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For vinyl enthusiasts, Record Store Day might as well be Christmas. Sure, there’s no jolly fat man in velvet slinging gifts, but there will be exclusive records of all shapes, sizes and varieties. So set those alarms, wake up at the crack of dawn, and get ready to spend money you don’t have at one of D.C.’s handful of music peddlers. Record Store Day is coming.
To get an idea of what to expect tomorrow, head over to the Vinyl District or Record Store Day’s official Web site. Otherwise, we’ve got the rundown of D.C. record stores after the jump.
Red Onion Records and Books:
Red Onion will open at noon this Saturday.
“I’ve also got some people who might be playing outside. Possibly Olivia Mancini and a band called Family Portrait,” Josh Harkavy, owner of Red Onion, said Thursday.
Despite getting “shorted” on some fan favorites, such at The Hold Steady or the Sex Pistols, Harkavy says he still has a ton of merchandise from Matador, Sub Pop, and XL, among other labels.
Red Onion has limited numbers of RODRIGUEZ “Inner City Blues” b/w “I’m Gonna Live Til I Die” 7“, PETER GABRIEL/BON IVER “Come Talk to Me” and “Flume” Split 7″, AGAINST ME! “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” 7″, TED LEO “The Oldest House” and “North Coast” 7″, NEIL YOUNG “Heart of Gold” 7″, SURFER BLOOD/HOLIDAY SHORES “Take It Easy” (live) and “Your Motion Says” Split 7″, BUILT TO SPILL “Water Sleepers” and “Linus & Lucy” (live) 7″, FUCKED UP “Daytrotter Sessions” 7″, CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG “Heaven Can Wait” and “IRM” 7″, JOHN LENNON 7″ box set, FELA KUTI Live 10″, BEASTIE BOYS 12″, PHOENIX “Fences” 12″, BEACH HOUSE Zebra 12″, JIMI HENDRIX Live @ Clark University 12″, THE FLAMING LIPS Dark Side of the Moon cover, THE RAMONES Mania 12″ set, JOE STRUMMER AND THE MESCALEROS Global A Go-Go and Streetcore 12″s, REM Chronic Town 12″, SONIC YOUTH 12″s (Confusion is Sex, EVOL, and Hits are for Squares), MGMT Siberian Breaks 12″, TV ON THE RADIO Dear Science re-release, and MODEST MOUSE The Moon and Antarctica re-release.
Red Onion will also have tiny, tiny supplies of SUPERCHUNK “Misfits and Mistakes” autographed 7″ (2 available), OF MONTREAL 7″ (2 available) JAPANDROIDS Posting Nothing in white vinyl (3 available), and ROKY ERICSSON/OKKERVIL RIVER True Love Cast Out All Evil advance LP (4 available).
Crooked Beat:
Crooked Beat will open at 11 a.m. this Saturday. For a detailed rundown of their plan for Record Store Day, check out their website.
The first 75 customers in the store will get grab bags filled with CDs, stickers, buttons, vintage 7″s, posters, key chains, and other goodies. Plus, five extra-lucky customers out of the 75 will find $20 gift certificates in their bags.
Crooked Beat will sell THE ROLLING STONES “Plundered My Soul” and “All Down the Line” 7″, MUSE “Exogenesis: Symphony (parts 1-3)”/”Uprising” (live)/”Resistance” (live) 7″, PETER GABRIEL/STEPHEN MARRITT “The Book of Love” b/w “Not One of Us” spilt 7″, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Feel Good Hit of the Summer 10″, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN “Wrecking Ball” (live) b/w “Ghost of Tom Joad” (live) 10″, ARTHUR RUSSELL Calling Out of Context double 12″ set, PAVEMENT Quarantine the Past 12″, BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Eating Us LP, MAGNETIC FIELDS 69 Love Songs box set, and NADA SURF If I Has a Hi-Fi CD. But, eBay vultures, be warned: Crooked Beat is enforcing a “one copy per title per customer” rule for Record Store Day.
