88 Keys Raw Dawg Blog

I'll be honest, I really don't like tumblr for the most part.  Call me an old salty hater, but I'm just not feeling the format.  I think it promotes a lot of lackluster, low effort blogging.  There are, however, some people who use the world of tumblr for good.  88 Keys, who is responsible for the Raw Dawg record cover blog, is one of those people.  Keys, who wakes up every morning and starts making beats before doing anything else, uses the blog to show us the cover of the record he listens to first every day.  The blog has a very intimate vibe and I can't get enough of the beautiful record covers.  For a cover art junkie like me, this blog is a dream come true.

Dust and Grooves

With the explosion of blogging over the past five years, I've always been surprised and saddened by the lack of consistent coverage given to digging. Eilon Paz must have felt the same way, because he launched one hell of blog for all the record lovers out there. Titled Dust and Grooves, the blog's presentation as a "photo documentary/portrait project about crate diggers around the world" has a refreshing and unique feel to it. I was happy to see one of the first interviewee's was a personal favorite and inspiration of mine, Cosmo Baker.

Here is my favorite of Eilon's photos of Cosmo.



To check out the post about Cosmo, click here.

As a side note, anyone who has participated in Can You Dig It? or checks out my blog and collects records should reach out to Eilon. Contact info can be found by following the links to his blog.

Why I Love Digging

Today I drove over to Springield, MA after I saw a craigslist posting for a record fair at Reflections Emporium. It was without a doubt a case of both time and money being well spent. I came up on some heat for really reasonable prices and got to chop it up with a bunch of good people.



First off, big shout out to James Lewis, who is the owner of this fine establishment. He's also a really friendly dude who holds it down in the local radio/promotions/concert scene. In addition to having strong roots in the area he also knows a lot of big time cats. Here is a picture of James with Consequence.



After meeting James for the first time, I bumped into local digger/DJ/record fair organizer DJ 12xu. He's heavy in the digging scene around my way and has organized some really nice record fairs of his own. He is in the process of starting a monthly at The Rendezvous which i will hopefully get to write about more in the near future.



Now onto the records. While I was digging through the stacks of one local seller I stumbled across this gem by Success N Effect. The cover has instantly made its way onto my all-time favorites list. Being one of those purchases made mostly for the cover, I was surprised to find out the music is also quality stuff.



Last but not least I found out that James is cool with former Skinny Boys DJ White Flash. I am definitely going to have to hit dude up for an edition of Can You Dig It?.