my lady, as evidenced by the lil yellow dude you met at my house. meow.

Some people reading this may have been conceived to the joints in this box. Good for you buddy! Kinda creepy to think “did my moms get pregnant with me when this song was hot?” Never mind, I be buggin’ out sometimes.

Practice sessions at home are so much more interesting with a two year old who loves music. I seriously learn from him, even in the simplicity of his curiosities.

Q: I see your son Kamaal (A.K.A. Mini-me) roaming free in your studio, holding your records, doing a few scratching moves on the turntables, moving them around. It's pretty obvious you are proud to pass your knowledge and love for vinyl to him. can you tell me more about your relationship? your wishes for him regarding music?

A: Kamaal Nasir is my first-born son. With that, he is my greatest accomplishment, and I love him more than I've ever loved anything in life. He has access to my tools because my tools are a part of me, my workspace is in our home, and those tools also pay our bills and feed our family. In order to create the potential for him to respect my business, and possibly want to follow in my footsteps, I have to make his access to my tools and lifestyle easy for him to participate in. On a larger and possibly more selfish scale, he is allowed to roam free in my workspace because I work a great deal, and sometimes in order for me to spend the type of time we need together when I am not on the road, we are in the studio together. I want him to see the utilities, hear the music, be inquisitive about the interfaces, to hear the sessions, bang on the keyboards and turntables, and hopefully grow into his own knowledge and desire to feed his own family with money he earns in the arts. But honestly, if he wanted to be something else, I'd spoil him regardless. My objective with him in that regard is to show him that you can make money doing something you really love, and it won't seem like work in the end. I just want him to look at achievement with an open mind. I have a fun job, and I can only hope that rubs off on him.

Q: Do you buy him records? Does he have a favorite?

A:

Yeah. He's got a gang of records already. He digs a lot of different things at the moment, but his favorite in the moment is just about any rap record played at 45RPM. There's something about the Kanye West/Chimpunk voice thing makes him go ape-shit…hahaha.

I aint even gonna say nothin’. Stop snitchin’. The source for these would cut me off if he saw his name in print.

My sister bought me this for my 8th birthday I believe. I have played that joint so many times it should be criminal. The Batman joint too. Had that shit forever! Both of these I've had since my childhood that I plan to pass on to my son. I finished the apple though haha.

Q: How often do you get out digging for records these days? Do you find yourself doing more digital digging on eBay or do you still hit the fleas and basements of people’s houses? Or do you have a vinyl connection where someone is doing the dirty work and selling you choice pieces?

A: I’m always digging man, almost daily. One of the beautiful things about modern technology is that you can dig in far away places without having to buy a plane ticket AND the damn records you want. I still of course go to warehouses known and unknown, basements, shops, estate sales, and whatever else I have the time and bread for, just like any other record freak out there. So yeah, it doesn’t turn off even when you’re broke. It’s like any other addiction, the DJ’s addictions just so happen to make everyone feel good when shared at the right time, you know? There are tons of incredible shops, dealers, labels and retailers who have taken advantage of the ability to post stock online and sell more product than if they relied solely a shop for foot traffic. I’ve copped some of my favorite pieces online. I’ve also tripped over nuggets on accident just waltzing into a store I’d never seen. We record hounds all have dealers and such that will turn us on to things we need or don’t know. Some of us just won’t share those resources.

Q: Do you have a philosophy or routine when you enter a store with tons of vinyl for sale?

A: I always try to think of records I need that may possibly be there, first of all. Records I’ve been on the lookout for, records people have recommended to me after hearing me play, records the store buyer may recommend should they “know” me. I guess filling holes always comes before anything else when I see a large stash of records. There’s something fulfilling about walking away from a long digging session with missing pieces to catalogs, or genres. In those situations, it is more often than not about used or classic records rather than the newest thing on the shelves for sure.

Milk Crate Coffee Shop. Adam & Mike always got bangers!

Q: Out of your great collection, there must be a few records that you can always go back to time and time again. Name a few of them and why they are special.

