Check out the delicious retro loveliness of these players! Some of the images are courtesy of Dark Roasted Blend, while others are from eBay, BoingBoing and other sources. The video, which is first, shows the in-car vinyl player in action…sweet.

There are plenty of excellent guides to the turntable online, so I don’t need to rehash anything here, but I will just say for the record that one of THE most extensive and comprehensive guides to record players is the Turntable Basics post at AudioJunkies.com.Wow, that is extensive! A great start for newcomers to turntables, indeed.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve run into at conventions and shows (not record collector shows, mind you) who are completely surprised that not only is vinyl in vogue once more but that thousands of new vinyl albums are coming out, both reissues and new material.

Not sure where these people have been hiding since even Best Buy carries vinyl these days, but at EVERY show there is at least on surprised punter.

So let’s answer a few basic questions: Is there new vinyl coming out? Yes. Do companies still manufacture turntables? Yes. Do these companies still make replacement record needles? Oh yes indeed!

If there’s one thing I would strongly urge people reading this to do who haven’t done so already, it’s to purchase a turntable and get back into record collecting. Simple fact–at almost every record store there is a bin of cheapies, some for a dollar apiece.

That makes getting into vinyl and collecting new-to-you music FAR CHEAPER than downloading single MP3s. I love MP3s for their portability and ease of use as a DJ, but vinyl is still my hands-down favorite for the whole music listening experience including the artwork, which is far more enjoyable in those 12×12 formats.

–Joe Wallace

By popular demand, here’s an ever-growing list of the Dario Argento related titles currently available for sale here. This list is all the vinyl, we’ll post the compact disc collection very soon. Please note that in most cases this vinyl is either out of print or going to be so very soon.

All titles for sale here are sealed and unopened unless otherwise indicated. We actually don’t have any used Argento vinyl for sale here–can’t find any and the people who own these titles hang on to them for dear life–but we have to let you know it’s sealed, regardless.

Goblin Dawn Of The Dead Soundtrack Vinyl LP

Dario Argento acted as a producer on the ground-breaking George Romero undead opus, so it gets included here.

Argento was also responsible for bringing Goblin to the table for the soundtrack so he gets double kudos for this. The bad news is that this Dagored vinyl LP is out of print now and when supplies are gone, they’re gone for good unless the Italian distributor decides to print another run someday. This is now extremely collectible.

This is a new, sealed import vinyl LP. Buy the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack by Goblin from Turntabling for $28.00. These are going fast–when they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

Tenebre Soundtrack Vinyl LP by Goblin

The vinyl LP soundtrack for Tenebre on Dagored Records is even more collectible than Dawn of the Dead. This title is out of print and likely not to return, which means that sealed, unopened copies are worth far more today than ever.

This soundtrack is one Argento’s most famous, thanks in part to Claudio Simonetti’s Italo disco stylings on the best-known cuts. Technically speaking this is not a Goblin record–the band wasn’t able to use the name for contractual reasons at the time–but this is classic Goblin nonetheless, if not a completely different sound for the group. Completist collectors should definitely try to get their hands on one of these while it’s still available. Tenebre is a sealed, import vinyl LP pressed on 180 gram vinyl

Buy Tenebre from Turntabling for $30.00 plus shipping.

Four Flies On Grey Velvet Soundtrack Vinyl LP Ennio Morricone

You won’t get Morricone’s haunting score for this early giallo by Argento out of your head for weeks. The whispers, moans and experimental percussion are a lower-volume precursor to the high-octane shrieks and clangs in Suspiria. Some might call that a stretch, but listen to the two soundtracks back to back and you might be surprised.

This too is a highly endangered species on vinyl–when supplies are gone, they’re gone! Just TRY to find this in any used record shop or on eBay for a reasonable price. We have a limited supply of Four Flies On Grey Velvet, they are sealed, 180 gram vinyl LPs on the excellent Dagored label. Get them while they last!

Buy the Four Flies On Grey Velvet vinyl record from Turntabling for $29.00 plus shipping.

Suspiria Vinyl LP by Goblin

The king of the Argento soundtracks, Suspiria features Goblin at the hieght of their creativity and spookiness. This album completely transcends the film its in, standing alone as a sonic accomplishment that demands to be recognized with or without the film.

