Defaced records are about to tear (5)
I believe the answer is:
speed
'tear' is the definition.
(I know that tear is a more specific form of speed)
'defaced records are about' is the wordplay.
'defaced' becomes 'de' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'records' becomes 'EPs' (EP is a type of record).
'are about' says the letters should be written backwards.
'de'+'eps'='deeps'
'deeps' back-to-front is 'SPEED'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for speed that I've seen before include "Rapidity - amphetamine" , "Dispatch" , "Rate of movement" , "Rate of progress" , "Rate of travel" .)