A:

Slick Rick & Dougie Fresh - La Di Da Di

The quintessential crossover party record, no matter where you are playing. Everybody likes to hear themselves sing in the club, and Slick Rick’s delivery and punchlines are so universally understood it’s unbelievable.

Keni Burke - Rising To The Top

The perfect mood changer to bring out the steppers before taking things into more aggressive waters, or the steady peak time cool out joint to rock between moods. a New York club staple since it’s original release.

Bob James - Take Me To The Mardi Gras

Fundamental B-boy staple for both top rockers and footwork B-boys, as well as one of the most recognizable samples in the world after Run DMC’s “Peter Piper” 12” made it enormous. You can never lose with a well placed drop of this record.

Soho - Hot Music

The house music record that to this day makes people who claim to not like house music, dance like they ONLY listen to house music. The perfect example of what I like to call a “reverse crossover” record.

Fela - Water No Get Enemy The most basic “knowledge of self” record from the Black President. We all need water, and water has no enemies...Fela Kuti illustrates that point beautifully in this difficult, beautiful song arrangement.

The Blackbyrds - Rock Creek Park

The perfect summertime driving or BBQ record that works on dance crowds of all shapes and sizes. One of those records that never let me down in all the years I’ve been playing it for dance floors. It screams of freedom, clear skies and good times, and “doin’ it”, which we all love to do.

James Brown - The Big Payback

One of the most recognizable samples ever, and an incredible piece of humanist songwriting from The Godfather of Soul. This song absolutely kills dance floors worldwide.

The Mighty Ryders - Evil Vibrations

De La Soul made this joint popular with their original mix of “Saturday” but the original bangs super hard front to back on it’s own. It’s one of those joints where you see people anticipating the rhyme until the real song comes on and they give you the happy “puppy head” look of confusion before realizing that they’ve been giving producers too much credit on certain rap records that they love… haha.

I could of course go on, but this ain’t my book of opinions hahaha.

Fela Kuti “Yellow Fever” original Nigerian pressing autographed personally by Mr Ghariokwu Lemi! Get some google in your life if you aint hip.

Q: Is there an album that gives you goosebumps when you listen to it? What kind of a connection you have to this album?

A: That would have to be Roberta Flack’s “Quiet Fire” LP, namely “Sunday and Sister Jones”. There is such incredible emotion in that song. Her tone is just so sincere and full of loss. I’ve been in love with that song for a very long time, and it is my very favorite song in the world.

Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” LP. This was a record that was allowed in my grandfather’s house any day of the week because it was “The Lord’s Music” rather than “That Devil Music”.lucky us because the honesty in young Aretha Franklin’s voice on this LP set a standard in our minds of what it meant to truly sing from your heart at all times. This record fucked it up for any bad singers I’ve ever heard because Aretha is THE quintessential benchmark for female soul singers and singers in general in my opinion.

Q: Can you name a few of your favorite album covers?

A: Charles Earland Leaving This Planet

Moe Kauffman Museum Pieces

Black Dynamite Soundtrack Adrian Younge

Big Brother & The Holding Company

Ohio Players All Covers

Richard Pryor That Nigger’s Crazy

Redd Foxx You Gotta Wash Your Ass

Fela Kuti JJD

Niagara Self titled & self titty.

James Brown The Big Payback

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

You Don’t Have To Be Black to Have The Blues

Henry Franklin The Skipper

Jimi Tenor & Kabu

Sun Ra Heliocentrics

East Of Underground

Parliament Maggot Brain

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Family Reunion

Q: Did you have any covers that scared you as a child?

A: KISS Hotter Than Hell. I though Gene Simmons would jump off the cover with those fucking dragon boots, spit blood at me, lick my face, and then stomp my brains out one day.

Q: Is there a specific musical instrument you are attracted to when listening to music? Why?

A: The answer to that question depends totally on whether or not I am making music or playing music. They represent an angle on the same thing, but for me personally they take up their own space in what will attract me, outside the drums obviously. but now that I’m speaking it out, I guess I’d have to say drums first of all, followed by keyboard melodies. For me these two components of a rhythm section pull the remaining members of the section into the dialogue from polar angles. They are the anchors that glue the bass, background instruments, accents and vocals into a corral in my opinion.

