CRATERY

Cratery 40 showcases music from places like the Bahamas. And places like Oshawa. Kaewonder kicks it off with a Caribbean funk rarity: Biosis Now’s “Independent Bahamas” isn’t featured anywhere but a compilation of contemporary Bahamian music from the 70’s titled “A nation is born”. And now, it’s featured here. Christmas is a late 60’s bluesy-psych outfit from Oshawa whose albums can fetch a pretty penny all over the world. “Blues on an Iceberg” is downtempo banger from my copy of their 2nd LP, “Heritage”. Not to be outdone, Dj Serious ups the 45 quota with an absolute scorcher from Michigan’s Mad Dog and the Pups called “Hep Squeeze”. More crates. More madness. Cratery 40. Enjoy.

1. Biosis Now – Independent Bahamas
2. Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations
3. The Spinners – No one does it better
4. Donald Byrd – Stepping into tomorrow
5. The Human Condition – Mama I remember
6. Junior Parker – Taxman
7. Mind Garage – Communion
8. Christmas – Blues on an Iceberg
9. David Axelrod – Ken Russell
10. Andrew Jackman – Cool Sweat
11. Joao Donato – Me Deixa
12. Mad Dog and the Pups – Hep Squeeze
13. The Nite-Liters – Damn
14. Bill Doggett – Bueno
15. Bobby Lyle – Night Breeze

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Detroit’s House Shoes popped by the Cratery studios to join us for an hour of vinyl nerdery when he was in town last month. Shoes and I go back to the 90’s, where our paths crossed multiple times on various record shopping trips to the D. He’s the reason cats like MoSS, Mr. Attic and myself had a shitload of Dilla beat tapes before most in the late 90’s. He had me banging an early version of Welcome to Detroit that literally turned me into a hero in my own hometown. But, while Shoes is well-known for championing the music of hip-hop’s G.O.A.T. producer (yeah, I said it), that’s just one element of who he is. He’s also a champion of vinyl, a record store veteran, and a producer with extensive crate knowledge. We were lucky enough to get a private preview of his forthcoming album, “Let it Go”, which features appearances from the likes of Guilty Simpson, Gangrene, Nottz, Roc Marciano, Detroit up-and-comers like Moe Dirdee and many more. Shit goes hard. Just like this edition of Cratery. Featuring House Shoes. Biiitch. –ARCEE

TRACKLIST:
1. The Players – The Game
2. Sensation’s Fix – Smooth and Round
3. Funkadelic – I wanna know if it’s good to you
4. Bayete – Don’t need nobody
5. Rudy Love and the Family – Does your Mama know
6. Darrow Fletcher – Now is the time for love (Part 2)
7. Tommy Stewart – Fulton County Line
8. Natural Gas – Live and Learn
9. Sly, Slick and Wicked – Can’t hold it back no longer
10. Waltel Branco – Tema Da Zorra
11. T. Swift – Expo of Sound
12. Mogollar – Sunset in Golden Horn
13. Sergio Fontana – The Look of Love
14. Chubby Checker – Good Bye Victoria
15. Les Sound Track – S.T.P. #1
16. Temple City Kazoo Orchestra – Kazooed on Classics

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The 2nd part of our double Cratery with Aki of Cosmos Records in Toronto. After killing us with the “Astro-Disc” joint on part 1, Aki wastes no time getting into it with an Azimuth 45 none of us have ever heard of. Kae and I chime in with selections from Iran’s Mehrpouya and Germany’s Michael Naura. And Dj Serious bookends this one with Webster Lewis “Do you believe”, a cut from his impossibly rare “Club 7” LP, which has been known to go for upwards of $700. I don’t want to calculate what it would cost for you to purchase the records featured on this month’s 2nd Cratery, but can anybody say 2nd mortgage?

TRACKLIST:
1. Azimuth – Tempos Atras
2. Mehrpouya – Soul Raga
3. Michael Naura – Black Pigeon
4. Chuck Jackson – I like everything about you
5. Myrna Hague – What color is love?
6. Hammer – Tuane
7. Illustration – Upon the Earth
8. Reggie Garner – Hot Line
9. Black East – I’m gonna love you just a little more, baby
10. Ripple – Facts of Life
11. Stone Alliance – Sweetie Pie
12. Webster Lewis – Do you Believe

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Cosmos Records has become a vinyl institution in Toronto. Since it’s inception in the late 90’s, it’s supplied record fiends here and abroad with an incredible selection of Soul, Funk, Jazz, Latin and Brazilian rarities like no store since.

At the root of Cosmos is its mild-mannered owner, Aki Abe. Aki quickly established himself as a force in the vinyl business by offering a premium selection of records to his walk-in customers.

Cosmos was the opposite of Toronto mainstays like Vinyl Museum – a large, poorly organized store full of $2 records. Cosmos was a small boutique full of hand picked, hard-to-find funk, catering to specific collectors.

This was a huge shift in the way people bought wax in the city.

Most stores wouldn’t showcase their $250 grails – they were usually reserved for private collectors or eBay. But Cosmos would proudly display their rare acquisitions on the wall. And collectors ate it up.

For the first of this 2-part Cratery, we’re geeked to have Aki of Cosmos share some super rare bangers from his personal ‘wall’ at home. If you recognize any titles, they’re probably the records Aki didn’t play. Cratery 38A. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. The Heavenly Band – He rose up from the ground
2. The Caprells – Close your eyes
3. Oneness of Juju – Follow Me
4. Pollution – Vegetable Soup
5. Aloisiu – Tema, R
6. The Jon Bartel Thing – Freak Show
7. Zulema – Standing in the back row of your heart
8. Tyrone and Carr – Take me with you
9. Astro-Disc – Libra
10. Peter Delis – Mambo de Machaguay
11. The Gang Band – TSOB
12. Triangle – Cameron’s Complaint

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Most record heads that come from the hip-hop world understand the value of the cheap dollar banger. Whether it’s a drum break, a boogie classic or a sought-after miracle, discovering a piece of heat in the dollar-bin has always been a source of pride for most beat heads.  Finding a dope record is cool. But finding it for a dollar is even better. Dollarate is about celebrating the joints you can always find in the cheap section.  Records like Bill Withers’ “Don’t you want me to stay”, “Eramus Hall’s “Will you love me?” and B.T. Express “Mental Telepathy” aren’t just dollar records. They’re dope records.  Dollarate is your annual reminder to keep the record snobbery under control. And your credit card bill in check.

TRACKLIST:
1. Cold Blood – I’m a good woman
2. Brian Auger – You’ll stay in my heart
3. Twelve Top Hits – Whatcha see is whatcha get
4. Stan Getz – Keep Dreaming
5. Odia Coates – You come and you go
6. Bill Withers – Don’t you want me to stay?
7. Bobby Caldwell – Carry On
8. Smokey Robinson – Baby that’s back atcha
9. Linda Lewis – On the stage
10. Eramus Hall – Will you love me?
11. Nick Straker Band – A little bit of jazz
12. Kashif – The Mood
13. Watsonian Institute – Virginia’s Pretty Funky
14. B.T. Express – Mental Telepathy
15. Willie Hutch – I can sho give you love

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Part 2 of our second Cratery featuring Vancouver’s Sipreano kicks off with some music from Jackie Mitoo. Sip is no stranger to Mitoo’s music and is actually in the process of following up his landmark “Jamaica to Toronto” compilation with a documentary that takes a deeper look at transplanted musicians that came here in the 70’s. He’s also got an incredible Canadian Psychedelic project in the works with fellow collector Birdapres (quiet as kept – this will be fucking awesome) and was a contributor to Light in the Attic’s recent Mowest compilation. We’re honoured to have Sipreano play another hour of music with us. Cratery 36B. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Jackie Mitoo – Frangipani
2. Os Novos Baianos – Tinindo Trincando
3. Grupo Santo California – California Concert
4. Caroline Peyton – Just as we
5. Frank Motley & The Bridge Crossings – Wanda Unda Landa
6. King Hannibal – The truth shall make you free
7. The Sylvers – I don’t need to prove myself
8. Krystal – False Alarm
9. Les Maitres – Tu Le Sauras Demain
10. Hell Preachers Inc – Spy in Space
11. Poe – Sons of Belial
12. Almendra – Estos Hombres Tristes

