Editorial Notes | September 2023

Greetings from the Editorial desk! As Fall approaches, we’re amping up on lots of exciting projects.

August was met with the thrilling opportunity of going alongside Eilon on my first photoshoot with the legendary Will Holland, aka Quantic. He played endlessly delicious tunes, shared some great music insights, and was an all around pleasure. I had to stop myself from the urge to rummage through everything he owned.

In the editorial realm, we’re making headway on our Tax Scam feature, where we hope to cover the ludicrous phenomenon of labels releasing the mysterious records of unknown artists (which would inevitably tank) for tax write-offs. The Dust & Grooves team has been vehemently attempting to track down a solid tax scam record collection, leading us down paths of ghosting and dodgy responses. We finally managed to find a willing collector, Keith D’Arcy, here on our own turf in New York.

If you’re following along our adventures at home, you probably already know that Eilon is set to make rounds across the world for Volume 2 photoshoots. He’s heading through Israel, Europe, UK, Japan, and West Coast USA for some thrilling collectors, including the iconic film director Don Letts, videographer of The Clash and esteemed punk rock documentarian, with the interview written by seasoned scholar and musician (and friend of Dust & Grooves) Vivien Goldman! We’re ecstatic to see what these brilliant minds discuss. “Ethiopiques” creator and musicologist Francis Falceto is also a newly confirmed stop and I’m sure Eilon will be overwhelmed with all of the Ethiopian jazz this photoshoot is sure to have. Plus, we’re visiting French DJ and producer Dimitri from Paris, Italian acid jazz DJ and musician Nicola Conte, and Belgian tastemaker LeFtO on the way.

After reaching out to our wonderful Dust & Grooves community, we found great collectors for our special “secret” Portable Players project. Let’s just say we’ll be making another stop in Vienna…

After Europe, Eilon’s also making a stop in Japan to go on an epic train journey across the islands in search of the best vinyl bars for a special book feature about the legendary (and sometimes obscure) Kissas. 

Editor Dave Ma has been settling in and fine tuning all of our Volume 2 interviews, as well as giving our interns lots of editing wisdom. More from the Editor’s Desk:

“In these last few weeks, an update: beyond delighted to see the larger picture emerge and the possibilities of making volume 2 bigger, bolder, and better. Excited to unveil the wonderful cast of writers and legendary subjects we have in store.”

Passing the mic once more, intern Justin Denaro has been hard at work on some incredible mixtapes for all of your listening needs. With our August edition newly released, here’s some words from Justin on what you can expect:

“An auditory exploration through breezy, easy listening, smokey downtempo lounge, funky rhythmic grooves, and analog synth odysseys. This playlist is curated by intern Justin Denaro, with track contributions from the whole Dust & Grooves team. It spans the warm-up, the climax, and the come-down —a transition from sultry summer nights to the crisp embrace of the approaching autumn. Highlights feature Sven Libaek, Saâda Bonaire, Di Melo and Cotonete, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Stereolab, Mort Garson, Pale Saints, Isao Tomita and more.”

For more on the intern front, my own writing column, Digging Our Own Crates, has flowered into a team effort, with our own Liz Reich guest writing on the illuminating power of The Shangri-Las. Stay tuned for more music musings and education on our website and social media.

We’re thrilled to welcome our new interns to our sprawling team! Stephen Jones is a fantastic album reviewer from Kent, UK and has lots of experience as a Creative Artworker—now, he’ll be working alongside us as an Editorial Intern. Originally from Paris, Dimitri Haab is an all-around creative person (with passions for film, creative writing, and music) based in Brooklyn, New York (our home) and will also assist with all things editorial. We also have a new volunteer: Mark Jones (yay!), who will provide his invaluable assistance for the business side of things, helping us spread the Dust & Grooves gospel (for the record, we did not intend to have two British Jones’, although we are thrilled about this coincidence).

Plus, a Dust & Grooves baby has been born! Congratulations volunteer Jake Monka on his beautiful new daughter, may she have a rocking music taste.

That’s all the news we have for now! Keep spinning and keep in tune for all the good to come.

-Kait & Skye