Crate Digging vs. Net Digging - Your Impressions

[Dubba Dutch]

God I miss record shops! I had a saturday job in my towns number one vinyl shop, best job ever. Got payed a record an hour and being on saturday this worked in my favor as that's when the owner would get the new promo's for me to get first dibs on.

Yeah it's very hard to have an exclusive tune now, but now we all have so much more access to more music, being a DVS user it's nice to feel that I'm finally on a level playing field with cd dj's.

To be fair tho all the best Afro Beat and alot of the better D&B & dubstep is still largely on Vinyl months before it goes digital. Good obscure Afro beat is virtually vinyl only

[keithace]

i grew up in wasco california...cant get any more small town, ag, country in cali than this...

my dad was a poor mexican kid from mcfarland that became a cop and told his kids to have an open mind and learn everything...

and his favorite tape was Boxcar Willie...no lie...

plus i know all the words to "drinking champagne" by geore strait...also all the words to "i know you got soul" by eric b and rakim...

im that kind of fool...

[keithace]

God I miss record shops! I had a saturday job in my towns number one vinyl shop, best job ever. Got payed a record an hour and being on saturday this worked in my favor as that's when the owner would get the new promo's for me to get first dibs on.

Yeah it's very hard to have an exclusive tune now, but now we all have so much more access to more music, being a DVS user it's nice to feel that I'm finally on a level playing field with cd dj's.

To be fair tho all the best Afro Beat and alot of the better D&B & dubstep is still largely on Vinyl months before it goes digital. Good obscure Afro beat is virtually vinyl only

i would totally work for first dibs...and stickers...

[completej]

dont take this the wrong way (please) but it really seems like theres a lot of nostalgia with a hint of elitism in longing for the days where "only you knew where to get the cutting edge shit," where today's blogs and connectivity have (not completely) leveled the playing field.

the sad fact is - it aint ever going back to that, and people need to accept and embrace the new manner in collecting music. i simply *do not* buy, however, that today's bangers don't have enough time to become "the biggest thing," mostly in part because *drumroll* more people are making music!

back then, there were so few huge tracks because, i believe, fewer people were making music, and it made it seem like no one else could make a big track. people clung to the bangers-turned-classics, and they feel like they don't compare today. however, today, there are so many more huge hits, crossing genres (cliche?), and involving so much collaboration it's simply ridiculous. maybe one person perceives that as "a track doesn't have enough time to become huge" but instead, there are more huge tracks, and in a lot of ways i think the total quality is higher.

people that go online, steal tons of music, and press play will get weeded out of the pack early on. it's always about someone bringing something new to the table. playing something you know isn't heard in your neck of the woods, with your own style, with on-the-fly remixes and edits, mashups, collabs... it all comes out in the end, and if you don't have it, you won't cut it. just because it's easier to get music doesn't change that one bit.

ultimately, the amount of music has gone up, and the perceived amount of "good djs / producers / mix artists" has gone down, simply because it's cluttered now to a boiling point. the reality is there are still the same amount of fantastic talent that will inevitably rise to the top, regardless of how the kids get their music and bullshit about it on forums.

maybe im missing the point... im young (almost 30), new to the scene of playing music (under a year), but i've always loved music and i think that's what matters the most - how your roots shaped your style and mold you into an artist that brings something new and shakin to the table. blogs, torrents, remix sites simply won't change that, and it will always be about the time you take you find something unique to yourself that makes you a great artist.

my 2.5 cents.

[keithace]

want change for that 2.5?

you missed it completely...

"play what you like...not to please or because its hot"

be convicted in what you play...dont bend...if you play a big record because you like it...play it...f everyone else...

but you have to have the confidance (sp? ) to think for all of us...if you think while you are playing "they should like this...everyone else does" then you need to rethink what you are doing...

i hate being called old school...im only 37...

i have always played 50/50 for myself and the crowd...be it the two times a year i play old school rap or all the other times i get to share music with people...

LOVE the records you play...they love you for playing them...

[completej]

i thought i got that point across, that its about the music you love, not what other people think. if i didnt, sorry, but that's the point i was trying to get across.

[keithace]

then i love you completej...

[Nosferatu]

@completej...

You're not that young... as you said...just "new to the scene".

I agree with your comment about "hint of elitism"... I think it stems from the old schoolers that...

1. won't move forward (digital)
2. bitterness that because there's no more "record store favoritism" playing a new song just isn't enough anymore.

sure, I miss the old days (I was being payed to gig in 1984..you do the math) especially the special treatment, but I moved on... In my city, I was the first to use DVS as a resident, the local paper even did an article about it. My point in writing this thread topic, was to understand how crate digging evolved given the technology that exists.

example: There was a time when if you read the label on the record and it was produced by Arthur Baker, it was a sure shot... years later, if Strictly Rhythm had a new release, it would be on the top of the listening pile. I don't find the same level of consistency from most of today's labels... Defected is kinda sorta there, but nothing stands out like seeing "Murk" on a label. Know what I mean?

If for 20 years you had your "method" then suddenly it had to change due to circumstances outside your control, it's natural to experience growing pains when moving into the next "phase". I'm thinking of Louie Vega.... this dude grew up with vinyl stuck to his fingers... now he's a CDJ user... what inspires me is that he makes you believe your skill is not dependent on the tools (i.e. turntable)

geez... I just realized I was rambling... I don't want to delete the above and scrap this post cuz I'm sure there's some useful points up there...

I appreciate the number of responses to this thread... i can always count on the DJTT community to contribute... thanks folks!!

I'll get some rest before I head to the club, then chime in tomorrow....

[completej]

no, i feel ya, but im definitely naive to how it was, as opposed to what its become now.

i write this as im going out tonight for my second gig ever, at a small local bar. the wife keeps trying to convince me, "need to play some hip hop, you know theyre going to request it," and its tough to hear that. i dont particularly like it, but its what plays around here.

do i care? no. i played over 3 hours of my shit last weekend (a lot of disco house funk whatever - fuck genres), and people loved it. they commented it was refreshing, that no one plays it down here, that its "new" and they want more of it. at the end of the night, though, the people danced to run dmc, 2pac, drake, jay-z, et al. it sucks, but i had to do my digging to find those that blended well with the style of music i was trying to play.

+1 to ramble

[Nosferatu]

Since leaving a cosmopolitan city like Toronto... your dilemma has been my life from about 2000 - 2008.

The Hip Hop R&B that dominates in today's "Clubs" is like an unstoppable juggernaut. I'm not hating on it... I grew up on Hip Hop. When the music that would later become the precursor to house started playing on Detroit radio, the course had already been plotted. Even if it's only your 2nd gig, Mad props to you for sticking it out. after 10 years of "just doing it for the money" (playing outside my style) I paid the ultimate price a DJ can pay... it messed with my ability to program house music (my real joy)

I actually turned to producing so that I would be forced to deconstruct house music and help understand it again... house is like an old friend... I'm fortunate to be releasing the very music that inspired me so long ago. Let There Be House FTW!!