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Sipreano is a gentleman of distinction. In this case, his distinction is the first guest to repeat a stint on Cratery. Last November, Sip joined us for Cratery 23, a 4-part special which also featured Toronto vinyl god Jason Palma.  Sip’s penchant for the weird and his unparalleled understanding of Canadian music always makes for an interesting Cratery episode. And like last time, there were far too many records to restrict ourselves to a single hour. So we give you the first of our 2-part, year-end vinyl fest: Cratery 36A. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Milan – Sheherezade
2. Los Belkings – Sabata
3. Reaction – Welcome to the Country
4. Voices of East Harlem – Can you feel it?
5. Red Mitchell – Sale Musique
6. Psychedelic Psoul – A million grains of sand
7. Black Merda – Good Luck
8. Troyka – Go East Young Man
9. Spring – Pressed Ham
10. Chakachas – Stories
11. Steve Davis – Lalune
12. Marlena Shaw – Look at me, Look at you

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This is a fucking weird Cratery. Even by our standards. And we like some weird shit. French Prog. Polish Jazz. Cuban Funk. And a banger from a Dirty Harry flick. These are the makings of Cratery 35. No shortage of off-kilter selections here. Before King Crimson was getting sample love from Kanye, they began their career in a band called Giles, Giles and Fripp. Kaewonder kicks off this month’s podcast with a joint from their “Cheerful Insanity” LP. With a song like “Erudite Eyes”, I’m pretty sure radio play wasn’t high on their agenda. I picked up C&K Vocal’s “Generation” LP in Berlin over the summer. It’s a weird Czech record with jazz-like choir vocals and prog overtones recorded in broken English. “Dockyards” is a banger that takes an unexpectedly jazzy turn half way through. DJ Serious ups the weird quotient with Absolute Elsewhere. “Future Past” is part of a musical interpretation of author Erich Von Daniken’s book “In search of the ancient gods”. None of this making any sense? Not sure it does to us either. Cratery 35. Weird.

TRACKLIST:

1. Giles, Giles, and Frip – Erudite Eyes
2. Absolute Elsewhere – Future Past
3. Dynastie Crisis – Quatre heures de L’apres-Midi
4. Lalo Schifrin – Scorpio
5. The Ugly Ducklings – I know what to say
6. Aquelarre – Jugador, campos, para luchar
7. Fear Itself – Mossy Dream
8. Halina Frackowiak – Ide Dalej
9. C & K Vocal – Dockyards, Railroads, Shoes and Hunger
10. Andy Bey – I know this love can’t be wrong
11. Johnny Jenkins – I walk on guilded splinters
12. Los Van Van – Mi Ritmo Caliente
13. Byron Lee – Hot Reggay
14. D.J. Rogers – Bail Out
15. Linda Williams – Elevate our minds

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Cratery is a dig diary. A monthly document of our freshest finds. Our very own new arrivals section. So it’s only fitting we kick Cratery 34 off with a recently acquired slice of Argentine exotica, Truthfully, I know nothing else about Cuasares ‘Amalgama’ or the album from which it comes. What I do know is that it sounds fucking great. Which pretty much makes it Cratery worthy. A recent trip to a record store south of the border led DJ Serious to a copy of Ofege’s Try and Love LP, a well-known Nigerian rarity from 1973. And Kaewonder reminds us why we never trade our Mandrill records with a selection that fans of Quasimoto’s “The Unseen” might vaguely recollect. Plus a little folky jazz, bollywood beats and polish funk for good measure. We give you Cratery 34. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Cuasares – Amalgama
2. RD Burman – Title Music (Shalimar OST)
3. Ferrante and Teicher – Lady Love
4. Clan Murphy – Eventail
5. Meirelles E Sua Orquestra – Also Sprach Zarathustra
6. Ofege – Whizzy Ilabo
7. Electra Combo – Uber Feuer
8. Guy Pedersen – Les copains de la basse
9. Jimi Hendrix – Torture me, honey
10. The Grodeck Whipperjenny – Put your thing on me
11. Gangsters of Love – I’m gonna keep on
12. Satisfaction Unlimited – Seeing you through the eyes of a blind man
13. Novi Singers – Oh Woman
14. Mandrill – Khidja
15. Jon Lucien – Luella
16. The Advancement – Stone Folk
17. Steve Grey – Theme from the Grandfather
18. Henryk Debich – Standard in B

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Cratery 33 (Session B) with producer/collector MoSS takes our global psychedelic expedition to Japan, Denmark, Korea and Belgium. MoSS starts part 2 with another unidentified banger before Kaeweezy returns us to familiar territory with The Animated Egg’s “Sock it my way” – an alternate version of a song released for the 101 Strings instrumental series. Among the stranger pieces here is “Jam of Love” by The Next Morning – A black psychedelic band with members from Trinidad and NYC. It’s not often you hear anything West Indian from that era without any kind of calypso, reggae or ska overtones – which is fine by us. A friendly reminder that you can shuffle through every Cratery individually by track simply by clicking ‘chapters’ on your iTunes menu. Cratery 33. Session B. Featuring MoSS. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. *UNLISTED*
2. The Animated Egg – Sock it my way
3. Flower Travelling Band – Hiroshima
4. J.J. Band – Into a world
5. The Next Morning – Jam of Love
6. Randy Steirling – Boinin’
7. Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe – Avez-Vous Kaskelainen?
8. T2 – J.L.T.
9. *UNLISTED*
10. Black Butterfly – Happy Flower
11. Niagara – Gibli
12. *UNLISTED*

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Most of you know MoSS as a producer of quality rap music for artists like Obie Trice, Black Moon, Sean Price, Joell Ortiz, Kool G Rap, Big Shug, Eternia and many others. Some of you might even know that he’s the lone producer signed to DJ Premier’s Works of Mart imprint. Even less of you might know that he accomplished all of this from his home in Brampton, Ontario. What you might not know is MoSS is one of the most savage record nerds on the planet, supplier of rhythms to your favourite collectors and proprietor of 2 record labels (Fading Sunshine and Strawberry Rain), both dedicated to obscure, forgotten foreign psychedelic treasures. He joins us this month for a double header of fuzzed-out greatness, Cratery style.

Session A crosses psychedelic borders from all over the world – Italy, Germany, Singapore, France and of course, right here – Canada. Standout tracks include the Ngozi Family’s “House of Fear” – a supremely rare Zambian psych selection and the UNLISTED starter joint. Don’t sweat the UNLISTED tracks. We know what they’re called and we’re pretty confident we won’t find them either. And no, Sipreano – if you know the song, you don’t win a prize. Download Cratery 33 (session A) featuring MoSS below. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. *UNLISTED*
2. Brainticket – Places of Light
3. Mashmakhan – The Family
4. Abel – Searchin’ for the light
5. Ngozi Family – House of Fear
6. New Trolls – C’e troppa Guerra
7. Dionysos – L’age D’or
8. David Earle Johnson – Juice Harp
9. Favourite’s Group – Santana
10. Birth Control – This song is just for you
11. Triangle – Litanies
12. Trifle – New Religion

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No matter how much we genre-hop on Cratery, soul remains a consistent ingredient in our monthly stew. Kaewonder sets off Cratery 32 with a certified slow burner, Larry Saunders’ “This World”. And despite global tangents to Africa (The Wings), Belgium (J.J. Band) and the UK (Egg), we end up bookending this month’s episode with some good old-fashioned American soul: J.R. Bailey’s “Everything I want I see in you”. Fifty Foot Hose and The United States of America are two notable trips down the psychedelic alley, while Jamey Aebersold demonstrates the importance of shopping in the instructional section. David Newman’s “Front Money” is not only an underrated chunk of dollar crate funk, it’s also a leading candidate for ugliest album art ever. Look out for Cratery 33 featuring Toronto producer (and definite hommie) MoSS. The first all-psychedelic Cratery in the making. We definitely made more than a few ugly faces during its recording. But in the meantime, this should hold you over. Cratery 32. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Larry Saunders – This World
2. Booker T. and the MG’s – No matter what shape
3. Soul Generation – Super Fine
4. Jamey Aebersold – Mr. Super Hip
5. Hot Soup – You took me by surprise
6. The Wings – Gone with the Sun
7. Fraser McPherson – The Potato
8. J.J. Band – Love in them there hills
9. Egg – A Visit to Newport Hospital
10. David Newman – Front Money
11. UNLISTED
12. U.S.A. – Hard coming love
13. Fifty foot hose – Rose
14. Skull Snaps – All of a sudden
15. J.R. Bailey – Everything I want I see in you

