by Joe Wallace

Every once in a while I like to call attention to blogs that have caught my eye, and there are three that I’m really enjoying. Music For Maniacs, Stereofound and Thrift Store DJ are all dedicated to the oddball stuff on vinyl that most record store shoppers pass up in favor of those albums by Modest Mouse and Radiohead.

What those shoppers don’t know won’t hurt them though–I’m all in favor of having the unclassifiable music left alone in the bins until I can swing by to scoop them up, doofy treasures that they are. My fellow travelers in search of vinyl weirdness blog about their discoveries and I am SO very glad they do.

Music For Maniacs covers everything from exotica to mechanical music. That’s right, music made by machines. Not COMPUTERS, mind you. Picture something on the order of Doctor Phibes’s Clockwork Wizards except without the animatronic mannequins. This blog manages to be even cooler with a whole section dedicated to sound collage and mashups. BRILLIANT.

Stereofound is dedicated to what it describes as “non-music” on vinyl. In fact, according to Stereofound, the blog is obsessed with “oddities on vinyl, found at thrift stores and flea markets. Think of stereo-test records, jingles, sound effects, instructions..” My favorite part of Stereofound is the Moog section, but the Floppy Records stuff is a close second.

Thrift Store DJ is on a similar bent in that it is dedicated to, you guessed it, the music that gets left behind in the junk shop. Love this blog too, except it sadly doesn’t update as often…best section of this one for me is the category called General Fruitiness. That is just awesome and completely sums up the entries, too. Lots of vinyl nonsense including an LP called Teenage Dance Party. Can you guess what THAT sounds like? I’m thinking PAT BOONE here. Don’t miss the Don Johnson (not the famous one) King Of Organ album…priceless.