Tag Archives: Louisville Kentucky Record Stores

Ear X-Tacy, Louisville Kentucky

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

Independent Record Store Reviews and moreOur coverage of indie record stores continues as Vinyl Road Rage heads into Louisville Kentucky for another look at the indie record shop scene there.

Louisville has a nice collection of stores along a single road, and while they aren’t close together, it does make them quite easy to find. Ear X-Tacy is one of Louisville’s largest (from what I could find) and there is definitely a LOT of vinyl on sale here. This store is MASSIVE!

Crate diggers have their work cut out for them, as there’s a lot of digging to be done. You’ll have to wade through some grandpa rock–probably more than your usual share of Journey, Dio, AC/DC and other tired old titles, but there are also plenty of new, fresh vinyl releases to drool over here.

Ear X-Tacy Louisville Record Store

Like many good record shops, Ear X-Tacy doesn’t limit itself to carrying vinyl and CDs;  there is a decent collection of books here including this extremely funny and oh-so-relevant volume critiquing today’s modern tattooed scene-rats in ways I’m sure would get the author lynched by trust-fund kiddies at Ivy League campuses all over the country. Behold:

Ear X-Tacy gets big kudos for offering vinyl listening stations–this is a very important part of the experience for a new-to-vinyl buyer who doesn’t know Milli Vanilli from Brian Eno, and even for those that DO, the ability to test drive an album is a major plus. Nice going, Ear X-Tacy. Those of us who might reject an album based on too much surface noise just as easily as a crummy set of songs salute you.

Yes, there are plenty of those goofy old CDs to choose from to0…not a bad option when you can’t find Nurse With Wound’s Rock and Roll Station on vinyl without paying out the wazoo for it…at the end of the day, some things must be heard no matter what format they are delivered on.

If you’re in Louisville Kentucky, have a look in Ear X-Tacy, but be prepared to stay a while. Fortunately, the records are all off the floor in regular displays, so no spinal or knee discomfort here! Thanks, guys….

–Joe Wallace

Underground Sounds Louisville Kentucky

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

One thing I like about doing Vinyl Road Rage–there are plenty of contrasts out there. Some indie record stores are massive, multi-story affairs that are mind-bendingly tough to sort through.

Then there are the smaller, scrappy indie record stores like Underground Sounds in Louisville Kentucky. They generally don’t take long to shop for a dedicated crate digger, but they do often yield plenty of rewards.

Underground Sounds, like many similarly-sized indie record stores, has an eclectic mix of old and new vinyl, and while

I didn’t find much in the way of soundtracks at all (one of my own obsessions) the jazz and soul lover doesn’t get left out

in the cold while the indie rock kids get all the attention. It’s a diverse collection. There is also a nice case crammed full of boxed sets, so collectors of these should definitely take a look.

Underground Sounds is cozy, well laid out, and easy to browse. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend here but thanks to an intelligent, customer-friendly layout I was able to get the gist of what they had fairly quickly–and that is a real bonus for short attention-span browsers, I’m here to tell you!

Of all the Louisville record stores I found on my trip, Underground Sounds was hands-down the best. Another place of similar size had nothing but grandpa rock and battered Linda Ronstadt albums, and larger spaces–while organized well–didn’t seem as fun to shop. Maybe I just like small, scrappy indies better?

Underground Sounds has my vote for Louisville Kentucky’s best indie record store for the overall experience. Nothing beats selection, organization and atmosphere combined. I’ll be back here.