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With DJ Serious spending the summer in NYC, Cratery 31 was the first of a series of episodes recorded in advance of his departure. Lots of cool shit this month. I recently found Lee Harris’ “Don’t let your love fade away” left behind in a local spot frequented by many collectors. Known primarily for its funk-tinged a-side, the b-side featured here is a mid-tempo soul banger with an almost reggae-like bounce to it. Kae drops Gal Costa’s “De Um Role” from her rare live LP, while Serious draws for Japanese songbird Kimiko Kasai’s vocal cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly”. All sandwiched between a healthy helping of Turkish Psych, Brazilian Soundtracks and French Moog. Another hour of vinyl goodness. Cratery 31. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Ersen – Gungese Don Cicegim
2. S.O.U.L. – Soul
3. The Moments – Gimme some more
4. Lee Harris – Don’t let your love fade away
5. Yma Sumac – Flame Tree
6. KPM – Incidental Backcloth No. 3
7. Roy Ayers – Hummin’
8. Light of the world – The world is out
9. The Headhunters – If you’ve got it, you’ll get it
10. Moraes Moreira – Se voce pensa
11. Kimiko Kasai – Butterfly
12. Gal Costa – De Um Role
13. Shuggie Otis – XL-30
14. El Chicano – What you don’t know
15. Jean Jacques-Perry – Cat in the night

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The beauty of collecting records for as long as we have is getting bored. Believe it or not, boredom is the friend of the record collector. We at Cratery started out collecting soul, funk and jazz – the cornerstones of hip-hop production. But after 5-6 years of focusing on these genres, we got bored. Why? Everyone started buying the same records, looking for the same sounds. So we moved on. Library records, Brazilian Funk and Disco 12”s started to sound more interesting. Until the public caught up and we were forced to move on again. Most recently, foreign psychedelic and progressive sounds have entered our vinyl vernacular, making Cratery a place where all forms of vintage heat come together. This month, we shuffle between Peruvian Psych, Spiritual Jazz, Football Libraries and Australian Big Band – and quite frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Cratery 30. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. Gal Costa – Namorinho de por tao
2. Wilson Simonal – Gemedeira
3. Eddie Senay – Safari
4. Jimmy Lewis – That won’t stop me from loving you
5. Chuck Jackson – Through all times
6. Daly-Wilson Big Band – Lime Dropper
7. Harold McKinney – Freedom Jazz Dance
8. Barry Miles – Take your clothes
9. Sapo – Been Had
10. Totem – Dedos
11. Arco Iris – Para Vos
12. Intimate Strangers -The Track
13. Harris and Orr – Spread Love
14. NFL Library – Jazz Undercurrent
15. Exit 9 – Fly
16. Tamba – Nao Tem Nada Nao
17. The Plastic Cloud – Face behind the sun
18. Giant – Queen of Downs

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The straight up vinyl savagery among the crew seems to be rising exponentially of late. For followers of this podcast, that’s good news for you. It’s not necessarily good news for our collective wallets, but hey – all in the name of music, right? Cratery 29 genre-hops between Mongo Santamaria’s percussive funk, the progressive sounds of the UK’s Julian’s Treatment and Ingram’s jazzy disco sensibilities – like a person moving between different rooms at a really fucking amazing party. A free party. Happening on your laptop. Now. Cratery 29. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:

1. Fania All-Stars – There you go
2. Ingram – My Sister’s Daughter
3. Los Orientales – La Danza Del Mono
4. Horace Silver – I’ve had a little talk
5. Irene Reid –Hey World, let love in
6. Etta James – All the way down
7. Mongo Santamaria – Forked Tongue
8. The Seven – Girl, Girl
9. Julian’s Treatment – Phantom City
10. Madeline Bell – Comin’ Atcha
11. The Imaginations – Ballad of Matheia
12. The Travel Agency – Lonely Seabird
13. Outlaw Blues Band – Mamo Pano Shhhh
14. Joe Pass – A time for us
15. Missus Beastly – Nothing Again

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Before DJ’s began coveting 12”s and the mp3 single defined today’s music market, the average consumer would purchase their hits on 45: The original single. Most soul and funk collectors are no strangers to these tiny records which have held the secrets to some of hip-hop’s most famous breakbeats. “Impeach the President” (The Honeydrippers), “Shack up” (Banbarra) and “Synthetic Substitution” (The Melvin Bliss classic featured on this month’s show) were all originally only available on 45 before being reissued countless times on full-length vinyl. The funk 45 phenomenon of the early 2000’s further solidified how much great music was continuing to go undiscovered on this format. This month, Serious, Kaewonder and I dip into our respective 45 stashes to share with you a few of our fav’s. From the sparse funk of The Meters, the pimped out orchestration of Starvue’s “Body Fusion, to the undeniably eclectic banger “Cumbia de Sal” from Colombia, we give you our second full Cratery dedicated to those tiny little records they call 45’s: Cratery 28. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:

1. Cumbias En Moog – Cumbia de Sal
2. General Crook – What time it is (pt. 2)
3. The Solicitors – Long Journey
4. Dennis Coffey and the Lyman Woodard Trio – It’s your thing
5. Melvin Bliss – Synthetic Substitution
6. The Meters – Here comes the Meter Man
7. Lou Courtney – Hey Joyce
8. UNLISTED
9. Sass – I only wanted to love you
10. L.V. Johnson – I don’t really care
11. Starvue – Body Fusion
12. The Jammers – And you know that
13. Midnight Express – Danger Zone
14. Touch of Class – I’m in Heaven (part 2)
15. Melba Moore – Standing right here
16. Taana Gardner – We got to work it out
17. Johnny Otis – Don’t it make you feel good
18. Robison Kaplan Ltd – Don’t say goodbye

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Get rid of that wax in your ear. Now throw some of our wax in your ear. Cratery returns for it’s 27th consecutive month with another hour of musical goodness from the personal collections of Arcee, Kaewonder and DJ Serious. Cratery isn’t just free. It’s free of mp3’s, CD’s, reissues, and compilations. All vinyl. All dope. Here’s another hour of soul, funk, jazz, psych and soundtrack heaters on us. Cratery 27. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:

1. Sir Edward/Rocky Mountain Willie
2. Gene Russell/Get Down
3. Ray Bryant/Up above the rock
4. Lyn Collins/Take me just as I am
5. Steamhammer/Turn Around
6. Osanna/Preludio
7. Burnin Red Ivanhoe/2nd Floor
8. Bedlam/Raunchy Boogaloo
9. Les Maledictus Sound/Kriminal Theme
10. *UNLISTED*
11. Air/Sister Bessie
12. Bobby Franklin’s Insanity/Bring it on down to me
13. Fugi/Mary, don’t take me on no bad trip
14. Paul Baillargeon/Moog Over
15. United 8/Getting Uptown (To get down)

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Our 26th edition of Cratery signals another milestone: The intelligent Cratery tracklist. Up until now, listeners had to refer to the blog to find out what song they were listening to. From now on, each Cratery mix will house and display song titles in iTunes – as you listen. Simply import Cratery into your iTunes as you normally do, then click on “Chapters” in your iTunes menu along the top. You should now be able to select songs within the mix individually. You can also click on the artwork itself, then click the 3-tiered icon on the right to reveal the tracklist and skip between songs at your leisure. Although, with a range of genre-spanning vintage heat like Johnny Harris, Andy Bey, Ultimate Spinach and Vikings de la Guadeloupe, skipping songs is highly unlikely.  Join us to celebrate the release of Cratery 26 this Saturday at Red Light: 1185 Dundas st W for another edition of Cratery LIVE, our monthly all-vinyl extravaganza, on the first Saturday of every month.

