If this press release is crossing your desk, chances are likely high that you’re a serious music fan. And if you’re a serious music fan, you’re likely obsessed with vinyl: the anxious unwrapping of an anticipated reissue; the gawking at fresh, vibrant artwork; the smell… for some of you, the taste– I dunno, but then that coveted moment when the needle drops to the grooves for the first time, and those moments become manifest. Oh, what a perfect world!
If all of this is familiar to you, then there’s absolutely no better place for you to spend your holiday gift-giving budget than an independent record store. This season of wish lists and good cheer, like they do all year long, it’s the indies from Burlington to Miami, Sarasota to San Jose, Peoria to Portland (either one), that will be stocking the good stuff for your stockings: CDs, books, games, audio equipment, accessories, and yes, vinyl, including those super special, long awaited titles that, frankly, you can’t get anywhere else, which will appear in the record store bins starting on November 25, RSD Black Friday.
We could go on and on about the diverse releases set for RSD Black Friday right here, but you might as well take a gander at THE LIST yourself. And while you’re checking it (at least) twice, “tune” into The Record Store Day Podcast, hosted by writer, producer, audiophile, Paul Myers.
Part 2 of the special two-part RSD Black Friday preview set drops this week, featuring a conversation with Marshall Crenshaw (whose debut album gets a double vinyl 40th anniversary reissue this Friday) and Part 1 is up now celebrating the life and music of the late Joe Strummer (1952-2002). Joe's surviving life partner Lucinda Tait remembers life with Joe during the time of his last band The Mescaleros, and discusses the expansive Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years box set recently released on the Dark Horse Records label. Joe's friend, filmmaker Don Letts talks about Joe, forming Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.) with Mick Jones, and the new documentary about Letts' life, Rebel Dread. And Music Millennium’s Terry Currier returns to the show to remember the 1999 in-store at the iconic Portland Oregon record store that is at the heart of this year's RSD Black Friday limited edition vinyl release, Joe Strummer - Live At Music Millennium.
Folks can subscribe to the Record Store Day Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Paul Myers on Twitter and Instagram @pulmyears.
Speaking of social media (and engaging conversations with artists doing cool stuff), follow @recordstoreday on Facebook and @recordstoredayus on Instagram for an upcoming chat this Friday when RSD talks with the one and only Butch Vig and his new SSVU bandmates (otherwise known as Silversun Pickups) about their new project, an art rock band that examines pop culture through existential true-life encounters. According to Silversun Pickups, “There was so much kinetic energy during the making of Physical Thrills and sometimes it needs a place to live. While we were listening to BV talk about his adventures with the famous, we would bounce around and start turning them into songs. And just like that, SSVU.” SSVU’s limited edition RSD Black Friday exclusive 7” “David Lynch Has a Painting Made of Flies Eyes” b/w “Suzanne Ciani” is in record stores this Friday.
*LIST OF RSD BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL RELEASES AND PARTICIPATING STORES: recordstoreday.com
*RSD BLACK FRIDAY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: bit.ly/RSDBFFAQ
*RECORD STORE DAY PODCAST: Wherever you get podcasts or bit.ly/RSDPODCAST
*RECORD STORE DAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: @recordstoreday (FB and TW) @recordstoredayus (IG and TikTok)
