National Record Store Day

Also, Seattle record shops were packed. I spent 45mins in the checkout line. Even shops not carrying RSD products were packed. Daybreak guy said it was his best day since they opened and that was 2hrs ago. It's almost 2pm. So 2hrs into the day he had already had his best day. RSD isn't going anywhere. I'd like to see the regional exclusives eliminated. Everything I wanted was only available in the U.K.

I hit Silver Platters, Wall of Sound, Everyday, Sonic Boom, Jive Time and Daybreak. All of them were busier than I've ever seen before.

so what did you buy?

Only thing I really wanted are the Colleen vinyls, but didnt find one and have no idea where they turned up. Same problem every year.

only RSD release i ended up getting was the Nilsson Schmilsson white/yellow reissue. they were out of the Animal Collective EP. also picked up Contact - Pharmakon, Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements - Stereolab, and Hokey Pokey - Richard and Linda Thompson. store was mobbed, didn't have much room to browse.

I have to say the shop that I went to today was super packed. Got the African Head Charge LP. I wanted the Hawkwind best of LP but didn't see it. Also found a bunch of other fairly priced used stuff while I was there. Shop was too crowded to get much browsing done though. and Le Bateau, not sure if you live near Connecticut but this shop, Red Scroll Records, had a few of the Colleen records.

I sense that for some reason, people are willing this to be the last RSD.

who? labels, stores, customers?

Xxxpost

Whiney stores make very little on new product as you know and having to make guesses on which $30 releases are going to sell and which aren't actually does put smaller stores like say perhaps ones that aren't *quite* as prosperous as Rough Trade it's a lot of dough to shell out

I'm sure increased traffic and used sales balances the scales somewhat

xp yes. And it's really a guessing game, even if you have inside info (like the year we knew months in advance, due to some savvy hc / emo kids on staff, to order as many of that Brand New thing as we could, as soon as we could). One year people were lined up at 8am to get some Flaming Lips thing (I don't remember which), so subsequent years we ordered the shit out of those dumb 10"s they put out, and they are still sitting in the clearance bin.

wow this Harry Nilsson record sounds like absolute shit, let's end this

Some theories afoot about overworked, overextended, understaffed plants doing shittier jobs than usual this time of year. I'm not advancing any, just putting it out there

The fact that punk bands and techno artists -- the people who kept pressing plants in business through the wilderness of the 90s -- are given 36 week turnaround times for test pressings because Toto vinyl is some real bullshit though

oh yeah, it's absurd- is it really that hard to build more pressing plants? columbia should build their own fucking pressing plant

I guess it isn't the plant itself (though that's a big investment for something I think most loan officers would agree isn't totally stable) as much as the equipment (which no one makes anymore), the parts (ditto) and finding people who actually know how to work on these things when they go down. My understanding is that it's a small miracle a lot of these machines are still operating at all

if vinyl turns out to be more than a passing fad (pretty close right?), would people still be able to make those parts and machines?

Lmao even by Whiney Brooklyn hipster myopia standards judging The State of Record Store Day by a store with this lineup is hilarious

Record Store Day
Sunflower Bean, Sneaks, Today is the Day, Charly Bliss, Beverly, Steve Earle
Rough Trade NYCBrooklyn, NY
Sat 4/22 Doors: 11:30 AM / Show: 12 PM All Ages

if vinyl turns out to be more than a passing fad (pretty close right?), would people still be able to make those parts and machines?

― flappy bird, Saturday, April 22, 2017 6:41 PM (twenty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good question. I'm assuming (hoping?) some enterprising young people at these places are trying to soak up as much know-how as possible from the older guys and gals who know everything about these machines, but who knows? It could end up like grandma's cookie recipe she never wrote down and no one ever bothered to ask about.

as far as it being a fad, I've prematurely predicted the end a few times already, so I've learned not to speculate. I theorized after the Christmas when all the Crosleys were sold it would be 6 months before used Black Keys and Ryan Adams vinyls started choking the bins, but that turned out to be wrong. I do think ridiculously high vinyl prices will eventually drive more and more people to streaming just as $18.99 Beck CDs made it easier for music lovers rationalize illegal downloading. This is not an industry known for learning from its mistakes

I def know a few millennials who have asked me for advice on a record player so they could actually play the records they already bought

if vinyl turns out to be more than a passing fad (pretty close right?), would people still be able to make those parts and machines?

