Friends, roamers, record-hunters…
Welcome to Issue 05 of You Dig?, your monthly low-down on all that’s cool at the intersection of music, physical media, people and photography. We’re back for 2025, people!
We’re thrilled to have some seriously mind-bending cover art from Ellen G for this issue of You Dig?. Depending how quickly you can get your head around her Escher-style record store illustration, says a lot about how big your Saturday night was! It’s so cool to have this artwork from Ellen though – as you can read in her 2021 interview for Dust & Grooves, she’s designed covers and posters for Lee Scratch Perry, Mungo’s Hi-Fi, Scientist and Sister Nancy, among others, so we’re in the company of legends.
Continuing the reggae vibes, curating the main chunk of this month’s newsletter is New York DJ and dedicated Dust & Groover, Grace of Spades. Fresh from her interview with Jessica Lipsky for Dust & Grooves, Grace has put together some deep, deep recs, which go heavy on the reggae, as you’d expect. Check out Grace’s sublime Yours Until Tomorrow mixtape, below, which has had me bouncing while trying to write this [so watch out for the typos!]. Next month’s guest selector is long-time friend of Dust & Grooves, Ben Goldfarb (AKA DJ Scribe).
Meantime, sit back and enjoy some top-quality recs from Grace.
Rich Headland
Resident Editor
Vinyl Quotes
“The only way I will put a record in my collection, is if it speaks to me at a certain level, if it has an element that I find attractive, or that I connect with—I will give it its place on the shelf.”
–Alex Figueira
Dust & Grooves Curates
by Grace of Spades
Hey!
My name is Grace—I somehow coined “Grace of Spades” back in high school, so it was almost like a built-in DJ moniker when I started dragging old records out to dive bars.
You can catch my show ‘Watch This Sound’ on East Village Radio every other Wednesday from 6 to 8pm ET, alternating weeks with bestie and fellow Dust & Groover Jonny Go Figure’s ‘Riddim Culture’. Otherwise, I’m all over the place—so keep up.
Rockin’ a Dockumentary
Heroes and Villains: Long-form interviews that caught my eye
I’ll admit I am not a podcast/interview person, but I really enjoy music documentaries of all kinds—particularly when I learn things I wouldn’t have necessarily dug into myself, like with Wham! or the recent Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary. But I also enjoy getting deeper into stuff I already love, like the recent Stax docuseries. One of my favorites has to be the Bunny “Striker” Lee documentary I am the Gorgon—I was fortunate enough to watch a screening of it while sitting just a few feet from him, which was pretty special.
Dollar-bin Money Maker
Economy Class. Amazing finds from the $1 bin
The fun ‘holy shit’ find I still think about to this day was while sifting through a ‘Hip-Hop Promo’ labeled dollar bin in a Texas record store chain. I came across a (albeit sleeveless) copy of Money Maker—a Studio One instrumental LP featuring Im & David and Jackie Mittoo. It most definitely does not go for $1—not then, and certainly not now.
I also recently found and bought six dollar-bin copies (out of the 12 they had) of Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You”—but specifically for the sleeper B-side that he recorded with Lee Scratch Perry, “Love Can Run Faster.” I’ve already given away two of them because I love it when reggae heads don’t know about it.
Digging Up Diamonds
Hello, I Love You: Labels we dig
IYKYK—but for those that don’t: DigiKiller/Deeper Knowledge Recordshas been slaying the game for years when it comes to thoughtfully unearthing hidden gems in order to make deep cuts more accessible to the masses. While it’s always consistent quality, the 2024 releases were no joke and seems like there’s nothing but fire ahead for 2025.
30 Minutes of Madness
Listen to This. Mixtapes and aural pleasures
I’ve picked up the habit of grabbing cassette tapes again, as if I didn’t hoard enough physical media already… But there’s nothing quite like a homemade mixtape. Prince Pauper of Domino Sound Record Shack has a great collection of mixtapes, if you’re ever in New Orleans, and whenever I listen to them I get inspired to make more. During the dark days of lockdown I made a bunch of mixes and used one for a cassette collaboration. We sold a limited stack of them and donated everything to MusiCares as well as Impact Jamaica, so I’d like to do more shit like that if people are into it!
