It’s been three months since our last visit to Leftover Links and this one is slightly different from the others in that these weren’t actually gathering dust in our bookmarks. Rather, we decided to select some links and articles for your perusal. The theme this time around is centred around crate digging and rare grooves, the former of which we touched upon a few months back with our post about The Top 26 Places For “Online Crate Digging. For those unaware of the latter, rare groove are hard-to-find records, usually from the world of soul, funk and jazz and because of their rarity, they usually fetch large amounts on eBay and in record stores.
- Funk Archaeology: From Russia, With Funk – Egon – who was the general manager of the Stones Throw label for 11 glorious years – is one of those rare creatures scouring the entire globe for the choicest bits of obscure wax, from Turkish psych to Zambian soul. For this first edition of Funk Archaeology on RBMA, Egon took time out from touring with Madlib to educate us about his newest Russian funk finds. (RBMA)
- Reddit: Cratedigging – Yes, Reddit have a crate digging channel and there are plenty of rare grooves on there, albeit it YouTube form. Doesn’t hurt to scope the physical copies out though, right? (Reddit)
- Crate digging with Psymun – Behind the endless shelves of knick-knacks and shiny, shrink-wrapped records at the Electric Fetus lies the used vinyl section. The collection of reject records does not make for good listening. But for a beatsmith like Psymun (aka Simon Christensen), the eclectic mix of vinyl offers possibility. (Minnesota Daily)
- Remembering The White Label – DJ Prestige gives an account of the white label and his history with the once-revered choice of release for DJs and artists alike. (Flea Market Funk)
- Your Holy Grail Hiding In Your Neighbourhood – DJ Prestige returns with another story, this time about his day crate digging and what he happened to find in his local store. (Flea Market Funk)
- On Crate Digging – Michael Abrahamson gives an incisive and well-rounded opinion on the art of crate digging and uses Madlib as an example of its quintessence. (Project Journal)
- Numero Group: the crate-digging record label’s top 10 – For a decade, founders Ken Shipley and Rob Sevier have dug through the most obscure record collections to unearth long-forgotten gems, from soul and rock to folk and blues. Here they pick their 10 favourite releases. (The Guardian)