DJ Colonel Radio Joint

Old friend, DJ Colonel sent me some of his radio shows. As you might remember from a few months back, I posted a few DJ Colonel mixes. The show below is from his Bend OR radio program.

I don't think that he is podcasting yet, but in DJ Colonel's own words, "Come on daddyo, give dem people what you know they need. peace, colonel."

Here tis:

01 Caution Bob Marley & The Wailers
02 Dub The Line Gregory Isaacs
03 Watermelon Man Baba Brooks Band
04 No Time ft. Military Man Capelton
05 Reggae Fever Steel Pulse
06 Picture on The Wall Lion Inn Jungle
07 Gone Down Dezarie
08 The Killer Jah Stich
09 Ganja Plant Rider 10 ft Ganja Plant
10 Pass De Kahn Abja
11 Effortless Dub Greenstars
12 Free Man The Ethiopians
13 El Pussycat Roland Alphonso
14 World a Reggae Ini Kamoze
15 Hustler Ky-mani Marley

Download here

A New Cratedigger Mix -- Down and Dirty

This time around in cratedigger labs, I mixed it up a bit and there is a mixture of soul, funk and more jazz grooves than I have thrown down in the past.

I have been working on the new gear to get the best sound, so I hope that I was successful. I think I made all the fades...

I call it "Down and Dirty," Dig It!

Here is the track list:
01 Intro Christopher Recordings
02 Here Come The Judge Shorty Long Soul
03 Sho Nuff Jimmy McGriff Sunset
04 A Funky Space Reincarnation Part II Marvin Gaye Tamla
05 Cloud Nine Temptations Gordy
06 Huracan Cal Tjader Crystal Clear
07 Hey Big Brother Rare Earth Rare Earth
08 Party Freaks Pt 2 Miami Drive
09 Hey Mr. DJ Bobby Moore Checker
10 Kufanya Mapenzi (Makin Love) Ramsey Lewis Columbia
11 Got Pleasure Ohio Players Westbound
12 Stop Her On Sight (SOS) Edwin Starr Ric-Tic

This mix was compiled from all original vinyl sources, most of them being the 7 inch 45 variety. The records themselves were found in the bottom of dusty crates in and around Chicago and the northern IL area.

Support your local vinyl destination. F the 'Bay!

Download here

Also, please leave a comment, literally 100s of folks are downloading my mixes, but I am getting hardly any feedback.

follow up to cratedigger labs with shure whitelabel action

Based on the post below, this is a follow up in getting my 1200s set up for success in the sonic realm.

I got a replacement Shure Whitelabel cartridge and stylus in the mail. This package contained some instructions, which helped me set up the turntables correctly, finally.

I put the new cartridge on the right 1200 which had the quieter cartridge as judged by listening the the loud Ramsey Lewis 45 as described below.

The directions instructed me to take the tonearm off the rest, and then crank the counterweight all the way back so that they tonearm is sticking up in the air, kind of like a seesaw with a fat kid on one side. Then, I turned the counterweight so that it was "floating" just above the Material record that I had on the platter. I then set the dial on the tonearm to the zero setting. Next I moved the counterweight so there was 2 grams of force on the tonearm. I then spun the Material LP and it tracked perfectly. It's sonic output was also boosted, so my replacement is deemed a success.

I then set up the left 1200 with the counterweight set up as described above. I tracked a Tangerine Dream LP from 75 and it tracked perfectly as well.

A successful day in the lab, after a 60 mile road trip in the funkwagon in search of more vinyl.

Shure White Label Cartridge deep in cratedigger labs

I have been using Shure White Label cartridges that came with the 1200s that I bought a few months back, and I thought that they sounded pretty good. I even spent the money to get some new styli so that I wouldn't be killing my vinyl with worn needles...

I recently upgraded the mixer and over the weekend, I set out to make a mix of some of my recent finds. I hooked up my macbook to my amp, fired up garage band and started mixing.

Listening, and watching the meters in GB showed that one of my tables was much quieter than the other. At first, I chalked this up to the fact of the variety of mastering levels, mono v. stereo etc. So I finished up the mix with the 45 of Makin' Love by Ramsey Lewis. This is a pretty loud and full sounding groove on any day, but on this day it was darn near deafening.

