Record Store Day : A Perspective From The Soapbox
- Written by Steven Dinnie
Record Store Day 2013 brings with it the usual re-releases, side-things, pointless nonsense, and new releases trying to trick their way to bigger sales by dropping on a day more when people are in record shops than usual. Everything has a stench of death about it this year, as if this is an end-of-season finale for all record shops after the spectacularly unexpected demise of HMV.
This year, there are exciting records dropping in the true spirit of Record Store Day, accompanied as ever by bizarre side things and double B-side EPs. Jake Bugg is dropping Kentucky, after his popular Ur-Dylan was the most exciting mainstream thing of last year. The ever-excellent Smoke Fairies are going with Upstairs at the United, Vol.6 and I wholeheartedly endorse (as does Earth's Dylan Carlson) any of their ethereal ambulant folk, so have at it! The otherwise excellent trendsetters Goat clutter up shelves with Run to Your Mama Remixes One and Two which really aren't worth parting with money for, and Carlton Melton release Live in Europe. Beak> are releasing Welcome to the Machine, which will perhaps be the point that their latterday Pink Floyd bothering reaches critical mass, and Bardo Pond are coming at you with Rise Above It All. As with the Smoke Fairies, I wholly endorse anything these Yankee Hawkwind-impersonators do.
Speaking of Hawkwind, some clown has seen fit to re-release some of the albums from after they were good, so avoid. Dio is putting out a re-release of Heaven and Hell: however, all you need do is listen to the original that you have kicking about somewhere to remind yourself of how terrible it was originally and that you needn't waste your money. The Beta Band though, are worth investing in, as this year their Three EPs collection is released as individual EPs (though truth be told, I'd always plump for the full CD package because you can get totally narnared and don't have to get up from the sofa for a full hour...). The Bong Untitled re-release and the Sex Pistols 'Pretty Vacant' are also worth investing in if you’re wanting a musical fetish item for your collection.
The real highlight of the usual Record Store Day re-release party is all the classic black metal being dropped on us. I can happily envisage record-store shelves loaded with tat for self-important hipsters being defiled by the presence of Mayhem's Deathcrush and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, the esoteric Burzum re-releases, and Venom's legendary Black Metal. Even the death metal clans are adequately represented by a lavish re-presentation of Butchered at Birth, the Cannibal Corpse magnum opus. If that makes you a little afraid, then trump for Witchfinder General's Death Penalty, the only non-Melvins album from the wretched eighties I can bear to listen to. If you're only collecting one record this year, though, I'd grab the newest from Mainliner: this Japano freerock craziness in the mould of the unstoppable High Rise is the loudest thing you will ever hear, and Revolution Space is being released as an ultra-limited edition vinyl. So set those alarm clocks, and don't be late!