Tracklist:

1. Power of Zeus – Sorcerer of Isis
2. Lamine Konte – Wanzyla
3. Vikings de la Guadeloupe – Funky Duke
4. Johnny Harris – Footprints on the Moon
5. Andy Bey – Celestial Blues
6. Hugh Masekela – What is wrong with groovin’
7. Rasputin’s Stash – Mr. Cool
8. T.N.T.H. – Every Day
9. Toro – Fields of Laughter
10. Novi Singers – Torpedo
11. Gong – Shamal
12. Ultimate Spinach – (Ballad of the) Hip Death Goddess
13. Bombay Horn – Subway Baby
14. Hampton Hawes – WEB
15. Jonathan Kelly’s Outside – Yesterday’s Promises

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What began as a humble, hour long dig-diary is now a vital, vinyl ritual, complete with it’s own cult following, monthly party and award-winning logo. We begin our 3rd year of Cratery with a 2nd. The 2nd official edition of Dollarate: our post-holiday guide to wallet-friendly digging. Theoretically, the records on this month’s podcast are all records that you should be able to find for $10 and under. Please don’t be that dude that drops $20 on Fancy’s Wild thing LP in the Cosmos beats and breaks section. As usual, Kaewonder, Serious and I go one-for-one on some dollar bin heat that just might have you sifting through a stack of Roger Whittaker/Nana Mouskouri/Mantovani records at the local Goodwill you’d all but given up on. Don’t forget to join us for Cratery Live: This Saturday February 5th and the first Saturday of every month at Red Light (1185 Dundas St west).

TRACKLIST:
1. Fancy “Feel Good”
2. Hello People “Wheat Germ”
3. Black Ball “Sexy Mama”
4. Ettore Strata “Theme from Godfather II”
5. Bo Hansson “The Sun”
6. Jeff Lorber “Cousin Stu”
7. Deodato “September 13”
8. Weather Report “Non Stop Home”
9. Klaus Wunderlich “Summertime”
10. Henry Mancini “Sun Goddess”
11.. The Sylvers “Star Fire”
12. Cat Stevens “Was dog a doughnut”
13. Ronnie Laws “Tidal Wave”
14. The Supremes “Come into my life”
15. Alicia Myers “When love starts to go”

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“I kind of went savage this year. I probably crossed more key records off my want list than any year past. And the crazy part is – I can’t see myself slowing. Kae, Serious and I collectively trotted around Rochester. Montreal. Detroit. NYC. And Vancouver. In addition to hitting almost every local record fair and store in our own town. Repeatedly. In short, it was a great vinyl year. And next year promises to bring more Cratery related madness. More content. More mixes. And a brand new Cratery monthly: The first Saturday of every month at Red Light (1185 Dundas st. W). Catch Kaewonder, Serious and I lugging our crates down to our monthly vinyl celebration starting Saturday, January 8th. In the meantime, light one up and download our final mix of the year, featuring some of the 2010 finds we haven’t dropped on any Cratery yet. Enjoy.” – ARCEE

TRACK LIST:
1.Unlimited Touch/Searching to find the one
2.Cloud One/Dust to Dust
3.Sergio Mendes/Righteous Life
4.Gloria Loring/Darkness, Darkness
5.Black Velvet/Just came back
6.Ed Lincoln/Assim Nao Da
7.*UNLISTED*
8.Simon Park Interlude
9.The Nite-Liters/Nothing
10. Vortex/Black Box Disco
11. Rene Perno/Love Dream
12. Eugene McDaniels/Headless Heroes
13. Roger Simard/Vein Turner
14. Jono Pelicio/Jono’s Vision
15. Mikis Theodorakis/On the streets
16. The Poppy Family/No blood in bone

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Cratery 23D marks the final chapter in our four-part Cratery extravaganza. Jason Palma shares more heaters with Kae, Serious and I to close our end of year crate-a-thon. We mentioned Play De. And Higher Ground radio. But you can also catch Palma as part of the Footprints gang banging that afro jazzy goodness year round. Short on length. Long on soul. Cratery 23D featuring Jason Palma. Enjoy. – ARCEE

TRACK LIST:
1. The Players Association/Moon in Pisces
2. Sonny Pearson/Senso Unico
3. S.O.U.L./Love, Peace and Power
4. The Frank Derrick Total Experience/No Jive
5. Maneige/Les Petoncles
6. Bruce Clarke and Maryan Kenyon/Djerba
7. Abaco Dream/Cat Woman
8. Clarence Smith – Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child

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When we’re sharing an hour of music among 3-4 DJ’s, each of us ends up only playing 3-4 songs each. For both our guests this month, 1 hour was simply not enough to share the jewels they had each selected. Both came equipped with stacks sufficient for several hours worth of high-priced vinyl nerdery. And we certainly had no reason to object. Sip, Kae and I happily genre-hop for another hour between French-Canadian breakbeats (Lee Gagnon), Gritty Gospel sounds (Rance Allen) and Boogie artists with puns in their names (Special-T). Cratery 23C featuring Sipreano. Enjoy.

MILDY INTERESTING CRATERY 23 FACTOID: The roti pictured in the artwork comes courtesy of Ali’s Roti Shop in Parkdale. Sipreano enjoys Roti. So do we. So we took a picture of it.” – ARCEE

TRACK LIST:
1. Special-T/It’s your love
2. Ace Spectrum/Easy
3. Fantasy/Have you ever wondered
4. Simon Caine/High Executioner
5. The Mad Lads/I forgot to be your lover
6. Bob Boyer/We got the power
7. Harlem River Drive/Idle Hands
8. UNLISTED
9. Ken Hewitt/Midnight in Montreal
10. Rance Allen Group/If I could make the world better
11. Lee Gagnon/Jalousie
12. Living Color/Plastic People
13. David McCallum/House of Mirrors
14. Ungava/Gorgo
15. Wayne St. John/Two Can Play
16. Father’s Children/Hollywood Dreaming
17. Jay W. McGee – When we Party (Uptown Downtown)

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“Part 2 of our 4-part Cratery continues with one of T.O.’s foremost record aficionados and cool peoples:Jason Palma. Co-owner of Toronto’s vinyl institution, Play de Record. Bump-N-Hustle alumni. And host/creator of Higher Ground radio on CIUT 89.5 FM every Thursday night at 8 pm. It doesn’t matter if he’s selling you a piece of heat. Killing dancefloors around the city. Or blessing the airwaves with the latest. The one thing Jason Palma continues to do so well: PUT YOU ON TO DOPE MUSIC. We at Cratery are no exception. Cratery 23B featuring Jason Palma. Enjoy.

MILDLY INTERESTING CRATERY 23 FACTOID: Both Sipreano and Palma played versions of the song “It was a very good year”. Sip went for Art Snider’s instrumental rendition. And Palma drew for Della Reese’s funky big band 45. Not gonna lie. Record-wise, it was a very good year.” - ARCEE

TRACK LIST:

1. Barbara and Brenda/That’s when you’ve got soul
2. Jay and Cathy’s Clowns/The Bottle
3. Gary Bartz/Drinking Song
4. Milton Hamilton/We have all the time
5. Sonya Spence/Let love flow on
6. Gloria Scott/That’s what you say
7. Marchal/Soleil de ma vie
8. Spacy – Dancer
9. Prince Billy Mahdi Wright/Summer Love
10. Cane and Able/Found a Child
11. Willie Hutch/Ain’t that (Mellow, Mellow)
12. Archie Whitewater/Hulk
13. Della Reese/It was a very good year

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“The first of a 4-part Cratery featuring 2 of our favourite record nerds, Vancouver’s Sipreano and Toronto’s Jason Palma. On Session A, Sip goes one for one with Serious, Kaewonder and myself, sharing his love for all things Canadian, funky and undiscovered. Sip is not only responsible for breathing life into Light in the Attic’s “Jamaica to Toronto” compilation, but also the curator of the recently created voluntaryinnature.blogspot.com. He is also credited with creating the phrase“Rock Kokanee Flow”. Cratery 23: Session A featuring Sipreano. Enjoy.” - ARCEE

