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A strangely enticing community of outcasts, rogue adventurers and veteran music obsessors make their home in this bizarre yet beautiful amalgamation.
From the majestic foothills of the Catskill Mountains to the polluted canals of Brooklyn, Dope Jams Kaatskills is the roving record emporium turned communal event born out of the ashes of the storied Dope Jams shop in Bed-Stuy. From monthly gatherings at Public Records to the annual summer camp in Oak Hill, the mission is simply to BE FREE!
“Dope Jams know how to throw a sweaty, no-frills, no-bullshit fun-as-fuck dance party. I wound up at one late last year already at a full lather, the room dark save for washes of flickering lights. A half-dozen friends and I entered and immediately started to move, immersed in the deepest waters of deep house. For hours, the dj’s whiplashed their heads from the vantage of the store’s in-house DJ booth, gauging the crowd and grinning maniacally as they levitated the party at will. And we had to keep moving, well into the witching hours of the night.
By day, the magick items the shop stocked seem downright cheesy: Nag Champa incense that infused your clothes, skulls that held candles, Crowley books. But at this hour, these items become decidedly more sinister, this dance now turning into a ritual. It’s a heavy realization to have. And right around 3 am, right when our energies began to lag and the door out onto the street beckoned, they built up the room’s intensity to a pitch before breaking into an old-school hip-hop set with The Jungle Brothers and De La Soul. It was refreshing after so much mysterious, amazing music. But they then went straight to the pleasure zones: “Crazy in Love,” “Promiscuous,” “Rump Shaker,” “Jingling Baby.” It was a glorious payoff, a serotonin rush to beleaguered dancers, and one of the finest nights out in the city.”
Andy Beta, MTV
FOREST FINDS by Paul Nickerson for Love Injection
A new monthly column from Dope Jams' Paul Nickerson. Tune in as he reports on the goods from the woods direct from his Wonka-esque parkland 'Locust Grove' in the Catskill Mountains - home to a nightclub, THE CREAMERY; a record shop, DOPE JAMS; a campground, CAMP GALLAGHER; and his 40,000 plus record collection.
From the confines of the temperature controlled West Oak Hill headquarters we have been adding a large selection of used 12”s and LP’s to our Discogs shop. Classic Rock to Classic House!
“Few storekeepers have been as passionate about the music that they sell — or about New York house of the 1990s in general — as the cantankerous team that presided over Dope Jams. With an unparalleled selection both new and classic and an off-the-beaten path location, the store became a cult destination for serious house and techno collectors, who wore a hazing from its holier-than-thou employees as a badge of pride. Whether you loved them or hated them, there was no one like Dope Jams.”
“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….but they must know their model isn’t for everyone, that, like the ultra-orthodox Jews living a few blocks up from the shop, they ultimately have to coexist with an outside world operating under very different rules, for better or worse.”
“It was only when we started perusing the wall-mounted racks of new releases that we realized we were dealing with something we’d never encountered before: a store unafraid to speak the truth. Not objective, inarguable truth; but its own truth, righteous and largely convincing.”
“ In a world of too-safe critics and techno-back-patting, they’re unafraid to speak their minds but at heart are just a couple of characters with an outspoken true love for music.”
The debut release in the 'Ononaiye Center For Increased Awareness' series compiled by Paul Nickerson and Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell. 'Free At Last' is a series of jam sessions that took place in South Africa under the name 'Outernational Meltdown' - after the dissolution of apartheid the idea was birthed to gather a group of South African musicians who had little chance to expand their musical horizons during the repression and pair them with some of the finest Western World and Jazz musicians and see what happens! After two weeks of spontaneous recording sessions in Jo'burg and Cape Town with Brazilian master percussionist Airto Moreira, Sao Paolo born guitarist Jose Neto, South African bassist Sipho Gumede and Pop Mohammed amongst others this was the result of their 'experiment'. Previously released only as a very limited CD, these songs haven’t been on vinyl and are paired with the never before available trance-inducing Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell edit of ‘Khon'Othwele’.
Pressed on mushroom cloud hallucinogenic Pink Vinyl and housed in a Hand-Printed Jacket. Blink and they will be gone.