RONGETZ FOUNDATION NEW VIDEO Feat. John Robinson

"Composer of a modern day" feat. John Robinson

Jazz Hip hop at its best

OUR 5th BIRTHDAY / NOS 5 ANS

5 YEARS ALREADY FOR THE LABEL, SO QUICK!! WE GONNA CELEBRATE IT WITH 2 SHOWS (IN FRANCE) : MARSEILLE & PARIS

DEJA 5 ANS, CA PASSE VITE!! POUR FETER CA NOUS ORGANISONS 2 SOIREES A MARSEILLE ET PARIS. TOUTES LES INFOS CI DESSOUS.

PORTRAIT DE DISQUAIRE #4 : DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA

Nous continuons notre petite serie de portrait de disquaire avec cette fois ci un géant : DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA à Chicago, un formidable magasin de disque et une institution sur le web. Sans doute l'un de nos magasins préférés à travers le monde.

- Pourriez-vous nous raconter l'histoire de la boutique?

Dusty Groove America a commencé en 1996 comme un magasin en ligne uniquement à www.dustygroove.com  Nous étions de grands collectionneurs, DJs, et des diggers - et pendant des années, nous avions fait un voyage à travers le pays pour acheter des disques pour nous-mêmes, mais nous avons trouvés des stocks perdus que nous avions commencé à vendre sur le côté pour financer notre «habitude». Ensuite, nous avons eu l'idée de créer un site Web pour offrir quelques-uns des disques que nous avons trouvés à un large public international - ce que nous savions exister  à partir de visites à Londres, Paris et d'autres villes du monde.

Nous avons eu d'autres emplois à l'époque, de tel sorte que Dusty Groove était vraiment juste un passe-temps - un travail d'amour. Mais bientôt, il est vite pris son envol, et nous avons dû prendre la décision de plonger à temps plein, ce qui nous a fait plaisir. Le site s'est développé rapidement, et nous avons rapidement déménagé pour un  loft dans une partie de Chicago - Wicker Park - avec beaucoup de passage, et avons commencé à ouvrir le  magasin le week-end seulement. Finalement, nous avons déménagé au coin, à notre situation actuelle - où nous sommes depuis 10 ans - et a ouvrir le  magasin à temps plein au public.

Ca n'a jamais été un travail - et chaque jour, j'arrive toujours devant la porte avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme - désireux de voir et d'entendre les nouveaux enregistrements que nous recevons.

Depuis le début du magasin, est ce que la situation a évolué?

Comme le temps a passé, nous avons trouvé plus de place pour plus de musique que nous aimons - en partie en raison de la croissance de la boutique , mais aussi parce qu'être dans la musique toute la journée nous a fait aimer les choses encore plus qu'avant. Je peux honnêtement dire que pour moi, il y a des centaines d'artistes que je pensais que je n'aimerai jamais  mais que j'aime maintenant profondément, parce qu'être autour de leurs disques m'a aidé à développer ma compréhension de leur créativité. Je pense que pour certaines personnes, écouter de la musique peut être un "rétrécissement"  («ce n'est pas grand", "je n'aime que ce genre de musique", etc) - mais pour nous, c'est toujours un "élargissement" - et  chaque année, il ya  de plus en plus  de musique qui tourne autour de nous.

En outre, un autre changement s'est produit ces dernières années: Avec de moins en moins de magasins de disques, je pense que nous nous sentons d' d'un devoir d'essayer d'offrir plus de musique à nos clients. Quand nous avons commencé, c'était tout Dusty Groove d'essayer d'être différent des autres magasins de disques - offrir une orientation et une  sélection qui n'était pas dans tous les autres magasins sur le marché. Mais maintenant, le marché est si petit, je ne suis pas sûr qu'il y est une sorte de magasin  "normal"  - ceux d'entre nous qui sont restés, sont tous spécialisés - et d'une certaine façon, nous avons senti la  nécessité de faire partager  des choses qui ne  nous avaient jamais touché avant - country, classique, et ainsi de suite.

que pensez-vous du  phénomène Digger? Êtes-vous un Digger?

Oui, rien ne me rend plus heureux que de digger une grande pile de disques ou de CD

- Êtes-vous seulement  vinyle Aimez vous aussi les CD ou MP3?

Nous aimons aussi les CD - car ils offrent tellement de musique dans un petit format- et des CD portent avec eux un grand nombre d'information d'enregistrements - un format physique, superbe décoration, beaucoup d'informations, et une trace durable de  merveilleuse musique. De plus, de nombreux CD sont rares et épuisés, aussi!

