National Record Store Day

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

Verlaines!

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

― Tim, Thursday, May 4, 2017 3:51 PM (fifty-nine minutes ago

haha .. indeed.

Man I wish I was on that coast. That Overkill LA album!

i'm ready, bitches. not a new record to be found.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/31073141_10155765637403802_7677658216133830179_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=ea91f12d38b551571d16feace6668db2&oe=5B5ACED3

i had a hand in one RSD release this year. buy or die!

http://www.bullmoose.com/p/26903937/laser-pace-granfalloon-lp

OFFICIAL RSD 2018 release. Reissue of the only prog LP Takoma Records ever released -- the 1974 slab by L.A.'s Laser Pace. The album's title, Granfalloon, is a term created by the late Kurt Vonnegut to describe a bunch of people who pretend to be an affinity group without having any actual affinity for each other. We're uncertain if that is supposed to refer to factions inside Laser Pace, but no matter. The album is probably the strangest pieces of wax dripped by Takoma (apart from Charlie Nothing, natch) and seems wildly out of synch with the label's presumed focus. But is a goddamn monster of odd charm, no two ways about it. The core of the band was Doug Decker (aka D. Distorto) and "Chris Christensen" from Opus 1 (the only garage band to ever cut a single -- "Back Seat '38 Dodge" -- about the work of assemblage artist, Ed Keinholz) and Maureen O'Connor of the She's (who recorded a single for International Artists). The Takoma connection came about via Doug's day job as a recording engineer. He worked for Wally Heider for a while, and then engineered Fahey's Of Rivers & Religions LP (2003). Fahey asked him to do some more work for the label and he ended up working on a bunch of projects. During this time, Laser Pace slowly accrued, with a focus on using electronics doo-dads (from wah-wahs to Buchlas) in as many ways as possible. With various other players, they recorded Granfalloon on spec and shopped it around. Eventually they played it for Fahey, who reportedly said, "It sounds like someone running through an electronic jungle." He was also blasted by Maureen's voice, so it came out on Takoma. Granfalloon never really found its audience (Takoma weirdos being a very special brand of weirdo) but over the years, people would hear its strange prog-rock blends and invariably wonder what the hell had happened. Thankfully, Western Mass crate-digging hodad, Scott Seward, decided to get to the bottom of things, and he did. And now here is this insanely scorched artifact, available on vinyl once again, with full explanatory notes appended. Doesn't mean you won't be scratching your head, but now you'll have an idea of why you're scratching. Edition of 500.

#byronblurb

Great display, Scott. Love the Bowie Fan Club inserts.

Went for the first time. 't Was nice, and not crowded at all! Shelled out way too much, but hey... Did not see the Laser Pace disc I think..

Scored:
Bert Jansch - A Rare Conundrum (Earth)
Anne Briggs - Sing A Song For You (Weatherbox)
The Groundhogs - Scratching The Surface (Fire Records)
David Axelrod - Songs Of Innocence (Now-Again Records)
The Residents ‎- The W***** B*** Album (New Ralph Too)
Serge Gainsbourg - La Pacha (Wewantsounds)
ESG - Come Away With ESG (Fire Records)
Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels (Mark Barrott Remixes) (Virgin)

That Residents was a good find, I think, we only got one and the bigger store in town got 2 (compared to 20+ of the Bowies as an example). We didn't get Laser Pace either.

Also Scott that display is awesome. Love that Vince Martin album!

This is my first year out of the record shop world after 12+ years. Yesterday did have me thinking about it and missing the celebration aspects of RSD, as it was always a largely fun day, but definitely not missing a lot of the other frustrating, desperate and exploitative parts.

Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels (Mark Barrott Remixes) (Virgin)

Did not see or even know about this one. I think I need this.

This is my first year out of the record shop world after 12+ years. Yesterday did have me thinking about it and missing the celebration aspects of RSD, as it was always a largely fun day, but definitely not missing a lot of the other frustrating, desperate and exploitative parts.

― brain (krakow), Sunday, April 22, 2018 8:08 AM (fifty-nine seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Had the opposite experience! Took last year off, came back this year to pick up a few things (Marvin Pontiac, MC5 singles) and realized--despite the frustrating, desperate, exploitative parts which absolutely do exist--I missed the insanity and adrenaline of the whole thing. It's a spectacle, sure, but I found myself enjoying the spectacle this time. Maybe I was just in a good mood.

