by Joe Wallace

Where the mighty St. Louis-based Record Exchange wins hands-down for sheer staggering size and collector-friendly deep stacks, Vintage Vinyl gets top marks for diversity of styles and a selection that’s more squarely in the present and recent past (though the classic vinyl doesn’t get neglected, no siree.)

In short, it’s the sort of place an OCD vinyl junkie can bring a less-interested significant other and have a reasonable chance of both walking away with new tunes. I am particularly impressed with the soul/R&B vinyl, and there’s plenty of new, shink-wrapped releases to look at, too.

Once again, the “rock” category proves to be a real bummer since most of the stuff I look for there is more along the Athens jangle-pop sound or obscure new wave titles…but you’ll be forced to sift through those godawful Krokus albums and 15 million copies of Journey and Manfred Mann. The prerequisite Aimee Mann/Til Tuesday records (ever present!) are there, but there’s an awful lot of good 80s/90s indie vinyl represented. And if you’re a jazz freak, you won’t ever leave, since that section is equally well-stocked.

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I haunt the soundtracks bin as well, and Vintage Vinyl yielded the Liquid Sky soundtrack–which I have never seen for sale ANYWHERE over the counter, so they get kudos for being as obscure as I like without jacking up the price. My new vinyl find is my favorite for the title alone–I’m a sucker for dub and the right kind of reggae sounds, so when I saw a Scientist album entitled “Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires” I knew I was bound for smoky studio fun…damn.

And did I mention that the soundtrack section also had The Knack and How To Get It? Cross another Swingin’ Londoner off the list. It has to be said, Vintage Vinyl is a gold mine for someone like me, weary of the same old Tubes Inside Outside/Styx Kilroy Was Here/Uriah Heep/ three rows deep at less ambitious shops. What titles do YOU see endlessly on your vinyl hunt? My list could go for a country mile.