Back From Toledo…

editorial

…and I have a nice pile of vinyl to review. What a trip! RamaLama Records rocked, Culture Clash was fun (writeup coming) and I have nice retro fun to post about including Lipps, Inc. and a NYC underground comp double vinyl album that is quite all that and a bag of cables.

I’ve debated the merits of posting MP3s here as many of my reviews already have links to the music online in one form or another, but I am toying with the idea of posting an album side a week that you’d listen to like you would enjoy if you were putting it on the turntable. It’s an intriguing notion, and one I think might amuse as much as it would annoy the downloader who wants those individual songs. Hmmmm….leave me feedback in the comments section if you are for or against this one…

RamaLama Records, Toledo OH

Record Shops, , , , ,

There are a few shops I haven’t seen in Toledo yet, but of the main choices, (Allied Record Exchange, Culture Clash and RamaLama) this is hands down Toledo, Ohio’s finest purveyor of vinyl, out there CDs and DVDs. Indie rockers take note, RamaLama Records has an upstairs stage for small, intimate in-store performances and a very customer-friendly layout. I ama huge fan of this place, having discovered the hyper-bizarre (read: excellent) comp, Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, at random while browsing there. You can also find superfreak releases such as a vinyl pressing of Aleister Crowley reciting black mass, and my current favorite, From The Kitchen To The Garage, a compilation of Dutch girl group singles from the 1960s. Great stuff.

They buy, sell and trade and aren’t shy about putting on any freakish thing you want to hear on the overhead. I was treated to The Shaggs, and it was fantastic watching the entire store collectively CRINGE.

If you pass through Toledo, do NOT pass up the chance to shop RamaLama. This store is exactly what an indie shop ought to be. They have vinyl on display above the CD racks, but there’s a large and tasty collection of albums upstairs. Just make sure you get there before the bands start playing to browse…

Toledo Ohio Record Meccas

editorial

I’ve been on the road these last few days and later I’ll have some reports on some excellent places to score vinyl and other sundries, including Culture Clash, Freon Beats (are these guys for real? No website I could find and the MySpace page is…inconclusive), AA Records Are Us (check out the article that link takes you to–a unique record collector’s heaven?) and Allied Record Exchange, just to name a few. Toledo has a surprising number of indie shops for a town of this size, but then again, this town has a decent sized garage band scene and it’s the home of Cavity Records.

Check out the links and look for a report or two coming on some of Toledo’s finest vinyl sources…

William Shatner Tackles Jarvis Cocker

Media

I won’t comment on this except to say that once again, I missed this first time around. Apparently this hit the shelves in 2005, and it’s so utterly WRONG that it must be purchased without hesitation. Shatner has been mutilating pop music for three decades now, but this is by far his most far-reaching madness to date. I wonder what Cocker and Co. think? I’d be quite amused to see Shatner and Pulp together doing this live.