National Record Store Day

I always have a nice time on record store day. I'm not ever remotely interested in the crap that is flippable. In fact if I just wait I can usually find the stuff I'd wanted on sale months later. This year I also very badly want the Glenn Jones record among a few other lower-key releases. That being said, it's usually no more crowded than a record fair and that doesn't bother me either. Plus it's my birthday so a group of friends and I are doing a record/bar crawl. Should be fun.

You might find young vinyl buyers defending all the garbage releases over at reddit.com/r/vinyl

i've always been able to find all of the RSD avant stuff, like three lobed LPs and loren connors and stuff like that, for cheap even weeks later.

honestly i don't get the hate toward eBay flippers. this "exclusive" shit they put out is 90% worthless in any artistic/aesthetic sense, it's practically designed for folks to buy and then flip to some asshole who wants to pay $200 for their 85th-favorite record on puke-colored vinyl. i'm not ashamed to say i've gone to RSD mostly to buy stuff I can flip w/in hours and the money i make from all that is just as likely as not to go back to the same fucking store for some actually worthwhile stuff on a non-record-store day.

i actually want to take a road trip tomorrow because i'm getting stir crazy so maybe i'll show up to some random midwestern record store and see what's going down.

the thing that makes me not want to go is the crowds. i like my record stores relatively empty so i can browse in peace. also i don't much like other people.

honestly i don't get the hate toward eBay flippers.

Really? I mean, even if you don't give a shit about 90% of the releases, its dispiriting to see these guys being the main beneficiaries of the day. And, a few years ago I was waiting in line at a store behind two like 13 year-old girls just super, super exicted to get a My Chemical Romance exclusive. A few minutes into the official sale start, these two 50+ dudes walk out bragging about cleaning the store out of most of the "big name" exclusives, specifically listing the MCR. These two girls started crying and left the store. I mean, you can be whatever about My Chemical Romance, but that is exactly the opposite of what Record Store Day should be all about.

i'm not sure the ethics of 'flipping' is so straightforward. well yeah the hate towards people flipping the cool shit like test pressings of Paul McCartney's Ram and Big Star's Third is justified. but the other 90%, the contrived singles and whatnot, who cares

Happy birthday Evan!

I would like the Bardo Pond and maybe the Alexander Robotnick reissue plus a couple of the comps (e.g. the new Todo Muere and maybe the Faux Discx one), but I figure the shop in my town probably won't have bothered getting the things I'm most interested in and even if they do this stuff is more expensive than I can really justify spending currently, so not really sure if I'll bother taking the bus to the other side of town yet. The asking price for everything I want is going to be £20=$33 to £25=$40, judging by last year and the prices on the Rough Trade website.

its dispiriting to see these guys being the main beneficiaries of the day

but the day is DESIGNED this way, or at least that's how it has progressed. RSD is bullshit, the eBay flippers are just getting a little something out of it.

if those teenage girls were disabused of any interest in "collectable" bullshit then I say it was a win-win

they should have started record store day before the damn internet.

and frankly if i don't buy whatever stupid crap they're selling and flip it, somebody else--probably someone who otherwise spends less money in record stores--will. so fuck it.

they should have started record store day before the damn internet.

― brimstead, Friday, April 18, 2014 3:17 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

before the internet, every day was record store day.

For me two days a week, but specifically not Record Store Day, is record store day.

it's antiquated just like (as moe (?) pointed out in the vinyl reissue thread) "from the original master tapes" is not such a big deal when digital conversion processes are so good. the future!

well awesome but for a lot of record stores, record store day IS record store day, just take a look at their receipts

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm glad it exists for the stores and I don't begrudge them the $$$$$$, I just wish it evolved differently, that's all. As it is, the day is definitively not for me.

yeah i like the part where people who run good record stores make money

ebay flippers are cunts

I went to a record store the other day, bought used copies of Fleetwood Mac's "Kiln House" and Percy Sledge "I'll Be Your Everything", plus a new release of "Static Age" (it was $14! Reminded my of buying music in the 90s!). On the way out the clerk told us there was a stack of free records, all out of their jackets, and I grabbed a bunch of random ones. Lots of UK dance music, plus disc 2 of "The Wall"! Had a great day!

Then I realized it was record store day tomorrow. Damn, I've already spent enough $ on records this week. Sorry, RSD.

Do the labels encourage flipping by promoting limited editions and RSD exclusives rather than just introducing new rarities on RSD? Printing only 500 copies helps ensure they'll be stocked by the stores, and that the stores will sell them quickly, but also means the bulk of the profits will go the the eBay flippers rather than the record stores that RSD ostensibly is intended to promote. I'd like the record labels to explicitly state that even though a potentially coveted item is making its debut on RSD, that they'll keep it available as long as the demand is there, stamping out new batches as necessary. That would discourage buying for investment or flipping, rather than playing it on your own turntable for your own enjoyment which is what RSD should be promoting.

ebay flippers are cunts

― Scooby Doom (۩), Friday, April 18, 2014 3:24 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so sorry you didn't get to buy that jack white 7" that's filled with chocolate-chip cheesecake

so sorry you didn't get to buy that jack white 7" that's filled with chocolate-chip cheesecake

This disingenuous argument that the eBay flippers are only reselling the crap releases is pretty tiring.

dont give a shit about jack white. I thought ebay flippers were CUNTS long before RSD.

