2009 was a pretty good year for me on the digging front, got a number of records that I used to own and had been kicking myself for parting ways with and got turned on to a lot of things I’d never heard of before. Unlike past years, virtually all of my time spent in record spaces was in California this year, mostly in the LA area with a couple of trips to the Bay and one further south to San Diego. Being severely under-employed I have to be very strategic about the records I get these days so there aren’t any obscenely rare records on this list, just really solid ones (though I should note that that Phil Cohran record would be on this list had I not shipped it off to Japan!).
Now, I could include recs from Ebay here,but somehow that really doesn’t qualify as a “find” to me (though I did get some brilliant records off of Ebay last year, including finally getting a copy of the debut from 24-Carat Black, Ghetto Misfortune’s Wealth, a record I’ve been passively looking out for the past 16 years!). So instead, these are the top 5 LPs or 45s I dug up at record stores in 2009…Let me know what you dug up in 2009!!!
***Honorable Mentions: Mauricio Smith – Bitter Acid [Groove Merchant, SF], Linda Jones – “Hypnotized” 45 [Bagatelle, Long Beach], Roy Brooks – The Free Slave [Amoeba, LA], Grassella Oliphant – The Grass Is Greener [Atomic, Burbank], Lafayette Afro Rock Band – Voodoounon [BAO Records, San Diego], Village Soul Choir – Cat Walk / Country Walk 45 [Bagatelle, Long Beach]
5. Lee Dorsey – A Lover Was Born / What Now My Love – Amy 7” [Records LA, LA]
A bonafide classic and one of my favorite tracks of all time…this is one of maybe 3 songs where I completely lose my shit as soon as it comes on and cut extra loose on the dance floor. Lee Dorsey backed up by the Meters and for 2 minutes and 54 seconds absolutely nothing in the world can go wrong. I’d had this song on CDs and maybe a 80s comp, but never owned a 45 of this one. Even if (I think) the blue label is a second press and it’s not in mint shape it still put a big smile on my face running into this at upstart Records LA in the fall of 2009 and getting it for the super affordable price of $4.
4. Eva Pilarová– EVA – Supraphon [Groove Merchant, SF]
Eva Pilarová – Kdyz Se Spolu K Veceru Sejdum
Going to Groove Merchant might not qualify as digging, it’s more like all the diggin’ has been done by Cool Chris and you just get to bask in the glory of all the rare funky he brings to the store. I got lucky with this one, from this Czech artist, perhaps her debut. ½ the album is poppy stuff I don’t particularly care for, but then there are these pop/psych/beat gems that are to die for. I’ll definitely be doing a proper “Dig Deep” on this one in the not so distant future.
3. The Inner Drive – Party Man / Smell The Funk – Zodiac 7” [Records LA, LA]
Another find at Records LA from early on when they were still bringing out the boxes and boxes of 45s that are currently at the store. One of my devices for weeding down the countless 45s that I’ve never heard into a manageable pile to listen to is to focus on interesting labels, band names or song titles. This group nailed all three criteria and though I picked up rarer 45s that day (namely that Vibrations 45 I sold on Ebay for close to $80), this one just hits the spot. Later I remembered that Matthew Africa (another helpful device in terms of choosing what 45s to get is to pay attention to Matthew’s blog) had a stellar post on the Inner Drive, which is part of the reason I don’t think I’ll be posting this in a 7” edition of Dig Deep, but I’ll go ahead and post the best theme song material I heard this year, “Party Man.”
2. Byron Lee & the Dragonaires – Rock Steady ‘ 67 – BRA [Beat Swap Meet, LA]
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires – Get Out My Life Woman
If memory serves correctly I got this off a dealer at the Beat Swap Meet for $10 as the day’s festivities were closing down. Since then, I haven’t seen a copy for under $100. I’ve already said quite a bit about this gem, so I’ll just close by saying that “It’s Oily and it’s sweet”!
1. Yuzo Kayama & the Launchers – All About Yuzo Kayama – Toshiba [Bagatelle Records, Long Beach]
Yuzo Kayama & the Launchers – Monkey Crazy
Another record that I almost feel bad for paying so little for (almost, I said, almost). One of the rare times that Bagatelle’s owner seemed stumped, understandable since everything is in Japanese, but still clearly he hadn’t listened to it, cause I can’t imagine this being on the floor of any quality store for less than $50. Like the Eva record above, ½ is 60s schmaltzy pop with strings and girl background singers, the rest is gritty rock’n’roll. One of my most prized finds cause now it gets me focused on sounds that I never would have even thought existed prior to diggin’ this up.
Happy Hunting for 2010,
Michael
hey, glad you could make it! Beat Swap Meet returns Sunday July 11, 2010.
Peace
I'll do my best to swing by. Peace!