For as long as I can remember, independent record stores across the world have celebrated Record Store Day. At first a small initiative to get people to shop at their local record stores, it’s now an excuse for thousands of people to join hours-long queues at record shops across the world to buy one (or several) of the several hundred special releases made for that day that will only ever be sold in stores, and for which pre-orders are not allowed to be taken. As the list of releases has grown, the quality of those releases has diverged. While some of the announced records are long-awaited reissues of rare and important material, others are obvious cash grabs meant to appeal to the completist nature of a certain type of collector. Now, I’ll sort some of these in buckets for you, starting with the most essential and ending with the least essential.
I’ve focused on the U.S. list for this post as this is where we are and will be waiting in line.
These Are Great Albums That a Lot of People Have Been Waiting For
Poe – Hello
If you were my age (15) when Hello came out, you generally think of this as the album where the woman sings the line “I wanna blow you… Away” and thought it was the cleverest entendre ever. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that this record was far more clever sonically… It isn’t a rock record. It isn’t a pop record. It isn’t a trip-hop record. It’s just plain great music, and it would be another 20 years before mainstream pop stars would disconnect themself from being tied to genres and just worry about what sounds good. Also, Poe thought to hire a young, burgeoning producer by the name of J Dilla for the track “Fingertips” before he went on to change hip-hop forever. (Dakin Hardwick)
PM Dawn – The Bliss Album…? (Vibrations of Love and Anger and the Ponderance of Life and Existence)
PM Dawn’s infamous second album is a psychedelic soul masterpiece. This is the record that wrote the Frank Ocean and SZA playbooks. It’s an underrated piece, deeply emotional, unafraid of both darkness and joy, and just plain weird at times. After 20+ years, this masterwork is finally on vinyl, and you didn’t know how much you needed this. (Dakin Hardwick)
Promising Compilations of Hard-to-Find Tracks
The Donnas – Early Singles 1995 – 1999
The two sides of this release are both fascinating documents of Palo Alto’s greatest band ever. The first side is all lofi, messy, joyful punk by a quartet of kids not old enough to drive yet. The quality is, well, exactly what you expect for a bunch of singles recorded at a photo development shop straight to tape. The second side is b-sides and soundtrack cuts by a much more mature band, albeit one that continues to play with immense enthusiasm, but also with a recording budget, management, and a label. Still good, but, really, nothing compares to the pure joy of playing “Let’s Rab” at full volume while dancing around your kitchen. (Dakin Hardwick)
Blur – The Special Collector’s Edition
Remember digging through the import CD singles section of the Virgin Megastore, hoping to find gold from your favorite Britpop band that you just won’t find at Sam Goody? I did so much. And I never did complete my Blur collection… But now I can finally find all those b-sides that I never found (or couldn’t afford because those import singles were PRICEY!) Anyways, now you can finally play “Theme From An Imaginary Film” on your turntable. (Dakin Hardwick)
Essential Live Albums That Are Legendary Recordings Within These Artists’ Fanbases
Pearl Jam – Give Way
This one fascinates me… Mostly because it was a 1998 Best Buy-exclusive live record culled from one show in Australia on the Yield tour that got canned at the last minute in lieu of the slightly shorter “Greatest Hits Live” sort of record pulled from various North American shows, Live On Two Legs. This was the band at the height of their live prowess, and it’s a full show, taking you on a journey from beginning to end. Not scattered tracks re-arranged at random. The few people that have heard this say it’s fantastic. I can only assume that this was canceled because folks would be confused by two different live albums coming out the same year, not realizing that a few years later, the band would literally release 72 live records at once, and it was more than fine… (Dakin Hardwick)
Not Particularly Essential Live Albums, But Fans of These Bands Might Buy Them Up
Grateful Dead – Boston 5/5/1977
Old Stuff in Weird New Editions
Doors 3″ Discs
Honestly. Why would you ever need a 3″ record player? When would this ACTUALLY come in handy? 45s sound so much better, are more durable, and you aren’t forced to buy a Crossley. The fact that RSD keeps pushing these every year means SOMEBODY cares, but I just can’t fathom ever buying one of these. (Dakin Hardwick)
John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth Box Set (on 9 10″ discs)
Imagine you could save $250 and own this same thing in the much more convenient 12″ format. OH WAIT! YOU CAN! (Dakin Hardwick)
Fucking Picture Discs
(Editor’s Note: Everyone knows picture discs sound like crap and rarely even look that cool. They are the worst. Some might say they’re the fucking worst. There is a lot of swearing in this section.)
The Cure – Show
Robert Smith is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, with a huge catalog of material beloved by listeners all around the world, yet every single fucking year, he puts out another fucking picture disc! This one’s a live album, so as Record Store Day material goes … chef’s kiss, motherfucker.
Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
Here’s the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time, a classic I listened to while mowing the lawn as a teenager, with the cassette spinning around in my Walkman. It’s been reissued many times, including a current remaster by audiophile hero Kevin Gray which is so good, I sold my older copy. So what do they do to celebrate the anniversary? Do they make a 45RPM double disc to make it sound even better? No, they make a fucking picture disc! I guess it’s got something to do with luck cause some people have waited their whole life for just one fuck….ing copy of this that’s not a picture disc!
Bluey – Dance Mode!
Oh, you’re a cute television series that everybody loves. You teach so many wonderful lessons for children about how to be a kind, creative person. But now you’ve gone and made a fucking picture disc! Sure, it’s a zoetrope and probably looks cool as hell, but you will not escape my wrath. Go to hell, Bluey, you adorable fucking dog.
I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s out there; there are many other fantastic and useless albums coming out on that day. The full list of releases is available for viewing and download at http://www.recordstoreday.com and http://www.recordstore.co.uk
