I am completely unable to walk past any store selling vinyl without popping in "just to check it out," to the chagrin of both my wife and my checking account. This extends as far as the clearance racks at Hot Topic (I found Scream's Still Screaming for five bucks, so it's worth looking, right?), but is usually confined to Goodwills, Salvation Army stores, and your usual record shops. For the past week, I've been bouncing around up north, and I return singing the praises of a couple of Illinois' finer record stores.
In Chicago, there's no place finer than Reckless Records if you're looking to dig for really quality bargain bin records. I found like-new CDs from Michelle Shocked, Dance Hall Crashers, and the Zutons. Their bargain vinyl is also pretty darned amazing - at the Wicker Park location, they've got a selection of cheap-ass singles, 45s, and 7-inches that held me rapt for the better part of an hour. The Loop location is a nice little store, and worth checking out, too, especially if you're in the theater district or checking out Millennium Park. I never made it to the new Broadway location, but I hear they're still working their way out of boxes. But, really, if you're looking for rock and roll (and one of the better selections of punk singles I've ever seen), hit up Reckless.
For the more suave musical selector, there's Jazz Record Mart, just over the river, and about a couple blocks from Pizzeria Uno's. It is the place for jazz records, much in the same way that Dusty Groove is your place for soul and funk.
Now, if you just want to spend an entire day digging through record stacks (and I mean that literally), head through Rockford, Illinois, on your way back to KC. While there, you can hit up what has to be my new number one place to waste time, Toad Hall Books and Records. There are three floors of books and records, with additional space across the street.
Evidently, the building across the street houses all their singles, but the wife and I were time-crunched. As it was, I could have spent days in their basement alone. The basement is shelves and stacks of records that stretch like a rabbit warren everywhere, lit by drop lights, clip lights, and assorted other poor sources of illumination. It's insane, and smells vaguely of plastic decomposing. The record selection is crazy -- you can find pretty much anything you're looking for, and it's bound to be decently priced. They seem to give some sort of bulk discount, and they're willing to haggle. Beware, though -- they know what they've got and will charge accordingly.
That's just a selection - -lord knows, there are record stores all across this great nation of ours, and I'm bound and determined to visit them all.
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