Record Store Day (the first and largest official one of the year) is Saturday, April 12, with many regional record shops participating in the celebration of all things vinyl. WNXP hosts scoured the list of hundreds of special record pressings sold on this day across the country and handpicked a few favorites as recommendations.
Celia’s Pick: The Jayhawks Blue Earth
My first introduction to The Jayhawks, a Minneapolis band that sounds like they could be from anywhere in America’s heartland, was their seventh LP, Rainy Day Music out in 2003. But the band is as old as I am! And what a joy to get into their back catalog after devouring Rainy Day Music as a young collegiate. Tomorrow The Green Grass is a favorite, with the heartbreakingly perfect “Blue,” and it turns 30 this year as the band turns 40.
But The Jayhawks’ second LP released in 1989, Blue Earth, is twangy, harmony-rich melodic goodness that showcased early on the virtues of the band that would prove to be enduring for decades more. And this is the record’s first vinyl pressing since the first one, so it’s a special RSD release, indeed.
Jude’s Pick: The House of Love The House of Love
Cast your mind back to the end of the ’80s. In the UK, New Wave had morphed into Mainstream Pop. Goth and Shoegaze were beloved by the music press, and Brit Pop was still a twinkle in the eyes of the oncoming ’90s. Into this space came a whole lot of what would be known as “Baggy” bands. Baggy was mainly – but not exclusively — a Northern thing. From Manchester we had the likes of The Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, James and Soup Dragons; the Farm hailed from Liverpool; The Wonder Stuff and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin in the Midlands. From North London came The House Of Love, a five-piece formed from the “Bass Player Wanted” column at the back of Melody Maker. The members hailed from London, Germany and New Zealand. They came out strong with a couple of well-received singles, and were signed to the newly formed Creation Records, but didn’t last as long or spread as far as their Manchester compadres.
The Record Store Day Release is of The House of Love’s eponymous debut album that was independently released, and only available in Germany in 1987. On beautiful, transparent-orange vinyl (like they knew my favourite colour and everything!) I’ll be standing in line to get my hands on a copy.
Marquis’ Pick: Sly & The Family Stone The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967
I love a good live album on vinyl. Last year for RSD, I bought De La Soul: Live at Tramps, NYC in 1996 recorded around the time they released their album Stakes is High. This year, there is no shortage of live albums to choose from including Brittany Howard, Rage Against the Machine, The Meters, Joni Mitchell, among many others. But at the top of my list is Sly & The Family Stone The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967.
Hearing the original Family Stone lineup in this performance, we get a glimpse of the band before they signed with Epic Records and a year before releasing their groundbreaking album Dance to the Music. After watching the documentary Sly Lives! I’m collecting all the Sly Stone history I possibly can. This is a great start.
Justin’s Pick: Soul Jazz Records Presents: 400% DYNAMITE! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady, Funk and Dub in Jamaica
For the past three years Record Store Day has re-released an installation of the Dynamite! Series: Ska, soul, rocksteady, funk and dub in Jamaica from the legendary Soul Jazz Records. The cool thing, for the obsessive listener, is hearing the continuity in the series. Last year’s 300% Dynamite featured the dancehall classic “Bam Bam” by Sister Nancy and this year, the second track on 400% Dynamite is Tenor Saw & Juju Banton’s “Ring the Alarm Quick,” which features a sample of “Bam Bam.” Listening to the series all the way though is heard the evolution of Jamaican music.
The series is long out of print and there is no digital version so you really do have to wait until Record Store Day to get the next installation. And that kind of slow satisfaction is what Record Store Day is all about.