Suspiria is also out of print and getting more scarce in this form than ever. It will soon be listed as ultra-rare and as with Tenebre, we challenge crate diggers to find one of these in the used bins–we’ve never seen it happen!

We have extremely limited stock of this awesome vinyl record, sealed and unsullied by human hands. Suspiria is a sealed, imported vinyl record on 180-gram vinyl.

Buy Suspiria now from Turntabling for $39.00 plus shipping.

Deep Red AKA Profondo Rosso by Goblin

Goblin’s soundtrack for Deep Red, also known as Profondo Rosso, is a driving prog-filled album that really enhances the film. There are a couple of cheesy moments with analog synth flourishes thrown in for no apparent reason, but these are quickly forgotten when the prog attack kicks in again.

Goblin was in fine form on this soundtrack in spite of being intimidated by the job–they were brought onto the film after Argento fired the original composer…but Simonetti and company stepped up to the task quite nicely. As with so many (all?) of the other titles in the Dario Argento soundtrack catalog, this particular release on Dagored Records is going out of print and is more of a rarity than ever for vinyl junkies.

The Goblin Profondo Rosso soundtrack is a new, sealed vinyl LP on 180-gram vinyl. Buy it now while supplies last from Turntabling for $28.00 plus shipping.

That’s all the Argento vinyl we have in stock currently. Stay tuned for the list of Argento-related CD titles!

I’m familiar with other Crosley products and was very tempted to get a Crosley Memory Master II for review here–after all, not everybody has a pro setup or is interested in ultra-high quality MP3 versions of their favorite vinyl LPs; most people just want to rip, listen, and enjoy.

But the customer reviews for previous versions of the Crosley Memory Master were so discouraging that I hesitated to waste even the shipping fee to get one of these to Turntabling central. I’d be very interested in learning who out there in Turntabling-land has used one of these and what they think.

The specs look good--this model is equipped with a line out to run into your stereo system if you don’t want to rely on the internal speakers, and there’s a USB connection for ripping direct to Mac or PC. This model lets you use a recordable CD to rip the records in real time…but near as I can tell there is nothing that specifies how individual tracks are broken up once the recording process begins. Just try looking for a definitive customer review of the Crosley CR2413A and you’ll come up with more questions than answers.

The lack of info on that basic concern does give me pause–if I were in a store thinking about purchasing that, it’s one of those questions that would have to be answered conclusively before I sank any amount of cash into one of these.

Fortunately, Crosley’s official site has the owner’s manual for the CR2413A Memory Master II online, and I learned the one big thing that would keep me from getting one; you have to manually divide the disc into separate tracks AS YOU RECORD THE ALBUM.

Too bad, because otherwise, for home use this looks like a fun way to enjoy your vinyl collection, plus CDS (it plays standard and MP3 discs).

Back to the drawing board, Crosley–you’ll get it sorted one of these days! I do like the other items in the Crosley catalog–again, for non-professional casual enjoyment of vinyl albums the Crosley collection has great looking designs and sizes for even the most space-challenged bachelor pad.

But for a DJ, this might not be the red hot tool you need, especially if you’re picky about conversion to MP3. I personally prefer a higher rate than what you can get here but would be very tempted to buy this for home use if I didn’t already have a USB turntable.

My advice is to do some SERIOUS comparison shopping on this one if you’re interested. For example, you can get this turntable at Zzounds.com listed at $149 and $7 shipping (at press time–prices may change), but over at Amazon it sells for $112 at press time with free shipping (at press time). Shop around!

–Joe Wallace

Today, the great Turntabling road trip begins–a long, winding journey by rail and by car in search of black wax platters-the odd, the unusual, and the obscure. Staring in Chicago, ending in San Antonio, Texas, the road winds through two Springfields (Illinois and Missouri), Oklahoma City and Norman, Dallas, Austin and finally San Antonio. There will be blog posts along the way and it should be an amusing voyage, to be sure.

The best part about a trip like this is the frequent stops, and if you know of an indie record store that definitely must be seen along the way (I-55 to I44, I-44 to I-35 is roughly THE journey, pretty simple, eh?) please drop a line in the comments section. This is a first for Turntabling, it should be an excellent adventure. More updates from the road!