Billy Paul’s “War Of The Gods” LP. I remember as a kid thinking that there is so much pain in his voice on this LP. This is one of those records my moms and sister would clean the house to on Saturday afternoons. I inherited this one from my sister on my 15th birthday, and it’s still minty fresh like Altoids.

Q: Have you ever had a favorite record stolen from you or damaged to the point of being unplayable? Have you replaced it?

A: I’ve probably lost or fucked up more good records than I’ve bought over time, either through times in my youth when I didn’t recognize the value of certain pieces, or damaging it in my once fabled milk crate and postal bin storage system.. which I am patenting this year, for the real motherfuckers, ya dig? I’ve also dealt with three huge thefts over the years, which hurt like a gunshot to the face.

Q: Tell me about a dollar bin record you would never part with!

A: Billy Joel “Benny and The Jets” White Label 7” on MCA

Q: Do you have any dirty secrets in your collection? Perhaps a Wall of

Shame?

A: Vanilla Ice LP, Hammer LP, Eddie Murphy LPs, Englebert Humperdinck’s 1st

Christmas LP.if I told you any more I’d hafta kill you.

It wasn’t me I swear! I HATE Vanilla Ice, personally. Just playing. I’m human. I bought it. My bad.

Q: Have you ever kept a particular record purchase secret from your partner?

A: Monthly, sometimes weekly, not for fear of reprimand, but because you always gotta keep some for yourself.

Q: Do you have any digging buddies that you share your spots with or do you go out solo?

A: I have tons of friends who are incredible resources, solely because of their connection to records and digging for records. Guys and girls who don’t see music and vinyl recordings collection as a hobby or phase in their lives. Without some of those guys and girls in my life, I would be far less learned about music, and my tastes would not have evolved at the same pace that they have evolved to date I believe. At the same time, I am a student and a miner of my own volition, so I enjoy the idea of digging alone too. It can be sticky digging with friends because it’s virtually impossible not to come across things the other one may want as much as you do.

Q: Tell me about the most unlikely place or time you found records?

A: Visiting my girl’s family in Long Beach California after my son’s first birthday. One of her cousins invited us to their house, and once we got there he brought about 1000 7” records into the house from the garage. We talked shop about records all night, and he eventually offered me the entire stash. That was truly bugged out for me.

Q: Can you recall a record store/digging spot that has closed down and you lament? What was your best score there?

A: Funk O Mart in Philly, Vinylmania, Dance Traxx, Dubspot, Footwork (owned by myself and Bobbito Garcia), Vogel’s Records in Jersey, Broadway Eddie’s Records in Camden. I could go on.

Donna, Shugie & Willie.3 of my favorite records ever pressed. All incredibly sensitive records in their own rights.

Q: Tell me a particularly sad record story.

A: I remember being in a baggage claim waiting for my bag and my case of records to come out on the belt. I ended up being one of the last 6 or 7 people waiting for bags. and then a couple of albums come riding down the belt and more records come out, and then a broken flight case lid, and more records. I panicked for like 45 seconds waiting for the pieces to come around the belt, but as they were making their way around the belt, another dude on the other side of the belt starts screaming at the top of his lungs “Are you fucking kidding meeee!!!!!???? You have GOT TO BE KIDDING MEEEEEEE!!!!!” my case came out in one piece in the next few minutes and my stuff was fine, but I stayed and helped him pick up the records that came out on the belt, and helped him deal with baggage recovery until he had all the answers he could get. I can’t remember the guy’s name, but I think he was a pretty big techno guy. It was really sad to see him in that situation.

Q: Tell me about a record that's too weird to believe, even for a die-hard record fiend?

A: Muhammad Ali & His Gang Vs Mr. Tooth Decay. Fucking bonkers.

Q: Tell me about a record that has healed heartbreaks.

A: D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” LP kept my spirits up after a breakup. I can’t really say that any record has ever made me feel worse about a relationship gone bad though.

Q: What is the ultimate Sweet Loving Baby Making song or LP in your collection?

