There are many “back in the day” moments for tried and true, dedicated to the end, obsessed music fanatics. We’re proud to be music snobs and relate to the banter featured in the flick “High Fidelity.” While the record store chains like Tower have gone to the grave site, and digital download numbers continue to make their mark, independent stores are still alive and thriving. The in-person, record store culture lives on and is celebrated by an international holiday on April 17: Record Store Day (www.recordstoreday.com).
In the past, you had no choice but to visit your records store in order to buy music. But for me and many of my friends, it was hours well spent. Today, it’s almost a counter culture that refuses to let go of that experience, to yes, stand with headphones at the listening station to learn about what we like, and what sucks. To buy vinyl. Yes, vinyl.
Record Store Day brings so many opportunities that you’ll never get at home, by yourself, in front of your computer. There are rare, limited edition 7”s and 12”s to add to your collection, combo packs of your favorite artists that include a rare poster and a collab remix with picture disc vinyl. You get to feel the excitement and energy bounce off the walls from other music freaks like you and experience that in-store performance.
“After 28 years as proprietor of an independent record store and weathering all the industry changes, it’s a real breath of fresh air to have a holiday just for us. On this day, I celebrate my own history with records,” says Tom Kohn from Bop Shop Records in Rochester, New York, who has been collecting records since 1969 and started his long-time career in the record selling business at the age of 16. “I firmly believe the future of the music industry lies in the hands of the independents. We push the envelope by taking chances on and promoting lesser known artists, and are passionate in our support and beliefs. The independent record store is a place where folks can gather and connect around a common interest, and in that respect, bears little difference from the quintessential social networking sites – the old book and record stores of the 50s and 60s.”
If I was still at home in the Bay Area, I would be heading to the Haight to spend time at Amoeba Records, and have a quite moment where Rough Trade Records once lived and where I spent a lot of time buying imports of James, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, and all the bands I would drool over when reading NME. Rough Trade is still alive and well in the U.K. I would be there if it weren’t for that blasted volcano. I hope Jake Ryan from SPLIT is enjoying it (bastard).
Here in Colorado, Independent Records, Wax Trax, and Twist & Shout have a slew of record deals going on and other events.
Here is the scoop on SubPop’s Limited Edition Release list and Record Store Day Playlist:
“Record Store Day (RSD) 2010 is this Saturday, April 17th. To get you in the mood we have put together a an embeddable SoundCloud playlist featuring select tracks from the seven different limited edition RSD Sub Pop releases. Be warned, this playlist will only be available until Monday, April 19th!”
Sub Pop Record Store Day Playlist: http://soundcloud.com/subpop/sets/sub-pop-record-store-day
1. The Album Leaf – There Is A Wind (Acoustic)
2. Beach House – The Arrangement
3. CocoRosie – Lemonade
4. Comets on Fire – Dogwood Rust
5. Dum Dum Girls – Pay For Me
6. Happy Birthday – Shampoo
7. Male Bonding – Before It’s Gone
8. Soundgarden – Hunted Down
Record Store Day 2010 Limited Edition Sub Pop Releases
Beach House “Zebra” 12” (sp877)
The “Zebra” 12” features 2 new tracks (“The Arrangement” and “Baby”) and 2 alternate takes on songs from the popular 2010 Teen Dream album (a UK radio edit of “Zebra” and the Cough Syrup remix of “10 Mile Stereo”). Available now: Beach House’s Teen Dream SP845, CD+DVD/2xLP+DVD. (2,750 copies)
Side One:
1. Zebra (UK Radio Edit)
2. The Arrangement
Side Two:
1. Baby
2. 10 Mile Stereo (Cough Syrup Remix)
The Album Leaf “There Is a Wind” 12” (sp878)
The “There Is a Wind” 12” features 2 new tracks (“Landing in Snow” and “Resonations”) and 2 alternate takes on songs from the popular 2010 A Chorus of Storytellers album (an acoustic version of “There Is a Wind” and the Jamuel Saxon sunburnt remix of “Falling from the Sun”). Also available now: The Album Leaf’s A Chorus of Storytellers SP805, CD/2xLP. (2,000 copies)
Side One:
1. There Is a Wind (acoustic)
2. Landing in Snow
Side Two:
1. Resonations
2. Falling from the Sun (Jamuel Saxon sunburnt remix)
Dum Dum Girls / Male Bonding 7” (sp876)
Two brand-new and exclusive tracks for Record Store Day 2010, one each from LA’s Dum Dum Girls and London’s Male Bonding. Both bands have debut albums out this spring on Sub Pop. Also available now: Dum Dum Girls’ I Will Be SP840, CD/LP. Available May 11th: Male Bonding’s Nothing Hurts SP854, CD/LP. (2,250 copies)
Side A: Dum Dum Girls “Pay for Me”
Side AA: Male Bonding “Before It’s Gone”
Happy Birthday 7” (sp874)
Two brand-new and exclusive tracks for Record Store Day 2010 from Kyle “King Tuff” Thomas’ Happy Birthday. Both of these tracks, like those of Happy Birthday’s self-titled March 2010 debut album, were recorded and mixed at Kyle’s home studio. Available March 16th: Happy Birthday’s Happy Birthday SP850 CD/LP. (1,750 copies)
Side A: “Shampoo”
Side B: “Alien”
Soundgarden “Hunted Down” 7” Reissue (sp12a)
This reissue of a Sub Pop classic was arranged specially for Record Store Day. “Hunted Down” was released in June 1987 as the band’s first single and was later available on Screaming Life. This single is pressed on translucent orange vinyl. The original, now a Soundgarden collector’s item, was pressed on blue vinyl. (4,575 copies)
Side A: “Hunted Down”
Side B: “Nothing to Say”
CocoRosie “Lemonade” 7” (sp884)
The A-side to this limited-edition single is an edit of one of the stand-out tracks from the new CocoRosie album Grey Oceans and the B-side is the band’s cover of the Beach Boys’ classic “Surfer Girl.” Grey Oceans, CocoRosie’s Sub Pop debut (and fourth full-length album overall) will be released on May 11, 2010. Watch a ““Smokey Taboo” trailer from Grey Oceans. (1,000 copies)
Side A: “Lemonade”
Side B: “Surfer Girl”
SP20: Casual Nostalgia Fest CD (sp879)
We at Sub Pop Records celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2008 with, among other things, a 2-day music festival July 12th and 13th at Marymoor Park, somewhat unimaginatively called SP20. We’ve collected here some of our favorite performances from the SP20 festival. Sub Pop will be donating all of the profits from the sale of this CD to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. (9,200 copies)
1. Green River: “Leech”
2. Wolf Parade: “Fine Young Cannibals”
3. The Vaselines: “Dying for It”
4. Obits: “Run”
5. Les Thugs: “Dirty White Race”
6. Eric’s Trip: “Smother”
7. Beachwood Sparks: “You Take the Gold”
8. Blitzen Trapper: “Furr”
9. Flight of the Conchords: “Carol Brown”
10. Iron & Wine: “Woman King”
11. Constantines: “Why I Didn’t Like August ‘93”
12. Seaweed “Baggage”
13. Grand Archives: “Dig That Crazy Grave”
14. Low: “Silver Rider”
15. The Helio Sequence: “Lately”
16. Kinski: “The Wives of Artie Shaw”
17. Pissed Jeans: “Caught Licking Leather”
18. Mudhoney: “The Open Mind”
19. Comets on Fire: “Dogwood Rust”
In-Store Performances
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba at Waterloo Records in Austin
Male Bonding & Dum Dum Girls at Origami Records in Los Angeles
No Age at Sweat Records in Miami
