Five Treats For Record Store Day


gracepotter Five Treats For Record Store Day

Yep, you can download all you want – it’s a digital world, no doubt. But on Saturday, April 21st, record stores all over the world are celebrating the kind of music culture you indulge in when you walk into a brick-and-mortar shop as opposed to mousing around iTunes. Each year presents a treasure trove of awesome RSD goodies out there for those looking for offline grooves.

Oddities are a part of the annual fun, and though we’re sad not to see anything approaching the radness of, say, the KISS coffin, there’s still some weirdness to be had. Check out RPM: This adorably mean-looking figurine, designed by the legendary graphic artist Frank Kozik, comes in four different models and is limited to a run of 5000. (We’re hoping we get the hairy-chested “Party Naked” guy, but we’d settle for snaggletoothed Mr. Anarchy too.) And, of course, there are lots of exclusive-to-RSD records to buy as well as bands playing in-store sets. Here are five hot items on our wish list:

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Live at the Legendary Sun Studios

LP
Potter’s powerhouse vocals are steeped in southern-fried soul, which makes her Vermont origins all the more remarkable. This limited-edition album was recorded for PBS’s Live From the Sun Studio show. It spotlights seven unreleased originals, connecting the dots between Potter’s rootsy vibe and the Memphis-based Sun Studio’s history as a launching pad for the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and other icons. Here’s a taste of the Nocturnals’ midnight magic.

Sara Bareilles
Stay / Beautiful Girl
7″ vinyl
The “Love Song” siren has teamed up with Ben Folds for this limited edition release. These two previously-unreleased tracks are sure to please both hardcore Bareilles fans and newcomers alike. Only catch is, you need a record player to listen to this 7″ vinyl-only release. If you’re lacking in the hardware, here’s consolation in the form of Bareilles’s “Gonna Get Over You.”

Janis Joplin
Highlights from The Pearl Sessions
2 x 10″ LP
Known informally as Joplin’s “farewell” sessions, the original Pearl album was released three months after the singer’s death in October 1970. This is the only studio session to feature Joplin backed by her funky Full Tilt Boogie Band. This RSD highlight – 2 x 10″ LPs that feature rare and unreleased studio and alternate outtakes culled from recently discovered Pearl studio recordings – is sure to sell out quickly, so you should set the alarm and get to your local outlet when it opens.

Bruce Springsteen
Rocky Ground
7″ vinyl
It wouldn’t be a real music celebration without a contribution from Bruuuuuce! And this one’s a no-brainer: on top is the gorgeous “Rocky Ground” from Springsteen’s new album Wrecking Ball; the B-side is a romp through his iconic “The Promise,” recorded at the Carousel in Asbury Park. Enough to give you chills.

Jimmy Fallon
Tebowie / Reading Rainbow
7″ vinyl
One of the better mash-ups of recent memory, Jimmy Fallon’s “Tebowie” draws from the best of both characters – Bowie’s pipes and Tebow’s Jesus obsessions. This very funny performance, set to the music of “Space Oddity,” is available for the first time ever on high-quality 7″ vinyl. On the flip is Fallon as Jim Morrison, backed by “The Doors,” singing the theme to “Reading Rainbow.” – Adrienne Day