- Pour vous, un magasin de disques c'est plus qu'un endroit où acheter des disques?

Oui, c'est vrai. Un magasin de disques est essentiel en termes de conservation / diffusion de la musique. Il n'ya presque pas d'archives de la musique populaire - et celles qui existent sont souvent mal financées et relativement «fermées» des espaces qui ne sont pas facilement offerts au public - seulement des groupes d'élite ou des chercheurs. La situation est très différente avec des livres - qui ont souvent été accessible aux masses  via les bibliothèques, petits et grands - ou même le  film qui, depuis l'avènement du marché locatif, a permis à la plupart des gens de devenir des cinéphiles dans leurs propres maisons. Mais la musique ne fait jamais l'objet de ce genre d'exposition et de telles connections à l'exception d'un magasin de disques (sauf  peut-être pour la radio, la circulation cassette, et maintenant des fichiers numériques) - et le magasin de disques est à la fois un lieu pour prendre  la musique, et la laisser se propager  nouveau à travers le monde.

La dimension sociale est certainement une partie du magasin de disque- mais honnêtement, nous sommes toujours travaillé si dur ici pour obtenir nos emplois , que nous sommes  moins social que la plupart des autres magasins de disques!

- Comment vous voyez-vous dans 10 ans?

Toujours là, toujours heureux et en bonne santé, et j'espère garder un oeil sur l'avenir - en particulier quand il s'agit de nouveaux formats. Nous aimerions sincèrement faire de la vente de musique numérique - mais en ce moment, il est pratiquement impossible pour des petits gars comme nous de bien le  faire. Le format a  vu le jour dans les mains des géants - et semble destiné à être seulement exploiter  au niveau d'iTunes. Mais je pense qu'il y a beaucoup de magasins  comme nous, qui pourraient apporter à l'expérience numérique - et honnêtement, il n'y a à peu près personne qui a vraiment trouvé la bonne façon de vendre de la musique numérique - du moins pas au niveau qui a été fait avec le vinyles et le  CD.

                              1120 N Ashland Ave -- Chicago, IL, USA
            (Corner of Haddon Street, 1 Block South of Division Street)

RECORD STORE PORTRAIT #4 : DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA (RICK)

Here we go with a new portrait. And this time, we are dealing with a monument : DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA in Chicago. A personal favorite since years. Rick, one of the boss, was kind enough to take some time for us to answer few questions (there are nearly a year).

- Could you tell us the story of the shop?

Dusty Groove America started in 1996 as an online-only store at www.dustygroove.com   We were big collectors, DJs, and diggers -- and for years, we'd taken trips around the country to buy records for ourselves, but often found surplus records that we'd begun selling on the side to finance our "habit".  Then, we got the idea of setting up a website to offer some of the records we found to a larger international audience -- which we knew was out there from visits to London, Paris, and other global cities.

We had other jobs at the time, so Dusty Groove was really just a hobby -- a labor of love.  But soon, it quickly took off, and we had to make the decision to dive in full time, which we did gladly.  The website grew rapidly, and we soon moved to a loft in a part of Chicago -- Wicker Park -- that had a lot of good foot traffic, and began opening a weekend-only store.  Eventually, we moved around the corner, to our present location -- where we've been for 10 years -- and opened a full-time store at street level.

It's never been work at all -- and every day, I still walk in the door with great excitement -- eager to see and hear the new records that we receive.

- From the beginning of the shop , did the situation change for the shop ? 

As time has gone on, we've found more room for more music we love -- partly because of the growth of the store, but also because being around music all day long makes us like things even more than before.  I can honestly say that for myself, there are hundreds of artists that I thought I didn't like years ago -- but now love deeply, because being around their records has helped me expand my understanding of their creativity.  I think that for some people, music listening can be a "narrowing" experience ("this isn't great", "I only like this sort of music", etc) -- but for us, it's always a "widening" one -- where each year, there's more and more music that really turns us on.

Also, another change has happened in recent years:  With less record stores in general, I think we feel more of a duty to try to offer more music to our customers.  When we started, Dusty Groove was all about trying to be different from other record stores -- offer a focus and selection that was not out there in all the other stores on the market.  But now, the market is so small, I'm not sure there is any sort of "normal" store -- those of us who are left, are all specialized -- and in some way, we've felt more of a need to make things available that we never touched before -- country, classical, and so on.

