5/9 Antone's Records/CVS Austin

Ok so the major part of today was record maintenance. Often clearance records are in playable condition but they are beat up/missing inner sleeves etc... The other day I saw a guy at Antone's fixing an old Sinatra record with rubber cement. It works really well if you apply it right. Rubber cement is sort of a glue and you can find it at cvs. It has a brush in the cap so you just dip it and spread it around (usually around the edges). Let it dry and the jacket is no longer falling apart. Also, sometimes cheap records don't have an inner sleeve. The ones that do are pretty interesting. On a Carole King record sleeve there was an ad for budget compilations including a lot of artists on warner brother/reprise records. I got a kick out of seeing Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Fugs next to The Kinks, Neil Young, America, The Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix etc... But anyways you can get some paper sleeves real cheap, I got 20 for 3 bucks. Sure these sleeves cost almost as much as a clearance record on sale (more on this later), but they do give your records an extra layer of protection, which is great.

Speaking of the kinks, I got a copy of Muswell Hillbillies by the Kinks. It's really the last Kinks album I'm interested in finding, although I would consider picking up Misfits if the price was right. This album was their first album (not counting the percy soundtrack) after Lola, so it should be interesting. I haven't seen a lot of kinks records ever, probably because they weren't as popular due to being banned from performing in the US, and they are definitely due for a reissue. I'd highly recommend checking out anything between Something Else and Muswell Hillbilies. However, The Village Green Preservation society is considered their classic album by most fans, but they are all pretty good.

As for Antone's, it's definitely the legitimate record store I go to the most. It's within walking distance of the UT campus and it has a pretty good selection. However, it is primarily a USED RECORD STORE, and while they do have some reissues, don't go there expecting them to have a lot of new records. They have a good size clearance section and they do occasionally slip in finds. For example, on record store day (April 17th) they always have a sale, and I found Tim by the Replacements for only twenty cents (compared to the 15 cent sleeve). My advice is, if you're looking for good clearance, check the milk crates around the l-z section in the back, they do have it somewhat alphabetical all around, but I think that they put the newer ones in those crates.

Hopefully, I will go to Waterloo records, which is my favorite record store in Austin thus far, but that's a story for another day.