Record Store Day stashes unbelievable special releases in the nation's coolest record stores, and this year's list is just as jaw-dropping as the best of them. This year's holiday takes place on Saturday, April 18, and participating local stores include Rock & Roll Heaven, Park Ave. CDs, Retro Records and East-West Music.
If you've never been, just realize that if there's anything on this list you must have, then you best be in the line wrapped around Park Ave CDs first thing in the morning on Saturday.
Among the coolest collectibles are reissues, box sets, Record Store Day exclusives, cassettes and much more, like that pretty Black Star picture disc, near the top of the list or Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's Rough Raw and Amazing. You can find David Bowie/Tom Verlaine splits like that Kingdom Come 7-inch on colored vinyl, or see red when you notice Neko Case is reissuing Fox Confessor for the first time in forever, and it's on red vinyl with a "Record Store Day slipmat with thematic artwork." WANT. Then, there's the Dead Milkmen's Beelzebubba, the record's first time pressed to vinyl in 25 years, colored in a limited batch of 4,000 with 100 randomly inserted white copies.
It's also an insane time for reviving records never truly brought to light, like how Record Store Day will be the first time on vinyl for Brian Eno's My Squelchy Life. There's Grizzly Bear remixes galore from Horn of Plenty, re-released on splatter vinyl, a Ministry CD box set (with one vinyl LP), Ministry Trax Box, with a 64-page book, Off!'s live session on BBC Radio One Rock Show on vinyl, a four-song 10-inch vinyl Replacements EP from Pleased to Meet Me originally released in the U.K. as a 7-inch, and man, the list goes on.
As I skimmed the list, though, I couldn't help but wonder if you show up at Record Store Day, does a copy of U2's Songs of Innocence (their Record Store Day deluxe exclusive vinyl) automatically end up in your stack like how they hijacked everyone's iPhone's music library? Watch the counter when you're ringing up, just sayin'.