A: ”The Closer I Get To You” by Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway on Atlantic

7” 1977

Q: Tell me about a record you still regret not picking up.

A: I truly regret not picking up a copy of Gap Mangione’s “Diana In The Autumn Wind” LP years before Dilla used it for Slum Village’s seminal “Fall In Love” 12”. I used to see it consistently and hear people buzz about it, but I just never saw it as a valuable record until the Zen master flipped it on the Slum joint. Then I felt like a small flaccid penis. Until I caught it for 40 bucks some years after that.

Q: Is there a record you feel you have been hunting for too long and will never find an original pressing?

A: I don’t believe there are any unattainable records sometimes, and then other times I feel like I will never really get the mother lode record you know? I go back and forth on that, because when you got bread to spend, even the non negotiable becomes negotiable. I’ve seen guys part with records they said they’d never part with for the right price or the right trade. One that has been sincerely evading me to date though is Yami Solo’s “When A Man’s In Love” 7”. Been checking for a first pressing of that for a good while now.

Q: Who has the toughest record collection that you have ever seen?

A: Man, I’ve seen so many that’s hard to answer. It all depends on whether you’re talking about pure volume of platters, or density per platter. Lots of folks got MAD shit, but cant tell you what it is, or won’t impress you record for record pulling things off the wall. On the other hand you also have folks who don’t have the highest volume of product in their stash, but each record is so deep that it weighs 15 pounds when you pull it off the shelf. There are variables to what makes one’s record collection big, vs. what makes one’s record collection tough. In my top 10 though I’d have to say DJ KC The Funkaholic, Arron Levinson, DJ Kemit, Madlib, DJ Shadow, DJ Spinna, DJ Cash Money, Frank VoodooFunk for African shit, Bobbito Garcia, and Mr Supreme.

Cringing as my man Arron Levinson aka The Kosherican , promptly lets me know that the joint he’s about to play IS NOT for sale. hahaha!

Arron.” OK.I can sell you this one. I’ll see it again.” Me “Well, I’ve never seen it OR heard about it, so thanks.”

Off the cereal box. For reals. Good luck finding it, Thanks Arron!

Q: In your most euphoric dreams, how do you imagine the perfect life as a digger?

A: Having the resources to attain records and music paraphernalia that truly mean something to you, which by default would make you a historian, responsible for the data and statements that validate the value of those pieces. Combine that with the chance to play that music for pay on a great sound system on a Friday night weekly, and you would really be living a pretty perfect life as a digger.

Vocal/Drum Booth fulla Rap 12”s, LPs, Comps, plus 7” stash, 10”

stash…pause, I mean records. Glad I caught that one. and Import Hip Hop.

Q: Any words, advice or knowledge you want to bestow to all the fellow diggers out there, both amateur and veteran alike?

A: I’m not sure I’m worthy of advising anyone about records, aside from telling anyone new to it to be prepared to face the consequences of your newfound addiction, and telling them to take care of their records, so you can put down your computer every once in a while, and interact with material music. and so you can have something redeeming left to share with your children and family when you are no longer actively utilizing it as a career.

"Collecting records is like voluntarily becoming a historian or a chapter in a long book of musical histories."

www.richmedina.com

www.themarksmen.net

Flea Market Funk x Dust and Grooves: Record Store Day 2011

2011-04-16T10:05:00.004-04:00

Jamison Harvey from www.fleamarketfunk.com and I have come together to do a little something special on Record Store Day. We paid a visit to what we think is a special record store in Brooklyn.

Record Store Day is a day to celebrate everything vinyl. With many national bands releasing limited edition vinyl today to help preserve the medium, we couldn't have all vinyl sites without mentioning the celebration. It makes us happy, that in light of the many record stores that have closed, there are many who still manage to keep their doors open, and keep the art of the record, the liner notes, and most of all the warm, full, sound of vinyl. While we commend all who take part in this festivity, we do have one thing to say: Everyday is Record Store day over at Flea Market Funk and Dust and Grooves. We make Record Store Day a daily ritual. So today, we're gonna shout out a guy who has been celebrating Record Store Day for over 41 years in Brooklyn. We're happy we came upon his shop.

