Record Store Day 2010

Record Store Day seems to be catching on. This is the third year it's been "celebrated". Amoeba Records was swamped with vinyl collectors, mostly young. I arrived half an hour before Amoeba opened to browse at Moe's Books across the street. A line had already formed. When I finally entered Amoeba shortly after it opened, it was a mob scene in front of the racks displaying the "exclusive" releases. There were a lot more merchandise than in previous years and even more people picking them up. The recession must be over.

Some of the releases were pure gimmick for the hardcore collectors, like the reissue of REM's Chronic Town on blue vinyl and the limited reissue of Neko Case's Middle Cyclone on clear vinyl. Not worth buying again if you already own a copy. I did pick up a sort of gimmicky release, Pavement's Quarantine the Past with a different track listing than the regular release (chosen by a fan who won a contest) and different artwork.

Other releases I picked up were The Flaming Lips' Dark Side of the Moon (with Henry Rollins and Peaches), Goldfrapp's new album, a Soundgarden single, and a Rolling Stone's single of a never-before-released song from the Exile on Main Street sessions. I also got a schwag bag full of promo CDs, a Weezer 45, band posters, pins, magnets, stickers, and a sampler LP. Last year, I probably would've picked up more stuff, but maybe I'm just a little less crazy this year. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the music industry has finally caught on to the vinyl revival and is working extra hard to separate us from our cash. It seemed to be working on Record Store Day.