That's great! I was on the other side of the counter and I did always have great fun on the actual day, it was awesome to be so busy and the whole days was a party atmosphere.

my pass-agg facebook post:

"Rufus and I had a nice time at the store on Record Store Day today. We sold a TON of stuff and everyone was happy and nice. We also swear that we are not bummed out that not a single resident of the town of Greenfield stopped by. The people have spoken. We will be adding bongs and kale chips to our stock of fine vintage vinyl. We would like to thank all the people who traveled the highways of Western Mass to get to us!"

but it was a nice day.

this was a mind-blower to me. $140 for a record i would have to pay someone to take out of my store in its original incarnation. worst live album ever!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Dylan-and-the-Dead-RSD-2018-Bob-Dylan-Grateful-Dead-Record-Store-Day/173215225581?hash=item28546e96ed:g:snUAAOSwipdaqCtz

I bought used CD copies of Miles Davis’ Dark Magus and Disco D’s ‘Straight Out Tha Trunk’ heh heh

I bought a ton of cool used records and that Eno/Shields thing and the Mekons 7" reissue

only one of the stores I went to even had RSD stuff!

Great day at Agharta Records in Saint Paul yesterday. I'd only just started working at the shop for last RSD, so I knew what to expect more this year. It seemed much busier and the RSD titles were way more popular than we expected. Lots of new and used stock sold too which was great to see. A great atmosphere throughout the day.

I picked up Fed by Plush, his other album under Liam Hayes, the Air Sexy Boy picture disc and the early release of the latest Miguel album. I also got the new surprisingly great album by The Voidz and the vinyl release of the Charli XCX mixtapes which weren't RSD titles. Happy that I managed to resist the Wire 7" boxset. It looked beautiful but I couldn't justify paying that much for it.

I also picked up that Liam Hayes LP, plus a couple of holy grails: the long-lost Spectrum Heavenly Blows album, plus the Ganja and Hess soundtrack. And the Neil Young Roxy set.

RSD was a bit more subdued this year than recent years, at least at Newbury Comics in Boston/Cambridge. They didn't have any in-store appearances like they usually do to mark the day, just a bunch of balloons on the floor that I kept thinking I might trip over.

I didn't have to wait in line this year as the store near where I work, Tunes in Marlton, NJ, had the Tad and GOAT albums.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dbpaji3WkAA6lCq.jpg

In related news, my wife is sad I didn't make getting the Rage Against The Machine album more of a priority and I would like to rectify that. Of course it was gone at Tunes. If anyone knows where I can get a copy at or close to the list price lemmy know!

i bought a nice pressing of quadrophenia and my daughter got a $1 cd of japanese koto music

So how do we feel about stores displaying -NOT selling- RSD stuff before the actual day?

Man I hate that even new release albums are getting sucked into this thing too now. Both Tweedy and Sunn O))) releasing their new albums as RSD exclusives, at least initially. This whole forced exclusivity angle becoming the key hallmark of the day is so stupid.

Due to the facts that so much RSD stuff seems to eventually come out in wide release later, and most of the RSD stuff that I usually go for in my local shops (Sundazed comps and things like that) is usually sitting in the bins for months & months afterward, it's hard to think of a reason to subject myself to this anymore.

there's always one or two full lengths that catch my eye.. like the alternate ram or the 3rd big star

Think the Ram one was a rough mix, actually.

yeah I'm totally over this and see very little talk about it here or on the other vinyl forums I frequent

Got excited for the Bark Psychosis Independency reissue... but it's UK only

Man I hate that even new release albums are getting sucked into this thing too now. Both Tweedy and Sunn O))) releasing their new albums as RSD exclusives, at least initially. This whole forced exclusivity angle becoming the key hallmark of the day is so stupid.

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, April 11, 2019 10:01 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

in my experience this is a total gimmick, it's a just a good day to drop an album. i bought an "exclusive new release" once and it was everywhere and available online later

Got excited for the Bark Psychosis Independency reissue... but it's UK only

pretty sure I saw a tweet that advised this is an unauthorised reissue, and the band are not happy with it ?