I'm sure youre a very nice fellow and I wasnt specifically talking about you but gripping on ebay is a really shitty thing to do.

so sorry you didn't get to buy that jack white 7" that's filled with chocolate-chip cheesecake

This disingenuous argument that the eBay flippers are only reselling the crap releases is pretty tiring.

― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, April 18, 2014 3:32 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

95% of the RSD releases are "crap releases." possibly 99%

the stuff that's not crap will still be in the stores two weeks later

Sometimes it's fun to go to a store early and get something a little rare that also looks pretty

I don't know why ya'll are in here doing a cost/benefit analysis on it

Thanks, a passing spacecadet!!

the stuff that's not crap will still be in the stores two weeks later

― espring (amateurist), Friday, April 18, 2014 4:53 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think the people (not me for the most part) who would disagree with you about what you're considering crap would be very confused by the logic of this sentence.

Isn't colored/clear vinyl noticeably/notoriously crappy-sounding compared to regular black vinyl?

i dunno, the actual interesting/new music (not just familiar stuff in fancy packaging) that is released in RSD is often the stuff that people sleep on, and that I see hanging around the store weeks later. whereas the ultra-deluxe box set of 480-gram cake LPs complete with a bottle of no-doze will probably be gone in hours.

xp

xxp from here: http://thequietus.com/articles/13250-steve-albini-interview-rapeman-shellac

Joe Foster, who recorded The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, told me that the best sounding vinyl is clear vinyl. Do you agree?

SA: There's a theoretical point there, which is that polyvinyl chloride is colourless, so if you're adding something to it to colour it, then you're changing the chemistry of it slightly, and that has potential to make it sound not as good by having inclusions. Like if it's carbon black then there can be little granules of graphite or whatever. The biggest problem is that presses are set up to run black vinyl regularly, and if you have to clear the presses of the black vinyl, then put in the clear vinyl, then the presses have to come up to temperature from cold, and until they're operating at a stabilised temperature the pressings will not be filled properly. That is, you'll get much more surface noise. So, coloured vinyl typically sounds noisier than black vinyl because it has to be run in a special production run, during which the presses have not quite gotten up to temperature. So you end up with poor in-fill. In-fill meaning the vinyl doesn't penetrate all the way into the back of the stamper, and you end up with more ticks and pops, and more surface noise. So while it's conceivable that clear vinyl would sound better were all records made out of clear vinyl, when you make an edition of a record on clear vinyl – interrupting a normal production run of black vinyl – you're creating opportunities for that record to sound worse. So it's sort of a theoretical point. If all records were made out of clear vinyl, then it's possible that there would be slightly less surface noise on those records. But they're not. And so if records are made specially out of clear vinyl, there's a real good chance that your records will be noisier than the black records that were made the day before.

But what about the vinyl that's filled with chocolate-chip cheesecake!?

it's really weird to read a whole paragraph written by steve albini that's completely devoid of whining about major labels

like i said elsewhere, a lot of my best customers came in today and bought a ton of records and none of them knew about record store day. these...are my people.

xp
There's implicit whining about the record companies not bringing the presses up to their optimal heat before stamping clear vinyl, and because of this we'll never know vinyl's potential best sound.

Agree w amatuerist. My store has had stuff like a rough guide to desert blues, lots of cook stuff after. There's always some cool stiff that's hot like the Big Star Third or that Unreleased Husker 7 inch....I got Live at the Old Waldorf by Television at 4 pm that day

Also amatuerist you must not read many Albini interviews

tasty

http://static.gigwise.com/artists/Lcd%20Last%20Good%20feat%20600.jpg

posted this on our facebook page:

