Exclusive Releases For Record Store Day

Christmas is fabulous and all but when it comes to slightly newer holidays that get my blood pumpin’, I’m going to have to go with Record Store Day as my favorite. And the most frustrating, with it’s reliable tradition of making me desperately try to figure out how to simultaneously be present at about 700 record stores on the same day. Record Store Day is an event started back in 2007 and essentially consists of recording artists showing their love and support for the record store industry by releasing special editions, new or in some other way limited recordings at one particular record store of their choosing. So it kinda is like Christmas for music fans. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April, or April 17 this year. Smashing Pumpkins is participating by leaking their newest song “Astral Planes” as a free download through the Amoeba Records website ahead of their Record Store Day performance there on the actual day. The list of participating bands and artists is pretty extensive - Rolling Stones, Soundgarden, the Doors, Sonic Youth, Bruce Springsteen, Flaming Lips are just a few who are taking part – so it’s safe to say that whether or not they can make it to their favorite band’s respective location, a serious number of music fans will be hitting the internet on Sunday to track down some tasty exclusive releases. The entire list of bands, what they released at the official Record Store Day website.