Monthly Archives: May 2011

Exile on Main Street, Champaign Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

Rolling into Champaign, Illinois in search of Exile on Main Street was a bit of a challenge only because after six years of living in Chicago it was difficult to adjust to parking meters that accept only loose change. If you’re coming to Champaign to check out record shops (there are several in the area worth looking at) be sure to bring a handful of quarters!

For some indie record stores, new vinyl is the main attraction, and while there is a decent selection of used records to choose from, the new releases seem to be what keeps Exile on Main St. alive and kicking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing–plenty of collectors are scooping up the new titles as well as the old, so Exile on Main St. is a good stop if you need a fix of the shrink-wrapped records.

What I liked best about Exile were the curiosities. There were some great displays including a steampunk-esque video contraption under glass and some other miscellany. Hands down, the most oddball thing on vinyl at Exile was a copy of some sort of Soviet-era Led Zepplin cover album done behind the Iron Curtain. Very trippy indeed.

Be sure to take some time looking at the more obscure vinyl on the walls of this shop–if you’re looking for some used, off-the-beaten track vinyl and don’t mind paying a wee bit extra you’ll do well. There was a nice copy of the Shaft’s Big Score soundtrack hanging there, if memory serves…that is a pretty sweet find, I must say. I would have been tempted if I didn’t already have it in the record bins back home.

Champaign being a college town, it’s no surprise there are a few good record shops in the area. Exile on Main is a great place for a first stop. Get your bearings, see the sights, and you’ll probably be back there picking up some new records after they’ve had a chance to nag at you for a while. This is the kind of place I shop at all the time thinking, “I’ll have to come back for that…”

Naturally, when you get back, it’s gone…so give in to your shop-a-holic vinyl junkie urges while at Exile and don’t look back. I personally regret not having picked up the Russian Led Zepplin thing if only for the sheer novelty of having it.

Backbeats Record Store, Rantoul Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , , , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

I had been dying to check out Backbeats Record Store in Rantoul, Illinois since I read a very good online review of the store in 2010 while planning Vinyl Road Rage #2. I was never able to make the trip until this go-round, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

Backbeats is the kind of record store I like–one that has some thought put into the overall presentation, doesn’t limit itself to the easy genres (grandpa rock, new wave, R&B, etc) and has some style and atmosphere going for it.

The store isn’t open seven days a week–and in a small town like Rantoul, Illinois, it’s a wonder there’s enough of a buying community to support a store I enjoy this much–but it’s well worth the wait.

At the time of this writing, Backbeats has a weekend schedule starting on Thursdays.  The store is closed Mon/Tues/Weds/ so out-of-towners, plan accordingly. And yes, you should definitely make the trip.

There’s plenty of mainstream vinyl stuff on sale at Backbeats, but I managed to find plenty of more obscure 80s and 90s titles, and there was a nice selection of 12 inches from record store stalwarts Souixsie and the Banshees. Backbeats is no slouch in the soundtracks department, either. Soundtrack junkies should definitely take a look–I did pretty well in this section, which often gets overlooked at record shops that don’t think those titles are just as fun to browse as all those Ohio Players albums and Nancy Sinatra titles. Good prices, too.

The store is well organized, very friendly, and there is plenty to see aside from vinyl; this is a safe destination for what I personally call a “lopsided couple”–two people who don’t have the same obsessive fascination for all things vinyl can shop at Backbeats without either one feeling like they’re just marking time while the other browses.

Backbeats lives up to the reviews, and I’ll definitely be coming back here. I hope Rantoul appreciates what it’s got in its own back yard, I hope the community supports this excellent indie record store the way it deserves.