Two Tone Pioneer
Dig Deeper. Get lost in music.
Fellow nerd Joanna Wallace has spent some years shining a light on ’The Beat Girl’—an untold story behind the pioneer trans woman that inspired the iconic image of ska and Two-Tone subculture: Brigitte Bond AKA Brigitte Saint John. There’s a 30 minute video so far, and a more in-depth timeline of her life, including news articles etc, on her website.
Spooky Seven
Plug Me In, Scotty! Props to the DG community and beyond.
I got a friend’s demo into the trusted hands over at Names You Can Trust and assisted in the concoction of a spooky 7-inch we released for Halloween (though you can play it all year round). It’s on the subsidiary label, Swing-a-Ling: “Sound from the Graveyard” b/w “The Last Organ on Earth”, by Vincent Price and the Young Spirits. Check it out, if you dare…
Studio One Stories
Books Are Magic. Music books that are not Dust & Grooves.
Jeremy Collingwood – Sir Coxson Dodd: His Musical Mightyness Book (Pressure Sounds) Covering the first six years of Coxson’s vinyl output, this is one for the real heads. I’m a sucker for nice label scans, too.
Speaking of sick label scans—shout out to Moman for their work on compiling the second installment of No Man is an Island: A Guide to More Choice Studio One Pressings (Heavenly Recordings). A real undertaking.
Grace’s Go-Tos
We Love Lists. Top 5 records on my deck this month
Kelly Makeda – “Shake it Off” (Peckings 7-inch)
“Love is Not a Gamble” riddim meets Mariah Carey—need I say more? I love watching people bug out when they first hear this.
Alton Ellis – “Play it Cool” (Jackpot 7-inch)
If this doesn’t make you feel good, I want to know who hurt you!
Lloyd Charmers – “Skin Tight” (Rock A Shacka – Reissue 7-inch)
Fail-proof banger of a version… I think I started my set at the Dust & Grooves release party with it!
Third World – “I Wake Up Crying” (Columbia 7-inch)
A funky sleeper of a B-side that I can’t seem to leave at home.
The Tamlins – “Lately” (Lovelorn 12-inch)
Is anyone NOT a sucker for a solid Stevie Wonder cover? Hard to pick a favorite, but this is top tier.
Righteous Roots Invasion!
New Releases. Catching my eye right now.
As for the fire coming from DKR, I’m really happy to see this collection of tunes from The Invaders come together on an LP, after only owning them on previous 7-inch releases. It touches on folk and gospel in an almost haunting but subtle way that truly elevates them above many harmony groups from the early roots reggae era. Like I said: 🔥 🔥 🔥
Get Out!
Put your phone down and feed your soul with live events
Japan
One of my favorite things about Japan is that there is a niche for everyone – and for me, the amount of bars dedicated to reggae is like being a kid in a candy store. Every second Monday of the month in Tokyo, you can check out Scratch Famous’ Got to be a Leader party at Bar Open with a variety of special guests. Next session is this coming Monday, March 10!
London
Be sure to hit the RAM JAM bimonthly reggae session in Dalston on March 14, with special guest Eljay Massagan ‘longside the @ramjamlondon crew. The club has a great vibe that is complemented by the always-killer selections.
Glasgow
For those further north in the UK, check out the bimonthly Vocal or Version party, hosted by Shaun Galbraith, on March 29. I have yet to make it out to one, but every guest selector that passes through is thoughtfully chosen for their impeccable taste.
New York
Most importantly for the New York massive, mark your calendars for the Summer Sound System Series presented by Dust & Grooves’ own Carter Van Pelt and Chanter the Timeless Sound: June 15, July 20, August 2, August 31 and September 14.
More info will be available soon on the @coneyislandreggae Instagram.