A letter from the management:
Here at John Doe Jr. we celebrate record store day EVERY day. Duh. Except on Sundays. Well, some Sundays we do. And come to think of it, when we aren't here on Sunday we are more often than not at yet another record store looking at records. Let's just say we are pro-records and leave it at that. Some may wonder why we don't carry the limited-edition 180 Gram virgin vinyl 10 inch picture disc exclusives that have come to represent Record Store Day every year. And we say, dude, do you know how much that stuff costs? Do you know how many old Hank Snow records we could buy for the price of one limited-edition Ray Parker Jr. “Ghostbusters” RSD 2014 picture disc? Probably a whole bunch. We haven't done the math. Which is just one way of saying that our priorities are a little different here. Some of our best customers came in today – people that have been shopping here for the entire five years that we have been here – and NONE of them either knew of or cared about RSD. Which is another way of saying that we are old. Hahaha! Oh, man, we have fun here. We just really like the old stuff. We can't help it! Some recoil from the smell of old records when they come in the door. Those who don't are our friends for life. We are also pro-other record stores making tons of money selling Cake box sets on RSD. We really are. We want every record store to do well, because we need places to go on our day off. Well, maybe not every store. Not the stores where hardly anything is priced and you bring a record up to the counter and the guy looks you over and says “hmmm, that's a rare one...let me get the book..” And you're thinking, oh jeez, the book. And his chair creaks REALLY loudly and it hurts for him to move and he finally grabs a dusty price guide that he bought on sale at Walden Books in 1998 and Fabian still commands top dollar within it's pages and you know no good can come from it. Those stores can go away if they want. To be honest, most of them have. But we want the good stores to stay open for as long as they want to stay open. We want to go to Brattleboro and check out Turn It Up! And In The Moment and go to Northampton and check out Feeding Tube and yet another Turn It Up! And we want to go to Easthampton and check out Dave at Platterpus and stop by Mystery Train and say hi to Josh and Cynthia. Forever if possible. Oh, and we want to go to the new place in Florence! We have heard great things! We'll get there. Save some good stuff for us. We just want every day to be record store day for everyone. Because we are strange like that. So have fun tomorrow if you go record shopping no matter where you are. Records are fun! And we'll be here putting lots of weird old shit out if you need any. Oh, and one more thing. The main reason we are listed on the official Record Store Day website – even though we don't sell any of the new shiny stuff - is so that Japanese record dealers can find us when they hit the states. We love you, Japan!

i dunno, the actual interesting/new music (not just familiar stuff in fancy packaging) that is released in RSD is often the stuff that people sleep on, and that I see hanging around the store weeks later. whereas the ultra-deluxe box set of 480-gram cake LPs complete with a bottle of no-doze will probably be gone in hours.

― espring (amateurist), Friday, April 18, 2014 6:44 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I'm just saying that there are people like the majority of /r/vinyl (I lurk there to see what the younger buyers talk about) that want that Cake box really bad and it would be amusing to see their faces contort as they try to make sense of the idea that the good records are the ones that people aren't buying. Like there is so much r/vinyl-demographic obsession with those arbitrary manufactured rarity details like multiple vinyl color etc. that it's no wonder why the Jack White cheesecake tactic works so well.

Wait srsly is there a CAKE vinyl box? The Cake that did The Distance and so on?

Oh it has more than one album, that's not a stupid as I ws imagining, I suppose

It's still a box containing Cake records

it should really come in a cake box, but i don't think it does.

After my RSD experience last year, I am done with it.
I just bought some CDs at a show and stopped at a random store I've never been to to buy shit.
I also bought some shit on Amazon and preordered a friend's CD from his label's website.

I don't need a day. Fuck days.

Oddly enough in Auckland New Zealand it sounds like this ws a fun day, bt I missed it

I'd love to get the School of Seven Bells one, but it's a very small amount... but I'm going to go and enjoy the spectacle relatively free of desire.

Lorin Stein - Editor, The Paris Review:

Chris King, the "aural archaeologist" behind Angry Mom Records, is known for his blues and Cajun archive, but at a recent Paris Review party he brought out some rare 78s of northwestern Greek shepherd music—a genre with which none of our guests were familiar, and which blew us all away. One track in particular lingered in the air, the shiver-inducing "Epirotika Mirologi," by the violinist Alexis Zoumbas. I can't wait to hear it again this April when King releases his vinyl LP of Zoumbas recordings, "A Lament For Epirus 1926-1928." ~ Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2014

Alexis Zoumbas was the "Robert Johnson" of Greek Epirotika, the hypnotic mountain music of Northern Greece, an expression that is just as raw and emotive as the Delta Blues. This record captures the sublime beauty and sadness of these powerful, otherworldly instrumentals by what was Greece’s and New York City’s finest traditional violinist of the 1920s. The LP will be released on April 19th (a Record Store Day Exclusive) on the Angry Mom label. A CD version will be available later this year. Artwork by Robert Crumb.

― dow, Thursday, April 17, 2014 9:42 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The link expires in two days but you can download this from the website of the guy who's putting it out. It's pretty great:

http://longgonesound.com/current-travails/2014/1/18/alexis-zoumbas-a-lament-for-epirus-1926-1928-original-artwork-by-robert-crumb-10-recordings-with-deluxe-gatefold-lp

this "exclusive" shit they put out is 90% worthless in any artistic/aesthetic sense, it's practically designed for folks to buy and then flip to some asshole who wants to pay $200 for their 85th-favorite record on puke-colored vinyl.

otm, also p sure I said something similar last year itt