Category Archives: Record Shops

Cleveland Ohio Record Stores: Record Revolution

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Record Revolution in Cleveland Ohio is in the center of the Cleveland Heights arts-n-culture district. There are music venues, wi-fi coffee shops, art spaces and plenty of other diversion. Located on 1828 Coventry Road, Record Revolution is one of Cleveland’s indie vinyl landmarks if the reviews on Yelp.com and elsewhere mean anything at all.

Those reviews say the store has lost some of its former glory. That’s not for me to say–I’ve never shopped there until this trip, but I can say the shop is a combination of old and new vinyl and if you’re a new vinyl collector looking for soul titles, you could do a hell of a lot worse than starting your journey here.

There are plenty of fun oddball vinyl selections (my favorite finds are the weird ones), plus the ones you know you want if for no other reason than to have bagged another trophy title.

Record Revolution has a pile of grey market DVDs for sale, plus a collection of movie poster reproductions (they seem to be laser or inkjet printed reproductions which I personally stay away from–I can print them myself at home for free, thanks). I have to say, some of the grey market discs are awesome–I purchased one that was a collection of nothing but Turkish action movie excerpts. But some of the others are pretty vile. “Upskirt”? Thanks, but no thanks.

Record Revolution has a downstairs area with a nice collection of bargains on vinyl and CD. A literal “bargain basement”.

The CD piles include a set of ultra-cheapie discs. It’s a trend I’ve been noticing in record stores a lot lately–one that seems to indicated that the shiny disc is going the way of the video tape. I predict that one day compact discs could become actual collector’s items when it comes to releases by bands like Coil and others who might not ever reissue portions of their back catalogs in MP3 form…or will they change their minds later? Still too early to tell.

Record Revolution is a store that could act as a gateway to collecting for the curious–I can see how someone might get a lifelong habit after scooping up some of the vinyl bargains here as an experiment. Diehard collectors should stop in on a just-in-case basis, but if you have a small collection pop in here to fill things out.

And you thought Reader’s Digest was only in the magazine business, right? And look! It’s PLEASURE PROGRAMMED! I feel dirtier already.


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More Random Images from Vinyl Road Rage 2

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I’m still in New York, but taking a day of rest from the vinyl shopping madness to see a few sights, take a pile of photos and eat in some of local places. I’ve got one more record shop to review from Cleveland, then we’ll move on to Akron and Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Philadelphia and NYC. Who knows what happens from there? In the meantime, here are some of the images so far:

Yes, the incredibly massive Eide’s in Pittsburgh, PA is still kicking. They have three floors and it’s stuffed to capacity with lots to sift through. Your brain might split in two from the sheer volume of vinyl on hand.

Did this come out AFTER they sold Nirvana to the majors? Could this album be titled without a trace of irony? Sub Pop did get points on that sale, you know…

IndieWax was a fun shop that had a pile of discount records so large I couldn’t possibly have sifted through them all. They also had all the Dwarves 45s you could ever want. Friendly crew and a nice casual browser-friendly atmosphere. A bigger review coming, naturally.

Somebody PLEASE stop letting Ringo design his own album covers. Did you fall off the wagon here or what? You clearly just wiped some Bolivian Marching Powder off your face just before you came up with THIS one. I don’t want to hear any more crap about George Harrison’s Maharishi albums when there’s so much WORSE floating around from ex-Beatles…as you can plainly see.

They are a DIME. BUY THEM ALL! I should have done just that, but I already had a massive pile straining my shoulders. This would have killed me. Besides…I can’t really think of a suitably violent use for some of those titles.

Continue reading More Random Images from Vinyl Road Rage 2 →

Chicago Record Stores: The Old School Records

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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.

Vinyl Road Rage 2 Chicago to NYC Dates and Itinerary

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Vinyl Road Rage Two gets underway on August 12. The Chicago-to-New York road trip will hit a dozen or more indie record shops along the way, starting in Indiana and winding up in Greenwich Village.

Turntabling blogged last year’s Vinyl Road Rage from Chicago to San Antonio, Texas and this year should be even wilder. If you have a suggestion for record stores we should hit along the way from Chicago to NYC, please drop a comment and let us know what we’re missing on our current list.

The itinerary looks something like this–subject to revision, addition, etc. The stops include but aren’t limited to:

Michiana Used Music & Media 4609 Grape Road  Mishawaka, IN 46545-8257 ( 574) 247-1188

Record Revolution 1828 Coventry Road Cleveland Hts, OH 44118-1692 (216) 321-7661

15801 Waterloo Rd Cleveland, OH 44110
11600 Detroit Avenue Cleveland, OH 44102-2320 (216) 221-9200
2136 Murray Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Mr. Mike’s
27 S 3rd St Harrisburg, PA 17101
808 St John St Allentown, PA 18103
239 Bleecker St New York, NY 10014
210 Thompson Street New York, NY 10012-484
218 E. 5th St. NY NY
The Thing
1001 Manhattan, Brooklyn NY
Rainbow Music
130 1st Ave. New York, NY 10009