August 15, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

Ain’t no cure for the summertime blues, but a good treatment is record shopping!

I used to have a chip on my shoulder about collectors who cared more about getting rare editions and turning a profit than the music. But as the world burns around us, I’m just glad record stores are still around, thanks to people who are willing to pay 3 to 100 times more for these musical artifacts than they used to cost 30 years ago.

While listening to a variety of music oriented YouTube channels when I’m cooking, cleaning and in the gym, the algorithms have pointed me toward some vinyl enthusiasts who cover various genres and eras, but the format is basically the same — they hold up the record and talk about it. I like the countdowns of favorites for particular years or subgenres. It’s kind of soothing and hypnotic, almost like ASMR.

One thing I found absurd, but am starting to see the appeal, are those who listen exclusively to physical media. If they don’t own it, they don’t stream it. This self-imposed artificial scarcity, if one has the discipline, can, in a way, transport you back to the 70s to early 90s, when that was the only way you could access music. The thrill of hunting for an album you really want, even though you hadn’t even heard all of it, eventually finding it and listening to it with complete undistracted attention — that’s appealing for sure. As is going into record stores with a purpose.

I moved near Austin last year, and I still haven’t visited all the record stores. I bought a Black Sabbath Sabotage CD box set at Waterloo Records, and just a t-shirt at End of an Ear. I get most of my new releases as digital downloads from Bandcamp, and I miss having a mission when I go into a record store. Heck, Waterloo is catty corner from a grocery store I shop at about once a month, and I wasn’t even bothering to go in. How freaking dreary is that, not being even tempted to go into a record store? Gone are the days when I would literally risk my life to get to a record store. As a kid, I had a collection of maybe 50 records that I bought from 1979-85 before switching to cassettes, then CDs. In college, I didn’t bother bringing my records with me, but I did build up a similar sized collection of cheap used vinyl (back then you could get the first four Black Sabbath records for less than $8 total!), mostly of punk, post-punk and 2 Tone for my radio show (Fester’s Bucket O’ Nasties), before certain albums were reissued on CD and the station didn’t have ’em.

I work from home and the wall behind my monitors was bare. I really wish I had a large window there like my old place, but that ain’t gonna happen. I thought of hanging acoustic treatments, but I’d rather look at album art. So my mission is to start up a new, small record collection, starting with some overall all-time favorites, punk, a few childhood favorites with cool album art, and a selection of 21st century albums that have fun art and gatefold layouts. My first purchase one typically scorching July day after picking up my new glasses, was John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme at Walmart (don’t judge, I live in the boonies and I didn’t have time to drive to a real record store), my third favorite album of all time. I ordered some inexpensive clear plastic shelves that I can mount with easily removed sticky velcro so I don’t have to drill dozens of holes, and Adventures in Vinyl Part III has commenced!

The closest record store to me is Astro Record Store in Bastrop. It opened in 2019, owned by the loquacious Kevin “Lippy” Mawby, who grew up in London, and ran record shops in New Orleans from the early 90s through Katrina. After lugging around his record inventory for 15 years, it finally found a home on historic Pine Street in downtown Bastrop amidst charming cafes, bars, shops and a bookstore next door. That Saturday afternoon it was really hopping, with a few couples and and even families with kids digging through the crates. He engaged pretty much everyone with witty jokes, stories, and even had a 10 year-old sampling some obscure death metal album. He might have just changed that kids’ life. Or ruined it, who knows! I have a theory that his metal section was started solely for favorite rock star customer, Nathan Garrett of Spirit Adrift. Hm, maybe I’ll start bugging him to start a section of modern stoner/psych/prog! Despite being just 1,000 sq ft, there was plenty of room, and it had a nice, friendly vibe, a far cry from some other dark, small shops full of sweaty men elbowing each other as they feverishly flip looking for gold. I picked up Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. Lippy subtly complimented my choice by saying he was planning to play that record that day. He sounded genuine, excellent record man etiquette!

On a brief trip to Denver, I explored Twist & Shout Records, 12,000 square feet of records and CDs, each aisle stacked on top with music books, toys and other fun cultural artifacts. It must be one of the top ten largest stores in the country. Amoeba L.A. is said to be the largest at 20,000 sq ft, with Bananas Music in Florida at 17,500. However, Josey Records in Dallas added an additional 8,000 sq ft next door to their 15,000 sq ft space, which, unless my brain can no longer do math, is 23,000 sq ft.

