“Cratery thirteen. As is quite often the case with Cratery, we go all over the map with a variety of heat . Starting off with the straight boom bap of Cuba Instrumentals face-scruncher “Quema”, to Barbara & Ernie’s blissed-out “For You”. From Common (People) records, to Saverage White Band (no, that is not a typo)  we don’t sleep, nor do we hate or discriminate. We just play full-length songs from our respective record collections and hope you guys enjoy it.” - Kaewonder

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We did it.  Kaewonder and I have successfully maintained our dig diary, Cratery for 1 whole year.  And what better way to round out the year than with the hommie DJ Serious? Serious has been a mainstay on the DJ/Production (and now photography!) front in Toronto for quite some time now.  Since his early days at Lola’s Lounge and Planet Mars to creating the seminal DJ Serious Revue in the late 90’s, Dave’s accomplishments have grown considerably – much like his crates. This is our 12th installment of Cratery, which means we’ve hit y’all with close to 12 hours of soul, funk, jazz, psych, library and soundtrack heat in ’09.  FOR FREE.  The generosity continues in 2010 with more fire, more guests and of course, more crates.  Shout out to Kae, Serious, Heist, Ace, Johnbronski, Taktiks, Mensa, and all who made the last Cratery of the year unforgettable.  And don’t forget to check out Cratery LIVE this Tuesday December 22nd at Andy Poolhall – I get down with residents Kaewonder and Serious for 24 Carat Tuesdays.  FREENESS.
Hollerate!!!!!!!

Tracklist and Link after the jump.
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“Kae and I are both Sagittarians with savage qualities.  Qualities which I won’t mention here – but definitely the kind worthy of celebrating.  Cratery 11 coincides with both of our birthdays in the final week of November.  So we thought it might be fitting to pull out 11 personal favourites each – records that we like a little more than we ought to, for whatever reason – and share them with y’all.  Kae had the idea of highlighting the stories behind our selections, so we’ve included them in this month’s track list (You can find an extended version of the tracklist at barbecueorboogaloo.com). Some are joints we fell in love with when we first started diggin’. Some are oddities passed on by our peers.  And others remind us of how inventive hip-hop can be.  We give you Cratery 11. Enjoy.” - ARCEE

Arcee & Kaewonder still going strong with another edition of Cratery, including choice selections from Minnie Riperton, David Axelrod, Gil Scot Heron, Donald Byrd, Marvin Gaye, Leroy Hutson, James Brown, Little Beaver, Patrice Rushen, & much more! Track list and link after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

“More Cratery Baby. My mans Kaewonder and I have successfully managed to run our monthly dig diary for 10 months without running out of records.  I’d say that kind of dedication is worth something awesome – like another free hour of funk on us. Cratery 10 starts off with some Modern Soul/Boogie bangers: some of my fav’s, including Webster Lewis’ “You are my life” and Eugene Record’s “Fan the Fire”.  By the end, you should be bopping to Curtis Mayfield’s 5 Stairsteps, the tripped out sounds of Stouffville Grit and the blue eyed soul of Jim Capaldi’s “Wild Dogs” (which some of you will undoubtedly recognize). Big up Acesix and Mr. Attic who joined us on our mini digging mission over the weekend. NEXT MONTH: Kae and I both celebrate our birthdays. Cratery 11 promises to either be a sick ass hour of funk or a drunken disaster.  I vote for both.” - ARCEE

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“For the 9th installment of our monthly dig diary, the hommie Kaewonder and I took it back.  The contents of Cratery 9 were recorded entirely on a 90 minute cassette.  Don’t ask why. Don’t ask how.  Simply reacquaint yourself with some good old-fashioned tape hiss while Kae and I go 3 for 3 (3 X 3 = 9) on more Soul, Funk, Jazz, Brazilian and Rock bangers from our personal collections.  Highlights include Waltel Branco’s ultra-rare “Meu Balanco” , The Quick’s boogie instrumental “Zulu”, Louie Shelton’s guitar workout “Evolution” and some late 70’s groove from the Muscle Shoals Horns on “Addicted to your love”. Cratery 9.  Straight off the muhfuckin’ cassette!!!!!!!” - Arcee

