A RSD 2012 Shopping List

by Zach Starkie

Record Store Day 2012 has been a bumpy ride for me so far.  There was a lot of speculation at the start of it, and I found some “complete” lists online that got me excited for what turned out to be international releases that won’t be available at my local store.  Then I combed the official list and saw that there were still a decent number of titles that I’m going to seek out.

Each year there are a few titles I absolutely have to grab, and then several that I’ll get on a gamble.  The only must have this year is the Deerhoof/of Montreal split; it’s a Deerhoof instrumental with Kevin Barnes singing his lyrics.  I’m an of Montreal junkie, so that’s the first thing I’ll try to grab.  After that, there’s a few that I’ll go for but won’t be disappointed if I miss.  I really liked the Miles Davis 10″ from the Black Friday event because it sounds great and it looks beautiful, so I’m going to try for the Forever Miles 12″.  I’ll also check for the Arcade Fire remixes, but I’d rather have something unreleased from them, so that might be a record that I cut if the budget gets tight.  If I can find the STRFKR Heaven’s Youth release that will be great too.

I also like to gamble a little bit on RSD, especially with 45s, since the price is usually right and even if I’m not in love with the music at the end of it, I’ve got a pretty little collectable package.  I gambled with the Black Angels’s Another Nice Pair last year and it got played a lot.  I did the same with Yeasayer’s Endblood.  This year, I’m looking for the St. Vincent 7″, because I like what I’ve heard of her but don’t own anything.  There’s an M83 7″ that I’ll check out as well.  Jukebox the Ghost has a regional release that would be interesting to find, but I’m not hoping high since I don’t know where they’re releasing it.

In the complete gamble corner, there’s the Smuggler’s Way zine/flexi disc collection from Domino records.  It sounds like a cool package, with interesting art and 5 colored flexidiscs (those flimsy records that came packaged in magazines and cereal boxes before CDs were around).  The track from Real Estate I’ve heard could sell the whole thing for me.

Then there’s also the debut of Preteen Zenith, Tim DeLaughter‘s new band.  I liked his work with Tripping Daisy, and it sounds promising from what I’ve heard.