Wah Wah Records Reissues Italian Analog Synth Classic

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BoingBoing.net reports on a reissue of the classic synth record Electronic Mind Waves by Elektriktus, courtesy of the Barcelona label Wah Wah Records. This is one Italian synth LP worth whatever expense you must endure to hear…and it’s out again on vinyl, glorious vinyl.

The record is described by Wah Wah as, “8 synth fueled songs that sound very close to what kraut/cosmische heads were doing at the time, think of Conrad Schnitzler, Deuter or Cosmic Jokers, and also other European experimentalists like Richard Pinhas’ Heldon, Spacecraft, Didier Bocquet, Seesselberg, F.G. Experimental Laboratory, Roberto Cacciapaglia or Hydrus. Along with Cacciapaglia and Hydrus, Elektriktus shows the most adventurous experimental sounds under a kraut/cosmische music influence to ever come out of Italy”.

The BoingBoing article links to a sample of the Mind Waves track, but we’re including a different one here, the “First Wave” cut for variety’s sake. By all means, listen to them both–chances are good you’ll be hooked for life. This reissue is, according to the information at Wah Wah Records at press time, limited to 500 copies and is sure to be gone fast…




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Landlocked Music Bloomington Indiana

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by Joe Wallace

The first stop on the cross-country record store road trip we call Vinyl Road Rage was a familiar one-–Landlocked Music in Bloomington, Indiana.

Bloomington is a great place to be if you’re a fan of good record stores, indie music, and weirdness overall. Landlocked Music has plenty of that–mostly found in the used soundtracks, ambient/experimental, and miscellaneous record sections. It’s easy to become a big fan of Landlocked as they’re open to a lot of musical craziness both genre-wise and in terms of format.

I found a nice selection of cassette-only projects which always makes me happy. I think today’s cassette culture people are totally nuts and I can’t imagine releasing anything on tape, which is why they are totally awesome to have around.

It’s good to see people fighting conventional wisdom so hard–AND making an interesting success of it as near as I can tell. Shine on, you crazy cassette people. (PS-I would love to know about cassette-only projects for coverage here. It’s just too retro not to do! Get in touch.)

Landlocked Music has a wonderful experimental/avant garde section that definitely needs a look if you’re a fan. I always gravitate toward the soundtrack/miscellaneous categories first as I’m a rabid collector of weird vinyl in the last couple of years.

While it’s true that I’ve covered Landlocked before, they deserve a second mention. Not only is the selection great, well-organized and fun to browse, but the staff are friendly and fun, too. The best record stores seem to have people who get it–the old cliche about folks being too cool to talk to you doesn’t exist at the really good shops I’ve found time and again.

Personality goes hand in hand with selection and Landlocked has both. Always approachable, never pretentious, and full of surprises (one visit I spotted a vinyl cutter on display and apparently for sale…) your opinion of Indiana as a vinyl destination will change after a stop here, rest assured.

Honestly, I wouldn’t go on and on about how fun and easygoing this shop is if it hadn’t been for some of the truly bizarre and unpleasant experiences I had at other shops on the road trip. When you find the awful stores, it makes places like Landlocked Music seem even more noteworthy.

Join me on Facebook as I’m quite active there and am always glad to make new friends–especially those obsessed with vinyl. Also, you can become a fan of the official Facebook page for my upcoming book WTF Records: The Turntabling Guide to Weird and Wonderful Vinyl.

Vinyl Road Rage Four Is Off The Road

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Vinyl Road Rage Four is officially off the road and back in Chicago Illinois. That doesn’t mean the posts for Vinyl Road Rage are ending–actually the record store reviews are just beginning. For every record shop visited in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri, there will be an individual review, warts and all.

The trip ended exactly where our coverage began–at Laurie’s Planet of Sound in Lincoln Square. It was great to be back in the home town record shop, looking at the vinyl again after being gone for half a month. There was even a WTF record find or two, so it was definitely a welcome home after the long seven-state drive.

The last three days of the trip were fairly vinyl-free, since I was catching up with family and friends, meeting new people and working out how all the record store reviews would go once I was back in Chicago.

The Holiday season means getting started is a bit delayed–I’ll start writing up the record stores next week–but it will be well worth the wait. With seven states worth of record stores, photos and vinyl to cover, it will be an interesting cross section indeed.

Stay tuned for the Vinyl Road Rage record store updates, plus news of the WTF Records book project and much more…in the meantime, enjoy this video clip shot in Austin, Texas during Vinyl Road Rage…there is more video to come as well–at least two more reports after this one…enjoy the sights and sounds of the sore-throat punk outfit (individual?) Nigel Pepper Cock, reviewed here with the Crosley Revolution portable USB turntable…



More Video from Austin–Vinyl Road Rage

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Vinyl Road Rage Four still has a lot of material to be written and posted including some vinyl reviews on video…the road trip itself is nearly over but there are more than 25 record stores awaiting reviews and a ton of vinyl finds to discuss. Here’s one of the clips shot in Austin Texas during the earlier part of the trip…we test drive the Crosley Revolution portable turntable and hear a bit of Allen Ginsberg on vinyl to boot.


Vinyl Road Rage gets off the highway tomorrow (Wednesday December 21) and the record store reviews begin in earnest…