Category Archives: Record Shops

Vinyl Road Rage #3: Images from the Trip So Far

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Vinyl Road Rage is Turntabling’s annual indie record store blogging road trip, where we search for the coolest record shops in the USA, rare and bizarre vinyl, and all the madness that goes with it. One of the best things about these trips–aside from the vinyl itself and the great people met along the way– are the photos. Here are some of the images collected so far. At the time of this posting, it’s Day Three and Cincinnati/Columbus are next. These pics are from Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky.

Oh, it’s one of THOSE record stores. Got no time for percussion purists, ESPECIALLY when the shop in question had “We Built This City” by Jefferson Starship playing at top volume. My stomach did a nine-G turn when I heard that walking in the door.

Louisville Kentucky’s Ear X-Tacy gets massive points for having vinyl listening stations so you can hear what your investment sounds like before dropping the cash. Guessing this applies to used titles only? I love the “no scratching” bit.

I love a shop that has EVERYTHING on sale. Yes, please. That box to the right of the sign is a Creeple Peeple box. Sweet.

The title says it all. Brilliant.

Vinyl Road Rage Day #2: Bloomington Indiana, Louisville Kentucky, Cincinnati Ohio

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by Joe Wallace

Day Two of Vinyl Road Rage #3 was filled with highway hypnosis. I went from Bloomington Indiana to Cincinnati Ohio, hitting a LOT of indie record shops along the way.

There are pictures, but they will be posted tomorrow–my camera is charging now and I’ll extract the images later. Suffice it to say that the trip so far has uncovered plenty of great shops.

I can tell you that Bloomington Indiana is great place to stop all around, but especially TD’s CDs and LPs at 322 E Kirkwood Ave. Not only did this shop have no fewer than four Goblin titles on vinyl (more? I lost count!) they also had a copy of the Terror soundtrack, which I have been lusting after for quite some time after letting a copy slip away ages ago, thinking “I’ll grab it later.” Foolish mortal!

Also great–Landlocked Music at 202 N Walnut Ave in Bloomington. Lots of new vinyl, but plenty of used titles to browse too. Like TD’s, this shop has a respectful section of experimental records that deserve a long look if you’re into those sounds (I am). I’ll have more in-depth reviews of these shops and others individually but I HAD to touch on some of the highlights.

Bloomington was much more clean-cut than Louisville, KY, which has a more Austin, Texas vibe to it. Sadly, there were no real rare, bizarre or otherwise lustworthy titles in Louisville. Record shops there seem to emphasize new titles more, and while there are plenty of used bins to pour over, my own personal obsessions went un-fed. Fans of 60s and 70s psych, garage and hippie titles will be pleased and any jazz fan will probably have a lot to crate-dig for.

Cincinnati record shops had to wait–there was a parking lot-style standstill just outside the city and I missed the shops thanks to the traffic. Tomorrow I will hit them and write up some notes later in the evening. Vinyl Road Rage #3 wraps up for the day on Saturday in Columbus where there are more record shops than police officers, near as I can tell.

Vinyl Road Rage Day #1: Joliet, Champaign, and Beyond

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by Joe Wallace

Vinyl Road Rage #3 is underway and day one was a crazy mix of brain-melting finds and wild goose chases. Joliet, Illinois was the first stop where plenty of interesting vinyl was found including a Legendary Pink Dots album on Play It Again Sam Records I didn’t know existed, some silly blooper vinyl (more on that later–the joys of DJing with that stuff can not be underestimated) and much more.

After Joliet, it was Champaign, Illinois–but first I had to escape Joliet, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds. After my first stop there, I went chasing after the apparently non-existent Monaro Records (the address and phone number turned out to be residential), then chased my own exhaust pipe trying to find the road out of town.

I did pass the old Joliet Prison, complete with a sign which reads “You’ve escaped Joliet”. If only. And why was EVERY SINGLE PLACE I stopped in today completely devoid of toilet paper? Just sayin’.

