Record Store Day, now in its fourth year, falls on the third Saturday of April (4/17) and brings together “over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA” and “hundreds of similar stores internationally” to form a sort of one-shot record club that excludes “online retailers or corporate behemoths.” Festivities include free in-store performances, promotional giveaways, and discounts, in addition to a horde of releases and reissues—many of them limited, and some of them superlimited—available only at participating stores. You might want to get up early: last year a line formed outside Reckless Records on Milwaukee before the doors opened. Some 20 Chicago record stores are participating this year.
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Other enticements include vinyl reissues from Mastodon, Devo, Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, MGMT, Sonic Youth, and the Velvet Underground; live recordings by David Bazan at Electrical Audio and Hot Water Music at Metro; early releases of a ten-inch vinyl version of Magnetic Fields‘ reissued 69 Love Songs set and new albums from the Apples in Stereo and Roky Erickson with Okkervil River; a clear vinyl release of Neko Case‘s Middle Cyclone; a seven-inch of Fucked Up‘s Daytrotter session; a colored-vinyl reissue of the double LP Ramones Mania; and a number of reissues with original artwork from Vanguard (Buddy Guy, Doc Watson, Joan Baez, John Fahey) in celebration of the label’s 60th anniversary.
Cyklopx In-store performances by All Things Lucid and the Loneliest Monk (1 PM), 50 percent off used LPs $3.99 or below, 30 percent off all used CDs, free homemade doughnuts. 9 AM-7 PM, 7511 Madison, Forest Park, 708-488-0303, cyklopx.com.
Groovin’ High Half off all used merchandise, 25-cent budget vinyl. 10 AM-8 PM, 1047 W. Belmont, 773-476-6846.
Music Direct Not an official event, but in honor of Record Store Day, vinyl, turntables, phono cartridges, and record care supplies are 20 percent off on Friday (9 AM-6 PM) and Saturday (10 AM-3 PM). 318 N. Laflin, 312-433-0200, musicdirect.com.
Reckless Records on Milwaukee In-store performances by Phil Cohran (12:30 PM), the Eternals (2 PM), PNS from Molemen (3 PM), Liam Hayes & Plush (4 PM), and Azita (5 PM), plus rock ‘n’ roll caricatures by Steve Krakow, aka Plastic Crimewave (noon-5 PM). 10 AM-10 PM, 1532 N. Milwaukee, 773-235-3727, reckless.com.
Vintage Vinyl In-store performances by Luck of Eden Hall with Fred Lonberg-Holm (1 PM), No Wave Zero Rodney Bakerr (3 PM), and John Bellows (4 PM). 11 AM-6 PM, 925 Davis, Evanston, 847-328-2899.
