Buying vinyl just ain't what it used to be. New domestic LPs will run around $10, imports $20 or more. And well-educated collectors have been combing the stacks for so many years, it's hard to find dirt-cheap treasures among the trash. Still, there are goodies to be had in the basement of Root Cellar Records. You won't find super-rare collectibles in the bowels of the St. Paul store. Those are upstairs, sporting two- and three-digit price tags. What you will find are amenities like a working pinball machine, garlands of Christmas-tree lights, and a little record player to test-drive your finds. The stock is mostly a motley assortment of great vintage covers, unplayable records, major-label tax write-offs, and indie recs that never found their audience. But there's also an unusually good selection of Seventies hard rock and AOR staples (owner Earl Root hosts KFAI's Root of All Evil), making it a must-visit before planning any retro party. The prices have sneaked up to $2, which is still a deal for that Jefferson Starship record or that brilliant LP from early-Seventies songwriter Emmit Rhodes or Cheap Trick live at Budokan. And when the helpful staff gets tired of the inventory, they put on a fire sale, making that copy of Ted Nugent's Free For All look downright irresistible at 50 cents.