Hipsters and music aficionados rejoice! Record Store Day is coming. Along with being a great reason to visit your local record shop, Record Store Day comes with exclusive releases at independent record stores. This year, the lineup is particularly exciting, with offerings from David Bowie, Run the Jewels, the Weeknd, Outkast, J Dilla, Mac DeMarco, Bob Dylan, Chvrches, the Flaming Lips, Fleetwood Mac, Foals, Best Coast, Jason Molina and more. Bowie vinyl releases include a picture disc of his 1970 album The Man Who Sold the World, with rare artwork from the German release, a picture-disc seven-inch of “TVC15,” with the single edit on the A side backed with Harry Maslen’s mix of “Wild Is the Wind” and the 12-inch EP I Dig Everything, containing six songs Bowie recorded in 1966. It’s pretty much the perfect trio to honor the late singer’s legacy.
Many featured artists are putting out special live releases for Record Store Day. Muse will issue a 7-inch featuring a previously unreleased live version of “Reapers.” Death Cab for Cutie has a 7-inch that has a live cover of Guided by Voices’ “Tractor Rape Chain.” Alt-J is offering Live at Red Rocks, Halestorm and Into the Wild Live: Chicago (which also includes studio tracks). CHVRCHES will put out an Every Open Eye remix EP. Foals will release a 7-inch featuring “Rain” and a cover of Mark Ronson and Kevin Parker’s “Daffodils.”
A full list of U.S. and U.K. offerings are available on Record Store Day’s website. Try not to drool on your keyboard.
Record Store Day 2016 is coming on the heels of a record year for vinyl. (Pun definitely intended.) CNBC reports that record sales are at a new recent high. In fact, the last time they were this high was in 1989, before CDs began to dominate the music market in 1990. Figures show that vinyl sales reached $222 million in just the first half of 2015, which is 52 percent higher than 2014. Independent record stores accounted for an astounding 45 percent of all vinyl sold in the U.S. last year. Larger retailers have gotten into the vinyl game as well, but those who love their records still go out of their way to head to indie stores most frequently. And what better way to keep the revival going than Record Store Day?