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This month, we trade treats with one of hip-hop’s premier producers and a dude I am proud to call a close personal hommrade (part hommie, part comrade): Jake One. A few of you (maybe like 3) might be familiar with some music I did with Jake back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.  Most of you will probably know him from the countless other artists he’s actually had success with: Freeway, De La Soul, 50 Cent, MF Doom and more. As ½ of the Conmen, he built arguably the most well crafted break tape series of all-time.  And inspired fellow music nerds like myself and Kaewonder in the process. Jake was in town judging the Sound Battle T.O. finals on Friday night. He only played records he purchased during his visit to Toronto. So to be fair, this is nowhere near the scope of his personal collection. Shout out to Attic, MoSS , Taktiks for bearing witness to it all. Another hour of soul, boogie, rock and a Cuban version of Herb Alpert’s Rise. Cratery 22 featuring Jake One. Enjoy. – ARCEE

TRACKLIST
“The information’s classified….”
-Jake One, from “The Masters”

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Very little is known about Toronto record aficionado David Bay. David’s undocumented rise to infamy is based on the records he has procured through countless online portals, particularly eBay – earning him the nickname dBay. Bay, is in fact, not even his last name (I’m starting to question the accuracy of “David” as well). Despite his ridiculously low profile, the hommie Kaewonder and I have both ‘worked’ with Bay to secure particularly elusive vinyl pieces over the years.  When we asked David to participate in this month’s Cratery, he refused. But after bribing him with a pair of shoelaces, a pineapple coconut bun from a Chinese Bakery and his 19th copy of Toto’s 1978 self-titled LP, he agreed.  We’d tell you where to find him.  But you’d probably have a better chance of finding a Stark Reality for $1 at Cosmos. We give you Cratery 21, featuring the ever-elusive David Bay (dBay). Enjoy.” - ARCEE

TRACK LIST:

1. Al Green “Strong as Death”
2. Checkmates LTD “I must be dreaming”
3. Eddie Simpson “Big Black Funky Slave”
4. Dawson Smith “I don’t know if I can make it”
5. Amral’s Trinidad Cavalliers “Oye Come Va”
6. Pete Scofield and the Canadians “Do something nice today”
7. Buddy Rich “Nuttville”
8. Ed Maciel “Festa”
9. Julian Priester “Love, Love”
10. Olympic Runners “Do it Over”
11. Czerwone Gitary “Coda”
12. Sweet Promise “Funky Jungle”
13. New Birth Disco “K-Jee”
14. Deodato “Keep it in the family”
15. **SLINGSHOT**
16. Esther Williams “You gotta let me show you”
17. Asha Puthli “Right down here”
18. Carla Bley “Dining Alone”

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Toronto is full of vinyl nerds. And Cratery gives us the opportunity to connect with some of our favourites. Alister Johnson aka Catalist is DJ, producer and all-around good guy with a shitload of records. Between touring with Grand Analog and composing music for film and television, who knows when Alister finds the time to line his shelves with upper echelon heatery like Alice Clark and Lennie Hibbert. But I’m not going to ask how. I’m just going to ask which stores. Thank you to Alister, Serious, Heist and the reluctant heartthrob Kaeweezy for making our 20th Cratery another hour of fucking awesomeness.

1. Merryweather & Carey “Five Days on the trail”
2. Mel Brown “Time for a Change”
3. Food “No”
4. Alice Clark “Charms of the arms of love”
5. Lou Rawls “When love goes wrong”
6. 10 Top Hits “Sunshine of your love”
7. Matumbi “Law of the Land”
8. Ann Peebles “The Handwriting is on the Wall”
9. Lennie Hibbert “Rose Len”
10. Grasslands “Black Blood”
11. Bobby Bland “Dear Bobby”
12. Clarence Reid “I’ve been trying”
13. Sunny Bradshaw “Sunny”
14. Johnny Osbourne “Love makes the world go round”
15. Harnell “Concerto in F”
16. The Spirit of Atlanta “Messin’ Around”
17. Saracho “Senor Baker”
18. Charles Earland “Kungfusion”

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We’ve had the good fortune of welcoming some of our more accomplished and talented friends to the monthly dig diary we call Cratery. Da Grassroots alumni Mr. Attic and Murr have both dipped into their vinyl collections on our accord, as has Halifax transplant and DJ, Skratch Bastid. This month, we’re joined by another Toronto beatsmith and crate enthusiast: Frank Dukes. Dukes’ love affair with vinyl began with dj-ing, but entered the stratosphere when he decided to start making beats. This month, we abandon our 1-for-1 format for a 3-for-3 format that lets each of us play little mini “sets”. Frank kicks it off, and Kae and I follow suit. Not that any of that matters, of course. At the end of the day, every Cratery is the same: A bunch of dope songs from our collections. Fellow beat nerds should enjoy the ebay/popsike inspired track listing. Cratery 19. Enjoy.

1. Fantastic Soul *Horn Stabs* SAMPLES
2. MONSTER FUZZ SOUL!! 45 RARITY
3. “Ain’t no sunshine” HIP HOP BREAKZ
4. Shady Brook LP Hard-to-Find Soul!
5. Barbados 1977 WIRL Disco Funk
6. Funky 45 Plays Great!
7. Great Grits and Gravy Soul
8. 45 RPM Mid-tempo Soulful Rock
9. Groovy Gospel Funk – Great for Teenagers!
10. DOO WOP Surprisingly Hard Drums (No Break-sorry)
11. Detroit Soul 45 *surface noise*
12. Hot Wax LABEL Great Soul!
13. HIP HOP DRUM BREAKZ! 45 RPM
14. Indian Psych –FUNKY— SAMPLES
15. Disco/Rock MONTREAL LP
16. Rare Tropical Funk COVER Gwen McCrae
17. Cuban RARE RARE RARE
18. Library INSTRUMENTAL FUNK –BREAKZ-

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Both the hommie Kaewonder and I recently spent some time on the left coast. This month’s Cratery represents the fruits of our visit. I love shopping for records in a different town. Especially when that town is Vancouver. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a copy of J.R. Bailey’s “Just me and you”, Nina Simone’s “Is it Finished” LP, Bad Medicine’s “Trespasser” 45 and a copy of Marlena Shaw’s Spice of Life LP to name a few. There are definitely some records in Vancouver. And no one knows that better than the big hommie Sipreano, record guru extraordinaire. Thank you sir. For your hospitality. And your record collection. And so, in the aftermath of 2 weeks spent binging on records, alcohol and herb, we present to you, Cratery 18: The Vangover. Enjoy.

1. Galt McDermot “Let the Sun Shine In”
2. George Shearing “Aquarius”
3. Groove Holmes “No Trouble on the Mountain”
4. Strutt “Said you didn’t love her (instrumental)”
5. Bob Williams “I’m Alright (part 1)”
6. Grupo Irakere “Bacalao Con Pan”
7. Nina Simone “Funkier than a Mosquito’s tweeter”
8. Rotary Connection “Memory Band”
9. The Poppy Family “Beyond the Clouds”
10. The National Gallery “Pond with Swans”
11. Marlena Shaw “Where can I go?”
12. Mavis Staples “What happened to the real me?”
13. Bad Medicine “Trespasser (part 2)”
14. UNLISTED
15. Soul Hustlers “Super Party (part 1)”
16. Au Pairs “Headache for Michelle”
17. Marva Josie “He does it better”

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So. I grew a beard for four months. Then I cut it off. But not without having some fun with a few of the hommies first. Gotta shout my mans Clif, Darren G and my man Joe Cruz for lining me up nicely at the official De-Bearding. And my man Serious aka David Yan for trekking down to take some crazy flicks. Mad appreciated fellas. But I would be positively heartless if I neglected to mention my partner in crime, Kaewonder, with whom I share the distinction of rocking my first clean shaven Cratery. Turns out I haven’t been clean-shaven in 17 years. That almost makes Cratery 17 somewhat significant. If you’re me. Enjoy.