The hardware store I saw in one small town said it all; a neon sign proclaiming “Heating, Plumbing, GUNS”. If the zombie apocalypse happens, that’s where I want to live…but on a search for obscure vinyl, not so helpful.

Equally amusing–the tiny little cafe I went to this afternoon. When I walked in, the entire place STOPPED TALKING for a moment–the only thing really missing, as I mentioned on Facebook earlier, was the voice of a small child saying in a scared voice, “STRAAAANNNGER!”

Once I did get back on the road, Champaign was fairly profitable thanks to the very cool Backbeat Records, which yielded the Sisters of Mercy Some Girls Wander on delicious vinyl, Sousxie and the Banshees’ The Rapture on translucent vinyl, plus a fistful of soundtracks.

What I wasn’t prepared for is how early Central Illinois rolls up the sidewalks. Several record stores closed up shop at 5PM, which was fairly depressing in one case, and a great relief in another as the second shop to close before sundown seemed to be all CDs.

One of the craziest finds of the day, found in Champaign’s Exile on Main St. Records, was a record made in Russia which was apparently an unauthorized collection of Led Zepplin covers. I didn’t have the heart to shell out 20 bux for this, but the concept certainly is amusing to say the very least.

I am absolutely CERTAIN I made this joke LAST YEAR during Vinyl Road Rage #2, but apparently this Disney record is haunting me, so I say again–WHERE ARE THE DISNEY QUAALUDES to go with the Disney Disco Record?

I will be reviewing the individual record stores at some point, no time to hit all the ones I’ve covered so far in the earliest days of the trip…but the updates from the road will continue. Stay tuned for more vinyl road rage…including some video I’ve shot from the road. Tomorrow it’s Bloomington, Indiana, and Louisville Kentucky. On Saturday Cincinnati beckons, then Columbus on Sunday.

–Joe Wallace

Turntabling Events and Appearances

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It’s a busy, busy calendar for Turntabling in the next eight to ten weeks, and I’m hoping you’ll join me for some of these. Mark your calendars as these events are all very cool in their own right. Turntabling will have a booth at these events with the exception of Cinema Wasteland, which I’ll be attending to promote the site and helping to run the Kitley’s Krypt booth.

Here’s a list of places and events you’ll find Turntabling at in the next few months:

Cinema Wasteland, October 1-3 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville OH

Music Box Massacre October 9, 3373 N. Southport Chicago Illinois. Turntabling will have a booth filled with vinyl including Goblin, Morricone, the Dogs in Space soundtrack and much more. Got a nice supply of compact discs as well featuring many Goblin titles, Morricone, the out-of-print Creepshow soundtrack, Pino Donnagio, Piero Umiliani, too many to name.

Friday Night Live at Transistor: October 15 at 8PM. I’ll be performing as Paisley Babylon doing the Beautiful Chaos show which features five turntables, five echo boxes and two crates of vinyl. Don’t miss this one, vinyl junkies. It’s full of rare vinyl live mash-ups and a video barrage from hell.

Horror Society Film Festival October 23 and 24 4050 N. Milwaukee Chicago Illinois. This two-day film festival is going to be massive–a great selection of new horror and 80s favorites. Turntabling will have a booth there both days featuring the usual collection of awesome vinyl from Goblin, Morricone, Riz Ortolani, etc plus massive rare and imported CDs. I’ll also be performing the Paisley Babylon vinyl mashup show Beautiful Chaos on Sunday at 2PM.

HorrorHound Weekend November 12-14 11320 Chester Road Cincinnati Ohio. Turntabling is back at Horrorhound again this year with another booth crammed full of vinyl deliciousness. All the obscure, rare and hard-to-find stuff you’ve come to expect from Turntabling.

and finally, plans are in the works for Vinyl Road Rage 3, yet another mad cross-country trip blogging the best indie record stores in the country. Stops this time include Nashville and Memphis but I am definitely open to route suggestions–please feel free to drop yours in the comments section or email me at jwallace (at) turntabling (dotnet). I’d love to hear from you.

–Joe Wallace