Record Store Day is only a few days away! While excitement is building and the criticisms are mounting, RSDs can be a little hard to handle. The sheer number of releases can be overwhelming, with hundreds of records pouring into record stores this Saturday, April 21. Making choices to stay within your budget is tough or near impossible. Do you get the Mac Demarco Old Dog Demos album that is beckoning your name or throw caution to the wind and get that ridiculous Run the Jewels metal box set? Maybe you decide to get weird with it and get an album of unreleased '70s porno music and call it a day.
Whatever your case may be, we're here to make choosing which records to buy this Record Store Day a little easier (or possibly make it harder)? Below you'll find some of the albums we think you should jump on this weekend. It's a nice mix of indie rock, hardcore, avant garde, classic, nerdy, and beyond! If you're still looking for a few shops to visit, we suggest checking out our guide to Record Store Day as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XIRj_Iq3cw
Daughter - Music from Before the Storm - 2xLP on black vinyl
Daughter’s Music from Before the Storm is a moody, haunting album full of contemplative, mostly lyric-less music originally written for the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm. It will see its only physical release as a limited run as a 2xLP this RSD. Music from Before the Storm ranges thematically from brightly warm to dark while staying sonically consistent. This makes it not only a perfect companion to the game it was made for, but also great for casual listening.
- Antal Bokor
UhUhBoo Project & Cho Young-wuk – Vengeance Trilogy: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy & Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - 2xLP, 2xLP, & LP in colored vinyl
In the late 90s and earlier 2000s, South Korean film began a cinematic renaissance. Oldboy, a hard-boiled neo noir action film directed by Park Chan-wook (who reached to some pretty dark depths of humanity for the film), was one of the first to achieve cult status and eventual acclaim. Oldboy was the second installment of Park’s Vengeance Trilogy, which featured Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. While the films are not connected in anyway, they each share themes of revenge, violence, and ultimately a sense of salvation. Their scores helped build the worlds the films inhabit with interesting and unique compositions.Cho Young-wuk' work for Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance's leans more toward classical and baroque orchestration while UhUhBoo Project's music for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is an experimental mix of traditional music and avant garde madness. These reissues are a long time coming and worthy of any music or film fan's collection.
- Julian Ramirez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGHTOVw6F4Q
Billie Eilish - Party Favor/Hot Line Bling - 7" pink vinyl
Billie Eilish, the wonderful 16-year old singer-songwriter has been playing a cover of "Hot Line Bling" on her ukulele while on tour, giving the tune a fun and beachy vibe. Eilish is quickly becoming a superstar in her own right, thanks to the massive success of her EP Don’t Smile at Me and her super energetic live shows. It’s no wonder that she’s already being compared to Lorde; Eilish’s soft voice and grown-up lyrics are refreshing amongst a sea of flighty pop stars. This Record Store Day vinyl is currently the only way to get a hard copy of her cover of “Hotline Bling”, so make sure you grab it while you can!
- Kate Scott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z2DtNW79sQ
Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits – 12” transparent red vinyl
Springsteen’s Greatest Hits album, released in 1995, was his first compilation, a collection of favorite album tracks and a few obscure songs loved by serious fans. To balance iconic songs such as “Born to Run,” “Badlands” and “Thunder Road,” we have songs such as “Murder Incorporated,” “This Hard Land” and “Blood Brothers.” Also included is “Streets of Philadelphia,” the beautifully mournful ballad from the film Philadelphia that won Springsteen an Oscar for Best Original Song and four Grammys. (The film starred Tom Hanks as a lawyer during the HIV/AIDS crisis.) However, Greatest Hits also includes “Human Touch,” which makes fans say WTF? It’s a song from one of the two albums produced with what we call “the other band,” that Springsteen recorded with in the 1990s after he broke up the E Street Band. The real band was reunited for the reunion tour in 1998-99 and has been playing together ever since, except for Springsteen’s solo acoustic ventures and his forays with the Seeger Sessions Band in 2006.
