A fellow record head once told me that a collection is nothing without focus. Do you collect Libraries? Psych? Jazz? Rare grooves? Hip-Hop?

Choose. You can’t be an authority on everything.

His theory was that trying to stockpile all forms of music can often leave your collection feeling oddly random and not necessarily comprehensive in any regard.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after over 20 years of collecting, it’s that you can’t possibly have it all. I’ve got friends who buy mostly Canadian records, some who focus primarily on rare soul/funk and others with a penchant for unearthing foreign psych LP’s from all over the globe. The thing they have in common? They’re all single-minded collectors with impressive collections.

Despite this truth, I’ve never been able to be a single-minded collector.  I started out buying samples, drum breaks and classic soul, but my tastes have evolved and quite frankly, I’m a slave to my palate. I still have a thing for the aforementioned, but I couldn’t ignore my affinity to Brazilian, African and Latin sounds. Nor could I disregard my desire to start investigating European jazz and library music.

I love Canadian records, but for me, having an all-Canadian collection is akin to stacking your pantry exclusively with maple syrup. I love funk 45’s but there’s only so much fake James Brown shit I can tolerate before I realize I actually just want to listen to James Brown. I still love buying classic samples for the records I grew up with but I can’t be happy with a collection full of 5-second breaks.

Neither can Serious or Kaewonder.

For us, shuffling between the mid-tempo funk of Soft Touch’s “Plenty Action”, The Don Carrington Trio’s cover of “Song for my father” and Som Tres’ Brazilian rendition of “Spooky” is perfectly natural.

That’s why Cratery exists. To provide a safehouse for the musical scatterbrain.

So for all you rare jazz, regional boogie, stoner psych, samba-loving breakbeat fiends:

Welcome home.

TRACK LIST:

1. Soft Touch – Plenty Action 2. The Pazant Bros – A Gritty Nitty 3. Gary Byrd Experience – To You Beautiful Black Sister 4. LaMont Johnson – That’s not the way to do it, Beverly 5. Wando – Velho Batuqueiro 6. Don Carrington Trio – Song for my father 7. Som Tres – Spooky 8. J.J. Jackson – Indian Thing 9. Twelve Top Hits – Evil Woman 10. Breakout – We have told all 11. The Emotions – I like it 12. South side Movement – Everlasting thrill 13. Little Carl Carlton – Two Timer 14. People next door – Touch the wind 15. Motherlode – Oh! See the white light

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