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Shop Gentei is back with another hot item, a 1992 Scotty B mix, dubbed from an original cassette copy, onto deadstock vintage tapes! It's weird to think about how casettes were THE SHIT back in the day, and how old they seem now. I sill have a tape deck that I can use, but how many people still do? A lot of people today have NEVER used tapes, and it must seem like a relic to them. To anyone that was into dance music in the 90's however, the mixtape was often the only source for tons of great DJ mixes and live sets, and 'only' copies of rare tapes were treated like gold. It is a real concern that a lot of this history will be lost as tape machines get older and older, and the magnetic strip degrades. This is a huge problem in general for old media, film, video tapes, computer disks, really anything analog - and it is a really fun idea to make this mix something that can't just be listened to anywhere.

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This mix is bangin', so go listen to it already@@!!

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So I know it has been a while since this site has seen any action, sorry for that! I found some more tapes in my parents attic on the last trip to Baltimore, so I will have a few gems to post over the next couple weeks. Nate also promises to finally record the Miss Tony birthday mix from 92Q 2001 that he has kicking around on Minidisc.

Shop Gentei is having their fall party on October 5th, check the shop site for details - unfortunately I'll be on a vacation to Tokyo, so we will not be playing. I'm kind of sad to miss it, we have played all the other shop parties, and it is always a good time. We will be making a trip to play at Proper in October though, so keep a lookout for us!

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Samuel L. Jackson - baltimore club mix

Nate found this video mashup of the 'Samuel L. Jackson Beer' skit on Idolator of all places. It still seems a little weird to me that club has established such a presence as a genre of music outside of Bmore...but if it means I can go to Rockstar bar in Brooklyn on a random night (also the home of Pies N Thighs fried chicken), and hear a pretty slamming opening set of club while I'm eating, I'm all for it.

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Scotty B got a writeup in the Baltimore City Paper, about his DJ'ing, and his travels due to club getting noticed worldwide. He and Technics are even going on a European tour this summer! I'd love to hear what kind of set they would  play in a packed European club. Scotty told me at the last Gentei party that he's already played at Fabric - hands down, the best club I will ever probably see. [Rathole: For real, I went to a Drum and Bass night there back in like 98, and the enthusiasm of 2000+ people going NUTS for Andy C/Hype/Grooverider/etc, on the hardest hitting system, 4 stories undergound in a vaulted brick ex-meat storage warehouse is amazing. People over there go out to have a good time, almost everyone is dancing. It is INSANE!!:Rathole][PS City Paper gets a shout for having citypaper.com, hott ass domain]

I honestly just met the man through the Gentei stuff, and he's pretty down to earth. I remember seeing him (and Technics at the amazing Music Liberated) at Sounds of Baltimore near Lexington Market back in like 94 and being totally intimidated by the 'store djs'. The good old days for sure. I'll be forever haunted by A guy called Gerald's 'Blow your house down' because of Music Liberated - I found on the shelf and Bernie took it back from me at the register!! Said "It shouldn't have been out, and I'll get killed if I sell it". I'll find a copy someday......

Str8 nerdin' = Josh, Scottie, Nate, KW Griff

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It's time once again for a Shop Gentei store redesign and the accompanying party time!! These things are always slamming, so arrive early and stay late. This one is also on a Saturday, so no excuses!

PS Sorry for the lax update schedule. Some updates are coming soon.

PPS Check out blaksquirrel.com for my general interest postings.

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My current chain.

So I have a bit of a thing for shoes. My second job ever was at Rudo Sports in Northwood shopping center. This was pretty much a dream job at the time (1990-1993), even if I was working for minimum wage (I think it was $4.75 back then). I got mad discounts on tenners, and happened to work with KW Griff who was DJ'ing every Friday at Paradox. Jimmy Jones, Booman, Rod Braxton and others would be in the store constantly, goofing around and getting me seriously hooked on the club and house tracks. I had crazy mix tapes then, but after some car break-ins where I lost a '30 case' of cassettes, not many are left.

The hot shoes back then were Reebok Classics running shoes, Air Max Is, K Swiss, and Jordan VIs, with a few ACGs and trainers thrown in. The king of all shoes though were the "Airs" (Air Force I's). I was vaguely aware of this back then, but Baltimore was really the only place in the country still selling Airs back then. I've seen the importance of Baltimore in keeping this shoe alive before the 'sneaker craze' of today mentioned in a few sneaker books (Where'd you get those by Bobbito Garcia), but this Nike pamphlet I just picked up last weekend at Nort/Recon breaks it down! This is a nice glossy ad for the upcoming 25th anniversary releases and Baltimore gets a full spread with a nice name check for "Charley Rudo Sports"! The maroon shoe is the colorway of the Rudo signage, and I'm going to be all over them when they get released.

[EDIT: More Baltimore shoes here: "Cloverdale Park"]

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