Tag Archives: indie record stores

Exile on Main Street, Champaign Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

Rolling into Champaign, Illinois in search of Exile on Main Street was a bit of a challenge only because after six years of living in Chicago it was difficult to adjust to parking meters that accept only loose change. If you’re coming to Champaign to check out record shops (there are several in the area worth looking at) be sure to bring a handful of quarters!

For some indie record stores, new vinyl is the main attraction, and while there is a decent selection of used records to choose from, the new releases seem to be what keeps Exile on Main St. alive and kicking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing–plenty of collectors are scooping up the new titles as well as the old, so Exile on Main St. is a good stop if you need a fix of the shrink-wrapped records.

What I liked best about Exile were the curiosities. There were some great displays including a steampunk-esque video contraption under glass and some other miscellany. Hands down, the most oddball thing on vinyl at Exile was a copy of some sort of Soviet-era Led Zepplin cover album done behind the Iron Curtain. Very trippy indeed.

Be sure to take some time looking at the more obscure vinyl on the walls of this shop–if you’re looking for some used, off-the-beaten track vinyl and don’t mind paying a wee bit extra you’ll do well. There was a nice copy of the Shaft’s Big Score soundtrack hanging there, if memory serves…that is a pretty sweet find, I must say. I would have been tempted if I didn’t already have it in the record bins back home.

Champaign being a college town, it’s no surprise there are a few good record shops in the area. Exile on Main is a great place for a first stop. Get your bearings, see the sights, and you’ll probably be back there picking up some new records after they’ve had a chance to nag at you for a while. This is the kind of place I shop at all the time thinking, “I’ll have to come back for that…”

Naturally, when you get back, it’s gone…so give in to your shop-a-holic vinyl junkie urges while at Exile and don’t look back. I personally regret not having picked up the Russian Led Zepplin thing if only for the sheer novelty of having it.

Backbeats Record Store, Rantoul Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , , , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

I had been dying to check out Backbeats Record Store in Rantoul, Illinois since I read a very good online review of the store in 2010 while planning Vinyl Road Rage #2. I was never able to make the trip until this go-round, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

Backbeats is the kind of record store I like–one that has some thought put into the overall presentation, doesn’t limit itself to the easy genres (grandpa rock, new wave, R&B, etc) and has some style and atmosphere going for it.

The store isn’t open seven days a week–and in a small town like Rantoul, Illinois, it’s a wonder there’s enough of a buying community to support a store I enjoy this much–but it’s well worth the wait.

At the time of this writing, Backbeats has a weekend schedule starting on Thursdays.  The store is closed Mon/Tues/Weds/ so out-of-towners, plan accordingly. And yes, you should definitely make the trip.

There’s plenty of mainstream vinyl stuff on sale at Backbeats, but I managed to find plenty of more obscure 80s and 90s titles, and there was a nice selection of 12 inches from record store stalwarts Souixsie and the Banshees. Backbeats is no slouch in the soundtracks department, either. Soundtrack junkies should definitely take a look–I did pretty well in this section, which often gets overlooked at record shops that don’t think those titles are just as fun to browse as all those Ohio Players albums and Nancy Sinatra titles. Good prices, too.

The store is well organized, very friendly, and there is plenty to see aside from vinyl; this is a safe destination for what I personally call a “lopsided couple”–two people who don’t have the same obsessive fascination for all things vinyl can shop at Backbeats without either one feeling like they’re just marking time while the other browses.

Backbeats lives up to the reviews, and I’ll definitely be coming back here. I hope Rantoul appreciates what it’s got in its own back yard, I hope the community supports this excellent indie record store the way it deserves.

Disc Replay, Crest Hill Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , ,

by Joe Wallace

Technically speaking, Disc Replay is a chain–I knew this going in, but unlike so many music chains that I’ve experienced, this particular Disc Replay has a large selection of vinyl and is not completely useless the way some such shops seem to be.

Granted, there is an enormous hodgepodge of vinyl on the floor–a major challenge to the knees and spine of any crate digger older than 25–but the rewards are worth the amount of Glucosimine and Chondroitin you’ll be required to take when you’re done abusing those poor old kneecaps. Cue the music for that tired old Billy Joel song and sing along;  “Say goodbye to cartilige…”

The good news is, there are plenty of good finds OFF the floor, too. There’s a nice selection of vinyl in varying degrees of quality in a proper bin.

The better quality vinyl is better organzized but a dedicated crate digger knows better than to trust the categorization in any shop–the day you skip the country and western section is the day you miss a Death In June limited edition picture disc misfiled by a bored, gum-popping part timer who thinks YMO is a flavoring agent in Chinese takeout.

 Disc Replay dedicates a large amount of space to compact discs, but vinyl junkies will be pleased to note a large number of music books–reference and otherwise–in the collection. It’s great to find more and more record shops that carry used music tomes as well as vinyl–a well-rounded shop is a fun one.

I managed to score a few rarities and fill some holes in my collection including a surprising Legendary Pink Dots title at a reasonable price. Gotta give Disc Replay points for having some eyebrow-raising titles even if my joints suffered accordingly.

In spite of a large number of what I’m starting to think of as Grandpa records (Mark Farner, ZZ Top, every mid-80s Alice Cooper record, Ronnie James Dio and fifty million battered copies of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album) you can walk out of this shop feeling like you bought indie–and that’s a hard trick to pull off for a store that’s part of a chain.

Platterpus Records, Addison Illinois

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

So it begins–the Vinyl Road Rage updates move into record store review territory now because if I don’t start writing ’em, they will NEVER get done. There’s already a massive backlog of great indie record stores to cover and you have to start sometime so we begin with the great Platterpus Records in Addison, Illinois.

Platterpus sells online and does not have a storefront per se, but they do have a bi-monthly warehouse sale where they invite the public to come and browse literally thousands of records. You can also come out and look by appointment, which is how I enjoyed my first visit.

Platterpus is challenging for non-crate digging obsessive record shoppers going by appointment because the stock is literally boxed and waiting the warehouse sale–but the persistent digger is soon rewarded with plenty of delicious finds.

I strongly recommend searching the site’s online stock–which is not available for crate digging–before going to the warehouse. I was rewarded with a couple of wonderful finds using this approach–a Coil 12-inch I’d been long seeking and some other beauties.

Crate digging at Platterpus is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I have yet to experience the warehouse sale but the Platterpus folks tell me it’s organized and fun. They’re friendly, very helpful and I will definitely be going back out to Addison at some point soon for more digging.

In the world of storefronts, Platterpus Records is a bit of an anomaly, but it’s definitely working for them, and any warehouse sale that also features cocktails  and live bands (as advertised in their last flyer) cannot be a bad thing at all. I REALLY want to try the warehouse sale version of Platterpus Records . Cocktails and vinyl? Oh yes, please.