Happy Record Store Day!
Today is a great day for independent record stores, their customers, and you. All over America and the World, record stores will be selling rare items, hosting performances, and working hard to show you that a thriving, alternative music culture still exists. In their own words:
The original idea for Record Store Day was conceived by Chris Brown, and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.
This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April.
Record Store Day is currently managed by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Melanie Nipper, and Carrie Colliton. Folks wanting to contact Record Store Day are encouraged to email us at information@recordstoreday.com
Other artists you might know and love have offered the following comments on Record Store Day (full list):
Folks who work here are professors. Don’t replace all the knowers with guessors keep’em open they’re the ears of the town. —Tom Waits
One of my most favorite things to do in Toronto is to go into one of a handful of my favorite indie record stores and see what’s new. In a lot of ways, I go to them for the news about what’s happening in town and what new records are perking people’s ears. It adds strength to the sense of a musical community in my city. Also, my audio format of choice is vinyl, so it’s especially nice to go in and see what I can find on LP. I enjoy the experience of visiting a store and potentially being tipped off to a new band, or a rediscovered one, that I may not have heard before. — Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers
Man, if it weren’t for Bill’s Records and Tapes I would’ve been an accountant like my dad. I love my dad, but thank God for Bill’s. — Ryan Miller of Guster
If you’ve been putting off those key purchases, or if you’re just interested in making sure that you’ll always have great, indie stores to shop at, then today’s the day to make the trip down to your local. Just hit up the venue finder, and get a move on! Pitchfork has a nice post about the day and its highlights. And, of course, you can find Record Store Day on Twitter.
Here’s a few of the things I’m psyched about:
R.E.M. have authorized a limited, re-release of their out-of-print Chronic Town EP.
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Beach House are putting out a new 12″ – Zebra – which features two tracks from their forthcoming album.
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Yay, Pavement! Just click the picture. 😉
We’ve mentioned Hezekiah Jones and We/Or/Me here before on Shh, Listen… The great news is that Yer Bird is having a sales event for Record Store Day. For today only: “…any purchase (CD or Digital) from our online store gets a random Yer Bird album free!!” Definitely check it out!
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Last of all, hear the man who founded Record Store Day, Chris Brown of Bull Moose, tell you all about the new releases: