Let's face it, America is totally jumping the shark with this whole Black Friday thing. It's gotten entirely out of hand so badly that Thanksgiving has become meaningless for far too many Americans, for both the bargain hungry consumer and the poor souls who have to serve them instead of being with their families. It really is disgusting. There is however a wonderful silver lining to the blight of Black Friday, and that's the Record Store Day sequel that lands yet more goodness in our local independent record shops for our joyful consumption.
Once again a tremendous bevy of artists are offering special artifacts and goodies for sale only at record stores to support these vital music outlets and the communities of music fans they serve. It's capitalist consumerism you can feel good about, and frankly if you value the physical article that is vinyl (and to a less extent CD) it's another smorgasborg of music fan enjoyment. Here's a brief look at what's going to available Friday and where you can get in on the fun after elbowing your fellow man in the head for a discounted HD TV.
Black Friday Special Releases Of Note:
Band of Horses, Live At The Ryman, 7" vinyl
Charles Bradley ft The Budos Band and the Bullets, "Changes," 7' vinyl. Super
Daptacular goodness from everybody's friends at Daptone Records.
Civil Wars, Between The Bars, 7' vinyl. A posthumous release from this late and lamented band.
The Clash, their whole catalog on CD. Available until January 14, 2014.
The Doors, Curated By Record Store Day, LP vinyl. Rarities and mono mixes picked by record store owners. Sounds boffo.
Bob Dylan, Side Tracks, LP vinyl. A mother-lode of never before released tracks on 3 LPs. There might be some Bob Dylan fans jostling for this one. Watch out.
Elvis Costello & The Roots, Wise Up: Thought Remixes and Reworks, CD. A companion to their excellent Wise Up Ghost (reviewed here) from two of the biggest musicheads ever.
The Flaming Lips, Peace Sword, LP and CD. The physical release of their Peace Sword EP Ender's Game companion pieace (reviewed here) featuring a new song and more super awesome handmade vinyl. I'm gonna get my ass out of bed and snag this early.
Foals, CCTV Sessions, LP vinyl.
The Grateful Dead, Family Dog At The Great Highway, LP vinyl. Live acoustic Dead from 1970.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Fire/Foxy Lady," 7' vinyl.
John Denver & The Muppets, A Christmas Together, 12" picture disc. Nuff said.
Nas, Halftime, 12' vinyl.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Live At KRCW, Vinyl LP.
Nirvana, In Utero 2013 Mix. LP vinyl.
Roy Orbison, The Monument Vinyl Box, 4 vinyl LPs. 3 of his biggest albums plus an album of unreleased tracks.
Puscifer, Puscifer's 8 Ball Bail Bonds--The Berger Barns Live in Phoenix, LP vinyl.
Queens Of The Stone Age, ... Like Clockwork (Black On Black), LP vinyl. Limited edition apparently.
Silversun Pickups, "Let It Decay/Working Title," 10' vinyl.
Skaters, "Deadbolt," 7" vinyl. Lead single from their upcoming debut.
Sly & The Family Stone, "Sexy Situation/Mother Is A Hippy," 7" vinyl.
Tegan & Sara, "Guilty As Charged/Running On Empty," 7' vinyl.
Josh Tilman (aka Father John Misty), The History Of Caves (soundtrack), LP
Truth And Soul Records Presents The Soul Fire Boxed Set, 7' vinyl boxed set.
U2, "Ordinary Love," 7' single. Their contribution to the Idris Elba Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk To Freedom, and quite possibly one of the band's last 7' singles if you believe the hype (I kind of do).
Uncle Tupelo, "I Wanna Be Your Dog/Commotion," 7' vinyl. UT + Stooges and Credence covers = yeah.
Various Artists, A Musical Tribute To The Songs Of Shel Silverstein. Vinyl LP.
Zabriskie Point soundtrack, Vinyl LP. A vinyl pressing of the legendary soundtrack to the legendary Michelangelo Antonioni film featuring Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead.
The complete list of goodies available Black Friday can be found here.
And once again a bunch of local stores will be participating, almost forming a dragnet of musical joy to cover Western New York:
Black Dots
223 Lafayette Ave (at Grant St), Buffalo
M&B Record Exchange
207 Delaware St, Tonawanda
Music Matters
527 Cayuga Dr, Niagara Falls
Record Theatre
1800 Main Street (at Lafayette Ave), Buffalo
3500 Main Street (in University Plaza), Amherst
Spiral Scratch Records
291 Bryant St, Buffalo
Big sale going on in addition to the Black Friday releases thru Saturday when WBNY broadcasts from the shop in honor of Small Business Saturday.
The south towns are apparently out of luck (another reason not to live there). Happy Thanksgiving, and happy record shopping.
To get you in the mood to love your fellow man Black Friday, here's the beginning of the end of U2. Sorry ladies, no footage of Idris Elba.
The south towns are apparently out of luck (another reason not to live there). Happy Thanksgiving, and happy record shopping.
To get you in the mood to love your fellow man Black Friday, here's the beginning of the end of U2. Sorry ladies, no footage of Idris Elba.
Great post Cliff! Pretty stoked for the Band of Horses, Roy Orbison and Nirvana releases