I don't think vinyl is a passing fad, in the sense that vinyl is the only medium that can be played without electricity -- that is, it's not a "fad" only because post-apocalyptic societies could conceivably dig up and play a few records.

But I do think that, in a year or three, we'll see dollar bins full of 2000-2017 (or later) vinyl reissues mastered from CDs or other digital sources.

The big local shop here already has a $10 bin for new, sealed vinyl that once upon a time would have been cut-out/closeout stuff--old RSD things, unsold recent-ish releases, stray unpopular reissues. Last week I got two Syl Johnson Hi Records on Fat Possum from that bin.

It was packed where I was working yesterday (Agharta Records here in Minnesota). We had a decent sized line before we opened at nine and soon as we opened people just kept appearing. People were wandering around with stacks of these records paying up to $500 a time. It wasn't just RSD stuff that we were selling. People were clearing out new stuff that's been sitting that we always have (lots of Radiohead, Pixies, The National, all our copies of that boring Neutral Milk Hotel album). Lots of used records and box sets we've had sitting around for a while went too. People did not want to leave empty handed and we remained busy throughout the day. The owner said it was much bigger than last year. I couldn't believe how much we sold.

Our biggest RSD sellers were probably the 7" picture disc of Little Red Corvette (all 15 copies sold within the hour), the $75 Ramones singles box set (six copies sold within the hour), the Bowie live album (four copies gone within 10 minutes) that Toto Africa shaped vinyl (it took a few hours to sell out but we did sell all 10 copies). We only got one each of The Cure Greatest Hits which were the first things to go. We got calls about those throughout the day. I don't know who Coheed and Cambria are but one guy was not happy when he couldn't locate the album as soon as we opened. We had three copies that were snapped up immediately. The highlight of my day was locating the Fawlty Towers picture disc for this older guy who seemed so delighted when I found it for him.

The only thing I got was the Miley Cyrus Bangerz vinyl. We only got one copy and my boss (who is the nicest guy) kindly let me have the only copy we had on Friday night. So yeah, even thought that was an epic week, I had a great time and based on what went through, I don't see RSD ending any time soon.

brotherlovesdub,

You're obviously from Seattle, can you tell me what the regional RSD exclusives were released here?

I saw volume 3 of a Dogfish brewery compilation "music to drink beer to" on vinyl for $21.99 and chuckled sadly. It's basically the same exact kind of throwaway CD comp that comes free with magazines, except pressed on vinyl and more expensive than the average LP.

"Official Sponsors of Record Store Day"

I picked up on RSD release... A vendor at the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest was selling the Kylesa live album on CD and 10". I got the CD version.

We got some Alice In Chains 2x7". I picked one up for my friend. Didn't pay attention to the others. Picked up the Smiths 7", Colleen Music Box LP, Talking Heads 7", Art of Noise 12", Sundays Blind LP.

fwiw, the Penthouse reissue/remaster sounds pretty great. Nice 2nd LP of additional stuff as well.

Dude, that have to eat a few copies of things for the price of making handfuls of money on one work day a year

― Jay Elettronica Viva (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 22 April 2017 20:06 (two days ago) Permalink

lol you have no fucking clue what you're talking about

I know my buying habits at record stores shifted (as in I bought less, and less often), when I stopped being a regular show promoter and going to record stores every other week (at least) to put up/drop off flyers. The last time I did go into Amoeba (which apparently also had a big line for RSD), they did have a bunch of RSD cut-outs, but those don't compare to glut of major label CDs from the mid - late 90s in the bargain bin.