`

-  what do  you think about the digging phenomena? Are you a digger yourself?

Yes, nothing makes me happier than digging through a large pile of records or CDs

- Are you vinyl only or Do you also like CD or MP3?

We love CDs too -- as they offer so much music in such a great format -- and CDs carry with them many of the same appeal of records -- a physical format, great artwork, lots of information, and a lasting record of wonderful music.  Plus, lots of CDs are rare and out of print, too!

- For you, is a record shop more than a place to buy record ?

Yes, it is.  A record store is critical in terms of the preservation/circulation of music.  There are almost no archives of popular music -- and those that exist are often poorly funded, and relatively "closed" spaces that don't easily offer themselves up to the public -- just elite groups or researchers.  The situation is very different with books -- which have often been accessible to the masses from libraries big and small -- and even with film, which since the advent of the rental market, has allowed most people to become cinephiles in their own homes.  But music never gets this kind of exposure and connection anywhere other than the record store (save, perhaps for radio, cassette tape circulation, and now digital files) -- and the record store is both a place to bring together music, and set it free again into the world.

The social dimension is certainly part of that too -- but honestly, we're always working so hard here to get our jobs done, that we might be less social than most record stores!

- how do you see yourself in 10 years?

Still around, still happy and healthy, and hopefully keeping an eye on the future -- especially when it comes to new formats.  We'd honestly love to be selling digital music -- but right now, it's virtually impossible for the little guys like us to do well.  The format already emerged in the hands of the giants -- and seems destined to only be operating strongly at the iTunes level.  But I really think there's a huge amount stores like us could bring to the digital experience -- and honestly, there's just about nobody out there who's really found the right way to sell digital music -- at least not at the level that has been done with LPs and CDs.

                              1120 N Ashland Ave -- Chicago, IL, USA
                          (Corner of Haddon Street, 1 Block South of Division Street)

WONDERLAND

Today I had the chance to visit the records archive of RADIO FRANCE (french national radio). I've never seen so many records in my all life... A place to spend days, months, years!!!

LOUD MINORITY

Thanks to the band Dopegems, who did a great cover (check their 7inch coming), I just discovered this killer track. Enjoy.

RECORD STORE PORTRAIT #3 : BETINO (in english)

If there was a contest of "the coolest record store boss in the world" would be directly Betino finalist! Passionate about music, man with the heart of gold, here is a picture of a store boss not ordinary

-        Hello Betino, please could you introduce you and the store ?

I opened the store in March 1999. It's been almost 13 years. I opened the shop, not by chance because I had already worked 12 years in retail, export and record store.

I started in 1987 at Radio Pygmalion, the shop opposite and rival fnac forum (opposite). They sold 50 cents cheaper. I was an avid record buyer and every day. I spent my days studying to second hand stores and news. I bought lots of news, funk & disco. I had the chance to follow the new movements such as hip hop from the beginning of 1980, electro, funk, electro funk and house music. Then the end of the old school hip hop, new school beginning with RUN DMC.

I attacked a shop in 1987, so I found a lot of stuff, it helped me to broaden my culture. All music except classical. Rather black music but I was also rock and new wave.

I worked a year and a half and then I went to the import of novelty and I met KARAMEL. It became pals and they asked me to come work with them. I worked 10 years at home. We did everything, the distrib, import - export, reissues, compilations ...

This was the beginning of acid jazz : DJ cam, Mighty bob, Big cheese, Pure, beginnings of the French scene, early yellow. In France and abroad.

We opened a record store, which has struggled in the beginning and then I went there and I am busy for two years before closing. At the end of the lease, I had a lot of customers so I told myself that it was continuing with another shop. It was not adventurous, I had  experience,  a stock of records, relationships with distributors around the world, in the middle. I have not mounted my store blind.

- So it was a dream?

Not at first, I did not think at the beginning my goal was to continue to work with Karamel in music.

- Sell discs is what makes you get up in the morning.

Yes I love. I go to the store with a smile, this is my 2nd home. My psychologist, my way of feeling good. After my family, my shop there. I can I smile, I'm happy to be here, chat with people, to sell records. Though it's stressful because linked to a turnover, but I'm glad I did not work in relation only to it.

- You see an evolution since the opening?

