Monday Mixtape | Record Store Day 2011
This Saturday, April 16th, is Record Store Day. For the last four years, independent record stores across the United States have celebrated vinyl; it’s rarity and how it is part of our musical heritage.
Go here for more info from www.recordstoreday.com.
It’s a pretty cool idea, too. Independent stores plan events, special releases and other promotions specifically for this day. From cookouts to djs to exclusive performances, Record Store Day is an event not to miss and to help support local business in your area.
Find record stores celebrating Record Store Day where you live here.
Records—those round, plastic discs you probably saw stacked somewhere in your house growing up that symbolized youth to your parents—declined in production during the 80s and 90s, surpassed by cassettes and CDs and now, digital music.
But over the last 10 or 15 years, musicians who love the sound and feel of vinyl—the snap, crackle and pop—have been returning to this form of recording, pressing newly released albums and singles in limited runs beginning with underground, to indie to now even mainstream artists.
Sadly, and much of the reason Record Store Day was created, the independent record store took quite a hit from digital music sales over the last 10 or 15 years as well, with many stores that were well-established taking a turn for the worst. Many of them closing their doors forever.
Check out this portrait gallery of closed record stores.
For this week’s Mixtape I selected 13 rare, limited releases specifically pressed for Record Store Day.
*click here for this week's MIXTAPE MONDAY | Twinkle's 2011 Record Store Day Picks*
From new artists, like the honey-butter vocals of Adele, to repressings or unreleased material from tried and true artists like The Rolling Stones, Record Store Day’s offerings are a wide range of genres, artists and to tell the truth, just overwhelming even to the mildly interested music listener, much less the hardcore audiophile.
The Vinyl District, a great music blog, put out this extended list of Record Store Day releases.
*Record Store Day is always the third Saturday in April.
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