‘Tis the season… for records. If we can have national holidays for ice cream and hugging cats, why can’t vinyl have a holiday too? Seven years ago, the record store community banded together to make it happen. Now, on the third Saturday of every April, Record Store Day (RSD) brings together music lovers across the world to celebrate record store culture. It’s a day to show appreciation and support for your local record shop.
But the best part? The exclusive releases. Participating stores are stocked with special-edition vinyl and CDs, many of which are only available on RSD. Below we’ve compiled a list of releases that we recommend, but you can access the full list here.
This year’s celebration falls on April 19, so don’t forget to visit your local record shop this Saturday. Here are the participating stores in the Boston area:
- Newbury Comics: Faneuil Hall, Newbury St., and Cambridge locations
- Nuggets: 486 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
- UGHH: 234 Huntington Ave., Boston
- Armageddon Shop: 12 B Eliot St., Cambridge
- Deep Thoughts JP: 138 B South St., Jamaica Plain
- Tres Gatos: 470 Centre St., Jamaica Plain
- Somerville Grooves: 26 Union Sq., Somerville
*Keep in mind that not every participating store will carry all of the listed RSD releases.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the releases we’re hoping to snag:
- Betty Who – Heartbreak Dream (7″ vinyl)
- CHVRCHES – Recover EP (12″ vinyl)
- Cults – Upstairs at United (12″ vinyl)
- Death Cab for Cutie featuring Magik*Magik Orchestra – Live 2012 (2 x 12″ vinyl)
- Disclosure – Apollo (12″ vinyl)
- The Glitch Mob – Drink the Sea/We Can Make The… (2 x 12″ vinyl)
- Haim – Forever (12″ vinyl)
- LCD Soundsystem – The Long Goodbye (LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden) (5 x 12″ vinyl)
- Nirvana – Pennyroyal Tea/I Hate Myself and Want to Die (7″ vinyl)
- Conor Oberst – Hundreds of Ways/Fast Friends (7″ vinyl)
- Outkast – SOUTHERNPLAYALISTICADILLACMUZIK (12″ vinyl)
- Tame Impala – Live (vinyl)
Whether your nearest record store is planning on carrying these exclusive goodies or not, RSD is still the perfect excuse to spend a few hours in the vinyl stacks. There are always treasures to be found. Happy hunting!