CRATERY

After epic back-to-back episodes with Big Jacks and Bozack Morris, we went to back to basics on this one. There’s a definite jazzy vibe happening here. Also, I just threw up a little after writing the words ‘jazzy vibe’. I fucking hate that phrase. Maybe because when I think of contemporary music with a jazz […]

Bozack Morris loves music. 90’s R&B? New rap? 70’s funk? Library records? He’s got an opinion. And it’s an informed one. I’ve known Bozack since volunteering at CHRY 105.5 FM back during my university days at York.  And even then, he was a music nerd. He’s brought that sensibility to locally successful brands like Grand […]

Big Jacks was sifting through the stacks of a local record shop during a trip to the D. It was logical that Jacks make the periodic 4-hour journey from Toronto, since Detroit has been home to not only to endless Motown classics from the 60’s, but a slew of modern soul and boogie records – […]

I don’t know where the term boogie came from. But when I first started buying groups like SOS Band, Starpoint and Rene & Angela back in the day, I was under the impression I was buying R&B and soul records. In fact, I actually never heard the term until some time within the last 3 […]

Country. Big Band. Dixieland. Ragtime. Not exactly my favourite sections in any given record store. I don’t have anything against fans of New Orleans Jazz, but let’s just say I ain’t out here trying to complete the Preservation Hall Jazz band discography. But every once in a while, mining through a stack unwanted Scott Joplin […]

Cratery has never been and never will be about the first level flossery of posting up rare record after rare record. We’re not here to impress the legions of completist nerds who are waiting to pass judgment on our collective collections. We are here, however to celebrate discovery. Discovery is why we do this. Whether […]

I’ve got a zebra, she can fly. That’s the title of a 1967 song by forgotten psych outfit The Unfolding, featured on this month’s episode. Years later, I can’t help but SMH at the shit some of these hippies came up with back then. Take a flying zebra to your domepiece, homepiece. No coincidence it’s […]

This particular Cratery episode is kinda like the opposite of some hip-hop shit. Allow me to explain. We all grew up with a love and understanding for hip-hop culture. Collecting records and understanding the foundation of the music was a natural part of that b-boy aesthetic. And that foundation was breaks. If you’re on this […]

I’ve been on a temporary work stint in Vancouver since February of this year. Our formerly weekly Cratery nerdouts have turned into monthly events for the squad as a result. Cratery 52 was recorded during one of my brief returns to Toronto earlier this year. Looking at this month’s track list, I can only assume […]

This month, we add another hommie to the distinguished list of Cratery Alumni: DJ FamousLee. While currently best known as one-half of Toronto’s beloved monthly boogie party “Love Handle” (a duty he shares with former Cratery guest Alister “Catalist” Johnson), FamousLee isn’t one to be pigeon-holed. He goes joint for joint with us on an […]

The record collector is no stranger to impulsive purchases. Sadly, we’ve all dropped loot on numerous pieces in our collections that are far from timeless. You know the ones I’m talking about: the one-trackers, drum breaks and vocal samples that have no business on the same shelf as the classic albums that have truly shaped […]

Things done changed. Dollar bin digging ain’t what it used to be. When I first started buying breaks back in the early 90’s, my OG homies like Mr. Attic would take me to spots like Vinyl Museum, a long gone institution in the city of Toronto. I’d say about 90% of the stock in their […]

Singer/songwriter Sixto Rodriguez was recently immortalized in the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” which debuted at Sundance in 2012. It’s the story of an artist who is completely unaware of the impact his music has had on an entire generation. I can say that about much of the music that we play on Cratery. Most […]

This month, Kaewonder, DJ Serious and I trade our traditional 1-for-1 Cratery format for a 5-for-5 format. We each play 5 records in succession, allowing us to create 3 individual sets. Truly groundbreaking stuff – we know, we know. I kick off my set with “Peter and John” from Andrew Wartts’ gospel funk masterpiece There […]

The good folks at MAGMA reached out to us about collaborating on a mix for their up coming Fall/Winter pop-up shop this weekend. Naturally, we had no choice but to submit to the laws of mutual dopeness and agree. Since MAGMA plans on previewing some new wears, we thought we’d hit you with a little preview […]