Saturday, April 21 should be a national holiday. Why? Tomorrow is Record Store Day. The independent record store is the last place where you can discover music in a truly social experience. You can't have a discussion about music on Pandora, iTunes or even Spotify. It is where you can touch the music, and meet other people with similar tastes. Unfortunately, the indie music store is becoming an endangered species.
"This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April."
So on Saturday, April 21 head to your local indie record store and celebrate Record Store Day. Our good friends at The Exclusive Company will be celebrating Record Store Day at all of their locations in Wisconsin including the Milwaukee location. There are some great limited edition releases available. You can download this PDF, which contains all the release that will be available. There is also a Record Store Day app for iPhone and Android that will help you find that special release. Remember to get to The Exclusive Company early because a lot of these releases are only available in limited quanitites. Below are some of my personal picks that I will try to get. So you better not get in my way.
Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding - Respect, 45 on gold vinyl
Otis Redding's "Respect" and a cover of the same song by Aretha Franklin
Atmosphere and The Uncluded (Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson)
10" exclusive picture disc to Record Store Day. The limited run of 1500 (worldwide) hand numbered pieces is perfect for any collector and music lover and includes a digital download card to satisfy any audiophiles needs. The vinyl features unreleased material from both Atmosphere and The Uncluded (Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson.)
Carolina Chocolate Drops/Run DMC - "You Be Illin"
Run DMC's "You Be Illin'" and a cover of the same song by Carolina Chocolate Drops
Common - The Dreamer, The Believer
This is the first vinyl version of the latest Common release. With special packaging exclusively for this Record Store Day release.
Kimbra - Settle Down EP
The artist that is featured on Gotye's big tune "Someone I Used To Know"
Tracks:
"Settle Down (New Mix)"
"Good Intent (New Track)"
"Plain Gold Ring (Live At Sing Sing)"
"Limbo"
"Cameo Lover (Sam Sparro & Golden Touch Remix)"
Lana Del Rey
Born To Die (Damon Albarn Remix) / Blue Jeans (Penguin Prison Remix) on 7" 45
Lee "Scratch" Perry - Blackboard Jungle Dub (Limited Edition Box)
Lee Perry's Blackboard Jungle Dub issued for the first time ever in a 10" vinyl pressing. The triple vinyl is in red, green and gold (Reggae colors) housed in a full color box hinged box secured with a magnetic clasp. Also included is a 30" x 30" poster of the cover art.
Miles Davis - Forever Miles
Tracks:
"Dear Old Stockholm"
"Blues For Pablo"
"Hand Jive"
"Early Minor"
"Directions" (this is previously unreleased from the Filmore East 1970 It's About Time recording)
Shabazz Palaces
Live At KEXP on LP
The Clash - London Calling 2012 7" 45
Tracks:
"London Calling 2012 Remix"
"London Calling Instrumental 2012"
The Pharcyde - Bizzarre Ride II The Pharcyde: The Singles Collection
Deluxe 7 1/2 (w) x 8 (h) x 4 1/2 (d) full color box contains a double CD, seven 7" singles in full color jackets, detailed liner notes with vintage Pharcyde photos, a 120 piece puzzle of the original cover art and a 21" x 28" poster of the cover art. When opened, the package plays an audio recording saying "Oh, Sh*t!" (the reaction folks have when they open it!)
The White Stripes - Hand Springs / Red Death at 6:14
Format: 7" black and red swirled vinyl
Tracks:
"Hand Springs"
"Red Death at 6:14"
Continuing in the mission of reissuing the nuggets of the White Stripes’ back catalog, Third Man plays Dr. Frankenstein/matchmaker to two stand-alone songs from the high time of the year 2000. “Hand Springs” was originally released as a split-single with the Dirtbombs and included free in issue #19 of Multiball magazine. “Red Death at 6:14” was initially released on the Jack White-produced compilation “Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit” and was later made available as a one-sided single from the folks at MOJO magazine.
Various Artists - Never To Be Forgotten - The Flip Side of Stax 1968-1974
Format: 10 x 7" boxset, magnetic flip top box
Tracks:
Mable John: "Running Out b/w Shouldn't I Love Him" (1968)
Bernie Hayes: "Cool Strut Pt. 1 b/w Cool Strut Pt. 2" (1970)
Lee Sain: "Them Hot Pants Pt. 1 b/w Them Hot Pants Pt. 2" (1971)
Johhnie Taylor:"Hijackin' Love b/w Love In The Streets" (1971)
Melvin Van Peebles: "Sweetback's Theme b/w Hoppin' John" (1971)/Mad Lads; "Gone! The Promises Of Yesterday b/w I'm So Glad I Fell In Love With You" (1971)/Emotions: "My Honey And Me b/w Blind Alley" (1972)/Rufus Thomas: "Itch & Scratch Pt. 1 b/w Itch & Scratch Pt. 2" (1972)
Roy Lee Johnson & The Villagers: "The Dryer Pt. 1 b/w The Dryer Pt. 2" (1972)
John Gary Williams: "The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy b/w Ask The Loneley" (1974)
ESG/Las Kellies - Erase You
Format: 7 inch + MP3
A special RECORD STORE DAY release from Fire Records. 1991's ‘Erase You’ is as powerful and evocative now as it was when first pumped out by the sisters of New York‘s ESG. Along with other cutting edge, raw post-punk tracks such as Dance, Erase You inspired a host of musicians to pick up their instruments and their feet. Las Kellies share the same ethos, energetic and fun, but with a serious side too, they are undoubtedly huge fans having included a cover of Erase You on their self titled album on Fire last summer. Now, Las Kellies have reworked their version for this special limited edition Record Store Day release.
Gorillaz (featuring James Murphy and Andre 3000) - Do Ya Thing
One sided, 13 minute long track on 10“ vinyl
The Portland Cello Project - Homage
Amazing renditions of these songs:
"She Will"
"That's My Bitch"
"Lollipop"
"All The Lights"
"Ham"
"Hey Ya"
"Monster"
"Get By"
"Lua Descolorida"
