Tomorrow the official
Record Store Day 2018 product list is announced - hundreds of titles will be pressed up for release of Saturday 21st April: reissues of old favourites, "first-time-on-vinyl" releases of stuff formerly only ever on CD, even some brand new albums make their debut on RSD!
Each year there are always plenty of things we get excited about; rare and forgotten albums that are impossible to find are finally back in print, deluxe editions of classics remastered with bonus material, obscurities and oddities on a rainbow assortment of coloured vinyl... a real feast for vinyl junkies!
Of course, there are always a handful of eye-rollers; charity shop tat you could pick up for 50p getting the deluxe 180g reissue treatment - baffling ways to spend valuable pressing plant time!
The product list runs from the sublime to the ridiculous, but the staff here in the Relevant Vinyl Emporium have each picked 5 albums they'd love to see on this year's product list. Maybe some of these are the works of fantasy - a utopian dream of just what RSD could be... but we're nothing if not optimists down here in the basement!
Read on and dream on...
Tom's picks
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John Scofield - A Go Go
Released in 1998, this killer collaboration with Medeski, Martin & Wood never made it to vinyl originally (and is currently only available on wax as a super-expensive Korean release). It's a cornerstone of modern funky fusion-jazz, and needs to be revisited!
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Moby Grape - Moby Grape
Criminally unknown 60s west-coast psych rock, unavailable (officially) on CD or vinyl for decades due to legal disputes. Think Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Grateful Dead all rolled into one - I'd rather listen to an officially released 180g copy than my flimsy 80s bootleg!
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The Teak Project - The Teak Project
A world music trio of acoustic guitar, tabla and sitar who seem to be relatively unknown. Never made it to vinyl - a world / fusion / jazz set of phenomenal musicianship, and featuring some very dreamy sitar whig-outs - definitely worth a listen (if you're into that sort of thing!)
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Ghosts & Vodka - Addicts & Drunks
Never released on vinyl, some astounding instrumental math-rock (sort of?). A Chicago supergroup featuring members of Cap'n Jazz, Joan Of Arc and Owls - it's as beautiful as it is ferocious (and no whiny vocals!)
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White Denim - Last Days Of Summer
Originally a download-only album, only 500 copies were ever pressed to vinyl (and they now regularly fetch triple figures on Discogs). Even as a compilation of left-over tracks and outtakes it features some of their best work, dating back from the band's original lineup. Check out their similarly hard to find Takes Place In Your Work Space EP aswell!
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Andy B's picks
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Buckingham Nicks - Buckingham Nicks
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's 1973 self titled LP was their debut as a duo. Barely promoted by the record company on release, it peaked at number 28 in the Billboard album charts and was considered a commercial failure. Still, it wasn't all bad for the pair, as in 1974 Mick Fleetwood (having heard the LP and been impressed) asked the pair to join Fleetwood Mac. It's been bootlegged a lot over the years, but still no official reissue as of yet.
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No Artist - Urban Education: First You Crawl Then You Walk
This was a 7" issued by the Open University (catalog number OU18 for the trainspotters). Side 1 is a made up of interviews with graffiti artists in New York, Chicago and London. An interview with Brixton youth about gangs, and a gentleman named Bill Maxwell talking about subway graffiti in New York. All of this with snippets of the Rolling Stones "Paint It Black".
Side 2 is entitled "Then You Run, Then You Fly (Fly Momma!). This side is taken up with interviews with young people from Chicago and features snippets of "The World Is A Ghetto" by War.
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General Lee And The Space Army Band - We Did It Baby (Parts 1 & 2)
Issued on a 7" in 1979 by Lost Weekend records (a label with a total of 5 releases). This is a beautiful soul record with a spaced out sound, care of some beautiful synths. A copy sold on eBay back in 2015 for $1250, currently Discogs has a few copies for sale starting a much more reasonable £120. The sound of this fits perfectly with the beautiful reissues done by the likes of Athens of The North, Numero Group and others so I live in hope for a reissue of this one day.
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Pierre-Alain Dahan et Mat Camison - Rythmiques
This LP was released in 1972 on the French library label Tele Music. Library music was music released for use in TV, Radio and Theatre etc. Tele was perhaps France's premier supplier of Library Music (an equal to the UKs KPM records) and released many LPs I'd like to see reissued. However, I can only choose one, and out of many I've settled for this. It touches on jazz / funk / rock and is very heavy on the drums.
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Shirley Finney - Pray Again
Released on Savoy Records in 1979, this Gospel LP has been high on my "want list" ever since a friend picked up a copy. It's gospel that's not afraid to borrow from secular music, so there's a great version of Bill Withers "Lovely Day" on here. Highly recommended if you like your gospel mixed with a little soul and disco. Copies tend to sell for around £100, so I'd welcome a reissue of this with open arms.
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Ben's picks
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Tom Rapp - A Journal Of The Plague Year
Tom Rapp (R.I.P.) of legendary psych-folk group Pearls Before Swine released this great album 20 years after retiring from music to become a civil rights lawyer - this has now been out of print for over 15 years and is near impossible to get. RSD19?
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Pink Floyd - Vegetable Man b/w Scream Thy Last Scream
The lost Barrett-era single that never was. RSD, fix it!
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Guided By Voices - Same Place The Fly Got Smashed
The first truly great GBV LP has been out of print for over 25 years - WHY?!?!
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Tall Dwarfs - entire discography!
We had the incredible Dunedin double EP for RSD14 - how about some other Flying Nunn classics?
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Bert Jansch - Leather Launderette
The only Bert album I haven't heard and possible his best/worst album cover! Did his playing shine through the boozy fog of the mid-80s?? I want to know!
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Andy P's picks
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- The Cribs - The New Fellas
- PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?
- PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
(Andy sent us this list as he was boarding a plane, so we don't have any additional comments available!) |
