Austin Record Store Binge
For the past few weeks I’ve been taking photos for Austin Vinyl, a new website that’ll be up, running, and telling you all you need to know about the local record store scene very soon. It has been great discovering so many stores that I didn’t know about, but the temptation of all that vinyl means my bank account isn’t speaking to me at the moment.
Here’s your own brief tour of the six stores we hit. All these photos + more are here.
First and largest, Waterloo Records. Doubly dangerous in that I went weeks ago, then again for Spoon, and couldn’t resist buying both times.
Record count: Anni Rossi – Rockwell, HEALTH – Get Color, Dengue Fever – Escape From Dragon House
Cheapo, right up the street
Record count: Radiohead – They Might Be Wrong (live recordings)
Brief interlude to say that I have absolutely loved these recordings for years, and am so happy to finally have them on vinyl. The versions of Like Spinning Plates and True Love Waits on here are so, so good.
Backspin Records, my hands-down favorite new find. I actually had to stop looking, because it was getting more and more difficult to choose which albums I should buy and which I could wait on.
Also, they have a Billy Idol wall.
Record count: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Broom, HEALTH – s/t, Spoon – Kill the Moonlight, one more I can’t remember
Record count: Bedřich Smetana (who had a thoroughly depressing life), the Chariots of Fire soundtrack, the Roadie soundtrack with its awesome classic rock, LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Friends of Sound, where I stumbled into by accident last sxsw and ended up with some Billie Holiday and Holy Fuck… great location also, right off of South Congress.
Record count: Nina Simone – Best Of Collection, Dirty Dancing Soundtrack (hell yeah!)
Breakaway Records, aka ohmygod so many awesome $1 albums wow.
Record count: Dave Brubeck – Solo Piano Songs, Cindy Lauper, Beatles – 1967-1970
The sad thing is, I probably bought even more that I forgot about… vinyl love is a sickness, I tell you!
Tags: Backspin Records, Breakaway Records, Cheapo, End of an Ear, Friends of Sound, Waterloo Records