Pictures from my last digging trip
Frank
2,374 Posts
This is a shrine of Voodoo god Tolegba who is responsible to protect the village of my friend Landrie outside of Cotonou.
Checking out a private record collection in Porto Novo
Record agents Landrie and Chakirou with the owner of another collection (left to right). This man was a big Fela Kuti fan and told us some great stories from back in the day...
Fueling up the car at one of the typical black market gas stations
Digging through the dusty back room of a former record store in Parakou.
Memorial outside a settlement of freed slaves west of Ouidah.
When we visited the next day, somebody was home and the sign said "super present".This is some of the stuff that we unearthed on this trip.I've already finished a new Afrobeat mix and will do another disco cheese bomb next week... I'm not sure though how long it'll be until I get the mp3s uploaded because the connection down here has been super slow for the past few weeks and there are interruptions all the time.
Comments
cannot wait to hear the mixes!
Does the Antoine LP have the "machete" single on it?
Frank, the whole "Diggers Planet" is envying you right now.
Again, thanks for sharing.
Peace
Pure class.
You contacted me before about this, right?
I have a sleeveless (and hammered...) spare of the Rob LP in storage in Berlin.
It'll be at while until I have access to it again though.
No, the Antoine Dougbe LP is more straight Pachanga. I think that the single you're talking about was a 45 only release.
I did however find sleeves for a second press it that has another photo of him, standing in front of a newer car with a bigger machete in his hand...
if at all possible, please put together a comp one day Frank!
wow......great pics and stories! if you are not the man, who the f&ck is?
Thank you for sharing.
great pics of what is truly the deepest digging in the history of records.
Congrats and thanks so much for sharing.
The Mac Collection-Party Fever sooooooo ill.
The Ofege LP with dude flipping the bird. awesome
The Bunny Mack cover is begging for a
I'm happy if the sleeve's still in one piece and if you can still make out the cover design and read what's written on it.
Vinyl ranges from unplayed to unplayable and sometimes even unplayed records crackle like hell due to rough local pressing.
It's best to accept minor noise and crackle as aural patina.
While traveling, I usually only clean those records who have dust, dirt or sand on them so they could get more scratched if I'd transport them like they are. I just rinse them under running water with a bit of soap. Thorough cleaning follows once I'm back at home.
Often, when I get back to the hotel in the evening after a long day of digging, I am just as filthy as the dirtiest records that I found. Sometimes, I just remove some records from the sleeve and take them under the shower with me... I know that sounds kinda weird but it saves time and since you never know when the water might be cut, it makes sense to do the most necessary cleaning all at once...
Sexy Beast.
I am sure the people you meet along the way are even more rewarding than the records themselves.
I hear this. Just like a 10-15 minute short to get a more in depth look at the experience.
Simply fascinating stuff.
These finds really call for a 'nother-level facemelt graemlin. Thanks a lot for sharing the stories on the blog. That type of traveling and interacting with the sellers is an art in itself. Now that's what I call diggin'!