Tag Archives: vinyl road rage

Backbeats Record Store, Rantoul Illinois

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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

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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.

The View from Vinyl Road Rage

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Here’s a collection of images taken along the way from Vinyl Road Rage. The record shop reviews begin with our very next post, so stay tuned for a long series of ’em!

Coil Panic EP

An absolutely fabulous find at the Columbus record store Magnolia Thunderpussy, which wins some kind of prize for the most uniquely left-field company name, ever.

I love it. Not “attention record lovers” or “vinyl junkies” but, “record nerds“. A lack of tact makes the world go round…and yeah, I’ll say it. I AM A RECORD NERD. But like all nerds everywhere, we prefer something a bit more idealized like “vinyl junkie” or “collector” rather than “subhumanoid cellar dweller”. But we smile as we know it’s all in good fun.  You’re laughing WITH us, right? Say you’re laughing with us. Yeah, ok. Heh.

Spoonful Records Columbus Ohio

Seriously, every record store should have pinball. Spoonful Records in Columbus get my vote for all-time greatest record store decor concept ever with these two machines. The only thing a record shop could do that would be one better would be free pizza and beer. Daily. For breakfast. But it would have to be served next to the pinball.

Lost Weekend Records

Lost Weekend Records is another shop that demands a visit. It’s clearly a labor of love and gives me hope that vinyl is here to stay–as long as there are people who love it this much, we’re golden.

Next up–the Vinyl Road Rage record shop reviews begin! Stay tuned folks, there’s plenty of great stuff ahead.

–Joe Wallace

Vinyl Road Rage Hits Pittsburgh

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by Joe Wallace

Vinyl Road Rage hit Pittsburgh, PA last night (Saturday April 23) after a completely INSANE Saturday. I hit eight record stores yesterday between Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Plenty of vinyl finds and some GREAT record shops to write up (they will all get an individual review starting later next week). Being a road warrior was never so much fun.

There are plenty of photos from Vinyl Road Rage on my Facebook page and I will be posting some images from the road here later on, but today’s top priority is the mighty Jerry’s Records, in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. I wrote up Jerry’s from the last Road Rage but a return visit was definitely in the cards as this place is simply amazing.

I was frothing at the mouth about Jerry’s to a friend of mine who quipped, “Well, they’re no Ameboa Records.” To which I said, “Yes, but Ameboa is on the west coast and much too far away.” Jerry’s is tops in my book–accessible from Chicago within a reasonable distance (for a complete lunatic behind the wheel). And since I haven’t seen Ameboa yet…

I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention two simply outstanding record shops in Columbus, Ohio. Lost Weekend and Spoonful.

Lost Weekend is an actual HOUSE on High Street crammed full of excellent new and used vinyl, expertly categorized and fussed over. There are record stores that sell vinyl, and then there are people who run shops who LOVE vinyl and Lost Weekend is clearly run by someone who LOVES vinyl and doesn’t simply SELL it. There is a difference and I’ve experienced plenty of the OTHER example on this trip–places like Lost Weekend give me the energy to continue a crazy trek like this.

Then there’s Spoonful, which is a bit of Rough Trade in reverse–Spoonful started off as a label and then opened the store. (I’m reading the Rough Trade Records bio Document and Eyewitness so it’s a bit on the brain as of late, heh).

Spoonful is run by another vinyl-loving collector with a clear passion for both the music he releases and the music put out by others. This shop is a treasure–it’s inviting, friendly, the two pinball machines in the back really add something to this place totally missing from other shops. Spoonful hasn’t even been open a year and deserves a LOT of support–places like this and Lost Weekend are one of the reasons to collect vinyl in the first place–music aside–there’s a warm friendly community of people out there trying to make it as indie businesses.

I will definitely return to Columbus for no other reason than to visit these two shops, plus the reggae record shop Roots, which was also amazing–more on Roots later when I can rub two brain cells together without thinking about Jerry’s Records.