(Among other products, Crooked Beat will also have the FLAMING LIPS, SONIC YOUTH, JOE STRUMMER AND THE MESCALEROS, JIMI HENDRIX, PETER GABRIEL/BON IVER, MGMT, OF MONTREAL, and RAMONES listed throughout this post.)
Smash! Records:
Smash! will open at 11 a.m. As of Friday afternoon, Smash! had not gotten its merchandise for Record Store Day.
“We’re supposed to get them some time today,” Daisy Lacy, co-owner of the store, said Friday. “[The record companies are] waiting until the last minute, I guess to keep people in the dark. You know, build the excitement.”
(Lacy expects the store’s orders to arrive sometime this evening.)
This Saturday also marks Smash! Records’s three year anniversary in its Adams Morgan location. To celebrate, Lucy plans to offer refreshments for all customers.
Surprisingly, Smash! has never dove into the insanity behind Record Store Day before this year—in the past, the store didn’t order any of the exclusive products sold on Record Store Day.
“We actually didn’t order any of the special stuff before,” Lucy said. “If the whole idea [behind Record Store Day] is to keep record stores alive and it brings more people in the door, then it’s probably all right.”
Melody Records:
Melody Records will open at 10 a.m. Heather Horne, an indie buyer who has worked at the store for more than six years, thinks that this year’s Record Store Day is going to be huge.
“This year seems a lot bigger,” Horne said Thursday. “There’s a lot more releases because the record companies are getting behind it more. They can actually make money, so they’re actually going to support it.”
Horne also suggests that customers arrive early to grab the Melody’s exclusive Record Store Day stock.
“There are limited numbers of everything … I would definitely say it’s modest,” Horne said Thursday.
Melody Records will sell THE DOORS “People are Strange” and “The Crystal Ship” 7″, THEM CROOKED CULTURES “Mind Eraser” and “Hwy 1″ (live) 10”, BLACK KEYS “Tighten Up” and “Howlin’ for You” 10″, TOM WAITS Mule Variations 12″, MONSTERS OF FOLK self-titled 12″, NEKO CASE Middle Cyclone 12″, JOSH RITTER So Runs the World Away LP, JEFF BECK Emotion & Commotion 12″, ANI DIFRANCO Live @ Bull Moose CD, and MOUNTAIN GOATS Life of the World to Come DVD.
(Among other products, Melody Records will also have the SPRINGSTEEN, MODEST MOUSE, SONIC YOUTH, ROLLING STONES, and AGAINST ME! listed throughout this post.)
Som Records:
Som Records will open at noon. Owner Neil Beckton promises a 10% sale on all used records throughout the day, as well as an in-store performance by Lightfoot at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Som will have GODSMACK “Crying like a Bitch” b/w “Whiskey Hangover” 7″, YEAH YEAH YEAHS “Skeletons” 7″, GOGOL BORDELLO “We Comin Rougher” and “Trans Continental Hustle” 7″, COHEED AND CAMBRIA “Guns of Summer” b/w “Pearl of the Stars” 7″ , DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS “Your Woman is a Living Thing” and “Just Maybe” 7″, ELVIS COSTELLO Live at Hollywood High 7″ EP, JOHN FAHEY The Yellow Princess 12″, and JOY DIVISION 12″ box set.
(Among other products, Som Records will also have the PHOENIX, NEIL YOUNG, SPRINGSTEEN, ROLLING STONES, RODRIGUEZ, JIMI HENDRIX, and BLACK KEYS listed throughout this post.)
Parties and Concerts:
- Starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Olivia Mancini, Paul Michel, Tone, and New Rock Church of Fire will perform at St. Stephen’s Church to raise money for the much-loved Fort Reno summer concert series. Tickets are $10 for all ages, but anybody who presents a receipt from a D.C. area record store—dated April 17, of course—only has to pay $5. (Presented by The Vinyl District and Fort Reno.)
- Kicks! and The Vinyl District will host the official post-Record Store Day party at the Black Cat from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. The event will feature DJs Sara and Kim—veterans of Kicks! monthly dance parties—as well as John Davis of Title Tracks.