Monday Michiru | The Right Time (Jephte King Street Vokal) | |
–Ananda Project* | Glory Glory | |
–Kerri Chandler | Coro ('Kaoz 6:23' Dark Mix) | |
–TPO* | Hiroshi's Dub (Joe Claussell Bonus Groove) | |
–Mood II Swing Feat. CarolSylvan* | Closer (King Street Moody Club) | |
–Danell Dixon | Dance, Dance | |
–Gerideau | Take A Stand (Smack Rain Vibe Mix) | |
–Mood II Swing | Sunlight In My Eyes | |
–Big Moses Feat. Kenny Bobien | Brighter Days | |
–Ananda Project* | Destination (Slow To Speak Overdub) | |
–Tears Of Velva | Way I Feel (4 Daye Mix) | |
–Bassmental Feat. Charles McDougald | It's The Music (King Street Club) | |
–DJ Romain | All Day, All Night | |
–Johnny Dangerous | Emerald City (Dangerous Cub Mix) | |
–Kerri Chandler | Harder Gets Higher | |
–Carolyn Harding | Pick It Up (Overload Dub) | |
–Urban Soul | What Do I Gotta Do (Eric Kupper Club Mix) | |
–Ananda Project* | Straight Magic (Wamdue Kids Jazz Mix) | |
–Ananda Project* | Cascades Of Colour (Wamdue Black Mix) |
Were they as rude as they are renowned to be? Heard stories about them telling people to leave the store for requesting to listen to a shit record etc?I used to go to their store on myrtle ave in bed-stuy Brooklyn, great space, used to throw parties in it. they moved to a tiny town about 2.5 hours north of the city, changed the name to preserved instincts, now they hold backyard parties. wonder who actually goes to the store, it's seriously in the middle of nowhere. maybe just a cheap place for online/mailorder sales. or a front for less legal activities.
Were they as rude as they are renowned to be? Heard stories about them telling people to leave the store for requesting to listen to a shit record etc?
Anyone who's spent a bit of time in Dope Jams has probably encountered similar jabs: these guys are infamously salty. "You have to understand," Englehardt explains, "we are complete assholes. We are complete fucking assholes. We know that we're assholes and we're okay with that. And, like, the people that like us are usually assholes, too, or appreciate the fact that we're complete assholes, you know what I mean?"
Chat with Englehardt, and you're likely to come away with the impression that everything—from the shop's bread-and-butter clientele ("DJs have always been the most closed-minded music shoppers that I've ever seen") to Nicolas Jaar's recorded output ("It's boring, watered-down trip-hop from the '90s with an Ableton twist. Fuck you.") to my RA colleagues (a description on their website offered this summation of Vakula's Leleka 2: "Further proof that Philip Sherburne should go before Ethiopian Emperors and be decapitated")—sucks.
Combined with their reputation as unapologetic bootleggers and general shut-ins (don't look around for Englehardt or Nickerson at the Bunker or Mister Saturday Night; they're not there), their shtick can be off-putting—a bit more extra baggage than you'd like to accompany the $15.99 asking price of an import 12-inch in America these days. But Dope Jams isn't merely a clubhouse for dance music pranksters; it's the embodiment of a critique, though one that falls outside the realm of the strictly intellectual. It's the last reserve of dopeness in a world they see as increasingly bereft of it.