RSD2013 - The Best Releases

With this year’s Record Store Day promising to be the biggest and best yet, a few No Ripcord writers have chosen what they deem to be the most exciting special release of the day. For the full list of what’s going to be available on the big day, click here for the UK and here for the US.

CHRVCHES – Recover (12” EP)

While I’m fully on board with the Record Store Day ethos, I must admit I’m not keen on the event’s over-reliance on over-priced heritage act reissues (I can see why it’s necessary though, and it’s not stopped me from drawing up my longest wish list yet this year). And so the release I’m most excited about this year is CHVRCHES’ Recover EP. Yes, it’s probably already been talked about more than enough, but it’s interesting to see such a hotly-tipped act exclusively release their most high-profile material through the event (that is, if you don’t count the readily available mp3 version, and as mere digital files really can’t compare to a slab of fetching orange plastic, why would you?). Plus, as an added bonus, one half of Recover remixers’, Curxes, works in my local store, and potentially buying a copy of the record from them in person seems pretty cool. Mark Davison

Elliott Smith - Alternate Versions from Either/Or (7”)

Elliott Smith has sort of soundtracked some of the worst days of my life. I can vividly remember storming out of a particularly horrendous argument, getting into my car, and driving around blasting Either/Or so loud that it actually damaged my car’s front speakers. Windows down, the warm summer breeze wiped away the oppressive humidity still lingering inside my tiny Honda Civic as I drove along Route 520, shouting every lyric to Pictures Of Me and Ballad Of Big Nothing along the way. I was mad as hell, hurt, and lonely, and only Elliott Smith could understand how bad the situation really was. That being said, of course I’m excited to hear new (old) renditions of familiar material that has so well endeared itself in my heart. Andrew Ciraulo

Pulp - After You (12")

While many Record Store Day releases have the distinction of dropping exclusive, new songs from various artists, Pulp may be alone in giving out what may be their last song ever as a band. After You was a song from the studio sessions for 2001’s We Love Life, the last full-length released by the group. As a conclusion to their two year reunion tour, Pulp teamed up with James Murphy and re-recorded the song for their fans, releasing it online. This 12” vinyl is the only physical release currently scheduled for the track. Given Jarvis Cocker’s recent quotes about “cruising off into the sunset,” it may be the last thing Pulp ever does as a band. That makes it special enough to be near the top of even the most casual fan’s purchase list. Joe Marvilli

Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (12” LP)

I’m a vinyl junkie but not a 7” guy (no jokes please).  What with all the up and down, the record clamping, the cleaning – oy, it’s too much. Now ordinarily, with a John Coltrane issue on the docket I’d be all over that, but in this case it’s from Newport 61. I have a Newport bootleg from the A Love Supreme period which is extremely average, but I’m reading good things about this set so who knows? While I’m wading in Jazz, what’s up with the Kinda Blue Sessions 12”? The diminutive “kinda” might mean kinda good, kinda sucks. I’d probably go with the mono reissues of the earlier albums since they now exist mainly in that shitty “electronically reprocessed for stereo” format. All three are essential but Someday My Prince Will Come probably leads the pack. And did you hear they were releasing The Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka on vinyl? 45rpm, no less? That’s a party I’d like to go to. Alan Shulman

The Roots - Things Fall Apart (2x 12" LP)

Sifting through the Record Store Day exclusives this year, already preparing myself for the circle pit in the record store I’m going to have to navigate in order to acquire any of them, I happened to see that one my favourite hip hop albums of all time, The Roots’ masterpiece, Things Fall Apart, will be out as a double LP. Out of any RSD exclusive, I’m most excited at the prospect of owning this album on vinyl, thrilled at the idea of hearing it on a turntable where its already rich and masterfully composed being will gain a fuller, more complex sound. The majority of hip-hop albums released since Things Fall Apart remain, in my view, unable to compete with or surpass what The Roots brought to fruition in 1999. Acknowledging the scavengers and philistines whose motivations rest in selling the exclusives online for a criminally high price, I’m hoping I can find a copy. Sean Caldwell

Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed – WooHoo / Call Your Boyfriend (7”)

I’m no vinyl fetishist – not having an actual record player means it’s not really an option – so, for me, RSD is all about finding music that you can’t get anywhere else, rather than music that’s ready available but on new formats. The heavily retro sound of funk and soul man Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed seems a good fit with an event that’s dedicated to bringing back some of the old excitement to record shopping. WooHoo is a cut from his upcoming third album, but it’s the B-side that’s making me excited. Call Your Boyfriend is a brand new track, never to be released digitally and – get this – an answer song to one of the greatest pop songs of the last decade, Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend. I’ll be queuing up to buy it Saturday morning, just don’t ask me how I’m actually going to play it. Joe Rivers

Titus Andronicus – Record Store Day (12” single)

Titus Andronicus’ Local Business was my favourite album of 2012. So, it goes without saying that I already own a copy of the band’s latest album on vinyl, and thus also half of the tracks included on this RSD release. However, what has me really excited (and still willing to shell out my relatively small amount of cash) are the two unreleased tracks included on the B-side. Just by the titles, (I’ve Got A) Date and The Dog, I’d guess that we’re in for another grimy, punkified trip down Rock n’ Roll memory lane; not at all dissimilar from Titus Andronicus Forever or the closing moments of Tried To Quit Smoking. But who knows? Maybe it’s something entirely different! In truth, it really doesn’t matter, my interest has been piqued and my cash is already on the table. Andrew Ciraulo