Sábado 17 Abr 2010, 16:03

Today is the third annual Record Store Day (it's basically like Christmas for music nerds). I've spent the past three Record Store Days in different states. In 2008 I was at Mr. Cheapo in Mineola, New York. While visiting Newport, RI with Rachel in 2009 I was able to visit Music Box (on Thames). This year I'm in Chicago for graduate school and I decided to visit three record stores to celebrate RSD 2010.

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Last night I stood in line at Permanent Records, which was kind enough to open its doors from midnight to 2am. I was the 18th person in line, and it was a major bummer because disks like The Flaming Lips - "Dark Side of the Moon" LP and Doors/Rolling Stones/John Lennon 45s were sold out by the time it was my turn in line. They didn't have the Built to Spill 7'' or the Beastie Boys "super surprise" unlabeled 12'' that I wanted either. However, I did walk away with the special 2-LP Pavement album "Quarantine the Past" (there's only 1000 pressings) as well as Rodriguez's "Inner City Blues" 7'' (1500 pressings), so I was happy about that. This one guy ahead at the front of the line basically bought 1 of everything and walked out of the record store saying "Look everyone, I got all the good stuff! You want this? You can't have it, I got the last one!" and he pointed to his shopping bag. That was unnecessary. I hope his vinyl record collection catches on fire.

Lesson learned, I decided to start lining up early this morning at Dave's Records. The record store was going to open at 11am and I was at the front door by 9am. Even 2 hours before opening, there were 4 people waiting in the cold by the front door! The first person in line said he was there since 7am! The line slowly started to form with most people arriving 1 hour prior to opening. Around 10:30 Dave opened the doors and I stepped into the store with the opening chords of "Baba O'Riley" blasting from the sound system, which pretty much captured the emotions I was feeling. It was pretty organized, all the exclusives were behind the counter and it was on a first-come-first-serve basis. The atmosphere was different than at Permanent last night, the guy ahead of me was willing to give up the John Lennon Singles Bag because he knew that it was at the top of my list. Being fifth in line, I was very lucky and managed to get everything that I wanted without hearing those dreaded words…"Sorry we're sold out."

Here's what I got from Dave's:
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-John Lennon Singles Bag (only 7000 copies worldwide)
-Elvis Presley "That's All Right" 7''
-Elvis Costello - Live At Hollywood High EP 7''
-The Rolling Stones - Plundered My Soul 7'' (only 1000 copies in existence)
-The Doors - People Are Strange/Crystal Ship 7''
-Built To Spill - Water Sleepers/Linus & Lucy (live) 7''
-White Flag 10-inch (limited pressings, don't know exact number)
-The Flaming Lips - Dark Side of the Moon
-Jimi Hendrix - Live @ Clark University ("official" bootleg)
-MGMT - "Siberian Breaks" 12-inch etched single
-Beastie Boys - unlabeled, "super surprise," mystery 12-inch (also 1000 copies in existence). It has one song that samples Daft Punk's "Da Funk" and another song that samples DJ Shadow's "The Number Song."

Also got one of these from Dave's:
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Later on I stopped by Reckless Records on Broadway and picked up the Them Crooked Vultures - "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" 10-inch picture disk along with Rodriguez's "Cold Fact" (not a RSD exclusive, but an amazing album nonetheless).

I did not get the Ramones blue/green vinyl, or the Modest Mouse, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, or Apples in Stereo albums because I couldn't afford them. I mean, I love the Magnetic Fields and Joy Division, but I just can't dish out +$200 on a box set right now.

My wallet is hurtin', but hey, it's Record Store Day. The one day of year that music nerds can rejoice and splurge a little. Every year it's exponentially getting crazier and crazier. It's an exciting day for music lovers, but there are also lousy "flippers" that take advantage of the limited releases, buying the albums then re-selling them on eBay at extortionate prices. Sadly, that really takes the spirit out of Record Store Day. I really think that artists and labels should increase the supply of "exclusive" records in order to keep up with the high demand. I didn't see anyone waiting in line overnight this year, but who knows what future Record Store Days will be like?

"It's okay to be a little greedy on Record Store Day, just don't buy these albums and sell them on eBay" –Dave of Dave's Records fame