Yes, I have progressed in terms of turnover. In 10 years, three-quarters of the clientele has changed. You can not rely on the same customers in the long term. They marry, stop buying records. I sold everything but still must move with the music. Adapt and not get lost in the music that you do not understand. I do not hard rock because I did not find it. In Drum & bass and broken beat, I was on top, I felt it was going down and evolve. Must follow the paths. I always followed the news from hip hop and house. The interest is to always be in the thing, I need it. But when you see a style gets stuck you have to go to something else. I stopped styles like R'n'B it pleased me most was it was less interesting for me. For  Hip hop in  late 90's, we had to choose, I chose the underground, hip hop and jazz not the commercial.

These are my personal taste and feeling of the people I speak music. I'm listening to the people, news, style

Compared to the crisis and the advent of disk mP3, have you seen any changes?

Yes, it has changed. The first big blow the experiences we have, we had to react: September 11th, very important date for  NYC. NY stopped living for several months and that  was the source of all the house, deep house, many  labels, distributors, clubs have closed. There was a fall, I worked a lot with them. Less production, less quality, it was necessary to move on. 2nd shot / 2006: Development of the download. It started to drop the CD and vinyl for DJs. I was not too affected because I was not too much on dance and hip hop. On large volumes because I had already changed in early 2000. Fortunately, I had kept a niche selection was not downloadable. It felt at maxis. Tractor with serato and a lot of DJs have stopped the vinyl EPs. I realized the need to develop other things in hip hop, in compilations, reissues. Buy older sounds. It's a small shop so you can modify your system without disturbing people.

- Are part of the  DIGGING movement?

I did not digged so much , in some secondhand stores, but I wanted also new. I've never been 100% in the old or  in the soundtrack or 45s. I stayed away from that and I kept the back it must have as store. When you  are in a shop every day long, you can not all Saturdays and Sundays to get up at 5am to get hard. I did from time to time before the shop for fun, not to search for the rare but just for fun. I do not have that obsessive side owing by other, without criticism, but a philosophy. I dig when I go to NY, London to Tokyo. I love it. We share three days in New Jersey by car. We all record stores. I have done many times since 2006 but there is a big drop.

How do you see the future?

But not necessarily in pink who will hold people know to manage their company properly care for their customers. Those who manage to adapt to new markets, attract new customers: 14-19 years who buys hip hop, jazz, rock, afro. Not much budget, not looking original but reprints, second pressings. Contrary to popular belief the youth interested in vinyl, but with a more limited budget. For many of solicitation (phone, sneakers). 30 years ago, you had less stress so you spent all your energy in the disks.

In the 80s, it was hard foremost, before girls and other, all for the music. The object of the obsessive collector. I was not in there, today's youth are more backward.

- Vinyl, CD or mp3?

I'm not against it, I am for everything. Whatever. The important thing is to love music. My pleasure: # 1 is vinyl, cd less. But I encode my vinyl and listened to on the computer. It is compilations. I'm glad the vinyl even though I'm more selective. I love music, I want it to make me well that she enquiquine me. I have a passion for music, but also people.

A Record store that's just records or a larger dimension?

Yes it is to have a drink, a coffee, discuss the weather rain, laugh talk music. There is a time for everything. Some come for the music, I respect, it has no worries. But everyone is different. This is a public place where people come to express themselves but buy records. Everyone is different. The human dimension is important as the music I do not only work as a merchant of record, but as a meeting place. We discover something new, we'll talk about it, share it. I had a period where every Tuesday I had the news, there was a line outside the store. It was important for the business, but it agonized me because it was the war for the discs. I did not. People have changed, it is more cool, less competition between DJs that does not displease me.

BETINO, 32 RUE SAINT SEBASTIEN 75011 PARIS    www.betinos.com

ALL TIME FAVORITE TOP 5 :
1...COS 'Postaeolian train robbery' 1974 ( Plus record) BELGIQUE

2...The Kenny Clarke/Fancy Bolland big Band "Manbo de las Brujas"  1968 (Prestige) USA

3....Hector Costita "Divagaçao 6/8"   1981 (Som Da Gente) BRESIL

4....Gloster Williams and Master Control " The message" 1979 (LA Record) USA

5....King Sporty & The Roots Rockers  " Badoo" 1979 (Konduko) USA

TOP 5 NEWS  :
1...K DEF "Back to basics"

2... THE ORIGINAL BLACK SHEEP (OF THE FAMILY) "in the forest"

3....THE RONGETZ FOUNDATION "Brooklyn butterfly session"

4....HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE " choice cuts"

5....JULIEN DYNE "Glimpse"