Recovery Sunday
Let’s kill more time and reassure ourselves with high-brow viral scrolling
My buddy and DJ Dave Hill out of London posts one record a day on his @soulrevivers account. It’s a great daily dose of musical knowledge, usually with a bit of pressing info and nerdy notes—whether it’s a new song to you or an old classic you haven’t thought of in a while. Cheers this Dave!
Our Cover Artwork
Infinite Digging By Ellen G
This month’s trippy cover art comes from Tel-Aviv based artist and digger Ellen G. You can get your limited edition print from our online store.
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Dust & Grooves Memberships and Support
By now, we’re sure you can see how much love goes into Dust & Grooves. It’s a pure passion project, and Eilon has worked super hard to keep it an independent endeavor—always completely ad-free. This has been going for over a decade, and in that time Dust & Grooves has seen the building of a genuinely great community that celebrates record collecting, and one that has a huge love of music. We absolutely love to see it, and it means a lot to us.
We’re going to kindly ask that you consider to continue this support by looking at becoming a paid member, or make a one-time donation. There are some real groovy benefits to this and discounts on a range of merch, lovely!
Your support means we can preserve the culture we all cherish.
Dust & Grooves Books
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Dust & Grooves Vol. 2
Further Adventures in Record Collecting – First Limited Edition
Renowned photographer and publisher Eilon Paz returns after the successful release of Dust & Grooves: Adventures In Record Collecting. For Volume Two, Paz highlights the planet’s biggest proponents of vinyl collecting, bridging stunning images with extensive interviews, revealing the motives and backstories behind the global vinyl community. Ten years after the first release, with vinyl sales skyrocketing and a booming popularity among Gen-Zs, Volume Two digs deeper than its predecessor, underscoring gorgeous collections from astute everyday enthusiasts to venerated DJs, musicians, and producers. Veteran journalist and editor David Ma handles the editorial end to this sequel, making Volume Two a cultural leader in the field, expertly accentuating the world’s unifying devotion to vinyl.
Tailor made for lovers of world-class photography, novice and expert collectors, and music obsessives alike.
Foreword by Prince Paul
Includes interviews with A-Trak, DaM Funk, Quantic, DJ Spinna, Kid Koala, Don Letts, Andy Votel, Mayer Hawthorne and more.
First limited edition of 4000 copies.
Ships locally from 5 main warehouses. US, Canada, Europe (Belgium), UK and Australia.
Portables
A Visual & Historical Exploration of 222 Vintage Portable Turntables
A 470-page hardcover book featuring highly detailed photos and comprehensive research on 222 portable vinyl record players, sourced from the collections of Paola Puente, Kalle Aldis Laar, Eric Cohen, Bas Bogerd and Mark Cruz.
Once considered little more than a children’s plaything or a grade school accessory, the portable record player has gained newfound respect in recent years. Whatever they may lack in high-end audio fidelity, battery-powered turntables more than make up for it with their convenience and ease of use. Just ask any crate digger: a cult favorite portable like the Columbia GP-3 or the Audio-Technica Sound Burger (or even the Fisher-Price Big Bird model) can be an absolutely essential companion on an all-day vinyl hunt.
Portables features lavish, detailed photos of 222 portable turntables from around the world, including rare record players from Japan, the UK, Germany and the Soviet Union as well as the USA, and ranging in vintage from the 1920s to the early twenty-first century. They’re all gorgeously captured here by photographer Eilon Paz, with accompanying commentary from music historian Dan Epstein.
Whether you’re a hardcore turntable collector, an aficionado of cool vintage audio gear, a student of industrial design, or a vinyl lover curious about the wild world of portable record players, Portables will make your head spin—and will soon have you scouring thrift stores, antique malls, and even your grandma’s attic for the portable record player of your dreams.
Dust & Grooves: Vol. 1 & 2
Deluxe Limited Box Set
A deluxe slipcase box set of Dust & Grooves Vol. 1 (10th Anniversary Edition) & Vol. 2.
Includes:
4mm cardboard slipcase with foil stamping and blind deboss
The Dust & Grooves Sleeveface Poster
