Crate Diggers -- Classic or dud?

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Are crate diggers a bunch of nerds who waste time/money and drive the price of old records to astronomical prices or are they necessary archivists/saviours of valuable cultural artefacts?

― Polo Pony, Thursday, 16 January 2003 07:19 (twenty-three years ago)

yes

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 16 January 2003 07:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Which one? Both?

― Polo Pony, Thursday, 16 January 2003 07:37 (twenty-three years ago)

really though, without people like egon actually going out and meeting with their heroes (david axelrod, galt mcdermot) some amazing music would go un-reissued and unheard. shuggie otis "information inspiration", eugene mcdaniels "headless heroes of the apocalypse". these are some of my favorite records. axelrod's current self titled is pretty amazing. if it weren't for these guys going to meet him, finding out that he had scores from an unreleased 60s album, it would go unheard.

but then there's the whole paying loot for sometimes an amazing 10second loop on one song, and the rest of the album's shit. i have so many records on my shelf that go unlistened to because i bought it for a sample. what's with the Stark Reality record going for upwards of 400$??!! i have friends that would pay that much for it.

i'm so glad i don't care about collecting 45s.

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 16 January 2003 07:42 (twenty-three years ago)

fuck em. hearing hip-hop kids say, "ahh, yeah, i have 3 copies of the betty davis album, the original" really makes me want to stab them. and just try to find a copy of an album like "ananda shankar and his music" on vinyl - you can't, because there's one goddamn break on it that they "need."

and all this "no song titles on funk comps" b-boy code shit blows, too.

― your null fame (yournullfame), Thursday, 16 January 2003 08:20 (twenty-three years ago)

and more to the point, why is vinyl even NECESSARY? most of the kids who buy this stuff are just going to sample and loop it anyway, wouldn't a digital source be ideal?

― your null fame (yournullfame), Thursday, 16 January 2003 08:23 (twenty-three years ago)

scratch djs.
sux

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 16 January 2003 22:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Surely paying collector scum prices on Ebay drives the prices up more than digging through those dusty crates?

― j.lu (j.lu), Friday, 17 January 2003 00:24 (twenty-three years ago)

The crate diggers aren't the ones who drive up the prices because no record store owner/manager would knowingly conceal a rare and expensive record deep in a pile. You people don't know what you're talking about.

― hstencil, Friday, 17 January 2003 04:19 (twenty-three years ago)

man im guilty til proven innocent!!

― s trife (simon_tr), Friday, 17 January 2003 04:22 (twenty-three years ago)

trife, you're a sellout. I thought you were strictly cassingles, man.

― hstencil, Friday, 17 January 2003 04:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Crate Diggers will not be worthy of true esteem in my eyes until the entire YMO backcatalogue is re-released in a comprehensive box set format with a bilingual 128-page booklet chock full of full-color photographs

Rhino's fine for english-speaking bands but they seriously need to get on the ESL ball in a double hustle

― Tom Millar (Millar), Friday, 17 January 2003 04:30 (twenty-three years ago)

tom what the shmuck does that have to do with anything?

― zemko (bob), Friday, 17 January 2003 11:56 (twenty-three years ago)

They're harmless and I'm sure it's a fun hobby but using crate-digging as a reason to praise a record is an immense critical dud.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 17 January 2003 12:11 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

? most of the kids who buy this stuff are just going to sample and loop it anyway, wouldn't a digital source be ideal?

Nah, crate digging producers love the way vinyl sounds when sampled.
"I got cd's in my crate like crack in my pockets
Yeah right, neither of the above"-- Madlib

― oops (Oops), Monday, 24 February 2003 19:58 (twenty-three years ago)

plus,a true digger wouldnt want something on cd, or even vinyl reissues..thats cheating.its a purely purist pursuit

― juiceboxxx (juiceboxxx), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 03:18 (twenty-three years ago)

What I don't get is when people advertise records they've already "found" on ebay to what seems to be a market of other producers / crate-diggers. If people have already sampled the record and word has gotten around about it being a good record to sample, why would another producer want to pay lots of money for something other people are already using? Aren't there lots of records to use? I can understand people looking to "tastemakers" to tell them what to do, but it seems counterproductive unless you're counting on other DJs working in your city not having things (which is probably what it comes down to). I've even seen it where the seller keeps the identity of a record they're selling a secret (usually because the record is reasonably common and not usually very expensive). I've never had anyone tell me what a record advertised like that was when I asked them.

― tom (other one), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 03:45 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

crate digging/buying records will be around forever its all about finding that crispy break or sample it makes you feel like you have a million bucks even if your broke!! cd's get the bozak!! fuck em' i need that static on the wax!!

as for us "Diggers" making the prices rise is crazy,i admit we find the dope records amongst piles & piles of shit but its normally for £1 £2 it takes a while for people to be up on it then the dealers start asking £50 £100 there just using our knowledge to earn doe..but you know what thats why i bag shit in shops fuck em' fuck em!!

Peace to all the real dirty crate fondlers!!

The Beat Detective

― beat detective, Monday, 15 November 2004 13:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I just spent an hour and a half in a basement of a record store going through 45s looking for cool stuff...for myself. Is that crate digging? Or does there have to be some hip-hop end goal?

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 15 November 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.lordfinesse.net/Images/photos/newphotos/lpflick.jpg

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 15 November 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

So classic obv.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 15 November 2004 14:36 (twenty-one years ago)

sean - where's the basement full of 45's?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 15 November 2004 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

eighteen years pass...

Probably a apt thread theme to summarize the eclectic obscurities on this great website that I've totally been unaware of until a couple of days ago.

So many fantastic, lovingly assembled downloadable comps:

https://www.dreamweapons.net

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 16:53 (three years ago)

an apt*

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 16:53 (three years ago)

Nice thanks for sharing, those look incredible.

― brimstead, Wednesday, 5 April 2023 17:17 (three years ago)

You're welcome! They are!

Make sure to click a "Label" tag to filter results or just grab / indulge one by one.

This has been a fun discovery for me.

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 17:53 (three years ago)

Is there a better thread for this? Bump

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 22:29 (three years ago)

maybe this one? the link you posted looks really cool btw

Landmark mixtapes

― Perverted By Linguiça (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 22:32 (three years ago)

Ah thanks! Will bump there eventually if need be

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Thursday, 6 April 2023 00:57 (three years ago)

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