Backtracking Forward: Digital Digging
posted in: Features
The OurStage Blog is an exceptional outlet for users to discover new music in today’s burgeoning market. When it comes to learning about grooves from the past though, there are a million blogs on the Internet that offer a barrage of information from both amateur and experienced writers. If you are among the majority of the population that does not have a good vinyl shop in your town with educated employees, navigating the trenches of recorded music on vinyl from the past few decades can be a time consuming project. To help ease the burden, here is a sampling of some of the finest blogs on the world wide web that cater to the vinyl digging culture. From unknown African platters to the finest in funk and soul, roll up your sleeves and get ready to do some digital digging.
Of all the genres of music, the umbrella that covers funk/soul/R&B is awash with what seems an infinite amount of records from the past. It takes a knowledgeable captain to help commandeer these vast waters and that man is Larry Grogan. Grogan established the exhaustive and comprehensive blog Funky16Corners.com back in 2004 as way to express his love for the music he listens to and digs for. Since then, his project has ballooned into a global epidemic where collectors and casual readers from all over the globe stop by to be turned on and educated. Even music enthusiast Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, checks in on Grogan ” he even name dropped the site on an article he wrote for The Guardian.
There are many reasons why Funky16Corners has attracted such a stalwart following of readers. Grogan’s precise and comfortable writing style stands out from the crowd as his posts are not simply a couple of sentences as to why he likes the music. Each blog entry is a well-researched and exhaustive look at a featured artist/band that includes history, commentary and everything in between. His selections all come from his personal vinyl library as he continually dips into his extensive collection to showcase both rare slabs of hard to find wax alongside timeless and even somewhat common platters. Either way, these are the tunes you always wanted to hear but in many cases, never knew existed.
As if the written word was not enough, all the posts are accompanied by digitized vinyl to MP3 samples of the music being described. Adding some more funk to the pot, guest DJ mixes and Grogan’s own Podcast archive provide tasty sets of music compiled for his readers. Funky16Corners fulfills one’s daily recommended dose of funk, soul and jazz and will help jump start an aspiring record collection.
Next to original pressings of reggae vinyl from Jamaica, African records from the 1960s and 1970s are some of the most difficult to find in today’s market. Rather than waiting for the paltry collections of afrobeat and African funk singles to trickle into the United States, collector Frank Gossner decided to live out every record collector’s dream scenario. He went right to the source and traveled extensively throughout Africa from 2005-2008 to specifically dig for records. No village, town or city went unturned as Frank established a network of people to help him locate rare and original funk, afrobeat, high-life and folkloric collections of African platters. Since coming back to the U.S. after his initial stay, Gossner has continually returned to the continent to unearth more obscure and unknown records. His digging exploits are beautifully described in his blog, VoodooFunk.com, which also features an array of jaw-dropping photos taken by Frank as he explores a beautiful land in search of records.
Mining For Records In Africa. Photo by Frank Gossner
What would a blog about rare African vinyl be without hearing the music? Voodoo Funk consistently brings the heaviest mixes showcasing the author’s awe-inspiring collection. His latest compilation of tracks is a head-scratching, ass-shaking, mind-numbing adventure through the land of Afro-Funk heard on 45rpm. If time and money are your problems, then live vicariously through Frank as he does the dirty work and brings you the musical discs that make you dance and twist with just a flick of his wrist.
The Weirder, The Better
There are collectors who stay within their comfort zone and then there are vinyl hoarders. Being pigeonholed into collecting one genre of music can become boring and stale though buying and hoarding every disc can become insane and back-breaking. The folks at Waxidermy.com understand this obsession and nurture it by catering to record collectors of every ilk and breed.
Looking for obscure 1970s 45s of country funk female vocalists? Check. What about high school bands from decades past performing killer covers of soul, jazz and funk tunes? Plenty! Maybe mushroom ceremonies of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico are your cup of tea? Waxidermy has that covered along with every other odd, obscure and offbeat vinyl platter that has existed. The brains behind the Web site feature a new write-up every few days with each post seeming more off the wall than the previous one. For those new to the site, every review going back to 2006 is archived on their server, providing endless hours of reading and listening to some of the wackiest and most inane records ever made.
This is the place where undesirable records from the past gain a new following and lifeline in today’s collector hungry market. For those fiending for more immersion into the seedy underbelly of used vinyl, Waxidermy has a message board for users to rant, rave, boast, gripe and complain about everything related to music and record collecting.
Honorable Mentions
Jazz Collector
Al Perlman, founder of JazzCollector.com, loves jazz music. In fact, Al eats, breathes and sleeps jazz. His site has become not only a platform for this enthusiast to wax about his favorite genre but also a place for like minded jazz-hounds to congregate and talk about the nuances and idiosyncrasies of collecting original jazz vinyl with deep grooves, flat edges and New York addresses.
Blues For The RedBoy
Garage rock, monsters, rockabilly, scratchy funk all coupled with some songs about chickens, food, caterpillars and guns can be found over at Blues For The RedBoy. The writing is quirky, funny and informative, and the sound samples are priceless as the RedBoy offers up some of the oddest 45s from his personal stacks.
Flea Market Funk
The early bird gets the worm and in the case of DJ Prestige, those are some funky worms being dug up. This renowned music selector and collector extraordinaire gets dirty at the flea market, excavating those little records with the big holes and presents his finds to the world via insightful reviews and essential sound clips. Flea Market Funk is a tremendous resource for not only becoming educated and listening to stellar downloadable mixes but for gaining a glimpse into the interesting and oddly fascinating world of flea market digging and the buyers/sellers that inhabit this world.
Keep Digging and Reading!
-Gregorious-