Stick It In Your Ear Springfield Missouri

Record Shops, ,

stick it in your ear springfield missouri vinyl record storeby Joe Wallace

I blogged about the Springfield, Missouri record emporium Stick It In Your Ear a few days ago, but I wanted the shop to have its own entry here, so to recap:

Stick It In Your Ear is a delightful hodge-podge of vinyl, CDs and music-related ephemera. The store has its share of fun finds (Devo’s Greatest Misses and TuxedoMoon were two of mine) and it has to be said, there’s no telling what the dedicated collector could find rifling through the stacks here.

There’s a big collection of metal (not my thing at all except for the bad album covers) and a lot of soul and disco comps–never a bad thing.

Any record shop that bothers to categorize the albums in any fashion beyond genre makes me happy, and even better in this case is the breathless way those records are filed–note the exclamation points on every single band title in the photo below, as if every last one of these bands is both a rare find and the store owner’s favorite of all time. I LOVE that for some reason. Don’t ask why, I have no idea–but it’s endearing. Continue reading Stick It In Your Ear Springfield Missouri →

CD Exchange Springfield Missouri

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, ,

I only include this because I stopped there–I was giving it a pass when I spotted a sign out of the corner of my eye that said, “VINYL” in big block letters. Could it be? I haven’t been in a CD Exchange in YEARS, so I had to at least stop and look. Could this be a sign of an era of coolness for CD Exchange? Have they added as many titles as they have in the CD sections I remember from my last visits?

I was as disappointed as a frat boy at a chastity convention–two paltry sections of vinyl, all brand new and selling at frat boy prices. Don’t ask me WHY they’re frat boy prices, but I can just see some 20-something with his greek letters shaved into the back of his head shelling out $22 or for a Ben Harper LP. Whatever.

CD Exchange vinyl records.jpg

This shop wasn’t bad as far as CD Exchanges go, but that’s like saying you didn’t mind losing your thumb that much because it was the one off your LEFT hand.

I had already been completely underwhelmed by the endless series of Walmarts, strip mall nail shops and fast food joints. Springfield, Missouri was already starting to wear thin by the time I pulled in here. My first stop was a complete dud. I pulled in because the name Vintage Stock just screamed vinyl records of all sizes. I mean, they put VINTAGE in the bloody NAME. Continue reading CD Exchange Springfield Missouri →

Vinyl Road Rage Day 3

Record Shops, vinyl road rage

vinyl road trip 2009 joe wallace

by Joe Wallace

I’ve lived in Chicago for four years now, and I’ve gotten used to walking almost everywhere and taking the car only when there’s gear to be hauled or groceries and vinyl to be stowed. So hitting OKC and Texas was a blast of ugly–in spite of my having lived in San Antonio for seven years. Too much highway, too many cars. Every trip takes half an hour even if you’re just crossing the street!

But I digress. Today I wound up in Dallas where I encountered the single largest facility for selling vinyl records–and every other form of recorded music including cassettes–I have ever seen. Look for a review of Grand Prairie, Texas’s own Forever Young coming soonish (maybe tomorrow). For now I’ll just use the cliche and say it’s Texas-sized. For real. For completists and hard-core collectors, this is the place to fill the gaps in your collection–but I’ll save the rest for later.

RANDOM NOTES ON THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Vinyl Isn’t Always Fun Department–Most Pointlessly Crass, Ladies-Hatin’ Album Cover So Far:

tacky and offensive album covers

Dumbass Department

I was desperate need of a hotel on Tuesday night and could find nothing in OKC, but I knew where there were plenty of cheap hotels to drop my bags and score some snore time. So I pulled over and asked a local yokel: Continue reading Vinyl Road Rage Day 3 →

Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis Missouri

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , ,

vintage vinyl st louis missouri

by Joe Wallace

Where the mighty St. Louis-based Record Exchange wins hands-down for sheer staggering size and collector-friendly deep stacks, Vintage Vinyl gets top marks for diversity of styles and a selection that’s more squarely in the present and recent past (though the classic vinyl doesn’t get neglected, no siree.)

In short, it’s the sort of place an OCD vinyl junkie can bring a less-interested significant other and have a reasonable chance of both walking away with new tunes. I am particularly impressed with the soul/R&B vinyl, and there’s plenty of new, shink-wrapped releases to look at, too.

Once again, the “rock” category proves to be a real bummer since most of the stuff I look for there is more along the Athens jangle-pop sound or obscure new wave titles…but you’ll be forced to sift through those godawful Krokus albums and 15 million copies of Journey and Manfred Mann. The prerequisite Aimee Mann/Til Tuesday records (ever present!) are there, but there’s an awful lot of good 80s/90s indie vinyl represented. And if you’re a jazz freak, you won’t ever leave, since that section is equally well-stocked. Continue reading Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis Missouri →