- Nancy S Bishop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-waJkiflb0
Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That is That – Clear with yellow swirl vinyl
Marne Stern’s second album, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That is That, is one of those albums that sticks with you. Before she took a position in the Late Night with Seth Meyers' 8G Band, Stern was making some of the most sincerely addicting tunes that have ever graced my ears. Every song on the album blasts you in the face with the kind of intensity that will keep you up at night wanting to listen to its lovable quirkiness again and again. Her high pitched voice paints ludicrous imagery as it careens over her insane finger-tapping guitar style that is only matched by Zach Hill’s monstrous drums engulfing your senses. It’s weird, unique, and a goddamn masterpiece. If you couldn’t tell, I really like this album and think you should seek it out.
- Julian Ramirez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29glkcDfrrY
Touché Amoré - 12" Demo
It's the 10th anniversary of Touché Amoré's debut demo. It was a 7" demo but it's getting repressed as a 12" with a B-side etching by No Sleep Records. This is a must have for older and newer Touché Amoré fans. It contains fan favorites such as "WeHateFredPhelps.com" and "Honest Sleep". This 12" is only an RSD First release, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't grab this on Record Store Day.
- Brandon Smith
Various Artists - Doctor Who: City of Death - 2xLP on colored vinyl
Doctor Who fans should be excited to see yet another of the classic episodes, City of Death, featuring Fourth Doctor Tom Baker, in a beautifully done set of 2 colored LPs with brand new artwork. This episode, which sees the Doctor and companion Romana sightseeing in Paris before a temporal disturbance crops up, was a hit when it first aired in 1979 and remains a fan favorite. Though the humorous tone of the episode, which has the Doctor and Romana tearing through the Louvre trying to stop an alien from selling the Mona Lisa was at first criticized, it's since become a staple of the show, and any serious Whovian will definitely want to have this vinyl in their collection.
- Marielle Shaw
Various Artists - Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen - 4xLP on colored vinyl
One of the many lost early Doctor Who serials, “Tomb of the Cybermen” would probably have been lost forever if it hadn’t turned up in Hong Kong in 1992. “Tomb of the Cybermen” features Patrick Troughton as the second doctor. Joined by his faithful companion Jamie and newcomer Victoria, the Doctor’s third encounter with the Cybermen is considered legendary amongst Whovians. This Doctor Who serial is getting an RSD exclusive release as a digitally remastered double LP with new artwork, never before seen on-set photos and sleeve notes.
- Antal Bokor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGUboLZx3Tk
Various Artists - Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Soundtrack) (Score) & Twin Peaks (Music From the Limited Event Series) - Picture Discs
For a TV show that returned last year after 26 years, the hype for anything that says "Twin Peaks" is evident. The 2016 Record Store Day release "Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks" was one of the first sought after items. This year there are two Twin Peaks releases! One is Angelo Badalamenti and co. providing music lovers with another eerie 18-track score, one that still encapsulates the mood and emotions of every Twin Peaks. There will only be 5,300 available of this beautiful red curtain picture disc. The other picture disc, showing off the Roadhouse's neon red logo, contains 20 tracks heard throughout last year's limited event series. These were the songs performed on the gloomy lit stage of the Twin Peak's Roadhouse including "Shadow" by Chromatics and "She's Gone Away" by Nine Inch Nails. There's a limited quantity of 5,300. Fans of the show shouldn't have a hard time acquiring this. Snag one or two for decoration.
- Brandon Smith
UNOFFICIAL RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE THAT'S REALLY COOL AND WILL BE AVAILABLE AT SHUGA RECORDS (YES THIS NEEDED TO BE ALL IN CAPS)
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Polygondwanaland - LED Vinyl In 2017, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard undertook the ambitious task of releasing five albums before the end of the year. They succeeded and that fifth album was something special. Instead of a commercial release it was a completely free album, one that allowed anyone with the means to copy it, give it away, or sell it to the masses. This produced hundreds of versions of the album, each one a different color way or gimmick attached to it's edition. Romanus Records has joined in on the fun with a copy of Polygondwanaland that has multicolored LEDs in it. It looks utterly insane and a must have for King Gizzard fans! This initial run is limited to only 25 records (more will be released in August) and only 5 will be available at Shuga Records, so hopefully you're near the front of the line for this beauty! - Julian Ramirez