You won’t be sure quite what to make of this YouTube clip called The Vinyl Rally, which according to poster Yeldham, is “a participatory play-set, a kinetic sound and video installation combining vinyl fetishism, video arcade mystique and the machismo of motor sports into a in a video racing game played within a real world setting!”
Super-trippy, to be sure.
There has been a LOT of progress on WTF Records: The Turntabling.net Guide To Weird and Wonderful Vinyl.
The goal of reviewing 101 wtf vinyl records is complete today with the review of the 101st record, and the project moves into a new phase starting next week with a lot of photography and editing.
It’s been a great journey so far, and once the photography is done there’s a big dilemma to consider–for a long time I’ve been thinking that I’d have the book published as the very first title for Turntabling Press, but as of late I’ve found three established indie/underground publishing houses that might be a very good fit for the book and now I’m torn between starting my own or going with one of them.
The main issue is with the artwork–a full color book is more expensive to produce, and even if you outsource it to China, the costs are still a bit high for a first-time publisher…but a company like Fab Press, Soft Skull, or another worthy indie has built-in distribution in addition to the hyper-aggressive book promotion tour I want to do with it. That’s a huge plus, so I’m weighing the options carefully.
It’s really exciting to be turning a new corner on the WTF Records book. I can’t wait to get it into the hands of Turntabling readers and vinyl junkies, it’s only a matter of time now as most of the written material, pending some interviews that still need to happen and be edited, is finished. There will be some sneak previews coming to Turntabling after Vinyl Road Rage four is done (just before Christmas).
WTF Records is the very first book put out by Turntabling.net and is chock full of weirdness on vinyl, plus interviews with musicians, record store owners, vinyl collectors and music journalists about their favorite WTF record finds.
The Facebook page for WTF Records: The Turntabling.net Guide to Weird and Wonderful Vinyl has fun updates and chatter about weird records. Join us there!
–Joe Wallace
Turntabling.net is pleased to announce the itinerary for Vinyl Road Rage #4, the six-state indie record store blogging trip featuring more than twenty record shops from Illinois to Texas and back again.
Vinyl Road Rage begins December 8, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Turntabling’s Joe Wallace will drive from Chicago to Bloomington Indiana, Nashville, Tennessee, Memphis Tennessee, Little Rock Arkansas, Norman Oklahoma, Dallas Texas, plus destinations in Fort Worth and Denton Texas before heading back north to Tulsa Oklahoma, Kansas City Missouri, Springfield Illinois and back home to Chicago.
Vinyl Road Rage is Turntabling’s annual blogging road trip in search of the coolest record stores along the way. Every day features blog posts and highlights from the road. This trip features some additional content–in addition to the daily updates, there will be video coverage and reviews of the best/weirdest vinyl finds from the road, making this the most elaborately covered Vinyl Road Rage yet.
The six-state road trip schedule runs from December 8 to December 21 and the itinerary below is subject to change based on weather, delays or other unavoidable factors. Vinyl Road Rage will visit a wide range of indie record shops along the way, including but not definitely no limited to:
TD’s CDs and LPs Bloomington, IN
Grimey’s Nashville, TN
The Groove Nashville, TN
Goner Records Memphis, TN
Shangri-La Records, Memphis, TN
Arkansas Record-CD Exchange Little Rock, AR
Guestroom Records Norman, OK
Bill’s Records Dallas, TX
Good Records Dallas, TX
Recycled Books Records CDs Denton, TX
Starship Records and Tapes Tulsa, OK
Zebedee’s RPM Kansas City, MO
Vinyl Renaissance Kansas City, MO
Recycled Records Springfield, IL
Turntabling welcomes suggestions for other indie record shops to visit along the way–just drop us a line to jwallace (at) turntabling (dot) net.
This year’s trip is also unique as a tour diary will be kept for publication in a book project to be announced at the end of Vinyl Road Rage #4. Stay tuned for details on that project.
Vinyl Road Rage began in 2008 and has run at least once per year ever since. This year’s trip is the most elaborate and longest one to date. For more information, or to schedule interviews or media opportunities about Vinyl Road Rage #4, contact Joe Wallace at jwallace (at) turntabling (dot) net.
by Joe Wallace
One of my favorite Midwestern indie record stores is the Toledo, Ohio-based Culture Clash Records. The shop is friendly, fun to browse, and I always seem to find wonderfully weird records there like the Jannik Top robodisco project Space.
On my last visit to Culture Clash, the day before HorrorHound Weekend in Cincinatti, I was chatting with people in the shop about doing an interview for the Turntabling WTF Record Guide, when I was handed a copy of Magnet Magazine.
Apparently Magnet has been off the newsstands for a while in favor of an all-digital version, but has since returned with a print edition. That is a good thing–while I’ve not followed Magnet in some time, it was nice to see them back in print.
I took the mag, browsed it piecemeal for a week and forgot about it.
But today I picked it up again after making a discovery I’d missed all the previous times I’d read the mag–I had never glanced at the back cover until today. Imagine my pleasant surprise to find Magnet has done something quite interesting and cool with their selected listing of Indie Record Stores In Your Backyard.
The list includes several shops currently on the Vinyl Road Rage Four list (which will be announced next week) and I was very pleased to see some other familiar names there, too.
Magnet was good enough to list Culture Clash, Grimey’s in Nashville, Guestroom Records in Norman Oklahoma, the wonderful Landlocked Music in Bloomington, Indiana, plus Luna Music in Indianapolis, Shake It Records in Cincinnati, Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis and several other worthy vendors.
I have no idea whether this was done as a service or as a paid advertisement (I’d like to think it was in support of indie shops that carry Magnet on the newsstands again). Regardless, it was GREAT to see these stores that I love given national advertising and exposure. The economy sucks, times are hard for everyone, and indie record shops truly need and deserve support right now. Sure, as a record seller myself (horror conventions, Discogs.com, etc.) I am a bit biased…but record stores, like any small business, truly are the backbone of America, don’t you think?
With the closure of big stalwart record shops like Ear X-Tacy in Louisville, Kentucky and others, I always feel like it’s a good thing to urge people to support their favorite vinyl record sellers wherever they may be. Magnet Magazine, thank you for throwing your two cents into the mix with this back-cover listing of excellent record shops. I hope this is a trend that continues as there are MANY deserving and wonderful record shops that could use the exposure.