Record Store Day Survival Guide 2015

By Brock Wilbur | Miscellaneous | April 16, 2015 |

By Brock Wilbur | Miscellaneous | April 16, 2015 |

April 18th is Record Store Day 2015. For the uninitiated, RSD is an eight-year running tradition of flooding your local record store with a super-limited run of vinyl exclusives that trigger PTSD in the vinyl-philes in your life. You’ve probably read my Love Letter To Records Full Of Science or my RSD Survival Guide from last year, but chances are this is your introduction, as it was for me.

One of the best/most nightmarish parts about engaging with vinyl music is the collector aspect, which often results in your favorite music either being limited to an unreasonably small number of releases or encountering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire certain titles, that leads to a nightmare of acquiescing to a day-of-release camp-out purchase or a resignation to the possibility of paying a three-hundred percent mark-up weeks after.

Record Store Day triggers all of those things. Each store gets far too few copies of the dream releases, and you’ll find yourself camping out at four or three AM the night before, just to have your shot at the one record that really matters.

This will be my third RSD since committing to this lifestyle, and the first time I’ve made a blood-pact to escape while paying less than my monthly rent on what’s provided. Here’s a list of awesome entries to Record Store Day 2015 that might convince you to take the dive. There’s a smorgsborg of singles, splits and one-offs to make your heart sing listed on the official RSD release post here.

Here’s the exciting entries that super-matter.

First up is all of the Invada soundtrack releases. You’ll see a 30 DAYS OF NIGHT on blood-spatter up alongside Sleaford Mods’ TISWAS and Powerglove’s EP 1. Their “Ex Machina” soundtrack should also be out around the same time.

Dave Grohl, as official RSD figure-head, will let loose on some demo releases from the Foo Fighters.

Johnny Cash’s live recording of a Prague concert will be pressed on Soviet-Red vinyl.

Metallica’s demo tape will see release, which has led to a lot of discussion in music journalism about which band member ruined an entire decade of Metallica’s career. (spoiler: Lars.)

Although it’s not listed on Record Store Day’s website, Jack White is also planning on reissuing Elvis Presley’s first album, the 1953 “My Happiness” acetate, for which he paid $300,000 at auction. White also releases the first vinyl pressing of The White Stripes’ “Get Behind Me Satan” to celebrate its ten year anniversary.

There will be a 7” release of the PSYCHO soundtrack.

Turntable Baseball will see a release. It’s an interactive experience described thusly:

The follow up to the successful and out of print RPM Turntable Football, is the 2015 Record Store Day Exclusive RPM Turntable Baseball! The envelope has been pushed a little further as this record has a whopping 13 grooves spread over one 7″. The A side is the title game, players take turns getting runs, outs, home runs, and more as they play a full 9 inning game on their turntable. There’s even a separate band of grooves should you feel like you’d like to try to steal a base. The B-side is The Concession Stand Challenge. This game is both an homage to stadium mascot races and to the horse racing turntable games of the 50’s. You name the stakes and the record chooses the winner; it could be Hot Dog, Salted Nuts, Nachos, Soft Pretzel, or Falafel. Both of these games again use Decagonaphonic Multi-groove Technology. Jay Grainer and Barry Dingle return to provide color commentary on all the action and offer clear instructions when to advance your players to the next base, or add an out to your score card. Available for the first time ever on Record Store Day 2015, exclusively in a limited edition colored vinyl. Get it while you can.

RUN THE JEWELS will see a marbled B-side/Remix release.

After years existing as one of the highest priced rock-vinyls on the market, BRAND NEW’s “Deja Entendu” will finally see a deluxe reissue on Record Store Day. For a certain brand of shouty-emotion kids, this is the gold standard.

U2 will finally issue “Songs of Innocence”, the misguided “OOPS YOU ALREADY OWN IT BECAUSE OF POLICE STATES” album of 2014.

A longtime fascination of the music industry has been the NOW: That’s What I Call Music releases that first isolated album-less singles as the future of music. An RSD release will be the first edition of NOW, compiled in the UK all the way back in 1983.

Jurassic 5 is issuing a box-set for QUALITY CONTROL featuring the original tracks and instrumentals for remix purposes.

Citizen Dick, the fake band in Cameron Crowe’s “Singles” will be releasing a single with “Touch Me I’m Dick” on the A-side and an etching on the B-side.

“Better Call Saul” is getting a single release of 1500 units, wherein 100 will be spattered with blood.

Last year’s RSD finally saw the release of Robotic Empire’s Nirvana “In Utero” tribute album. This yeal welcomes a “Nevermind” tribute album featuring Young Widows, Cave In, Circa Survive, White Reaper, Boris, and more.

Phish is releasing (across six LPs) the live recording of their 1995 Madison Square Garden New Year’s Eve show.

Pressed on 180-gram champagne vinyl will be a Violent Femmes EP of new material.

Katie Pierson of the B-52’s sees a solo vinyl release.

Teenage beautiful-brilliant band Echosmith releases an acoustic EP which also includes a re-working of their hit song “Cool Kids.”

A whole slew of Bruce Springsteen albums from “Born To Run” and “Born In The USA” and all the rest of his early epics will see new remastered release.

Both the Whiplash and Birdman soundtracks will be available (Birdman is already out apparently) so if you like arty jazz drums, match my tempo.

The Doors’ “Strange Days” has been given a mono release taken from the original Bruce Botnick masters.

Bob Dylan’s “Basement Tapes” has several variations of release, The album got a lot of attention in 2014 as if was re-invented by a musical supergroup and the original serves as the introduction of the line-up that would become The Band.

The Lego Movie soundtrack on double vinyl proves literally everything is awesome.

Rockabye Baby, who does lullaby arrangements of rock bands like Radiohead and TOOL, will release their Grateful Dead cover album because it is never to early to introduce your toddler to Casey Jones.

Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead get new soundtrack second volumes.

Hutch and Kathy (who later became The Thermals) release their debut album on vinyl for the first time.

A very limited 500 pressing run of the “Frank” soundtrack is pressed on green wax and comes with a Frank mask. Good thing that’s not terrifying.

One of this year’s CD offerings is a release of Joan Rivers’ 1968 recording “The Second To Last Joan Rivers Album” so let’s see how that holds up 45 years later.

Nick Thorburn of The Unicorns and Islands releases his soundtrack to the podcast Serial. In other podcast on vinyl news, the record store down the street from my house High Fidelity will release their second volume of greatest musical guests.

A couple of Hold Steady albums get colored pressings, including 2006’s “Boys and Girls in America.”

Ugh. Macaulay Culkin has a Velvet Underground cover band that makes the songs about pizza. They are called The Pizza Underground and for some reason their “demos” are getting a vinyl release here. Ugh. Real upset that I am probably giving this money.

Anything you caught on the master list that I missed? Let me know what and why you’re excited for it.