Record Store Day is a day designed to get your butt into a local brick-and-mortar record store. They do this by releasing a whole bunch of vinyl that you can ONLY get at your local record store on Record Store Day. This year it is on April 21.
The announcements are still rolling in for the exclusive Record Store Day offers, but here are our early picks:
Run the Jewels – “Stay Gold Collectors Edition”
Killer Mike and El-P are this year’s Record Store Day Ambassadors. They have also been blessed with one of the coolest pressings of this years RSD exclusive haul. The "Stay Gold Collectors Edition” is a vinyl boxed set that comes with their releases, plus a clear etched 12” with Marvel Comics branding, a branded slipmat and stickers packaged in a metal box. Run to the record store fast, cause this will be flying off the shelf.
Arcade Fire – “EP”
This is a pressing of Arcade Fire’s very first album that preceded what is generally thought of as their debut, “Funeral.” This has NEVER BEEN RELEASED ON VINYL BEFORE. This is a really great rare item, limited to 3,000 copies worldwide and pressed on transparent blue. Definitely one of the most, if not the most anticipated release this RSD.
Fawlty Towers – “Second Sitting”
This is just a cool release. A picture disc pressing of two episodes of an old British TV show. This kind of highlights the greatest in RSD novelty. Will you listen to this album again and again? No. Will you convince yourself that it’s too cool to pass up when you’re caught up in Record Store Day fever? Yes.
Serge Gainsbourg & Michel Colombier – “Le Pacha OST”
Ultimately, most of what you pick up on RSD comes down to personal taste, and here is where I show my cards. I love anything that Serge Gainsbourg does, and I will pick up anything that he has done that is previously unreleased. With that aside, this is still an objectively cool release. It's the soundtrack to an old French film (also a weakness of mine) and it features “Requiem Pour Un Con,” one of the coolest songs ever. That’s enough justification for me.
Various Artists – “Wisconsin Vinyl Collective Vol. 2”
This is a compilation from ten Wisconsin artists releasing previously unreleased songs, and all the money goes to charity. The money goes to the Keep Wisconsin Warm/Cool Fund that keeps the heat and power on for thousands of elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, and working families with children in crisis. Not to mention Phox, Violent Femmes, and Brett Newski are contributors. Need we say more?
Mac Demarco/Shamir – “Beat Happening Covers”
Every year, RSD produces this split 7” series where they have two artists cover the same song. It’s like 88Nine's 5 O’Clock Shadow on LP and it’s cool as hell. This year they got Mac Demarco and Shamir doing one together. It’s gonna be great.
The Original Cast of Spongebob Squarepants – “(Just A) Simple Sponge”
How funny is that.
Johnny Cash – “At Folsom Prison: 50th Anniversary Elegacy Edition”
If you are looking to purchase something completely unnecessary and needlessly lavish that highlights an opulent cash grab from RSD, look no further than the 5LP edition of Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison.” This eyerolling pressing exploits the pockets of the Cash completest and serves as an example of why some people hold cynical views that RSD’s mission is more self-serving than they lead on. Other than that, it does look like a pretty neat release.
Various Artists – “Hillbillies In Hell: Volume 666 Country Music’s Tormented Testament: (1952-1974)”
This wins for album title of the year. I mean, how can you pass that up? Plus, RSD does a really great job at producing compilation albums that hone in on a specific time and sound, giving you almost a college-level course in musical history in one album. This is one of those albums.
Tank & the Bangas – “Live Vibes”
A great pressing of a band that doesn’t have a full-length album out. Their live shows are legendary and it should be great to hear them capture that energy on wax.
John Williams – “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
It’s on a piece of vinyl shaped like a frickin’ Porg. With the news that John Williams will no longer be a part of the Star Wars franchise, this will be in especially high demand.