Tony Mignone a.k.a “The Record Man” has had his record shop at 439 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope for over 41 years. Almost evicted twice, his landlord is at it once again to get him out of the building so the store next to him can expand. A native Brooklynite, born on 6th St., his Fifth Avenue Record shop has been a staple in the community for over four decades. With this year’s new threat of eviction, this vinyl time machine of records of all genres may be gone for good this time. Tony has every other format from cassettes and eight tracks, but the plethora of 45 and 33 rpm vinyl is what’s king in this Brooklyn store. One of the last, true, pioneers of the vinyl format here in BK.

With a private collection of more than 25,000 45's alone, and specializing in 1940's and 1950's music specifically, his Lp collection contains "a little bit of everything". However, Mr. Mignone has a sweet spot for Country music, and will wax poetic about his first love on command. He'll even sing Ferlin Husky's "Dear John" and just about anything else out of his immense personal archives.

If there is any reason to celebrate Record Store Day, it's in a place like Tony's.

DJ DB aka DB Burkeman - Brooklyn, NY

2011-01-25T14:24:00.005-05:00

Hello mates,

Please welcome DB an english expat, who drinks tea all day, and is a little crazy about the Stones and Drum & Bass music.

I visited his lovely brownstone apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and for a moment, I could imagine my future home in NY. The house was spacious, drenched with sunlight, and covered with modern art and collectibles from around the world. a humble desk space with lots of records around it. so nice :-))

Q: What do you do for a living?

A: Well, I guess I’m in what they call a “transitional faze” I’ve been a working DJ for nearly my whole adult life & also worked in an industry that’s shrunk to almost extinction, the music biz.

Now I’m kind of trying to reinvent myself, finding other creative ways to make a living.

For the last 3 years I’ve been working on a book & art gallery tour project, focusing on fine artists, bands, skateboarders & graff heads that have made stickers. The book just came out & my partner Monica LoCascio in the project & I are super happy.

There's crazy tricked out version http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780789320827 & also a mega cheap one too http://www.amazon.com/Stickers-Stuck-Up-Piece-Crap-Contemporary/dp/0789320819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295988382&sr=8-1

Q: What was your first album? How did you get it? At what age? Can you describe that feeling? Do you still have it?

A: Not sure what the first album I bought was, but the first records I bought were 7” singles. “Band of Gold” by Freda Pain, amazing soul tune, still sounds hot & danceable today. The other, & this explains my whole life’s musical psyche, was “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath. The two tracks being polar opposites of what you’d think a twelve year old boy would be into. That juxtaposition of loving dance & hard rock n roll has followed me my whole life & still motivates me today. I recently started a project with a talented producer called SZ, we’re remixing our favorite indie rock tracks into Drum & Bass tunes.

www.myspace.com/djdbny

Q: What prompted you to start collecting? What age did you start? Was there a specific event in your life, an era, which signify your transition from music lover to a collector?

A: I think if I could, I’d collect everything I love, but my wife wont have it : ) I started a record collection when I was around 12 I think. My mom used to visit friends in the States & return to England with the latest U.S. albums for me. Again, it was soul stuff like Sly & the Family Stone, but also the MC5 & psychedelic stuff from CA.

Q: What's up with that Stones 7" ? Is it a bootleg? how and where did you get it??

A: "Cocksucker Blues", so the story goes, was delivered by Mick & Keith to Decca Records as a "Fuck You" & a way to get out of their contact. I bought the bootleg 7" in the early 70's when i was really young & dont remember what year, but then in the 80's when I started working for the Stones as sort of their unofficial DJ (I played lots of their private events, including Jade Jagger's 16th birthday party & the band's Life Time Grammy Award party) , I made the sleeve from a magazine photo & asked Mick to sign it.

Q: What's that paper that you're reading??

A: Found this with you while we were digging through my old singles, no idea who wrote it. Looks like the speech from Fight Club.

Q: what was your Initial interest in music? Did you have any influence from your family? Or perhaps your best friend (or enemy)?

