There are a few shops I haven't seen in Toledo yet, but of the main choices, (Allied Record Exchange, Culture Clash and RamaLama) this is hands down Toledo, Ohio's finest purveyor of vinyl, out there CDs and DVDs. Indie rockers take note, RamaLama Records has an upstairs stage for small, intimate in-store performances and a very customer-friendly layout. I ama huge fan of this place, having discovered the hyper-bizarre (read: excellent) comp, Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, at random while browsing there. You can also find superfreak releases such as a vinyl pressing of Aleister Crowley reciting black mass, and my current favorite, From The Kitchen To The Garage, a compilation of Dutch girl group singles from the 1960s. Great stuff. They buy, sell and trade and aren't shy about putting on any freakish thing you want to hear on the overhead. I was treated to The Shaggs, and it was fantastic watching the entire store collectively CRINGE. If you pass through Toledo, do NOT pass up the chance to shop RamaLama. This store is exactly what an indie shop ought to be. They have vinyl on display above the CD racks, but there's a large and tasty collection of ...

I've been on the road these last few days and later I'll have some reports on some excellent places to score vinyl and other sundries, including Culture Clash, Freon Beats (are these guys for real? No website I could find and the MySpace page is...inconclusive), AA Records Are Us (check out the article that link takes you to--a unique record collector's heaven?) and Allied Record Exchange, just to name a few. Toledo has a surprising number of indie shops for a town of this size, but then again, this town has a decent sized garage band scene and it's the home of Cavity Records. Check out the links and look for a report or two coming on some of Toledo's finest vinyl sources...

I won't comment on this except to say that once again, I missed this first time around. Apparently this hit the shelves in 2005, and it's so utterly WRONG that it must be purchased without hesitation. Shatner has been mutilating pop music for three decades now, but this is by far his most far-reaching madness to date. I wonder what Cocker and Co. think? I'd be quite amused to see Shatner and Pulp together doing this live.

When it comes to 80s music, there is NOTHING stranger than born again Christian new wave. Some artists in this genre were out-and-out hypocritical, writing albums with heavy gay bashing lyrics  AND songs complaining of discrimination against born-againers. Steve Taylor was the worst of this lot, singing out of both sides of his mouth with "Whatever Happened To Sin?" ("I heard the reverend say/gay/is probably normal in the good Lord's sight...I'm no morality nut/but/the reverend may be a little confused") and "Meat The Press" (A Christian can't get equal time/unless he's a loony/committing a crime"). To be fair, I'm guessing (hoping?) Taylor wishes he could take back the worst of his 80s excesses... On the opposite side of the fence is the band responsible for the album cover pictured here. Daniel Amos never indulged in the sort of nonsense some of their contemporaries did in attacking "non-believers". Quite the opposite, Daniel Amos reserved their poison pens for members of their own movement. Here is a band that took aim at televangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker long before it became popular to do so on daytime television back in the late 80s. The real genius of Daniel Amos--especially this album, Fearful Symmetry--is edgy ...

Vinyl Mine ran this post (not recently) about psych indie pioneers The Legendary Pink Dots. I myself enjoy the Dots--selected albums from the mile-long discography--but the pure vitriol against them in this post is so funny and all-consuming that I read it TWICE. I have a healthy respect for anyone who can vent their spleen so completely in pure, unadulterated disgust regardless of subject matter. Sure, Vinyl Mine and I disagree on LPD, but damn, what great fun to read. This one's a great way to kill a long Friday afternoon at work. The rest of the blog isn't 100% vinyl-obsessed, but this is a great read. Recent reviews include Nice Strong Arm where a few brief pokes are taken at Bauhaus and Joy Division, but the thing that makes me keep coming back for more is the post about Neil Diamond. Great stuff.

I've played in my share of bands since 1992 and I never, ever wondered how a record album got mailed out once it was ordered. Even when I was tempted to start selling vinyl on eBay, I never got round to asking "Where the hell do you buy the mailers?" Part of that may have been due to the influence of my friends in Pink Filth, who simply used any cardboard boxes they could get from behind the supermarket. We used to have these box cutting sessions to mail out orders on the band's label--slash up the boxes to size, bubble wrap the goods and coat them in cardboard. Except that doesn't quite work when you need a good first impression from an eBay buyer or other customers...so for the discriminating seller, there are places like Sleeve City (aka SleeveTown.com) that sell everything from cardboard mailers to heavy duty, white-label style LP jackets. You can also get gig cases for your vinyl...sturdy anvil cases with closing tops that hold 100 titles. This site is worth a look for anyone selling records.

I have no idea how this one passed me by in June, but the new vinyl by Stereolab, Chemical Chords is being hailed as one of their best. The album, MP3 download or CD, your choice. I'm always a bit skeptical of some new music that is recorded digitally then put on vinyl, but Stereolab has always had great analog textures to their music. Much like Chris Joss--a musician who uses recording techniques firmly rooted in the 21st century but still has a dedication to audio fidelity and actual honest-to-god instruments--Stereolab is always going to sound warm, interesting and perfectly suited for vinyl. I don't have this one as I've just now been hipped to it, but it's being added to the collection with haste.

Earlier, I raved about the Boy Eats Drum Machine BooomBoxxx vinyl due out in a few weeks on Tender Loving Empire. Before you can dig on the album, BEDM wants you to check out this free digital EP featuring selected cuts off the vinyl plus a remix by Portland DJ Main Sequence. The tracklist for the EP includes: Planets + Stars The Crack In The Sea Demonic With Horns I'm Alive Don't Bury Me Immovably Reunited (remix by Main Sequence) Download it here and be sure to turn up the volume. Nice work, BEDM, especially on I'm Alive Don't Bury Me. A current favorite.

I just know I am shooting myself in the foot for sharing this, but rabid vinyl collectors everywhere should know about Weekend Treasure, a BRILLIANT idea. It's a directory of garage sales, showing you where all the hotspots are for the week in your area and beyond. Pure genius...an idea that was begging to happen. I am sure this directory does nothing but bring out all the rabid eBayers at 6AM, but maybe-just maybe-there is a place in the United States that is NOT overrun by online auction buyers. There's still plenty of warm weather left to use Weekend Treasure for those of us in the Midwest, and anyone in the Austin/Dallas/Waco/OKC area is sure to find plenty of garage sales to scoop up new vinyl year round. Great site...

Face it, blogs about vinyl are very few and far between when compared to their "anything goes" counterparts, so I was very pleased to find The Lost Turntable. It bears mentioning that I am a new fan of this blog not because of the MP3s from 12-inch singles and remixes, but because the writing is wonderfully caustic and fearless. In a review of Lollapalooza--which you couldn't get me to at gunpoint because of those insane crowds--there is plenty of angst directed against Radiohead for a bewilderingly fan-unfriendly stage show, and some spleen venting at Rage Against The Machine. I quote now, only half-recovered from this. It made me laugh, depressing as it is...truer words were never written in a music blog about any one group...ever: "Hey Rage, you do know that 90% of your fans don't even give a shit about 'the revolution,' social injustice, political reform or the vanishing working class right? They just want to hear 'Killing In The Name Of' and start some shit. Nice message you got, too bad it's falling on deaf ears. Time to call it a day." This sentiment is one I've had for a 13 years now and I am glad I'm not alone ...