Crate digging, a how to guide!

[photojojo]

It's a totally different experience; being in a record store coming across gems serendipitously is the core of digging whereas playing music in public to an audience is the core of DJing. I'm ok calling Ableton DJs DJs but I'm resistant to calling point-and-click shopping "crate digging." But whatever, get off my lawn

Digging is digging no matter where you do it.

I would love to be able to just go to a record store.

I'm 41 years old and started DJ'ing professionally when I was 18. I pretty much sucked at mixing, but I always had good songs and that's what kept people coming back. I did 3 or 4 nights a week of at least 5 hours. 95% of it what I played was vinyl and I'm absolutely not shy about saying I'm glad that I don't have to go to a record store anymore. For every $20 I spend on digital music would cost me at least $200 and I wouldn't be exposed the quantity AND quality of tunes I get now.

following labels and artists on facebook is another great idea.

This is another great tip.

One more practical advice: the "my beatport" feature as well as beatbot, itunes genius or other similar algorhythm can easily lead to what I would call the "always the same sh*t loop". They give you suggestions based on what you allready know/like. Getting hundreds of suggestions of music that correspond quite well with your taste can easily lead to getting lazy. Ignore all that suggestions from time to time and try a different approach to find something outside your usual focus.

Very true. Lately I've been playing a lot of one specific genre, so much so it could probably be considered a fault. I try to counteract this by making sure to check out other genres. When this is successful I'll find stuff that has the basic sound I'm looking for but a different feel to the majority of the other tracks in a set.

[D-Kem]

Piccadilly and Phonica are two excellent reference points and suit my musical taste. I always end up £100 out of pocket though for a small bundle of records as a lot are vinyl only releases.

[space monkey]

See…that's honestly what I miss about spinning 100% vinyl that I bought >90% of locally. Now, when I want to go shopping for tracks, it's another 12 hours in front of a computer. I'm pretty sure I spend so much time on forums because of weird work/school habits and spending so much time listening to huge play lists on music store websites.

I probably would have already switched back to spinning only vinyl except that I can't find a good local store. And the last thing I want to do is add another website that's the same crap cycle of clicking to build up a list and then having it on while I post in forums or do work until something good/interesting comes up.

What happened to Satellite Records in Little 5? (I think it was satellite)
I imagine Wax n Fax is still open? Probably not the place to go for the latest but in the 80s-early90s they had a decent selection of punk, soul and off beat stuff not typically found elsewhere.
IDK, maybe Atlanta got tired and became a yuppy club town(?). When I stayed there a pretty robust underground scene was bringing in folk from all over the SE and beyond. Stayed there a week last year and it was all sushi bars, martini glasses and valet parking. LOL, Maybe it grew up? WTV still have the best memories going out there.

[mostapha]

For every $20 I spend on digital music would cost me at least $200 and I wouldn't be exposed the quantity AND quality of tunes I get now.

I actually added up everythign I'd spent from buying and selling equipment for my entire time as a DJ (ignoring things like needles and cables) and the difference between all the digital shit that I did vs. just upgraing my mk2s to m5gs so I'd have 3 of them instead of 1 m5g and 2 mk2s and buying an Empath rotary………

The difference is just that with going digital, I have about 3 times as many tracks as I would have if I'd stayed on vinyl……which sounds cool until you realize that you can sell vinyl when you're done with it (you can't do that with mp3s/wavs). And, uhh, there are a huge pile of digital tracks that I don't even remember anymore……I'd love to be able to sell them, but I can't.

I really don't think it's that huge of a deal.

What happened to Satellite Records in Little 5? (I think it was satellite)
I imagine Wax n Fax is still open? Probably not the place to go for the latest but in the 80s-early90s they had a decent selection of punk, soul and off beat stuff not typically found elsewhere.
IDK, maybe Atlanta got tired and became a yuppy club town(?). When I stayed there a pretty robust underground scene was bringing in folk from all over the SE and beyond. Stayed there a week last year and it was all sushi bars, martini glasses and valet parking. LOL, Maybe it grew up? WTV still have the best memories going out there.

Satellite closed several years ago, which sucks because my girlfriend lives like 4 blocks from there in inman park.

Wax n Facts is still open, but the closest thing to dance vinyl I've ever seen there was an original of JMJ's Oxygene. I mean, I bought it, and it's an awesome record. But it's not exactly something I'd play in a club. And there are a few other record shops that focus on punk and rock. But anything resembling dance vinyl went the way of the dodo, it seems. I'd love to be proven wrong, but it hasn't happened yet.

Most of Atlanta clubbing is run by Liquified, which is as interested in bringing Paulie D as anyone else. The big clubs, places like eleven50 (which is now called Opera) are all about huge numbers and bottle service instead of music: their bartenders are required to have >1000 facebook friends and >500 twitter followers…and if they dip below that, they get fired, no questions asked. I've never gotten such horribly made drinks. I had to explain how to make a Jack & Coke one night……and I'm not exaggerating, she didn't have a clue. She was just really hot (cough: slutty) and had a lot of facebook friends.

Normal nights there are headlined by a DJ from Q100 (a very slightly more urban but still really white-people-friendly station that 99x started in like 2001). Until recently, even the after hours drug dens were run by Liquified. AFAIK, there are only a couple challengers, and they're all in the same game: bottle service and publicity, music comes third if it's lucky. A few of them are okay, but meh.

Hell, MJQ stopped their house night in 2006, I think. That night had been running for about as long as I've been alive.