A: My mom loved (& still loves) music; I grew up with Aretha & The Beatles.

From here to here are all Stones albums & studio bootlegs.

Q: So, you're a big stones fan. well, I know it's not a rare thing, but I'm curious, how was it like to grow up with The Stones as the soundtrack of your adolescence? did they have much influence on your teenage life? I know if it was me back then, I would probably start drinking and smoking and doing more bad things.... A: Lets just say my mother refers to Keith Richards as "the devil" : )

“Sticky Fingers” Spanish version, original was considered pornographic. Russian bootleg, with bad jeans photo & original Andy Warhol one.

Hammer & Sickle belt buckle propaganda.

I “needed” to own all the different colored labels of” Satanic Majesties Request” on Decca.

Amazing art & creative design by Barney Bubbles (RIP)

More wonderful Barney Bubbles art direction.

Q: Why vinyl?

A: Originally because of the sleeves : ) I would spend hours staring Hipnosis covers, Floyd, Zeppelin etc. Then because I became a DJ & that’s what you used.

Q: And these days? why do you keep collecting?

A: Nothings changed : )

Q: C'mon man!! give me somethig here... you were collecting because that was the only format available back then. but now, you could just have MP3's or CDs...

A: I still have an insatiable appetite for new music, looking at my iTunes right now, I have 25177 songs on it, but MP3's dont hold any charm for me. Not that much has changed, I guess I'm still motivated to check out a record because of its visual presentation. The main difference between then & now, is that I stopped buying records simply because the sleeves excited me. I had so many crap albums at one point. I'll still spend silly money on a new vinyl release from one of the few bands that I still am nuts about, but resent paying 99c for an MP3.

The Damned 1^st album with the misprinted back cover showing Eddie & The Hot Rods instead of the Damned.

Front cover of the same album, still with the dope sticker in tact that covered the bands faces. Try & find another one of these!

Q: What’s your digging habit in these digital days? Do you go out to dig in basements and fleas, or are you an eBay expert? Has things changed for you since the web days?

A: I’m not a hardcore digger, I get bored quickly. I really started collecting specific artists again in the late 90s when I discovered eBay. When I had a label at Warner Bros, I would spend silly amounts of time & money looking for rare Stones records. I’m now told that I have one of the largest vinyl collections of theirs that exists.

My skinny ass arm & the names, logos & artifacts that have been important to me.

Mr. Bubbles again.

Incredible design from Peter Saville.

All so different, yet all so original & cool.

Peter Saville had the gold sleeves embossed.

and he was one of the first to use raw card stock.

Picture disc 10”. Gary Pini & I produced with the group Air Liquide for Sm:)e Communications. It shows artwork rendered for the competition Robot Wars that we organized.

Another Sm:)e “cutting edge” vinyl gem that Gary & I created for the Techno artist Steve Stoll.

Q: Tell me a useful record storage / shelving tip!

A: When my wife & I decided we were going to leave Manhattan & move to Brooklyn for a bigger space, It was “suggested” by her that I should reduce my collection. So I went through every record & cut my collection down from about 10000 to about 3000 albums, 12”s & 45’s. It was actually a very cathartic experience; I now know & love every record I own.

Q: What's your partners' reaction to this obsession?

A: She’s cool with it. Its not like I bring home records every week. I bring home stickers every day & stick them on the kitchen mirror till they can be scanned. She’s even cool with that, (mostly).

Stones fans start drooling now.

Art direction & photography, Andy Warhol.

In 1979 I was a young assistant to a photographer & we visited the Stones office in NY, trying to talk them into letting us shoot the next Stones sleeve. I got to meet Keith & he gave me this Not-For-Sale single with the amazing Annie Leibovitz photo.

If memory serves, I believe its John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mick & Keith singing nice things about the Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Q: Name some golden grails from your collecting history.

A: Too many to mention really, Stones, White Stripes, The very first Sex Pistols single (Sorry Steven, its not God Save the Queen) It was “Anarchy in The UK” on EMI & 99% of the stock was destroyed because the label dropped them like a hot potato, even though the record would have gone to #1. I found it on eBay in 1997 & couldn’t resist dropping big coin for it.

