Dear Cheapo: I think you're great

Since the very beginning of this blog I lamented the fact that I was, in fact, located in Washington, D.C., half the country away from the record stores of the Twin Cities, where all of this began. Sure, I grew to find some really good shops in Washington, met some cool people and found some good stuff. But the whole time, I was always comparing it to what I left, and I publicly celebrated my (first, temporary) visit to the Twin Cities followed by my permanent move back.

The whole time, I always had one shop in mind: Cheapo Records. It has two locations in these Twin Cities, one in St. Paul a mile or so from where I live, and another in Uptown Minneapolis. The former is in two locations, one for CDs and DVDs, another across the street strictly for records and tapes. Minneapolis' is in one location, with the entire basement containing only vinyl records. So, yup, I really like it.

So far, I've visited St. Paul's Cheapo twice, and both times I walked away with more than I had intended to buy and more than I could've hoped to find. Today's buys?

• The Sex Pistols -- Never mind the Bollocks
• Woody Guthrie -- Best of (2xLP)
• Jefferson Airplane -- Volunteers (which happens to be one of my favorite records from the whole West Coast, San Francisco 60s sound/era).

On my first trip?

• An Ella Fitzgerald/Billie Holiday compilation
• Neil Young -- Harvest
• Sly & the Family Stone -- Greatest Hits

Not bad, and that was just in the recent arrivals. So, yeah. In short? Looking forward to visiting many more times, and buying many more records, for a while.

Dateline: ST. PAUL, Minn.

It's official: This blog -- well, this blogger, at least -- has relocated to where the vinyl adventure first began: Minnesota's own Twin Cities. I'm living within walking distance to a Cheapo and biking distance to another Cheapo and a host of other record stores where I first started picking up records here and there.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was considering some kind of thoughtful farewell to D.C. and the shops there, but it never really came together. I'll definitely miss CD/Game Exchange, and there were a few other shops where I found some great things. But all in all, it'll be nice to get back to some of the spots I haven't been able to visit for quite some time.

Until I start doing that, this blog will probably stay pretty quiet. We haven't had our things delivered from the East Coast just yet, so I think it would be cruel to myself if I started crate digging and picking up vinyl just to wait to listen to it on my stereo/record player. Hopefully, though, our lack of things/furniture will change in the coming days and record playing/crate digging/comfortable sitting can resume once again.

Going going, back back, to (Minnesota)

That's right, folks. Headed back to Minnesota at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, landing right at 7:30. Really looking forward to getting back. Word is there's a record fair in Minneapolis' Lyn-Lake area Saturday morning (awesome). Also, really looking to spending some time at various Cheapos around the cities, not to mention Electric Fetus, Treehouse Records, and everything else (friends! family!) that makes the Midwest -- mostly Minnesota -- just grand... I believe god's country is a fair description.

Above? Two videos to mark the occasion: Notorious B.I.G.'s "Going Back to Cali" and Minneapolis' own Atmosphere's homage to, you guessed in, Minnesota (and the Midwest, too.)

Enjoy.