There's still a strong underground scene that focuses on deep house and techno, funk/soul/r&b, and occasionally really good hip hop (young guru's played a couple times…awesome DJ). At some of those nights, you'll never hear a digital file despite the fact that they've never banned any technology. Mr. C is playing this weekend at a Wiggle Factor event that looks like it's going to be absolutely awesome.

But, no, there aren't any good record stores for modern dance vinyl that I can find.

[space monkey]

Satellite closed several years ago, which sucks because my girlfriend lives like 4 blocks from there in inman park.

Wax n Facts is still open, but the closest thing to dance vinyl I've ever seen there was an original of JMJ's Oxygene. I mean, I bought it, and it's an awesome record. But it's not exactly something I'd play in a club. And there are a few other record shops that focus on punk and rock. But anything resembling dance vinyl went the way of the dodo, it seems. I'd love to be proven wrong, but it hasn't happened yet.

Most of Atlanta clubbing is run by Liquified, which is as interested in bringing Paulie D as anyone else. The big clubs, places like eleven50 (which is now called Opera) are all about huge numbers and bottle service instead of music: their bartenders are required to have >1000 facebook friends and >500 twitter followers…and if they dip below that, they get fired, no questions asked. I've never gotten such horribly made drinks. I had to explain how to make a Jack & Coke one night……and I'm not exaggerating, she didn't have a clue. She was just really hot (cough: slutty) and had a lot of facebook friends.

Normal nights there are headlined by a DJ from Q100 (a very slightly more urban but still really white-people-friendly station that 99x started in like 2001). Until recently, even the after hours drug dens were run by Liquified. AFAIK, there are only a couple challengers, and they're all in the same game: bottle service and publicity, music comes third if it's lucky. A few of them are okay, but meh.

Hell, MJQ stopped their house night in 2006, I think. That night had been running for about as long as I've been alive.

There's still a strong underground scene that focuses on deep house and techno, funk/soul/r&b, and occasionally really good hip hop (young guru's played a couple times…awesome DJ). At some of those nights, you'll never hear a digital file despite the fact that they've never banned any technology. Mr. C is playing this weekend at a Wiggle Factor event that looks like it's going to be absolutely awesome.

But, no, there aren't any good record stores for modern dance vinyl that I can find.

The closing of satellite is sad and I guess wax hasn't changed much (thought they might fill in the gap if satellite had closed)
What's really sad is that MJQ stopped their Thursday night house. I was a regular there from 96 to 2000. Somber Reptile used to do a Thursday night hip hop and breaks thing that had a good vibe as well--but that was oh so long ago. You know little jen by any chance?

**Sorry for derailing the thread**

I suppose a solution for crate diggers who live in big cities that have lost their outlets:
-Travel
-craig's list
-Juno vinyl

[/end horrible solution]

[Pearce161]

Must admit I really miss going to my local record store (shut down for a long time now)! When I got my first set of decks, (horrific Kam belt drive Red Dwarfs) when i was 14 I used to save as much money from a milk round I did through the week and washing skip wagons on a saturday that I could and go down sunday morning and be there for 2-3 hours digging through records, listening, shortlisting digging some more and only ever had enough for 4 or so records. Used to do that nearly every week. The shop used to open sunday as the owner was a local DJ and ppl used to come in and ask about tracks he'd played the night before. It was great. Now I sit at my computer for 3-5 hours sometimes looking through various sites and listen to a lot more music but a lot more crap it seems aswell. We've also lost the real connection the the shop owners, i know there's beatbot and forums suggesting stuff but if you went to the same shop all the time the owner, (if they were good at their job) would be able to suggest stuff you'd like which you may never have thought of.
But i digress, times change and things move forward, I now have access to a lot lot more music than I did then and now its upto me to put the time and effort in,

[mostapha]

You know little jen by any chance?

No, I don't.

I started a bit after you seem to have left Atlanta. Did Kai Alce work at Satellite when you were there? He's spinning at a place called Sound Table once a month, which seems to be one of the centers of the underground(ish) scene in ATL. They also gave a home to Kemit, who's from Detroit but has been here for a while…great grooves on his nights.

if you went to the same shop all the time the owner, (if they were good at their job) would be able to suggest stuff you'd like which you may never have thought of.

Man…I still occasionally play the first batch of house records Kai suggested. Well, I do now that I have tables again.

[PeteWoods]

My town has no decent record shops, the only place that sellss dance vinyl has 4 bins of really old stuff, none of which is any good, as it has basically been whittling down its stock and changing into a head shop more and more. i went in the other day and there was a 4 rows or records about 2 foot long and the rest of the shop was filled with bongs. this is what fucking mephedrone did to my city, it took away our only decent record shop

[funke]

The closest record store to me is about 50 miles away. It's this little place at a mall and I would say that over 90% of the records there came from someones attic. The few new records that they do carry are just everyday regular music. No electronic music. I did however, find Dr. Dre's The Cronic, which I snatched up. So yeah, dvs is pretty much my only viable option. I do like to collect vinyl though, and have quite the 60's-70's rock collection, including many original Beatles albums. Not the kind of stuff I would take out of the house or *gasp* scratch on.

[Pearce161]

Man…I still occasionally play the first batch of house records Kai suggested. Well, I do now that I have tables again.

Wish I still had mine! Was short of cash so sold off my decks and lent my vinyl to a 'friend' who had just got into mixing and didnt have many records, used to go to his and jam with him quite a bit then he moved never saw him or my vinyl again, I took a major hiatus from djing/mixing then. Back now tho but do miss vinyl.