Hardcore vinyl fanatics and record collectors have turned Record Store Day into something of a major shopping holiday on the annual music calendar.
Observed on the third Saturday of April (this year, April 20), the event celebrates the increasingly niche market of independent music stores, helping spur the current vinyl revival, which finds younger fans leading a double-digit spike in record sales over the past two years. (Last year, for example, Jack White broke the long-running streak of The Beatles’ Abbey Road as the best-selling vinyl record, with his solo debut Blunderbuss.)
Sparking vinyl sales on Record Store Day is an annual collection of rare and exclusive releases tied specifically to the holiday, which are typically bought up by the day’s end. Fans line up in front of record stores all across the country to get their hands on these special releases that are often pressed up in extremely limited numbers.
Fittingly, White will serve as the official ambassador of this year’s RSD (Iggy Pop held the honors last year), with his former band The White Stripes issuing a special 10-year anniversary vinyl edition of their album Elephant on colored vinyl. While his label, Third Man Records, is keeping mum on how many are being pressed, though they do give a sneak peak of its actual pressing. they make a point to remind fans that their RSD releases “are notoriously known to be some of the most sought-after collectable items,” so plan ahead if you want to score one for yourself.
David Bowie is celebrating RSD in a big way this year, with three different releases. In celebrating his new album, The Next Day, he’ll be releasing a 7-inch featuring the album’s singles, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” and “Where Are We Now?”. Bowie’s also set to release 7-inch records of his Bowie 1965! EP (four songs, not two) and “Drive-In Saturday Night” (from Aladdin Sane) on picture disc.
This year’s releases also include a split 7-inch single featuring Iggy Pop & the Stooges playing the band’s classic “No Fun,” with the Black Keys doing their own 2002 version of the song on the other side. Pressed on special splatter colored vinyl, it will be limited to just 7,500 copies worldwide.
Mumford and Sons fans may be interested in a copy of Live at Bull Moose, a recording of the band performing at the Bull Moose record store in Scarborough, Maine, in August of 2012 set to come out on CD and 10-inch vinyl.
Other notable RSD releases this year come from The Cure, Deftones and many, many more. See the entire list here, and happy hunting on April 20.
(Additional reporting by Jillian Mapes, Radio.com)
