Super Bowl Sunday is a totally lame quasi national holiday, ruined utterly by the big corporations who couldn't help but ruin it once they realized that it was a quasi national holiday. Big commerce does that. Tomorrow's Record Store Day, however, is a wonderful quasi national holiday: the corporations haven't ruined it, it's for a good cause (preserving and strengthening the endangered species that is your local record store), and it's totally by and for music lovers. Even though money changes hands, Record Store Day, now in it's sixth year, feels pure, beneficent, and good for the soul.
There's a palpable feeling of joy and bonhomie at the record store on Record Store Day because there's no substitute for laying your hands on that vinyl 7' or LP that you read about as part of your pregame research. Perhaps this celebration of the physical article is why Record Store Day has taken off and grown with each successive installment in this age of digital ephemera. The love of music is real and tangible on Record Store Day, and here's your guide to what's going around locally. A complete list of the special RSD 2013 releases can be found HERE.
Record Theatre
Both Record Theatre locations will be opening at 9 AM and offering a 20% off sale til noon. The Main and Lafayette location will be featuring DJ Cutler 9AM to 1 PM and the R&R BBQ Truck from 9AM to 2 PM. The University Plaza location will be featuring live music all day starting at 9 AM:
9:00 AM: Sleepy Hahas
10:00 AM: Sonny Baker
11:00 AM: Tony Flaminio
12:00 PM: Pine Fever
1:00 PM: The Flat Five
2:00 PM: American Stories
3:00 PM: High Flyin' Babies
4:00 PM: Mooses
5:00 PM: Kamikaze LTD.
6:00 PM: Merchants
7:00 PM: Johns
8:00 PM: Flood Drinker
8:30 PM: Big Classic
Spiral Scratch Records, 291 Bryant St.
Spiral Scratch will once again be going all in with deals, Amy's Food Truck in front and a killer lineup of live music:
11:15 AM: Tired Iron
12:00 PM: Space Wolves
12:45 PM: Mark Norris
1:30 PM: Word Girls
2:15 PM: Matt and the Immediates
3:00 PM: The Returners
3:45 PM: Failures Union
4:30 PM: White Whale
5:00 PM: The GOOD
For our readers in the North towns, RSD is being observed at these fine record stores:
M&B Record Exchange, 207 Delaware St., Tonawanda
Music Matters, 527 Cayuga Dr., Niagara Falls
Now as a matter of practice I highly recommend checking out the official Record Store Day list to get an idea of what could be waiting for you when you get to your local store. Quantities and availability vary, so the early bird definitely gets the worm. And don't worry if you're not a vinyl aficionado, there are some cd and cassette releases this year; plus April has been a heavy month for great releases (Caveman, Black Angels, Charles Bradley, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Iron and Wine, The Flaming Lips, The Besnard Lakes, etc) so there's definitely stuff to get tomorrow.
Here's a brief list of a few RSD 2013 items that caught my attention:
The Band, The Last Waltz 12" vinyl.
Best Coast, Fear Of My Identity 7'"vinyl
Big Star, Nothing Can Hurt Me 12" vinyl
The Black Keys / Stooges, No Fun 7" vinyl
Blitzen Trapper, Blitzen Trapper Deluxe Reissue, 12" vinyl
David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday Night, 7" picture disc
Brian Eno, Brian Eno x Nicholas Jaar x Grizzly Bear, 12" vinyl
Built To Spill, Live, available on 12" vinyl and on cd
Gary Clark Jr., Hwul Raw Cuts Vol 2, 12" vinyl
Cream, Royal Albert Hall May 2-3-4-5-6 2005 vinyl box set
The Cure, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, 12" vinyl
Cut Copy, Bright Like Neon Love, 12" vinyl
Cyprus Hill, Black Sunday, 12" vinyl
Ani DiFranco, Buffalo (Official Bootleg), 12" vinyl
Bob Dylan, Wigwam, 7" vinyl
Foals, Holy Fire, 12" vinyl
The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten Deluxe, 12" vinyl
Grateful Dead, Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966, cd
Grizzly Bear, Horn Of Plenty, 7" vinyl
GZA, Liquid Swords Chess Box, vinyl box set
Robyn Hitchcock, There Goes The Ice, 12" vinyl
The Hold Steady, Criminal Fingers 7, 7" vinyl
Fela Kuti, Sorrow Tears And Blood, 12" vinyl
MGMT, Alien, cassette w/ digital download *NEW SONG*
Willie Nelson w/ Snoop Lion, Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die, 7" vinyl
Old 97's and Waylon Jennings, 7" vinyl
Shuggie Otis, Introducing Shuggie Otis, 12" vinyl
Van Dyke Parks, Song Cycle, 12" vinyl
Phoenix, Entertainment, 7" vinyl
The Pink Floyd, See Emily Play, 7" vinyl
Portugal. The Man, Church Mouth, 12" vinyl
Public Enemy, Planet Earth: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Greatest Rap Hits,
12" picture disc
Pulp, After You, 7" vinyl *NEW SONG*
Pussy Galore, Groove Hate ____, 7" vinyl
R.E.M., Live In Greensboro EP, cd
The Roots, Things Fall Apart, 2 x 12" vinyl
Ty Segall, Ty Rex, 7" vinyl
Shearwater with Sharon Van Etten, Stop Dragging My Heart Around, 7" vinyl
Sigur Ros, Agaetis Byrjun, 12" vinyl
Sly and the Family Stone, I Want To Take You Higher, 10" vinyl
Snapcase, Steps, 12" vinyl
Super Chunk, Void, 7" vinyl
Swedish House Mafia, The Singles, 12" vinyl
Tame Impala, Tame Impala EP, 12" vinyl
Tegan & Sara, Closer Remixed, 12" vinyl
Titus Andronicus, Record Store Day, 12" vinyl
Paul Weller, Sonik Kicks The Singles, 7" vinyl box set
The xx, Jaime xx Edits, 12" vinyl
And instead of Jack White, the official Ambassador of Record Store Day (who I don't particularly like), here's Robyn Hitchcock talking about the joys of albums on vinyl. Oh, and my first vinly record was Kiss: Alive!, their legendary 1975 live double album, purchased at the Main and Lafayette Record Theatre back in 19__. Still have it.

pretty sure record baron on delaware ave in kenmore observes RSD also
There's like 5 Really awesome Rhymesayers releases this year as well
M&B Record Exchange wasn't participating when I enquired