Monthly Archives: September 2009

CD Exchange Springfield Missouri

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, ,

I only include this because I stopped there–I was giving it a pass when I spotted a sign out of the corner of my eye that said, “VINYL” in big block letters. Could it be? I haven’t been in a CD Exchange in YEARS, so I had to at least stop and look. Could this be a sign of an era of coolness for CD Exchange? Have they added as many titles as they have in the CD sections I remember from my last visits?

I was as disappointed as a frat boy at a chastity convention–two paltry sections of vinyl, all brand new and selling at frat boy prices. Don’t ask me WHY they’re frat boy prices, but I can just see some 20-something with his greek letters shaved into the back of his head shelling out $22 or for a Ben Harper LP. Whatever.

CD Exchange vinyl records.jpg

This shop wasn’t bad as far as CD Exchanges go, but that’s like saying you didn’t mind losing your thumb that much because it was the one off your LEFT hand.

I had already been completely underwhelmed by the endless series of Walmarts, strip mall nail shops and fast food joints. Springfield, Missouri was already starting to wear thin by the time I pulled in here. My first stop was a complete dud. I pulled in because the name Vintage Stock just screamed vinyl records of all sizes. I mean, they put VINTAGE in the bloody NAME. Continue reading CD Exchange Springfield Missouri →

Vinyl Road Rage Day 3

Record Shops, vinyl road rage

vinyl road trip 2009 joe wallace

by Joe Wallace

I’ve lived in Chicago for four years now, and I’ve gotten used to walking almost everywhere and taking the car only when there’s gear to be hauled or groceries and vinyl to be stowed. So hitting OKC and Texas was a blast of ugly–in spite of my having lived in San Antonio for seven years. Too much highway, too many cars. Every trip takes half an hour even if you’re just crossing the street!

But I digress. Today I wound up in Dallas where I encountered the single largest facility for selling vinyl records–and every other form of recorded music including cassettes–I have ever seen. Look for a review of Grand Prairie, Texas’s own Forever Young coming soonish (maybe tomorrow). For now I’ll just use the cliche and say it’s Texas-sized. For real. For completists and hard-core collectors, this is the place to fill the gaps in your collection–but I’ll save the rest for later.

RANDOM NOTES ON THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Vinyl Isn’t Always Fun Department–Most Pointlessly Crass, Ladies-Hatin’ Album Cover So Far:

tacky and offensive album covers

Dumbass Department

I was desperate need of a hotel on Tuesday night and could find nothing in OKC, but I knew where there were plenty of cheap hotels to drop my bags and score some snore time. So I pulled over and asked a local yokel: Continue reading Vinyl Road Rage Day 3 →

Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis Missouri

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , ,

vintage vinyl st louis missouri

by Joe Wallace

Where the mighty St. Louis-based Record Exchange wins hands-down for sheer staggering size and collector-friendly deep stacks, Vintage Vinyl gets top marks for diversity of styles and a selection that’s more squarely in the present and recent past (though the classic vinyl doesn’t get neglected, no siree.)

In short, it’s the sort of place an OCD vinyl junkie can bring a less-interested significant other and have a reasonable chance of both walking away with new tunes. I am particularly impressed with the soul/R&B vinyl, and there’s plenty of new, shink-wrapped releases to look at, too.

Once again, the “rock” category proves to be a real bummer since most of the stuff I look for there is more along the Athens jangle-pop sound or obscure new wave titles…but you’ll be forced to sift through those godawful Krokus albums and 15 million copies of Journey and Manfred Mann. The prerequisite Aimee Mann/Til Tuesday records (ever present!) are there, but there’s an awful lot of good 80s/90s indie vinyl represented. And if you’re a jazz freak, you won’t ever leave, since that section is equally well-stocked. Continue reading Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis Missouri →

Cross Country Vinyl Chase Day Two part two

Featured, Record Shops, , ,

What a long strange vinyl bughunt it has been…From Chicago to San Antonio, I am now halfway through the driving insanity. Tuesday is OKC and Dallas…maybe even Denton if I feel REALLY sexy. I might just, after the stuff I was hearing all around me today at the record emporiums.

The following was overheard in one of the record shops I hit today–people with cell phones talking very loudly never know when they’re going to get their 15 minutes of fame. But when people are practically shouting this crap in your ear, it deserves a second go.

“Yaww, yew jist pour it in yore pee. Maik shore thu kristles are all, you know, like, dissolved and all or you’ll fail the teyust.” It was a 50-something woman who looked like an office drone. She sounded like a backwoods Tim Leary.

Then, ten minutes later, a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON on the phone. “Yah, yah, you just pour the little envelope of crystals into your pee. Look to see if it changes color. You only go about three ounces of pee anyway, don’t worry about it!”

In Springfield, Missouri, we now know people like to put additives in their pee. Should I ever go back there?

And then…

shari lewis vinyl LP

Oh, but she looks far too INTO having that puppet so near…where is her OTHER hand?

But wait, there’s more. Just in case you hadn’t quite finished playing a game of canasta with the Moosehead Lodge brothers, here come Herb Alpert to trumpet you TO DEATH. That sticker boldly proclaims that this is the very very FIRSTEST TIME IN THE WHOLE OF FOREVER that A Taste of Honey has been released as a picture disc. I’m touching myself even as I write this, I am so excited about the idea of this picture disc EVEN EXISTING. A bargain at twice the price, eh Eugene? Yeah, daddy-o. Let’s take the Galaxy 500 for a spin to the malt shop. No, wait, wrong culture. Martinis, everybody?

a taste of honey reissue picture disc

Just when you thought it was safe to fire up the record player, another face from the past comes back at you like a spoiled cinema hotdog. I’m so tired from driving that I can only hope that last line made as much sense to you as it currently does to me.

Taco Puttin On The Ritz

I still owe record shop reviews a plenty. Vinyl Exchange, CD Warehouse in Springfield, MO and tomorrow’s Guest Room Records invasion. Brace yourself.