The Modern Day Digger

Crate digging is a slang term used by DJs to refer to the activity of checking record stores for old, rare or unusual music on the vinyl format, which can be used by DJs,turntablists, or be sampled. Late 1980s house music producers often used 1970s disco records in their songs. In the 1990s and 2000s, hip-hop composers and producers also incorporated elements from old recordings into their songs.

I'm not DJ, at least not a real one. I play music and make people listen to it, but I'm trying to stray away from that and hope that the music I play attracts the people, not vice versa. But some days, I sure feel like a Modern Day Digger. What's that? Well, I was never a crate digger. Never have owned a record player, and not sure if I ever will...

These days, there's more music within a few mouse clicks than Pete Tong could have dug thru in his lifetime. Modern digging consists of finding a comfortable seat, preferably with a good view and near a solid sound system. Spend the day using the web as a resource... a portal into worlds and genres you've never heard of. Search google for blogs relating to the type of music you like. See what they're listening to. Search Amazon and Myspace for the artists in question. Most likely one or both of those sites will have songs available to listen to. If you like what you hear, download or purchase the album through the outlet of your choice. If you like the album, see what other artists that label represents... give them a listen.

Some days you strike out. Some days you find pure gold. A lot of it falls in between. Yesterday was a great rainy day for digging. Here's some of what I uncovered...


FAT FREDDY'S DROP - Based on a True Story (click to Download)

Fat Freddy's Drop is a 7 piece band from New Zealand. This album was recorded in Wellington in 2005 and once released hit the top 40 chart in a week. It remained on top of that list for 107 weeks and went 7 times platinum. A far cry from what we would consider top 40 in the US, this funk, soul, dub, jazz, reggae band is a fresh sound from down under.

A few more NZ groups were uncovered with this discovery and will be uploaded shortly.