Indiana record stores – 7th Level Music

Wrecka Stow: JL Records – West Lafayette, IN

JL Records at 380 Brown Street in West Lafayette, Indiana claims to be “Lafayette’s Largest & Best CD Store.” It must be, and probably is the largest and best in the entire state. Their inventory is astounding.

That’s just one corner of the store. The place is full of CDs packed into racks and boxes and shelves everywhere you look.

They also sell VHS tapes, DVDs, vintage video games, and plenty of box sets and collectible items.

That’s a great example — a super rare collection of Ann-Margret‘s singles that I’d never seen until I visited this place.

Don’t worry, vinyl lovers, they have an entire loft of records for you.

It’s amazing that I spent less than $100.00 here. I walked out with CDs by The The, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, TV Priest, and more. Be sure to have a couple hours to spare if you go there. You’ll need it.

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Welcome Back Records – Fort Wayne, IN

Located at 3019 Broadway in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Welcome Back Records can be spotted by their great sign outside the building.

Yes, they’re in the old Wildwood Liquors building and I hope they never get rid of that sign.

The staff is great here, and the vinyl collected is well-curated. It has a comfortable vibe as soon as you walk in the door.

Their prices are good, especially when it comes to CDs.

I will shop at your store if you have BOGO on your CDs. I scored albums by Interpol and Gas Huffer from these racks. If you need still more ways of playing your music, they have cassettes, too.

And, yes, they have 8-tracks.

How are you going to listen to all this stuff, you ask? Easy. Just buy your stereo from them.

They pack a lot of neat stuff into the small space, and it’s well worth a trip down Broadway to find it.

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Landlocked Music – Bloomington, Indiana

Located at 115 South Walnut on the downtown Bloomington square, Landlocked Music is a must-visit place if you’re looking for a record store in the college town, or even just touring the downtown area. It’s a neat shop with plenty of stuff to dig through and discover, and there are many bargains to be had.

I mean, you walk in and see this? You know you’re walking off at least twenty bucks lighter, especially when you see stuff like this.

I would’ve snagged that Oingo Boingo record if I were a vinyl collector.

Throbbing Gristle next to 13th Floor Elevators! How cool is that?

As I mentioned, there are plenty of bargains – new and used CDs, cassettes, and crates of cheap LPs.

I walked out of there after spending close to fifty bucks on used CDs, the most expensive of which was a Buck Owens CD and DVD of him performing on Austin City Limits – and that was only eight dollars.

I could easily have spent two hours in there, and they were playing a cool Ian Drury live album while I was there to boot. Be sure to check it out.

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Wooden Nickel Records & Tapes Budget and Collectors – Ft. Wayne, Indiana

The “Budget and Collectors” location of Wooden Nickel Records & Tapes in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (3422 N. Anthony) is one of the first record stores I went to way back in high school when I finally had access to a car. I bought many records there and hadn’t been there in decades. It was nice to see the place still in business and still offering a lot of good stuff.

They pack a lot of stuff into the space, and one thing that hadn’t changed was them offering a lot of good stuff at low prices – new and used.

The collector and limited edition stuff is still there. There are plenty of box sets, rare records, and, yes, tapes – cassettes and eight-tracks.

They sell records, of course. They have a whole section of 45 records, all kinds of LPs, and even some picture discs on hand.

Check it out if you’re in town. There’s a lot there and you can get a good amount of it for cheap. I scored a live Buzzcocks album and Donald Fagen‘s classic The Nightfly for barely over ten bucks.

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Square Cat Vinyl – Indianapolis, IN

Located in a hip neighborhood full of good restaurants, a comic book store, and live music venues, Indianapolis’ Square Cat Vinyl (1054 Virginia Avenue) offers live music of its own on a small stage in the midpoint of the store. They also offer craft beer, coffee, tea, chai (extra spicy!), and, of course, vinyl records.

They have a wide variety of genres. I saw everything from thrash metal to prog rock to the soundtrack for the third season of Stranger Things there. Their live shows range from solo acoustic sets to electronic acts.

Plus, how can you resist a place with this in it?

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Ignition Music Garage – Goshen, IN

Located inside an old auto mechanic / brake specialist garage, Goshen, Indiana’s Ignition Music Garage (120 East Washington Street) is the best place for vinyl and used music in the area, and better than many other stores in larger, nearby cities like South Bend or Mishawaka.

First, they have a radio station in there.

It’s a remote studio for Goshen College’s station 91.1 the Globe. The Globe has won multiple awards for college radio quality and Goshen College students are often frequenting Ignition for record sales, live music (on a small stage there), or coffee at the attached place next door.

There’s plenty of music, of course.

I happened to go there on Record Store Day this year, so there were plenty of RSD special items on sale.

Record Store Day is always a bit odd for me because I don’t collect vinyl. I can’t go down that road because I know I’ll never stop and our house is full of enough stuff already. Still, that Autopsy score by Ennio Morricone and the Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock record were tempting. I’m that guy who goes to RSD and buys CDs.

I scored the Clash‘s Sandinista!. Julian Cope‘s Saint Julian (my cassette of that wore out years ago), Caroline Rose‘s I Will Not Be Afraid, and ZZ Top‘sEliminator (which I haven’t owned since I was in middle school). Oddly enough, I still haven’t listened to the Caroline Rose or ZZ Top albums.

Ignition sells music systems as well. They have turntables and Sonos systems. My wife bought me two Sonos speakers after hearing their good sound quality at Ignition.

There’s plenty to browse at Ignition, and the coffee shop next door isn’t too shabby either. If you’re not sure what to get at Ignition, I suggest you start here.

Keep your mind open.

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