The very first release by one of my favorite current bands, Fischerspooner, its a Rectangle Picture Disc.

I was a Ramones groupie : )

Q: Out of your collection, there must be a few records that you like going back to at any time. Name a few. What makes them so special for you?

A: Not really, I don’t listen to old stuff that much. I have an insatiable ear for new music, so my iPod is filled with 90 percent stuff that’s come out in the last few months. I should add, that this is not music that I necessary want to own on vinyl. It has to be very special for me to want new music on vinyl, IE Radiohead, Dead Weather, The Verve, UNKLE. (and of course Drum & Bass vinyl for DJing. The sound quality difference in a club when I play a CD with an MP3, compared to Vinyl is HUGE !)

Goldie’s dope picture discs.

Q: I know that every “your favorite” question is a tough one, but try to remember. Can you name a few of your favorite album covers?

A: “Wish You Were Here” Is probably the one I spent the most time staring at, but only because of the acid ; )

In the 70’s & 80s one of my favorite designers was the late Barney Bubbles, but I did not know it, because he never was credited on the sleeves. But he did pretty much all of Stiff Records & the later Elvis Costello stuff too.

Also Factory Records designer Peter Saville had a huge influence on me & I still love everything he puts his hand to.

Now days I also love Stanley Donwoods art or anything by FUTURA.

Q: Is there a specific musical instrument that attracts you when listening to music?

A: BASS!

Q: what about digging buddies? Do you share or you go solo?

A: In London in the 80’s when Rare Groove & then House Music first took off, I used to go shopping with my DJ partner Tommy D. We would go to this one store where they had “The Good Shit” & spend five pounds for every Chicago import.

White Stripes 7” collection.

So beautiful.

Q: Tell me a particularly sad record story!

A: I sold my rarest Punk singles to buy drugs once. STUPID STUPID STUPID!

Q: Tell me about a record that has healed heartbreaks! Name one that made them worse!

A: “Tumbling Dice” always makes me feel better. “My Funny Valentine” covered by Elvis Costello always makes me cry.

Q: Tell me about a record you still regret not picking up?

A: The first few singles that Jack Whites label Third Man Records put out.

The start of my Third Man Records collection.

Assorted Third Man Records 7”s.

Q: Share some wisdom with us... D.B

A: Vinyl is not like 8 Tracks, Cassettes or CD’s it wont ever completely vanish because nothing quite feels or sounds the same (as good).

There will always be a niche collector & so they will always be labels willing to produce it. In the last couple of years, vinyl sales have actually risen.

In the words of Fischerspooner - Looks good, Sounds good, Feels good too.

AMEN!!!

see his sticker of the day project:

http://www.stuckuppieceofcrap.com/

and

Catch some more mixtapes from DB here:

http://urls.artonair.org/blurringradio

Extra Funky Xmas Soul Mix by Pat. James Longo

2010-12-12T19:17:00.004-05:00

Evening Folks!!

Xmas is here, so allow me to indulge you with a playlist from one of my favorite vinyl collectors ever. Pat.James Longo!!

