Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Record Store Day Saturday


This Saturday is Mr. S.' favorite day of the year. It's a holiday that was invented in my home-state of Maine, that's right kiddos it's Record Store Day! That special time of year when, the usually, nocturnal record collector rises early to get into their favorite shop as the doors open in hopes of grabbing an assload of rare and exclusive vinyl. Each year there are more and more unique collectable pieces. I'm talking colored, numbered pressings, unique packaging exclusive remixes, all sorts of good stuff. I'm not going to go through EVERY cool piece that will be available but I'll highlight some cool things that you'll want to get your grubby little mitts on.

The first thing want to highlight is what you see pictured above and below these words. Rather than try to explain this beauty in my own words, here is the illustrious press release:
Smugglers Way is Domino and Ribbon's first ever limited edition zine made exclusively for Record Store Day (April 21st) featuring FIVE individual, multi-colored flexi discs of EXCLUSIVE, UNRELEASED songs from Dirty Projectors, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, John Maus, and Villagers. The zine comprises 24 pages of original art and prose from Domino and Ribbon artists. Highlights include a short story penned by James Yorkston; a long form poem by Laura Marling; short form pieces by Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), Ade Blackburn (Clinic), and Tom Fleming (Wild Beasts); illustrations from Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Andrea Estella (Twin Sister), Conor O'Brien (Villagers) and Jon Hopkins; photography from Jana Hunter (Lower Dens), and an original arranged score of music by Owen Pallett. Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice designed the cover and Rob Carmichael at SEEN is responsible for the art direction and layout.



Smugglers Way - Record Store Day Exclusive video via YouTube

For the rest of the Record Store Day highlights, I'm going to consult the list Mr. S. printed and literally highlighted using two different colors. One color is labeled as, "Must Have" the other is listed as "Possible." So, here is what Mr. S. considers a "Must Have" this Saturday:

Must Haves:

  • Ryan Adams - Heartbreak a Stranger b/w Black Sheets of Rain 7" colored vinyl
  • Arcade Fire - Sprawl II 12"
  • Beach House - Lazuli b/w Equal Mind 7" Blue Vinyl
  • Karen Elson - Milk and Honey b/w Winter's Going 7" Milk & Honey Colored
  • The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends 2x LP, Custom Jackets
  • Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding - Respect 7" Gold Vinyl
  • M83 - Mirror 7" Etched
  • mclusky - mclusky Do Dallas 150g White Vinyl
  • Shabazz Palaces - Live at KEXP 12"
  • Sigur Rós - Hvarf/Heim 2x LP Colored Vinyl
  • Various Artists - Empire Records Soundtrack 2x LP Orange Vinyl
  • Various Artists - Pretty in Pink Soundtrack 12" Pink (duh) Vinyl
  • Various Artists - The Breakfast Club Soundtrack 12" White Vinyl
  • Paul Weller - That Dangerous Age 7" Red Vinyl
  • Sara Watkins ft. Fiona Apple/The Everly Brothers - You're the One I Love 7" Olive Green w/Black Splatter
  • The White Stripes - Hand Springs/Red Death at 6:14 7" Black and Red Swirl
  • Gorillaz ft. James Murphy & Andre 3000 - Do Ya Thing 10"
  • Jukebox the Ghost - I Love You Always Forever 7"
  • The Mynabirds - Generals 7"
  • Caitlin Rose - Piledriver Waltz 7"
  • Ra Ra Riot/Delicate Steve - Valerie/The Big Ship 7" Hand-Numbered, White

Possible

  • Afrika Bambaataa/MC5 - Kick Out the Jams 7" White w/Splatter
  • ABBA - Voulez-Vouz Extended Dance Remix 180g 12" 45rpm translucent w/blue glitter

Clearly there is a lot more that Mr. S. "Must Have" than what he finds to be a possibility. There are only a few things that I might add to this list and I consider them all to be "Possibly":
  • Brendan Benson - What Kind of World 7"
  • Bowerbirds - Bend 7"
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - We Almost Lost Detroit EP 12"
  • The Hives - Go Right Ahead 7"
  • Mastodon/The Flaming Lips - A Spoonful Weighs a Ton 7" Baby Pink
  • Of Monsters and Men - Into the Woods EP 10"
  • Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - One Love to Another 7"
  • St. Vincent - KROKODIL 7" Red
  • Lydia Loveless - Bad Way to Go 7"
  • Neon Indian - Hex Girlfriend 10" Translucent Blue
  • Oberhofer - Away Frm U 7"

So, there you have it. Several months rent spent on one day but seriously, it's great to spend money on music. It's also great to spend money on small businesses in your community, this is the best of both worlds. With that in mind, don't be a total fucking dick-bag ass-hat loser-face by putting your Record Store Day purchases on eBay. That's what assholes do. REALLY BIG ASSHOLES do all of that BEFORE Record Store Day. In a similar vein, don't buy Record Store Day exclusives from ass-hats on eBay, that's lame as fuck. Happy shopping and line-up early if you expect to get any of the rare stuff. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Waterloo Records will have Garbage in-store at 3pm on Saturday to sign stuff. Their new record isn't out but they will have a white vinyl 7" of Blood for Poppies. However there are only 1000 copies of that on the planet, so good luck getting THAT signed.
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