1. Starfire “Make The Most Of It”
2. Hidden Strength”All we need Is Time”
3. Linda Tillery “Markin’ Time”
4. Dr.Music “In My Life”
5. Sugarloaf “Mother Nature’s Wine”
6. Isis “April Fool”
7. Ruby Andrews “My Love Is Comin Down”
8. Maxine Brown “See And Dont See”
9. Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger “Indian Rope Man”
10. Zoo “If You Lose Your Woman”
11. Don Covay “If There’s A Will, There’s A Way”
12. Assagai “Cocoa”
13. Ramsey Lewis “Uhuru”
14. Gary Burton Trio “Vibrafinger”
15. Phillip Upchurch “As you said”
16. John Payne Band “New Spaces”

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“And we’re back. Almost a year and a half into our monthly dig diary with no signs of slowing. This month, the hommie Kaewonder and I return with a genre-bending hour of Caribbean Funk, Sweet Soul, Folk-Psych, Spiritual Jazz and Brazilian Rock. None of which we downloaded off the Internet. But hey, that shouldn’t stop you. Cratery 16. Enjoy.” – ARCEE

TRACK LIST:
1. Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot
2. The Gaylords of Dominica – Wicked World Outside
3. Johnny Clarke – Declaration of Rights
4. Soul Explosion Band – Captivity
5. Billy Stewart – Cross my Heart
6. Shades of Brown – Garbage Man
7. Freddie Robinson – Smoking
8. Blue Mitchell – Collision in Black
9. Earth Wind and Fire – Bad Tune
10. Doug Carn – Higher Ground
11. Roy Ayers Ubiquity – A Tear to a Smile
12. Volker Kriegel – Mindwell
13. Pete Jolly – Springs
14. Pride – A Home
15. Glass Prism – Extention 68
16. *Unlisted*
17. Funkadelic – I’ll Stay

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The arrival of Cratery 15 signals two things: 1. An official Cratery logo + design. 2. A brand new format for this month.

First off, a big thank you to Sean Davison (Creative Director, Maclaren McCann) for helping us bring our monthly dig diary to life with its own logo + look. Hope y’all like it. Just the first of more new Cratery related newness to come. And special thanks to this month’s official Cratery photog, DJ Serious – who was nice enough to join us on the first of many dig days this March.

This month, we’ve traded our traditional “1 for 1” format for two 30 minute sets from myself and the hommie Kaeweezy. I end up somewhere in the African/Latin/Rock space (Mandingo, Chakachas, Fever Tree), leaving Kae to mess around in the Jazz/Soul/Oddball realm (Cleveland Eaton, Julius Brockington, Synthesis). In simple terms, another hour of ill shit – on us. Cratery 15. A to the motherf****n’ Kae, homeboy. A to the motherf****n’ Kae. – ARCEE”

TRACKLIST:

ARCEE’S SET:
Mandingo/Watching and Waiting
Chakachas/El Canyon Rojo
Manu Dibango/Pepe Soup
Monomono/Find Out
Exile One/You have lost the battle
Ginger Baker/The Winner
Fever Tree/Don’t come crying to me girl
Hugo Montenegro/Undun
Joe Thomas/Chitlins and Chuchifritos
Mandrill/Coelho

KAEWONDER’S SET:

Cleveland Eaton/All your lover, all day, all night
The Fatback Band/Love
Roy Ayers/Baby you give me a feeling
Synthesis/City Song
Marie Rottrova/Time is a rogue
Harnell/For a brief time
Herb Geller/Space a la Mode
Streetdancer/Journey into the night
Julius Brockington/Got to be there

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It’s not quite a sequel – but the bonus session is a little 25-minute extra we thought you might enjoy. By that time, the idea of writing a track list had taken a back seat to the sedentary effects of our friend Century Sam. Hell, if someone decided to make a film about Sam, Cratery 14B would undoubtedly be the soundtrack.” – ARCEE

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(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

No explanation for why this session never came out. But this soul-inspired episode was intended as bonus to Cratery 13. We ended up distributing it to a few friends privately and kind of lost track of it. Either way, opening bangers from the Bar-Kays, Luther Ingram and the Natural Four pretty good reason the people are overdue for a re-up. The sequel you never knew existed. Cratery 13B. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. The Bar-Kays – Attitudes
2. Luther Ingram – You were made for me
3. Natural Four – Baby come on
4. The Main Ingredient – Euphrates River
5. Funk Factory – Rien ne va plus
6. Don Ellis – Strawberry Soup
7. Mongo Santamaria – Sing a simple song
8. Al Hirt – Harlem Hendo
9. Maxayn – Doing Nothing, Nothing Doing
10. David Axelrod – The Smile

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“Cratery thirteen. As is quite often the case with Cratery, we go all over the map with a variety of heat . Starting off with the straight boom bap of Cuba Instrumentals face-scruncher “Quema”, to Barbara & Ernie’s blissed-out “For You”. From Common (People) records, to Saverage White Band (no, that is not a typo) we don’t sleep, nor do we hate or discriminate. We just play full-length songs from our respective record collections and hope you guys enjoy it.” – Kaewonder

TRACKLIST:

1-Cuba Instrumental – Quema
2-Stereo Discotheque – Malaria Fever
3-Brain Auger’s Oblivion Express – voices of other Times
4-Pink Panther – Here’s Lookin at you, kid
5-Jim & Dale – Past The State Mind
6-Osmosis – Adrift
7-The Common People – I have been alone
8-Jean-Pierre-Ferland – Le Chat du cafe des Artistes
9-Madelaine Bell – I Wanna be Around
10-Betty Wright – I Love The Way You Love
11-Jerry Butler – never gonna give you up
12-Roy Ayers – Giving Love
13-Barbara & Ernie – For You
14-Womb – Evil People”
15-Sunshine On – Mañana
16-Saverage White Band – A star in the ghetto

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We did it. Kaewonder and I have successfully maintained our dig diary, Cratery for 1 whole year. And what better way to round out the year than with the hommie DJ Serious? Serious has been a mainstay on the DJ/Production (and now photography!) front in Toronto for quite some time now. Since his early days at Lola’s Lounge and Planet Mars to creating the seminal DJ Serious Revue in the late 90’s, Dave’s accomplishments have grown considerably – much like his crates. This is our 12th installment of Cratery, which means we’ve hit y’all with close to 12 hours of soul, funk, jazz, psych, library and soundtrack heat in ’09. FOR FREE. The generosity continues in 2010 with more fire, more guests and of course, more crates. Shout out to Kae, Serious, Heist, Ace, Johnbronski, Taktiks, Mensa, and all who made the last Cratery of the year unforgettable. And don’t forget to check out Cratery LIVE this Tuesday December 22nd at Andy Poolhall – I get down with residents Kaewonder and Serious for 24 Carat Tuesdays. FREENESS. Hollerate!!!!!!!

TRACKLIST:
1. Ten Wheel Drive – How long before I’m gone
2. Spirit – Apple orchard
3. Victor Brady – Brown Rain
4. Seven Seas – Pat’s Jam
5. Gene Harris & The 3 Sounds – Hey Girl
6. Ike Turner – Thinking Black
7. The Barons – Make it better
8. Tito Puente – Last Tango in Paris
9. The Professionals – Theme from Godfather
10. Music DeWolfe – Hard Hitter
11. Leon Thomas – It’s my life I’m fighting for
12. Sonimage – Keep Quiet
13. Chrysalis – 30 Poplar
14. Melba Moore – The Thrill is Gone
15. 12 Top Hits – The Thrill Is Gone

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Kae and I are both Sagittarians with savage qualities. Qualities which I won’t mention here – but definitely the kind worthy of celebrating. Cratery 11 coincides with both of our birthdays in the final week of November. So we thought it might be fitting to pull out 11 personal favourites each – records that we like a little more than we ought to, for whatever reason – and share them with y’all. Kae had the idea of highlighting the stories behind our selections, so we’ve included them in this month’s tracklist (You can find an extended version of the tracklist at barbecueorboogaloo.com). Some are joints we fell in love with when we first started diggin’. Some are oddities passed on by our peers. And others remind us of how inventive hip-hop can be. We give you Cratery 11. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST:
1. AR: Minnie Riperton “Every time he comes around”
Probably my favourite Minnie Riperton joint.

2. KAE: David Axelrod “A Divine Image”
This LP was always considered a “grail” when I was coming up digging, and as herbed-out as that seems in hindsight , I’ve always felt as though that was a rightful title.

3. AR: Gil Scot Heron “Lady Day and John Coltrane”
I play this when it rains. This joint is like every shade of grey.

4. KAE: Donald Byrd “Wind Parade”
I got my start looking for records that were used on my favorite rap records. Plus, this joint has been a classic from the moment it came out.

5. AR: Marvin Gaye/Life is for learning
I always have a new favourite Marvin joint. Follow the bass player on this one.

6. KAE: The Reflections “(She’s my) Summer Breeze”
The string/bassline interplay on this is incredible. Produced by Mr. “Just Me & You” himself, J.R. Bailey, which explains why the string arrangement is so fire.

