Held the third Saturday of April each year, Record Store Day celebrates the culture of independent record shops by getting people excited about vinyl. Today, local record stores around the world will host in store performances, signings, DJ marathons, and listening stations. But nothing really draws Record Store Day crowds like the promise of limited edition vinyl releases.
Each year sees a different roster of titles pressed specifically for Record Store Day, which include exclusive new releases, split 7”s (records with a different artist on each side,) highly coveted vinyl re-issues, and some rare goodies like color or novelty pressings. Naturally, you can only nab these at RSD-participating shops, so the competition is always fierce. Some of this year’s highlights include: Jack White’s Elvis reissue and Get Behind Me Satan re-pressing; the entire Ork Records discography; Four Tet, Jamie xx, John Talabot, and Koreless’s soundtracks for the film Continuum on 7″; J. Dilla’s Love 7″ and a Fuck the Police 45 shaped like a police badge; D’Angelo’s The Charade 7″ featuring tracks from Black Messiah; Oneohtrix Point Never’s Commissions II and so, so many more.
Rough Trade’s Brooklyn outpost, the event’s de-facto headquarters, will host the Dresden Dolls’ first New York performance in five years, as well as signings by legendary punk outfit Buzzcocks and newly minted memoirist Kim Gordon. Elsewhere in the United States: cult costumed heavy metal group Gwar will perform at Arizona’s Asylum Records, Ohio native and RSD 2015 Ambassador Dave Grohl will treat his hometown crowd to a Foo Fighters performance at Record Connection, the Dandy Warhols will sign their limited edition pressings and DJ at Portland’s Everyday Record, and Damien Rice will perform at Denver’s Twist and Shout.
Check out a full list of special releases, find your closest participating shop, and read why you should be buying vinyl in the first place.
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Text Emily Manning