Record Store Day Question

There are some goodies that I want to pick up on Record Store Day this year.  The following stores in DC are participating:

CD Warehouse
Som Records
Red Onion Records & Books
Smash!
Melody Record Shop
Politics & Prose Bookstore
Crooked Beat Records

Does anyone here have experience shopping on past Record Store Days?  Can someone steer me towards the best stores to hit?

CD Warehouse still exists?? I thought it became a yogurt store.

CDs still exist? 

well some of the items are extremely limited… there may be only one… hence THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!


if you guarantee me i can get the one item i will tell you the best place and the worse place..

You have my unconditional guarantee.

since its no fun not sharing the info i will do it even though there can be only one..

well i will say that it seems to me that everyone runs to crooked beat so i'd forget them. i mean i know he puts in a lot of time getting tons of copies but he has a line that goes blocks and blocks….its insane….


som records is the best record store in dc.. last year the owner included a $20 gift certificate if you spent a certain amount like i think 50 bucks..talk about a deal.. also he had the goods…

the guy who owns red onion creeps me out a bit..gives off a great vibe if you spend but if you don't seems to get pouty… i also know he holds stuff for regulars.. maybe they all do this i don't know… anyways i avoid that store

last year i hit cd cellar in arlington a day or two later and they still had some stuff.. i think the virginia stores are good because maybe less kids hit them up

i had no idea that politics and prose even sold vinyl….aren't they run by a couple of old ladies? i'm not sure they'd know what to do to order all the stuff but i could be wrong

i'm not good at competitive shopping.. there is one item i want this year…

+1 for Som being awesome. Haven't been there on RSD though.

If I was doing any DC area store for RSD, it would be CD Cellar in Falls Church. But that's mainly because it's my favorite record store to begin with, and there's not that much I'm interested in for Record Store Day. I do know they're participating, but they couldn't tell me what they'd be getting. They're always pretty busy on Saturdays, so I imagine that'll only be worse on Record Store Day.

I go to Crooked Beat every year.  Very sizable line hours before the store opens, so if there is something limited you want – get there early.  If you are curious as to how many copies they will have of something in particular contact Bill, the owner, as he has a pretty good idea of what they'll be receiving already.

In theory it's ok, I guess but Record Store Day is lame because it caters to anal-retentive fetishists.

I looked at that list and it's basically re-released vinyl.  Limited edition.  And colored.  BFD.

I mean does it REALLY mean a lot to anyone to get a 1 in 4000 copy of "Hormoaning" on vinyl?  Vinyl nerds, yes.  But what about the other 99.999999% of the population who doesn't care about copper audio cables and 180 gram vinyl?

It would be cool if they released new…or previously unreleased…or demo….or live music on Record Store Day.  But they don't.  How hard is it for any popular band to record four songs from a live show and press it onto vinyl?

Ohhhhhhh…..A 3 LP version of Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American"?!?!?!  I can barely CONTAIN MYSELF!

Brian

Collecting things is fun, you big dummy.

I have been to soundgarden in baltimore and the line isn't too bad.

there is also Traxx on Wax in Catonsville, and they get some stuff too, but not sure how extensive.  Great store though.  You should check it out.

http://pitchfork.com/news/42023-radiohead-to-release-12-for-record-store-day/

PRO: This is what I'm talking about!  New, unreleased stuff.  Not all re-issues.

CON:  I predict several, tragic, hipster Who-in-Cincinnati catastrophes.  I mean, 2000 copies?!!  And a given store MAY only get two or three!?!?  And you thought getting Death Cab For Cutie tickets was hard….

Brian

Agreed about reissues. They don't do much for me. But new material is nice. Limiting such high demand stuff as a Radiohead single to 2,000 copies seems a bit counter-productive though. That's the kind of release that would do big business for the stores RSD is supposed to be about, but it's kinda pointless when they'll only (maybe) get one or two copies. I understand the limited supply=colelctor's item thing, it just seems strange.

Yeah, either way, this event sort of underlines how physical media has largely become the province of serious fetishists. Hard for me to come to terms with, since I used to be such a record store junkie, but true.

one would think that i should be into records.  i mean really into them.  my distain/distaste for the nuevo generational acceptance of bit to byte jukebox downloads should have me frothing for the sound of the record.  then again, i have mass acceptance of the cd.  i do though enjoy buying boxes of records from auctions sometimes and going through them to see if anything is neato wortho, like the time i sold some punk band with x's on their hands and young guy brooklyn mugs from the early 80's on ebay for like seventy dollars. 

i'm sure all record players are not the same, but is there a brand that is the general best for mid dollar range (not super top of the line for amateurs) purchase that i can hunt around to find . . . so to perhaps get into this thing called lps.  one further step back from the hard drive storage form of music is one step closer to the way it needs to be.   

I think everyone should be into records but I'm glad they are not. More for me!

bellenseb wrote:
Yeah, either way, this event sort of underlines how physical media has largely become the province of serious fetishists. Hard for me to come to terms with, since I used to be such a record store junkie, but true.

When do you claim this turning point to be?  Record stores (those that sold vinyl) have catered to these people, me included, for at least the last 15-20 years.

bekessler wrote:

bellenseb wrote:
Yeah, either way, this event sort of underlines how physical media has largely become the province of serious fetishists. Hard for me to come to terms with, since I used to be such a record store junkie, but true.

When do you claim this turning point to be?  Record stores (those that sold vinyl) have catered to these people, me included, for at least the last 15-20 years.

I'm pretty sure it's been longer than 20 years.

I still think that if they really want a younger generation to go to record stores and appreciate vinyl they have to release new and/or unreleased MUSIC not just 1,000 copies of an old single on pink vinyl.  80% of this is for fetishists.  Don't collect books, read books.  Don't collect vintage guitars or cars.  Play or drive.  That's something baby boomers introduced and the following generations just followed along like sheep.  I think Philadelphia magazine said it best:




It's lame enough to collect action figures.  But to never take them out of the packaging…

ANYHOW, looking over the two lists, the UK has a FAR better list of Record Store Day stuff.  They have the right idea.  They even had a brand new Blur song last year that the U.S. didn't.

Compare this two lists and tell me which one is cooler:

US:

http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

UK:

http://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-product.aspx

I just glancing at it, the U.K. gets: Arctic Monkeys, Badly Drawn Boy, Beastie Boys, Beck/Bat for Lashes split single, Bob Dylan (Tings Tings remix), Broken Bells, Charlotte Gainsbourg/Villigers split single, Danger Mouse split single, Echo & The Bunnymen, Franz Ferdinand covers EP, Hercules & Love Affair, Interpol, Nada Surf, New Order/Joy Division, Primal Scream, Queen (actually unreleased material in UK, previously released in US.), St. Etienne, Suede, The Clash, The Smiths, The White Stripes, Tracy Thorn, etc.

The U.S. gets NONE of those.

Brian

First off, I fully agree with you on your US vs. UK Record Store Day contributions.

Secondly, I'm absolutely horrified by you, Brian, and others with your psycho eugenics minded attitude towards older people! I wonder how willing you will be to march off to the furnaces once you reach the ripe old age of 26?

Thirdly, collecting was not started by Baby Boomers. It was going on before we were even born.

Finally, I think at least half of those musicians on your UK list that you claimed to be better (and it probably is) are…. BABY BOOMERS!!!!! Wipe them out and it's a much less impressive list.