Record Revolution in Cleveland Ohio is in the center of the Cleveland Heights arts-n-culture district. There are music venues, wi-fi coffee shops, art spaces and plenty of other diversion. Located on 1828 Coventry Road, Record Revolution is one of Cleveland’s indie vinyl landmarks if the reviews on Yelp.com and elsewhere mean anything at all.

Those reviews say the store has lost some of its former glory. That’s not for me to say–I’ve never shopped there until this trip, but I can say the shop is a combination of old and new vinyl and if you’re a new vinyl collector looking for soul titles, you could do a hell of a lot worse than starting your journey here.

There are plenty of fun oddball vinyl selections (my favorite finds are the weird ones), plus the ones you know you want if for no other reason than to have bagged another trophy title.

Record Revolution has a pile of grey market DVDs for sale, plus a collection of movie poster reproductions (they seem to be laser or inkjet printed reproductions which I personally stay away from–I can print them myself at home for free, thanks). I have to say, some of the grey market discs are awesome–I purchased one that was a collection of nothing but Turkish action movie excerpts. But some of the others are pretty vile. “Upskirt”? Thanks, but no thanks.

Record Revolution has a downstairs area with a nice collection of bargains on vinyl and CD. A literal “bargain basement”.

The CD piles include a set of ultra-cheapie discs. It’s a trend I’ve been noticing in record stores a lot lately–one that seems to indicated that the shiny disc is going the way of the video tape. I predict that one day compact discs could become actual collector’s items when it comes to releases by bands like Coil and others who might not ever reissue portions of their back catalogs in MP3 form…or will they change their minds later? Still too early to tell.

Record Revolution is a store that could act as a gateway to collecting for the curious–I can see how someone might get a lifelong habit after scooping up some of the vinyl bargains here as an experiment. Diehard collectors should stop in on a just-in-case basis, but if you have a small collection pop in here to fill things out.

And you thought Reader’s Digest was only in the magazine business, right? And look! It’s PLEASURE PROGRAMMED! I feel dirtier already.