Scott Down and DJ Cutler
Blue Collar Funk II: The 716 Lesson
(Lo Do Records)

The Queen City’s prime crate-diggers are at it again, and it’s still nothing but Buffalo in the breaks. The followup to the duo’s 2008 mix Blue Collar Funk: Crate Diggin’ in Buffalo 1969-1989 is not simply as cohesive and infectious as the last time around; it even ups the bracket. The 716 Lesson builds on the genius model of Crate Diggin’—which used instrumental breaks, cuts, and samples from long-lost independent and private press vinyl recorded in Western New York—and builds on it. Down and Cutler’s vinyl unearthing expeditions have turned up more than straight-ahead soul, R&B, and hip-hop. There’s still plenty of that here, but the strength of 716 might be the more offbeat pieces that the duo connected for their mix. There are some far-off-the-beaten-path nuggets here that really make 716 the more nuanced, slightly more refined big brother to Crate Diggin’. You can almost see the grins on the faces of the duo the first time they played record of the children’s choir signing an ode to the Godfather from Augusta on “James Brown,” or the searing, Eddie-Hazel-esque psych-funk guitar that intros “Outlaw.” Down and Cutler have really hit on the art of making it all feel and fall together like a record. 716 is a perfectly paced and complete set, clocking in at 73 minutes; it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in the interlocked flow and deft mix of B-lo boogie, from the back-to-back, everything-but-the-kitchen sink sampledelic pastiches “716 Lesson” and “Lesson 716” to the easy disco soul of “Night Life” and the electro funk of “Its Def.” The 716 Lesson will make you party like it’s 1977 and the blizzard has you shut in with nothing but a stack of records and a case of cream ale. Make sure you have your Bobby McAdoo jersey on, too! We already can’t wait for Volume III.

More info online at www.myspace.com/scottdownanddjcutler.

—donny kutzbach