The Bevis Frond double white vinyl Triptych is really amazing, glad I shelled out for that

chose between that an Luna, hoping their copy is still there next payday but thought Bevis Frond was probably rarer

Dude, that have to eat a few copies of things for the price of making handfuls of money on one work day a year

― Jay Elettronica Viva (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 22 April 2017 20:06 (two days ago) Permalink

lol you have no fucking clue what you're talking about

― based grandpa (noz), Monday, April 24, 2017 2:26 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

From anecdotal evidence I heard that [big indie, remaining nameless] rakes in money and [teeny weeny indie, remaining nameless] wouldn't even be in business right now if millennials didn't start buy vinyls and they love to do RSD.

I'm not saying that it might not be different for store that has a fucking RBL Posse bin card

And also the pretty much universal posts in this thread saying RSD is wildly popular in their area

Worked my 4th at my local (and one of my favorite, anywhere) shops. Crowd-wise, despite a less-nice weather day, we were busier than the last 3 (which were all hugely busy), despite having less overall quantity of RSD releases, and there not really being a marquee release this yr that we had tons of (Dave Matthews, maybe?). Cure, Bowie, Coheed all went fast. Also...Marcy Playground, wha? Though I think we ended the day with one left of those.

Anecdotally, I saw people spending more per person – and tons of collection-building purchases i.e. new pressings of huge titles (everything from Radiohead to Led Zep to Kanye...). We had a line until 6pm (opened at 8am), and even after that, huge numbers of people in the store until close. Many of our weekly regulars stayed away, although many came by to hangout & check on the staff, watch music outside, etc.

I'm not saying that it might not be different for store that has a fucking RBL Posse bin card

― Jay Elettronica Viva (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, April 24, 2017 3:11 PM (forty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what is your point here? that the increased homogenization of the american record store is a good thing? you'd rather the bins be filled with toto picture discs than interesting local classics?

either way it has nothing to do with mine which is this - playing rsd roulette is a high risk, high stress, low return investment for a small business owner. profit margins are narrow and stock often has a one day shelf life after which it becomes entirely unsellable. while the amoebas and rough trades of the world can absorb this shock and cake off custom guitar picks alone i would not be surprised if many of these smaller stores with lines around the block still struggle just to break even on the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewOzi5-AZXU

i made $5 profit on a $24 investment with the space jam soundtrack

maybe i should've ordered ten?

where's a store with an RBL Posse bin card? I would go there :)

they should reissue bigg ocean mobb 415 for rsd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGRC6yFDCRQ

ha we still have sealed ogs on bigg ocean mobb

i have that on tape.

My friend who works at a record store that shall remain nameless said the unsold stuff at their store is not a *whole* lot because they order conservatively, but it's "maybe a tenth of what we netted"

http://www.factmag.com/2017/04/20/vinyl-boom-new-music/

I'm still getting calls for th weed scented Peter Tosh lp

i'm having a big sale this Friday and Saturday in honor of record store day! come on by! prices are slashed! 8th year anniversary! that college radio collection i bought is now HALF off! #spam #streetteam

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18301855_10154753143973802_2085944817933107265_n.jpg?oh=fe21d9679f7bf4c706e0070d9512ff5d&oe=597AC7E7

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18199019_10154753144683802_8604731905757226331_n.jpg?oh=3d43dd4fc1e3629e3317102bbc23f0a7&oe=59742AD6

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18268512_10154753145153802_2593242525430792136_n.jpg?oh=b71c114905f56d2536d371f8c0e65c24&oe=59B8CD57

Would browse, if weren't 5000 miles away.

Someone should go and buy that Doc Corbin Dart LP if it's cheap though.

Likewise. Can't have enough copies of "Pay It All Back vol 1" either. "Bedward the Flying Preacher"! What a winner.

Would browse, if weren't 5000 miles away.

This. Also, MULE!!!!

thinking fellers! <3

yep, and that Fall 12", and Sylvie & Babs <3

Mule, damn I saw PW Long & Reelfoot back in the day, he was amazing, never saw Mule

Same here. Those Reelfoot LPs were electrifying too