Record Store Day, dedicated to independent music shops and celebrated with exclusive releases and instore performances, is now an annual rite of passage for many music aficionados. Lustful collectors and everyday fans come together to show their support for record shops and perhaps get their hands on a special limited edition release. We've collated some of our favourite releases which are coming out today. Listen to the playlist below.
There's an incredible number of releases out in aid of Record Store Day and we'd love to highlight more of them but . There's releases from bands we've featured like a cassette release from Gum Takes Tooth and a re-release of 'El Camino' by The Black Keys (with bonus 7"s). There are also some slightly leftfield releases including a Katy Perry release and Mastodon and Feist (cutely dubbed Feistodon by you, the music fans) covering each other on a split 7".
There's re-issues too, including classics like 'Baby Love' by The Supremes (on a heart-shaped 7"!) and a digitally re-mastered version of 'London Calling' as well as complete soundtracks for 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Pretty In Pink'. Likewise, some gems have been unearthed, such as Pete Townshend of The Who and his EP of 'Quadrophenia' demos.
Basically, there are a lot of great releases. Here's just ten of them, as suggested by me, Jack and Emily. And also a reminder that Record Store Day is just one day - if you want to truly support independent music shops then you should attempt to engage with them more than once a year.
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST:
1) To Kill A King - 'Bloody Shirt'
2) Xiu Xiu - 'Always' from split 7" with Dirty Beaches
3) Mclusky - 'Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues' from 'Mclusky Do Dallas' orange vinyl LP reissue
4) Arctic Monkeys - 'R U Mine?' on heavyweight purple vinyl 7"
5) The Cure - 'Friday I'm In Love', part of the special Secret 7" project
6) Elbow - 'McGreggor'
7) Cymbals - 'No Bad Decisions' from 'Sideways, Sometimes' LP
8) Miles Kane - 'First Of My Kind' from 10" EP
9) Sigur Ros - 'Ekki Mukk' on 10" limited vinyl
10) Caitlin Rose - 'Piledriver Waltz' 7"
For all the Record Store Day releases available in the UK, head to recordstoreday.co.uk.
We're a collaborative British music, film and TV blog. "Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop."
