“Custodian Of Records” (Used 4 times)

I have mentioned the Coffee Break show before, and there’s a high probability that it will come up again and again. And for good reason. Aside from playing the familiar tunes and the occasional novelty record, Coffee Break has also showcased some serious local talent. One of these regulars is the NJ resident, the Custodian of Records. The Custodian produces sample-driven hip hop in an age where the practice is becoming increasingly scarce. Boasting an impressive body of work, TCOR is constantly working on new beats. Recently, while asking him what he’s worked on lately, he hit me with the news that he is moving to South NJ. Before I could even mentally register this news he asked if I could help move some of his records and without thinking I volunteered.

What initially started as one person helping another eventually turned into a guided tour of TCOR’s personal laboratory. The first thing I noticed as we got down to the basement is that it was exactly as he had described it. Music everywhere. Album covers all over the floor. Almost every square inch of deskspace is cluttered with LP’s, cassettes, and CD’s. There were a few boxes with records already packing into them, but it looked like there was much more work ahead. By the way, I don’t mean to insult the man’s cleanliness or organizational skills. In fact, quite the opposite. It definitely speaks volumes about his unique process of creating beats.

It was at this point that he started laying out some things I might be interested in. The next thing I know, I’m confronted by a pile of 45’s and various hip hop tapes, one of which is Del tha Funkee Homosapien’s ultra-rare cassette-only release Future Development. Already, I’m impressed with his collection. When I asked him how he acquired such a massive collection of 45’s, he replied that he is no stranger to flea markets. He himself has also volunteered to move other people’s record collections, which gave him an opportunity to keep some gems along the way. “You might recognize this,” TCOR says as he places an unmarked cassette into the tape deck. It takes me a second before I realize it’s an alternate Beatminerz mix to Black Moon’s heavy hitter classic “I Gotcha Opin”. He claims to not be a fan of the other remix, the one which sampled a Barry White tune.

Seems like there was an explosion of energy amongst beat makers this year.  It was as if the spirit of James "J Dilla" Yancey descended like a dove upon the head-nodding multitude and said, "I left this for you; now go do what it do."  From Flying Lotus to Hudson Mohawke to Gaslamp Killer to Samiyam to Ras G to countless others, there's a feeling of community and competition: everybody trying to outdo each other in the race towards that seductive slump or oft-kilter cadence in rhythm while cheering their comrades on at the same time.

But even amongst this post-Dilla generation of beat makers, the ever-ending barrage of clicks, cuts, bleeps, bloops, and static squelches that push things forward sound like boom bap derivatives, mainly because everyone's building off each other's work.  There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but it does explain why a collection of instrumentals from The Custodian of Records sounds so different.  Perhaps he's paying less attention to the new school beat generation and far more to that which came before it. 

Hailing from New Jersey, TCOR's production is a cross between DJ Premier and Prince Paul, combining the gritty kicks and percussive punches of the former with the humor and creative personality of the latter.  Whether it's his Lo Bit Beat Tape or the instrumental album She Hate Me, there's an element of grit to his sonic science, one that hints at dusty fingers from many years of diggin' in the crates.  (Come to think of it, that's who else TCOR is reminiscent of:  Diamond D or Lord Finesse from the Diggin' In The Crates crew.)

To say that She Hate Me has been in constant rotation since I downloaded it would be an understatement:  it's damn near a part of my DNA at this point.  There's the instant bounce factor of "The La La joint," the comforting sway of "Lucky Stars" or "Emo Step Show", not to mention the laid-back haze of "Hey."  However, the attached track for today will be "Thunderstorm," for the simple fact that my three year-old daughter heard it and immediately started dancing wildly to it.  She made it play it several times and raised quite a ruckus when I told her that it was time to go to bed.  If you have a young child, you know how honest their reactions to things can be, and therefore there's no better seal of approval than that...

If you've ever listened to Noah Zark's Coffee Break for Heroes and Villians, or his Coffee 2 Go podcast, you're already more than familiar with Custodian of Records. He's been a regular on both, and never disappoints.

If you haven't listened to either of those shows, you should. C.O.R. is a severely underrated hip-hop producer from New Jersey. His blog regularly features some great mixes and music coming out of Jersey that would otherwise be missed. He comes off of Domination Recordings, who have consistently brought music I love to this website.

Needless to say I was excited to see his recent album's instrumentals show up (in full!) on the site, as well as his 20 minute lo bit beat tape. She Hate Me has kept me sane during midterms week, but there are too many good songs in those 25 tracks to just pick one. So just check out the whole thing.

I've put the lo bit beat tape at the bottom of this entry where you can, and need to, give it a good long listen. Using recuts from "I used to love H.E.R." and an ocarina loop I swear I heard in Zelda (and, well, a mess of other things), C.O.R. displays his wide range in a too short tape.