Monthly Archives: August 2010

WTF Album Covers: Paul and Paula Horror

WTF?, , ,

This album cover would be TOTALLY vanilla (except for the milkshake) if it weren’t for that look on this dude’s face. I can’t decide what he’s trying to tell his date here. Is he asking if Paula’s ever heard “Back Door Man” by The Doors? Is he suggesting a night of ritual cannibalism and mescaline abuse?

Maybe what’s going on here has more to do with the fact that you can’t see Paul’s OTHER hand in the photograph. But the expression on Paula’s face seems to indicate that whatever he’s doing, it ain’t working. Maybe they should try some poppers first.

How To Clean a Vinyl Record

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How to clean a vinyl album? It’s a question that plagues crate diggers from Lake Geneva to the Finland Station. (Heh.) Do you want to know how SOME people clean their vinyl records? One rocket scientist on a message board somewhere suggests you IMMERSE your vinyl records in STEAMING HOT WATER.

Run right out and try that if you’re crazy enough, and by all means, be sure to let us know how that worked out for you.

Other people claim a dab of Lysol does wonders–but I’m not into giving that a try, are you? Ditto for the dude who suggests Methylated spirits. No way–not unless it’s a copy of a Paul Williams record that’s been used as a sun visor on a 68 Volkswagon. I’d love to hear the damage done that way…could be the next house disco treat if you throw some beats under it.

The vinyl record cleaning method described at Rebuilt Tranny’s Rat Rod Record Exchange makes the most sense of all the methods mentioned online that I could dig up. Use a bit of soap on a synthetic fiber brush, scrub gently in the direction of the grooves, then rinse with water. Purists, avoid getting the center label wet or you’ll weep great oceans of tears. Dry with a microfiber cloth and you’re done.

Bravo, Rebuilt Tranny, for offering the most common sense vinyl LP cleaning method on the web. Oh, did I mention that he runs the vinyl through Audacity’s click and pop filter afterwards and makes nice, clean Mp3s out of his nice clean records? NOW you’ve got some clean sounding tracks.

Chicago Record Stores: The Old School Records

Record Shops, Vinyl Finds, vinyl road rage, , , , ,

I have a sentimental fondness for the Chicagoland indie record store The Old School. Located at 7446 W. Madison Forest Park, The Old School Records put me back on the collector’s game in 2005 after being out for well over three years. I’ve found more than a few lovely vinyl titles here including part of the Aphex Twin Analord series, Danny Elfman’s Corpse Bride OST, and one of my favorite slabs of vinyl by The Orb, Komplott–which I like to play DJ sets with at half speed and mashup Harold Budd under.

The Old School Records does have one thing going against it–there is a large amount of vinyl on the floor and I’ve given myself plenty of grief on hands and knees crate digging here. I strongly recommend a beer after digging through those floor-based stacks–a muscle relaxant is a very good thing indeed. Ergonomically speaking, The Old School isn’t good on knees or spinal columns more than two decades old.

The Old School has a collection of old cassettes, too. I just so happen to have a cassette deck in my vehicle–the mighty Vinyl Road Rage machine christened last year as the DreadMobile, so this collection would be tempting if I didn’t already have an amusingly large number of dusty old tapes.

I’d rate this shop as a great place for new collectors to start out, especially if you’re looking for post-punk or want to fill holes in your new romantic collection. I also found a small pile of my favorite genre, weirdness on vinyl, and the soundtracks section is worth the spinal injury you’ll get–I scored the soundtrack to A Zed and Two Noughts and some other things I’ve never seen elsewhere. Nice.