7. AR: Leroy Hutson “I think I’m falling in love”
Got caught trying to steal this, years ago in Detroit. I don’t steal records any more.

8. KAE: Milton Wright “Get no loving tonight”
This was one of the joints that really stuck with me when I first heard it, and changed my perception of post-’74 soul. There’s something really soulful, but kinda eerie about it, on some ARP shit.

9. AR: James Brown “You Mother You”
Tribe, Main Source, Pete Rock, Brand Nubian and Biz all enjoyed this JB album. So do I.

10. KAE: Mock Duck “Do Re Mi”
One of my top 10 psych joints EVER. Extra points for being from my place of birth(Vancity!).

11. AR: Cymande “The Recluse”
One of the first albums I was geeked on finding. I play this song more than “Brothers on the Slide”.

12. KAE: Silhouettes “Fonky First”
Got a package in the mail and opened it to find one my most sought-after LP’s (no eBay): this one.

13. AR: Donovan “Get thy Bearings”
I love this record because it speaks to the genius of Biz’s digging.

14. KAE: Jean-Jacques Perry “E.V.A”
Got this record from legendary dealer Ty Scammell out in Vancouver at “For The Record” in the flea market for $25. This shit still knocks as hard as the day I first heard it.

15. AR: Little Beaver “Let the good times roll”
Little Beaver is the master of partying below 80 bpm. And his name is Little Beaver.

16. KAE: Alain Clavier “Metadata”
Fuzzed out, weird, disturbing (distressed female vocals, anyone?), and straight-up DUSTED, “Musique Pour NFB” is not only rare, but an esteemed artifact of Canada’s spirited electronic music history.

17. AR: Tania Maria “Come with me”
One of the first records that convinced to me start digging in the 80’s section.

18. KAE: Cortex “Huit Octobre 1971″
Absolutely stunning. This song completely slays in everyway possible. The Fender Rhodes and synth tones are dope & all, but I’ve always felt as though the drummer on this record is bananas.

19. AR: Bobbi Humphrey “Fancy Dancer”
I’ve been going hard on some Mizell Brothers lately. This one had to come back out.

20. KAE: Bayete (Todd Cochran) “Free Angela (Thoughts and all I’ve got to say)”
Some know this record being the basis for Jay Electronica’s “Dear Moleskine”, but I ride for the previous De La usage (“Sunshine” from “Stakes Is High”).

21. AR: Patrice Rushen “Remind me”
Quintessential “AR Music”. A classic.

22. KAE: Hodges,James & Smith “Sexy ways”
I remember my homegirl Anousheh playing this at a half-price sale I was at. I was like “damn, that’s kinda fire” and did the old “remember-that-cover” game. 20th Century records always had that sound.

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More Cratery Baby. My mans Kaewonder and I have successfully managed to run our monthly dig diary for 10 months without running out of records. I’d say that kind of dedication is worth something awesome – like another free hour of funk on us. Cratery 10 starts off with some Modern Soul/Boogie bangers: some of my fav’s, including Webster Lewis’ “You are my life” and Eugene Record’s “Fan the Fire”. By the end, you should be bopping to Curtis Mayfield’s 5 Stairsteps, the tripped out sounds of Stouffville Grit and the blue eyed soul of Jim Capaldi’s “Wild Dogs”(which some of you will undoubtedly recognize). Big up Acesix and Mr. Attic who joined us on our mini digging mission over the weekend. NEXT MONTH: Kae and I both celebrate our birthdays. Cratery 11 promises to either be a sick ass hour of funk or a drunken disaster. I vote for both.

TRACKLIST:
1. Webster Lewis – You are my life
2. Kleeer – I Love to dance
3. Brainstorm – Wake up and be somebody
4. Bruton Music – Motion 3
5. Eugene Record – Fan the fire
6. Skyy – Call me
7. Komiko -Feel Alright
8. The Nite-Liters -I’ve got my dreams to Remember
9. 5 Stairsteps & Cubie – Love’s Happening
10. Stouffville Grit – Diana by the Sea
11. The Keef Hartley Band – Imitations from Home
12. Little Boy Blues Band – Seed of Love
13.Jane Birkin – Jane B
14. Guy Pedersen – Christopher Columbus
15. Egg – Germ Patrol
16. Jim Capaldi – Wild dogs

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You would not believe the hard work that goes into getting drunk, smoked out and playing premium musical selections for your listening pleasure on a monthly basis.
This month, Kaewonder and I were lucky enough secure Montreal DJ and record aficionado Skratch Bastid simply by forcing him to play records at gunpoint. He was surprisingly agreeable after only a few minutes of violent threats. We joke about the whole gun thing now. He laughs at it too. Bastid’s love for all music is evident on his recently completed 110% mix, which you can also peep on www.skratchbastid.com. From Norweigan Psych to Sesame Street Funk, we give you Cratery 8: Eightery. Enjoy. And be sure to look out for our exclusive add-on – Cratery 8.5: Mo 45’s Coming Soon!!

TRACKLIST:
1. LeRoy Hutson – Never know what you can do
2. 9th Creation – Quit it
3. Travis Biggs – Tibetan Serenity
4. Dizzy Gillespie and Lalo Schifrin -The Last Strike at Midnight
5. Bunky Green – Chillon
6. Kin Ping Meh – Livable Ways
7. Jukka Tolonen – Northern Lights
8. Titanic – Love is Love
9. Embryo – Music of Today
10. King Errison – Listen to the Music
11. Marlena Shaw – Say a good word
12. Super Hits – Running Away
13. Sesame Street – I’m gonna love you just a little more, babe
14. Jimmy Smith – I’m gonna love you just a little more, babe
15. Professor Lett and Study – Green Power

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“A busted amp and a broken car engine led myself and the hommie Kaewonder from the heart of Queen West to the outskirts of Sauga Sec on this month’s edition of Cratery. My neck of the woods, people. Big up Butch and Tink from The Rockbox – the same studio where Marvel and I recorded the entire Covert Ops project – which incidentally is being mixed right now (shout out to Scam). If there’s a theme this month, I can’t see it. From harp funk to flute rock, sweet soul, 45’s and break beats, this is good old fashioned music nerdery at its finest. The gluttony? Going in on Tiger beers and Little Caesars crazy bread. It’s amazing what city folk get hype on when they come out to the ‘burbs. Heist waddup!!!!!!! Attic I see you hommie!!!! If gluttony ain’t the 7th sin, let’s just pretend it is, so it works with our theme. – ARCEE”

TRACKLIST:
1. Ray Draper – Let my people go
2. Gal Costa – Se voce pensa
3. Deirdre Wilson Tabac – Get back
4. If – Fly fly the route, shoot
5. Moonshade – Heavy Lace
6. Willie Hutch – A love that’s worth having
7. Dorothy Ashby – Joyful grass & grape
8. Brothers By Choice – Baby, you really got me going
9. Solomon Burke – Thanks, I needed that
10. The Endeavours – Sexy Woman
11. The Three Pieces – Backed up against the wall
12. Sir Mack Rice – Dark Skin Woman pt. 1
13. Pretty Things – Cries from the midnight circus
14. Crow – Gonna leave a mark
15. Marcus Belgrave – Space odyssey
16. Bob James – Love power

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Over the years, self-indulgent record collectors have made a habit of promoting the rare over the good. The imitators over the originators. And of course, the expensive over the cheap. And the But the good people at Cratery (read: us) know where the heat is at. We give you Dollarate (from root word “Dollaration”), our cure for boutique store prices and your guide to recession friendly digging. All the records featured on this month’s Cratery are theoretically records you should be able to find for under $10. Except Boz Scaggs, which is pretty much impossible.

If you’re in the Toronto area, make sure you check me and my mans Kaewonder this Friday at Revival for a live Cratery set at The Main Ingredient. 783 College.