Hello Y'all! Christmas music has always been very special to me. I love themed music. I collect music in themes, not obsessively, it's not like I would pass up one record because it didn't fit the theme I was currently collecting but when I am looking for something in a particular theme I do get pretty focused. Unfortunately there is always some theme that is top of mind unnecessarily stealing brain power from more important things. I have been collecting certain themes for as long as I can remember like, food and drinking songs, animal songs, versions of Summertime, Batman records, car songs, train songs and of course songs featuring the drummer and especially the ones where the drummer is called out, "GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME!" For a few years I sought nothing but acoustic music by people you wouldn't necessarily think of when you think of acoustic music. (By-the-way, Johnny Thunders has some of the best.) From what I can tell, this Christmas holiday is pretty popular and because of that, the music is usually a lot easier to find than the other genres. Not only is Christmas music fun but there are as many types of Christmas songs as there are styles and genres of music. There are Jazz, Blues, R&B / Soul / Funk, Rock, Punk, Latin, Jamaican, Comedy, Novelty, Country, Classical, etc, etc. The genres are endless that have been touched by Santa. Have you been touched by Santa? Show us on this dolly where Santa touched you…. Last year Eilon asked me to contribute to his Dust and Grooves Christmas Mix and I jumped at the opportunity. I sent him about ten songs and he used three; "The Hippie Santa Claus" by Babs Gonzales, "Santa Came Home Drunk" by Clyde Lasley, and "Funky Funky Christmas" by Electric Jungle. It was a really great Christmas Mixed Tape and can still be found here - http://www.dustandgrooves.com/2009/12/santa-stole-my-vinyl-mixtape-for-dirty.html. This year Eilon asked me to do the whole damn Yule log myself! It was extremely difficult to decide what songs to toss down your chimney but with the amount of great music left over it looks like I'll be back to stuff your stockings and trim your big green bush again for years to come. So please, sit back in your favorite easy chair, put your feet in the fire, load up the veins with some delicious Egg Clog and enjoy this Soulful Christmas mix. Remember, Christmas comes but once a year. VINYL RULES! - pat. a.k.a. Primitive Sound System

XMas Playlist by Pat. James Longo:

Lloyd Glenn - "Sleigh Ride" (Hollywood cat. 101) Jimmy Reed - "Christmas Present Blues" (RRG cat. 44001) James Brown - "Soulful Christmas" (King cat. 1040) The Harvey Averne Band - "Let's Get It Together This Christmas" (Fania cat. #551) Donny Hathaway - "This Christmas" (Atco cat. 45-7066) The Emotions featuring Ronnie Williams on Organ - "Black Christmas" (Volt cat. VOA - 4053) Bill Cosby - "Merry Christmas Baby" (Capitol cat. 4523) Don Paterson - "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" (Prestige Records cat. 7415) Lou Rawls - "Good Time Christmas" (Capitol cat. SM - 2790) Funk Machine - "Soul Santa - Part II" (Creative Funk cat. 12004) Rocki Lane and the Gross Group - "Santa Soul" (Epic cat. 5-10556 / JZSP 15302 (Radio Statio Copy / White Label Promo)) Zebra - "Christmas Morning" (Blue Thumb cat. BLU 109)Ramsey Lewis Trio - "Jingle Bells" (Cadet cat. 5488) The Peanuts - "Charlie Brown Christmas" Pat. James Longo a.k.a. Primitive Sound System can be found the first Thursday of every month smashing one genre into another at D.C.'s Tavern in Hoboken, New Jersey (http://www.facebook.com/pages/DCs-Tavern/89733686005). When not entertaining the bar stools he can be found either spinning records between drawing pictures in his studio or banging the life out of his drums. Primitive Sound System blog - Audio Visual Triumphs and Disasters - http://primitivesoundsystem.blogspot.com Gig Poster Art - http://www.gigposters.com/designer/26046_Pat._James_Longo.html

The Dust & Grooves Photo Booth at The WFMU Record Fair, NYC 2010

2010-12-12T05:04:00.009-05:00

Howdy,

This one is a lil different.

This one is a special photo booth installation that took place at the WFMU's Record & CD Fair in NYC 2010.

I wanted to use this year’s record fair as an opportunity to catch vinyl collectors in their natural habitat, crate digging, using a photo booth-style set up to take portraits of everyday collectors in realtime, right after that authentic moment when they make a successful purchase. Instead of chasing well known individuals, this was a chance to capture collectors in a critical mass.

The result is right here. I hope it will give you a glimpse of that special group of people, call them Romanticists, Audiophiles, Music Nerds, Diggers.

For me, I see a beautiful bunch of people, who love music and are willing to go the extra few miles to connect to it. For them, music has a physical form. It's round, black, with big artwork and printed lyrics and a list of musicians. It's not a file, you can't duplicate it and you sure can't erase it. for them, music is forever!

Keep Digging

Eilon

Look more closely at the Facebook page of Dust & Grooves:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20763&id=135718906476357