by Joe Wallace

I thought I’d kick off Vinyl Road Rage 4 with a look at a record shop right in my own back yard. Before I get behind the wheel today to hit the road for Bloomington, Indiana, Nashville and points beyond, Laurie’s Planet of Sound definitely deserves a mention.

Laurie’s is literally two blocks away from my place, which makes it very handy to indulge in some early-afternoon record shopping, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to Laurie’s in the past two months when I sorely needed some new, obscure or bizarro vinyl titles to write about for my book in progress WTF Records: The Turntabling Guide To Weird and Wonderful Vinyl.

And that is the real draw for me–Laurie’s carries the usual stuff with plenty of new vinyl across the expected genres plus soundtracks, imports and more. But Laurie’s absolutely excels at bringing in rarities new and used that impresses me no end. In another life, my exposure to neighborhood record stores was rather unimpressive. Since moving to Chicago proper a few years back that’s changed.

But I’ve never been so spoiled as I have been with Laurie’s so close and so well-stocked with awesomeness. I’ve scored Legendary Pink Dots vinyl, Nurse With Wound, the Blacula soundtrack, some very tasty minimal wave titles, and my all-time favorite holy grail find: Punishment of Luxury.

Laurie’s is a must-visit if you come to Chicago for a visit. They carry DVDs including a variety of off-the-beaten-track titles that are just as obsessive-worthy as the vinyl (plenty of Something Weird titles, horror movie trailer collections, drive-in exploitation and other wonderful things), and there’s even a great, eclectic book selection, too.

The shop is friendly, fun to shop, and beware what they are playing on the turntable when you walk in–chances are you’ll be walking out with it before your shopping spree is done or regret NOT buying it when you leave. I had non-buyer’s remorse for AGES after walking out without the album by Social Climbers they were playing. What was I thinking?

This jaded record store blogger HIGHLY recommends Laurie’s Planet of Sound at 4639 N Lincoln in Chicago. And be sure and tell them Turntabling.net sent you. That might make them giggle.