CRATERY 62

I find myself divided on the issue of record collecting and secrecy in the social media age.

Some collectors are happy to ham it up, flossing their rarest pieces and recent arrivals without apology on Instagram feeds around the globe. Others choose to hint at the jewels hidden within their collection, by snapping shots of closely cropped corners of record covers without a caption, leaving their followers with tiny clues only a crate digging Sherlock Holmes might be able to decipher (We see you, Sipreano).

My generation was reared on secrecy.

We were taught by the guys that were taught by the guys who used cover up their labels with black marker or replace them with different labels altogether. Secrecy was one of the cornerstones of digging. It’s not like my homies shared EVERY loop or drum break they ever came up on. It was understood that some things were kept on the hush hush. But let’s be clear – sharing was always happening, it was just happening between very specific people.

After the seminal Ultimate Breaks and Beats series hit shelves in the mid 80’s, the idea of looking for these kinds of records started to spread outside the DJ circles associated with housing this kind of knowledge exclusively. And by the time the early 90’s rolled around, sample-heavy hip-hop production had legions of youngsters like myself eager to get into the world of beat digging.

Secrets were being exposed: sample clearances on album liner notes, bootleg compilations and official reissues from labels like Ubiquity helped usher in next wave of ‘sharing’.  You could learn from what other people were discovering around the world, not just what you could find at your local record store or what your homies knew.

And so the game began to change.

Instead of searching for the same soul, funk, jazz and disco records, cats started to buy British libraries and Italian soundtracks, hoping to circumvent biters by switching up their tastes. But even that didn’t last. A record dealer’s mortgage can’t be paid by one customer alone, so eventually more and more collectors were exposed to these titles as well.

The more record nerds try to keep something a secret, the more it gets exposed. Nothing is genuinely secret anymore. I can’t post my copy of Andrew Wartts “There is a somewhere” LP on IG and think it’s special because a fellow digger will point out to me that Rich Medina already showed one off in his episode of Crate Diggers and Now Again has already reissued it.

But much to the chagrin of the elder statesmen in the game, I’ve always been a sharer.

I can’t help it. It’s who I am. I love putting people on to music. That’s why we include a track list on Cratery in the first place. Truth be told, I’m not the best at keeping a secret. And it’s not like I haven’t learned a thing or two from the records some of my homies have posted online.

So why do we still do things like put an UNLISTED song title for the last song on this episode? Because, fuck it. In a world where aggegrators collect the sales history of every collectible record, trophy diggers post gratuitous rares on social media and beat nerds can cross off their most sought-after records from their computer, there’s nothing wrong with injecting a little anonymity back into this game.

Seriously. We could use a little more mystery in this shit. And that, my fellow nerds, is no secret.

TRACK LIST:

1. Jorge Ben – Meus filhos, meu tesouro
2. Waltel Branco – Lady Samba
3. Ronaye Shandler – Brazilian medley
4. Full Moon – The heavy scuffle’s on
5. Melodic Energy Commission – Plight of the dodo
6. Freesound – O’Seven
7. Jane – Moving
8. Serge Gainsbourg – Melody
9. Dennis Coffey – Never can say goodbye
10. Sir Joe Quarterman and Free Soul – The trouble with trouble
11. Barbara Blake – Superman
12. SSO – Won’t you try
13. Jae Mason – Let it out
14. Ndugu – Take some time
15. UNLISTED

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10 responses to “CRATERY 62”

  1. Sipreano Avatar

    if record collecting is a dick measuring contest, i opt to keep my member in the ol’ trousers. i’m a man who prefer a woman that dresses somewhat conservatively (*like the lovely ronaye shandler, wink, wink) rather than one who exposes everything for the world to see… i feel the same way about photographs of vinyl records. bring back the mystery!@#$%!!!

  2. Sipreano Avatar

    AR, if you keep using the word “chagrin” in the next few cratery intros, i’ll keep reading!!! listening NOW!!!

  3. Sipreano Avatar

    sick UNLISTED track!!! so nice… and you know what??? that’s good enough for me (and no, i don’t know/own it)… if i ever stumble across cratery 62’s UNLISTED out in the field (yes, 2014 and i actually still dig) or somewhere else even, it’ll be all the more rewarding. if not, i’ll return to this very spot for another spin… sweet episode. PEACE

    1. arcee Avatar
      arcee

      Yes Sip! Always thankful for your comments. Kaeweezy special on the unlisted track. Cratery featuring Birdapres coming soon!!

  4. Matt Antonello Avatar
    Matt Antonello

    I was with you about the whole secrecy thing. The mystery was fun when I was 13. And so was the entire process of trying to figure shit out which was especially challenging in Waterloo Ontario. But once the reissues began dropping so did my quest to keep things undercover. I now get the same buzz from sharing what I know instead of concealing it. In the end, you usually get back as much as you give.

    Great piece by the way. Always a solid read and listen.

  5. Ms Dragon Avatar
    Ms Dragon

    Hmmm…I’m with you Arcee – share share and share alike. I’m not really down with the secrecy and holding your cards (records) so close to your hand. Frankly I don’t trust folks that don’t wear their hearts on their sleeve. But that’s just me. Like you – i cant fake it/hide it. And as soon as I come across a wicked track the first thing I wanna do is drop it, share it and make ppl dance to it with me (or head nod, depending on the track).
    That being said – i’m not hating on the unlisted track. Altho I’m still hating on fucking Dj Harvey for not posting the track name to this Russian Horror Disco joint he dropped on his last Beats In Space mix…ughhhh – BOTHERS ME EVERY DAY I CANT GET THE TRACK!!
    whatevs…moving on. Its another Cratery mix – I know the musical goodness about to envelope me will set me right again. Cheers guys.

  6. Sipreano Avatar

    AR, i KNOW there’s an UNLISTED joint on that upcoming BIRDAPRES special… BIG, BIG LOL!!!

    PS – to me, the problem is not secrecy, it’s BITERS!!! a toy is a toy regardless of what toys he/she has… you wanna cry foul cause you don’t have/know a record and aren’t willing to put in the work to find (out about) it??? how bad you really want it??? there’s not enough music out there to enjoy that you’ll get that upset if you don’t know what something is??? you can’t enjoy it for what it is??? a song, a mix, etc… self-entitlement is the wackest shit ever. did people forget about R-E-S-P-E-C-T and PROPS??? come on. this digging game ain’t no self-serve/soft-serve ice cream buffet!!! “you gotta have style and learn to be original.” step it up (or keep posting the same old pics of the same old BS everyone else in the world is posting and feel like yer “sharing”)… PEACE and LOVE

    PPS – this message was NOT sponsored by CRATERY

    VOLUNTARY IN NATURE

  7. Sipreano Avatar

    damn, i’m senile and or cynical in my old age. lol… “i miss the days of old,” that’s all…

  8. Sipreano Avatar

    aka “plight of the dodo”… SUBLIMINAL (???) MESSAGES EVERYWHERE MAN!@#%!!!

  9. FunkWell2001 Avatar
    FunkWell2001

    Sip is definitely secretive about his soul and feelings! Thanks for what you do guys, dig more, display less..

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