Anyway, Twist & Shout is a beauty, the walls full of vintage posters and t-shirts, shelves above the CD/record bins full of music books and toys. The independent retail institution has been going strong for 33 years, and the original owners sold it to store manager Patrick Brown earlier this year, ensuring it will maintain it’s charm and integrity. It was well organized, with a labeled divider for every artist, making it easy to browse. However, if they don’t have a section for the artist, there are hardly any selections in the miscellaneous section for each letter, so more obscure artists are nowhere to be found. The prices were much higher than Astro Records — I could count on one hand the number of records I saw for under $20. The average price of their records was well over $30, and I got to the point where I had to adjust what I was willing to pay if I was to leave the store with anything. I ended up finding The Stooges – Fun House, Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures, and The Raincoats debut, all reissues, for $24-25 each.

Better deals were available back in Austin. This past weekend I finally made it to Love Wheel Records, owned by Mike Nicolai and his wife Nancy. I’ve actually known Mike for 35 years, as I lived in a house with most of his bandmates in an early band of his, The Draghounds, in St. Paul, MN. Opened in April 2021, they got some nice publicity when the Austin Chronicle named it Best New Record Store for Dog People.

Mike was out of town but I made sure to find stuff to buy. It turns out that $22 is a relative bargain for a new copy of The Damned’s Machine Gun Etiquette. I also considered a copy of Buzzcocks’ Another Music in a Different Kitchen for the same price, but along with a handful of cheaper used records, I wanted to get a t-shirt featuring Joe the tripaw dog, who has become a bit of a celebrity since that award.

This time I made sure to prioritize going into Waterloo Records, established way back in 1982, before I did my grocery shopping. A band was playing an in-store, and the sound was horrible. Luckily I still had my earplugs in my pocket from the Elder show the previous night. It’s a great store, well organized, and at least a handful of albums on my list for around $20-23. And they do have a small garage psych section, including some German kosmische, between the metal and punk sections. I had to ease up on the spending and just got Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady for $18.

For newer albums, I bought some direct from Colour Haze and Truckfighters via their Bandcamp sites. Both arrived incredibly quickly, considering they came from Germany and Sweden. I bought a couple at the Elder show, though they sold out of my favorite, Reflections of a Floating World. I’ll have to hunt for that one or wait for a repress. There’s a number of Motorpsycho albums I want, but I’d have to pay pretty expensive shipping costs via Stickman Records, so I gotta take a breather and wait. I’d been trying to find a way to buy digital files for the Limousine Beach album that came out back in April, with no luck. The only way was to buy the vinyl via their Bandcamp site (they cheekily priced the digital download at $1,000, making it clear what they want you to buy), so what the heck, I ordered one. Great album from the former Carousel frontman Dave Wheeler, continues the duel guitars, but with glam added to the mix. Just as great is GYASI’s Pronounced Jah-See.

Since my last turntable broke in the late 90s, I also needed to get a new/used one. A friend recommended the Audio-Technica AT-LP120X, and I found a lightly used one on eBay for $200. Unfortunately the dude did not know how to pack it, and it was rattling around loose in too large a box, the tonearm unsecured, destroying the stylus, and the counterbalance cracking a hole in the cover. The anti-skating got messed up too, so it needs repair. I got most of my money refunded, bought a new stylus and cover, but still need to find a repair shop. The place next to Love Wheel Records, Tapehead Electronics, just closed, and another place wasn’t open on Sundays, so I scheduled an appointment for this week at Space Baby Audio, owned by former Tapehead employee Henry Kohen. So, yeah, just lookin’ at the album art right now. I have all the digital files anyway, but it would be douchey not to play them once in a while.

With the relentless heatwave, I had been spending more time indoors than I did during the winter. I get exercise on a treadmill, and use my little inflatable pool a couple times a week, but otherwise, I was starting to feel Seasonal Affective Disorder type symptoms. In terms of distracting me and making me feel a bit more engaged with the outside world, this retail therapy mission was a success!

I’ll be adding one more section of six shelves on the wall for a total of 18 spaces. I could add one more row at top for 9 more, but it might be hard to reach over my desk, making it awkward. I’ll just shuffle around which albums I want to display. I only got a single Ikea KALLAX cube, with the plan that I won’t be exceeding 100 records anytime soon. We’ll see how that goes. There’s still a dozen record stores in the Austin area I haven’t visited, and I’ll gradually visit them. There’s also the 41 year-old Austin Record Convention, which I will check out October 1-2.

So far I’m sticking to records that are important to me, though there’s plenty of eye-catching cover art from bands that aren’t top tier for me, but I still like. In the example below, currently only the Hawkwind is on my wantlist. If I saw a black and white version of Victor Peraino’s Kingdome Come, I’d be tempted, because I love how it looks like the Slift cover art.