Something was up. I took the record and put it on the right table, and it was definitely quieter. Next I switched the whitelabels from one table to the other. Now the right table was louder, and the left was the quiet one. I then switched the styli from one to the other. That did not have an effect on the Ramsey Lewis 45. The same right 1200 was louder than the left. So I don't think that the styli are the culprits.

One of my whitelabels is more quiet that the other. I verified by listening to the mix that I made, and there was only so much EQ, that I could throw into the mix after the fact.

Early this morning, I ordered another whitelabel. Once I get it, I will match the new with the better of the two cartridges that I currently have.

From the Crates...

I thought I would share some thoughts about some recent LPs and tracks that I have come across.
The Chambers Brothers Greatest Hits. The title is a misnomer, of course. I am not a Billboard Hot 100 scholar, but really come on "Time Has Come Today" is the only hit I know of. The set opener "Funky" has a nice short break at the beginning. The LP version of "Time Has Come Today" has a much longer freak out / jam/ break than the 45 version that I have had for years. Look for this break to appear on a cratedigger labs release in the near future, sound pilgrims.

Side 2 contains a track that has much backwards weirdness and sound effects ala "Time Has Come Today" and was a nice treat that I had not heard before.

The name checking the Eric Burdon does on the track Monterey has not aged very well. The music is light as well. Not any of the Gratefully Dead unreleased single swagger is evident. Searh that track out as it has Burdon's growl, backwards guitars like Hendrix, and has that heavy acid sound that Chas Chandler (early Animals bassist, Jimi manager) became known for.

My ears perked up a bit when the stereo effects of "Closer To The Truth" where a blues dirge and and out of tune guitar line and twisted in a most peculiar way.

The hippie acid and horns concoction that M. Burdon brews up on this release is nothing to get charged up about. His acid soaked lyrics suggest a sophomoric obsession with Louis Carroll type topics. I won't be spending much time with this one.

New Years Shouts!

I have been checking out some stuff lately, and to paraphrase good buddy Iowahawk,

"The House Recommends" the following:

Kid Dyno and crew has a great new podcast called Breaks for Days Radio. Check it out. Admittedly, I am not much of a hip hop head, but Kid Dyno put together a cool mix with which I enjoyed expanding my listening palette.

Vincent @ Fufu Stew has a New Year's Mix called Fufu Funk Mix #4 1/2. How deep are his crates? I can't believe the volume and quantity of the mixes that he shares with us all...

DJ Blueprint is continuing his guest mix series at This is Tomorrow. There is always something new there- either a new mix, a dusty 45, or something else cool, such as the list he shares dedicated to all of the music people who left us in 2007. Definitely check this one on the regular.

Scholar at Souled On, has a feature called "Cover My Ass" on offer. Here he shares the history behind a track and then serves up a cover version. The quality of writing here, truly allows Scholar to live up to his moniker. Learn something...

Heavy Soul Brutha Dave has a new mix up called Four Quads per Channel Mix. Dave is pushing a tribute to the 70s with this mix of LP tracks. Check it out.

Support your fellow bloggers!

New Spot for Diggin'

Hey All,

I was very excited to find a new digging spot out in the hinterlands of northern IL, roughly the area that was hit by tornado action earlier this week due to the extremely warm and unseasonable weather here in the scenic Midwest.

For a 35 mile (one way) trip, I think I may have a new place to hit again and again. This place has tons of LPS and upon leaving, I discovered that they also have a lot of 45s that need to be sorted as well. I shall return with the Vestax portable, hopefully on Saturday.

From a quick visit, I came up with the following:

Beau Brummels Laugh Laugh Autumn
Budgie S/t MCA import
Eric Burdon and The Animals The Twain Shall Meet MGM
Chambers Bros. Greatest Hits Columbia
Bill Cosby Why Is There Air? Warners Honestly, I love Cos' 60's comedy. I am hoping to score some of his funk 45s... Hey Hey hey.
Temptations Cloud 9 Gordy

There is a ton of stuff that needs to be in me crates, there, I can feel it.

A belated holiday gift...

I felt that the cratedigger reference system needed an upgrade, especially since I was never a fan of the old mixer, anyway.

I picked the above Vestax online (with free shipping and no sales tax, to boot). I hooked it up the other night, but last night gave its' first real workout.

There is quite a big sonic upgrade over the last mixer. The actual sliders and the fader seem to be of higher quality as well. We will see.

I am considering getting some powered monitors in the upcoming months. This unit has xlr outputs, which should allow for more brick rattling sound.