All kinds of good things are going to be going down at the Beat Swap Meet Los Angeles Summer Solstice Gathering this Sunday, June 22nd from 12-6pm in Downtown LA’s Chinatown. First and foremost there will be records…many many many records. Every time I go to the BSM I come away with something special, from the first time getting this Byron Lee record, to the most recent one where I found this Gabor Szabo record.
In addition to all of the record vendors, there are a number of other local vendors plying their trade, turntable doctors ready to fix any broken turntables and this year they’re will be some B-Boy/B-Girl crews on hand because of the B-Boy Summit as well as a performance from San Diego’s Sure Fire Soul Ensemble! Beat Swap Meet is free with a canned good, donated to local homeless, and has a community spirit unlike any other record fair in the country. By not being fixed in a single location, but being spread out all over the plaza in Chinatown to the interior of the Grand Star, it gives the event a really community feeling and spirit. Just to give a sense of what the event is like, check this video from September 2013:
I’ll actually be spinning this Sunday around 2ish (but I won’t be sticking around after the set, since I got to get to KPFK to do my show!) in the outside front parking lot, one of the many spots where you can hear DJs share the sounds and skills. I don’t have much in the way of skills, but I do have big ears, and if you listened to the radio show or checked these posts long enough, you have a sense of what I might play. Haven’t picked out the records I’m bringing just yet, but they’ll probably lean on the heavy and psychedelic side of things. I’ll likely add the set on Monday, as long as my records don’t melt from the heat.
If you caught the interview and guest DJ set we did with DJ 671, who organizes the Beat Swap Meet, he mentioned how he became a fan of little B-girl by the name of Goldi-Rocks from seeing her at the Beat Swap Meet. Here’s a video of her in action at the BSM, something that you’ll likely get to witness in person this Sunday!