Track list and download after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

“A little something extra for the die-hard Cratery heads out there. Kaewonder, Skratch Bastid and myself decided to tap into our 45 piles for a few more gems. Lots of heat here: from the instrumental version of The Eleventh Hour’s Hollywood Hot to classic Fatback to some lesser known bangers (The Mirettes, Just Friends).  The world never seems to run out of 45’s.  You can always find something you’ve never heard. Especially when we do the work for you.  The rotation: Skratch Bastid, Kaewonder, Arcee. Cratery 8.5, people. Enjoy.” - ARCEE

Track list and links after the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

“You would not believe the hard work that goes into getting drunk, smoked out and playing premium musical selections for your listening pleasure on a monthly basis. This month, Kaewonder and I were lucky enough secure Montreal DJ and record aficionado Skratch Bastid simply by forcing him to play records at gunpoint. He was surprisingly agreeable after only a few minutes of violent threats. We joke about the whole gun thing now. He laughs at it too. Bastid’s love for all music is evident on his recently completed 110% mix, which you can also peep on his site. From Norweigan Psych to Sesame Street Funk, we give you Cratery 8: Eightery. Enjoy. And be sure to look out for our exclusive add-on Cratery 8.5: Mo 45’s Coming Soon!!” – ARCEE

This is actually only part 1 of Cratery 8, in about a week’s time we’ll have the second part, Cratery 8.5: 45 mins of 45s, for your listening pleasure right here! Track list and link after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

“A busted amp and a broken car engine led myself and the hommie Kaewonder from the heart of Queen West to the outskirts of Sauga Sec on this month’s edition of Cratery. My neck of the woods, people. Big up Butch and Tink from The Rockbox – the same studio where Marvel and I recorded the entire Covert Ops project – which incidentally is being mixed right now (shout out to Scam). If there’s a theme this month, I can’t see it.  From harp funk to flute rock, sweet soul, 45’s and break beats, this is good old fashioned music nerdery at its finest. The gluttony? Going in on Tiger beers and Little Caesars crazy bread. It’s amazing what city folk get hype on when they come out to the ‘burbs. Heist waddup!!!!!!! Attic I see you hommie!!!! If gluttony ain’t the 7th sin, let’s just pretend it is, so it works with our theme. – ARCEE”

Track list and link unveiled after the jump.
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“Over the years, self-indulgent record collectors have made a habit of promoting the rare over the good.  The imitators over the originators. And of course, the expensive over the cheap. But the good people at Cratery (read: us) know where the heat is at.  We give you Dollarate (from root word “Dollaration”), our cure for boutique store prices and your guide to recession friendly digging. All the records featured on this month’s Cratery are theoretically records you should be able to find for under $10. Except Boz Scaggs, which is pretty much impossible.

If you’re in the Toronto area, make sure you check me and my mans Kaewonder this Friday (07/09/2009) at Revival (783 College St.) for a live Cratery set at The Main Ingredient party. – ARCEE”

Track list and link after the jump.

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“This month’s Cratery is proof the weather’s getting a little hotter. And we’ve got the tunes to match: A little dub, reggae, rare groove, disco, funk and some good old fashioned soul music.  The Lowrell record we both hold in our hands wasn’t some drunken attempt at comedy either – it embodies the spirit of this shit.  We both bought Lowrell’s self titled LP years ago for the rare groove classic “Mellow Mellow Right On”, sampled for Common’s “Remind Me”.  Yet I only recently discovered “You’re Playing Dirty”, a rare groove/boogie/modern soul banger after actually giving the rest of the record a chance 10 years later.  Sometimes not listening to your joints can be as fruitful as listening to them.” – ARCEE

Track list and link after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »