Record Store Day 2013

I participated in this year's Record Store Day at my go-to store, Euclid Records. It's my favorite record store in town (we do have a few, unlike a lot of cities). I was up at 7:00 and in line by 7:45, with around thirty people ahead of me. A cold two hours and 45 minutes later I was ushered into the store, a tad nervous that the quantities of my desired titles would be too scarce for me to snag, a feeling the fifty people behind surely shared. Luckily, Euclid does a great job, and most of what I wanted, I got (except for that Sir Paul single, rats!)

I love the idea of Record Store Day, taking the time to support the brick and mortar record stores; the special edition new and reissue records; the spirit of collecting and spinning for favorite music. Most of the releases are limited, anywhere between 500 and 7500 copies, often on colored vinyl. Some artists and labels will do reissues, others will do unreleased material or compilations. There really is something for everyone (assuming your store gets it) as the list was long again this year.

Everyone at Euclid, staff, patrons, and performers were all smiles, and it was a very exciting place to be. It's interesting to hear all the various things people want, and the surprise and satisfaction of grabbing that last copy. Patience is a virtue, the line moves slowly in a single file. It's also easy to miss or forget and there is no going back. I found out the hard way, forgetting Tame Impala's debut EP until I made it home. Luckily I swung back up there Sunday, and they surprisingly had a few leftovers.

The hard part about Record Store Day, is the labels seem to know that we just "have to have" these titles, and over the few years the prices have gone up considerably. The pinnacle of At the Drive In's career, the Relationship of Command on orange swirl vinyl. Price: $35. The Flaming Lips strange Zaireeka, pressed on four LP's, each of a different color with a booklet in a box. Price: $70. You have to pick and choose, it adds up quick. To make matters worse, the small quantities are spread over the US (and the UK) and this leads to many people buying the popular titles, and listing them online for ten times the price. So if you missed something, be ready to be swindled even harder.

Overall, Record Store Day is a challenge, a lot of fun, and it's nice to see a record store so full of people. It's also nice to go into an empty record store on a Tuesday and flip through rows of vinyl in peace.

What I grabbed:

Blind Melon - 20th Anniversary Reissue + Sippin' Time Sessions - /2500
Dazed & Confused - Soundtrack - /4750
Junip - Junip - /500
Pornography - Seven Minutes in Heaven - /2000
Elliott Smith - Either/Or Alternates - /3500
Tame Impala - Tame Impala EP - /5000
The White Stripes - Elephant - /????

New Spins

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Specter At The Feast
(Vagrant)

This is the first BRMC record that had me interested since HOWL, largely due to the teasers that were posted to the band's website in recent months. Black Rebel's sound doesn't really change album to album, but this one has the tight focus that the first two records had. Heavy jackets, heavy guitars, heavy subject matter, and finally a return to form from a talented band that felt as if they were going through the motions there for a minute.

Youth Lagoon Wondrous Bughouse
(Fat Possum)

With today's general acceptance of the merging of electronic and analog music, it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between new artists. You won't have this problem after Trevor Powers starts to sing. And while his prepubescent nasal delivery is the same, Wonderous Bughouse is a musical expansion on 2011's Year of Hibernation. This album is more colorful (like the cover) and the songwriting seems more positive/upbeat/adventurous than wistful/sleepy/indifferent. Use headphones for optimum immersion.