1. David Shire – Books and Basketball
2. David Bendeth – Feel the Real (LP Version)
3. Heatwave – Send out for sunshine
4. Grover Washington – Knucklehead
5. Boz Scaggs – Hercules
6. Wonderland Orchestra – 2001
7. Rhythm Heritage – Theme from Baretta
8. The Elephant – Do what you love
9. 21 Guitar Hits – Scorpio
10. Paul Horn – Too High
11. Gap Mangione – Love J.A.M
12. Kenny Rankin – Bad times make you strong
13. Herb Ota – Feelings
14. Nancy Wilson – Ain’t no sunshine
15. Bobby Womack – Woman’s gotta have it
16. Butterfield blues band – No amount of lovin’
17. Peter Green – Just for you
18. Chartbusters – The message
19. One Way – Get it over

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This month’s Cratery is proof the weather’s getting a little hotter. And we’ve got the tunes to match: A little dub, reggae, rare groove, disco, funk and some good old fashioned soul music. The Lowrell record we both hold in our hands wasn’t some drunken attempt at comedy either – it embodies the spirit of this shit. We both bought Lowrell’s self titled LP years ago for the rare groove classic “Mellow Mellow Right On”, sampled for Common’s “Remind Me”. Yet I only recently discovered “You’re Playing Dirty”, a rare groove/boogie/modern soul banger after actually giving the rest of the record a chance 10 years later. Sometimes not listening to your joints can be as fruitful as listening to them.

TRACKLIST:
1. Hopeton Lewis – Funky Kingston
2. Byron Lee – Who done it
3. King Tubby – Dreadlocks Dub
4. Willie Lindo – Midnight
5. Ronnie McNeir – I’m Your Lover
6. Hodges, James & Smith – (I who have) Nothing
7. Lowrell – You’re Playing Dirty
8. Tender Aggression – Cryin’ Wind
9. Ohio Players – What it Is
10. Carla Whitney – Lovin’ at midnight
11. Barbara Acklin – Seven days of night
12. Eugene McDaniels – Lovin’ Man
13. Eloise Laws – Ain’t it good feelin’ good
14. Skip Mahoney& the Casuals – Town called Nowhere
15. Gregory James Edition – Make it easy on yourself
16. Eddie Fischer – Land of our Father

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Our mans Mr. Attic of Grassroots fame, aka Pee, joins us this month on Cratery to share some gems from what he refuses to admit is a legendary collection. Sorry Pee, but your shit is bananas. Cats like me are still pulling out Charles Wright in ‘09 . If you’re not up on game, Attic is the beat man behind Toronto classics like E-Z on the motion, Ol’ Time Killin’, Postal Work, Body Language, Drama, Rise Up and countless others. Only one problem. You might say certain ‘festivities’ prevented us from taking note of this month’s tracklist at the time of recording. So instead we’ve provided a summary of the evening’s events by track. Shouts to Blaz and Clif on the pass through.

TRACKLIST:
1. Steigls all around.
2. Did you say Heineken tall boy?
3. A single chocolate phillie is removed from its wrapper.
4. The most interesting man in the room cracks a Dos Equis.
5. Corona, no lime.
6. Ayo, dun spark the phillie.
7. The traditional effects of marijuana begin to set in.
8. I’m going out for a cigarette. Don’t play anything dope.
9. This Eddie Drennon joint is classic.
10. The Blas Outro.
11. Who else wants another tall boy?
12. WTF IS THIS?????????????
13. WTF IS THIS PART TWO????????????
14. I’m not dreaming. That really is another chocolate phillie.
15. Oh word? Never heard this version before.
16. I officially bow down to the Attic crates.
17. Don’t know why I played this.
18. Rick James bitch.

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“I love 45’s. Not because they’re funky. Not because they’re full of unreleased b-sides. Not because they never seem to run out. But because they’re tiny little records. How can you not love a tiny little record? Kaewonder and I pull out some of our favourite finds, old and new, on our first all 45 edition of Cratery. As always, the odd numbers are moi and the even numbers are Kae. Recent finds include The Master Plan’s “Clinton Park” and a crazy version of “Wanna be where you are” by Zulema. Yes, Zulema. All 45’s. All heat. Cratery III people. Enjoy.”

1. Zulema – Wanna be where you are
2. Jerry Washington – I come a long ways
3. The Master Plan – Clinton Park
4. Maceo & All The Kings Men – Got to getcha
5. Earles inc. – Close to you
6. B.W. Souls – Marvin’s Groove
7. Bobby Byrd – Sayin’ it and doin’ it are two different things
8. Donald Austin – Crazy Legs” (instrumental)
9. The 8th Day – It’s instrumental to be free
10. The Sylvers – Stay away from me
11. Johnny Griffith inc. – Love is just a word
12. Iron Force – Sweet Poison
13. The Fabolous Counts – Lunar Funk
14. The New Birth – Patiently
15. Juice – Walk on by
16. Brook Benton – Gimme little sign
17. Sir Wales Wallace – What Ever You Want
18. Lee Hurst – Saturdays Wild
19. Dynamic Corvettes – Funky Music Is the thing (part 2)
20. James Brown – The Drunk
21. Dyke & the Blazers – We got more soul
21. Camille Bob – 2 weeks, 2 days, too long

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If I’m all I’m doing is looking for joints familiar to blogs and boutique record shops, I’m not really on my grizzly. I just can’t walk into the average record store hoping to find a copy of 24 Carat Black or Sabu Martinez. Cause I’ll constantly be disappointed. But if buy based on what they have, instead of what they don’t have, I might end up with a couple selections that most cats miss. Case in point: Jerry Butler’s “Power of Love”. Not a hard record. But a record you don’t really hear about. I wouldn’t have given Terri Rae’s “Raining, it’s raining” a second look until the hommie Kaewonder put me up on the cover. And while Labelle’s first album is known primarily for the soul classic “Moon Shadow”, everyone sleeps on the closing track, “People say they’re changing”. That new heat might lurking in the dollar bin, behind a crappy cover or in your own crate. Or in your case, the link below.

TRACKLIST:

1. The Nite-Liters – Funky Vamp
2. Notations – Superpeople
3. Jerry Butler – Power of Love
4. T.C.B. – Today’s Promises are Yesterday’s Echoes
5. Stone the Crows – Friend
6. Manfred Mann – One Way Glass
7. Sugar Loaf/Jerry Corbetta – Wild Child
8. Riot – Just Beyond
9. Juan Pablo Torres – Pastel En Descarga
10. Dom Salvador – Som, Sangue & Raca
11. The Rimshots – I wanna be myself
12. Jean Knight – Do Me
13. Bobby Rush – Chicken Heads
14. The Rock featuring Jo Anne Garrett – (Charlie, Brother) We got to love one another
15. The Brothers and Sisters – Nobody is gonna turn us ‘round
16. Bo Diddley – Go for broke
17. Labelle – People say they’re changing
18. Terri Rae – Raining, it’s raining

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Aiight people. I’ve been toying with the idea of monthly dig diary for a minute now. A dig diary ain’t nothing but a fancy name for a bunch of songs played in succession and documented in a conveniently downloadable format for your listening pleasure. Basically, I felt it was finally time to give my record-digging addiction a purpose. So I connected with my mans Kaewonder from themeaningofdope.com to provide a glimpse into the collections of two hip hop heads with a love for soul, funk, psych, jazz (yes, jazz, don’t hate on jazz). Be forewarned. This ain’t only about who sampled what. We love this music shit too much to confine ourselves to that. 1 hour of straight playable heat. Original vinyl only. And we ain’t scared to let off the tracklist either. We give you Cratery, Volume 1. -ARCEE

TRACKLIST:

1. You made a believer out of me/Ruby Andrews
2. For what it’s worth/Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66
3. Born under a bad sign/Ellen McIlwaine
4. Hide yourself away/Robison Kaplin Limited
5. Sea of tranquility/The Chosen Few
6. Black Fox/Monk Higgins
7. Let the feeling belong (to the one who turns you on)/James Gadson
8. Love to hate/Freddie North
9. Can’t see my way/Erma Franklin
10. (Oh No) Not the beast/Marsha Hunt
11. Agnes/Skorpio
12. Dealing with hard times/Richard Evans
13. You got to be the one/Maryann Farra and Satin Soul
14. I gotta get next to you/Shirley and Co.
15. It’ll all come around/Patsy Gallant
16. Super fine from behind lady/Cleveland Wrecking Co.
17. Too High/Hugo Montenegro
18. Dreamin’/Gianni Oddi
19. Tune Up/Andy Bey

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