Laverne and Shirleythe great
sages of the 20th Centuryonce challenged; "Give us any chance, we'll take it. Give us any rule, we'll break it." If you're challenging me, a la DiFazio, give me any tune, I'll find it ... in about a minute. Times were when you wanted a song, you had to go from record store to record store and maybe even special order an album, taking upwards of two weeks (months, if overseas). Now with one click in iTunes most US-distributed tracks can be yours in seconds. But what if you want something more hard-to-find? Remixes, out-of-print, imports? Ask me. I've gotten it down to a science.
Let me share some of my tricks, but only about half. A girl's got to keep some secrets.
Want to get a lead on your hipster pals who always know the coolest bands? Blogs are the best way, as record labels feed blogs key tracks to give out for free. About half are really amazing remixes too. The best ones out there are rcrdlbl.com and indie standard pitchfork.com . Both have the most recent, legal and cutting edge tracks out there.
Remixes are tough on iTunes, let alone at a brick and mortar store, so you have to get underground. Legally, your go-to should be Beatport 95% of the time. The mp3 quality is the best around and the artists get a good cut. If that's going nowhere, start with Googling it. You'll find tons of legal and slightly less legal ways to get the newest tracks from places like dirrtyremixes and In Da Prophi's House, who trump everyone when you're looking for the newest and hottest for your dancefloor needs.
As for out-of-print or unreleased cuts, Google once again, but try the little known blogsearch.google.com to weed out news stories and such and get right to the people. Writers like me love to upload and show off our snobby rarities for you to enjoy. Soundcloud also is a treasure trove of unreleased tracks as well as bootleg remixes. You can find my postings there under Moosebox. Some real gems …
…or do what all my friends do, and hit me up on my wall. Works (for them) every time.
Go to Moose's blog www.danceaboutarc.wordpress.com for links to all these delicious sites!