Celebrating Ye Olde Record Shoppe

After a day of vigorous teabagging, who among us couldn’t take a breather to submit to the beck and call of shiny black vinyl and an array of rare, hot seven inches? That’s right, Record Store Day is back upon us like Woody on Soon-Yi. This Saturday, independent shops all across U.S. of A. are banking on the idea that true music fans will, for one hopeful day, pull themselves up off their collective asses and drop however much coin they can afford in order to support the endangered local record shop. Consumers are being lured with live bands, DJs, limited edition 7″s on a broad spectrum of fetishized colors, film screenings, the promise of titillating conversation with friendly store clerks and knowledgeable neighbors, and, in some instances, free booze to make said conversations bearable. Seriously, if you don’t make it out to scrummage through at least one dollar bin, you are one sad, sorry slubberdegullion.

For Detroit, our swell friends Laura Witkowski and Elle Sawa put together a nice little article on Record Store Day at Detour spotlighting Flat, Black, and Circular, Record Time, Stormy Records, and Underground Sounds, so (phew!) part of our work is already done for us. Particularly awesome is the fact that Flat, Black, and Circular will have Ra Ra Riot in store.

If you’re in old Saint Lou, there’s also plenty to do. You could follow these links to get an idea of who’s doing what, but you really can’t go wrong no matter where you go. Vintage Vinyl’s giving away free PBR and making all purchases tax exempt; Euclid is serving up BBQ from Highway 61 Roadhouse and screening Wilco’s Ashes of American Flags at night; while Apop is promoting “special deals” on turntables, so you have the necessary equipment to play all the limited edition vinyl you buy throughout the day. Plus, there are free performances galore. I cobbled together a schedule as best I could from each store’s respective website (after the ‘jump’):

Apop Records:

2:00 PM Medical Tourists
3:00 PM Bikini Acid
4:00 PM Maximum Effort
5:00 PM Lonely Procession
6:00 PM Uranium Heist
7:00 PM Pink Sock

Euclid Records:

11:00 AM Farshid Etniko
12:00 PM Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost
1:00 PM Trip Daddys
2:00 PM Grace Basement
3:00 PM Bent
4:00 PM Troubadour Dali
5:00 PM Jason Ringenberg
6:00 PM The Bottle Rockets

Vintage Vinyl:*

1:00 PM Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost
2:00 PM May Day Orchestra & Robert Sarazin Blake
3:00 PM Zimbabwe Nkenya
4:00 PM DJs Needles, Alejan, Legend & more
*In addition to the bands playing outdoors, assorted “celebrity” DJs will be spinning inside all day for your browsing pleasure.

Apparently, Bob Reuter is in high demand this weekend, being booked at Euclid at noon and Vintage Vinyl at 1:00. Either he’s playing the shortest set imaginable at Euclid in the morning, or he’s a much more reckless driver than I am. Or, like last year, everything’s going to run a little bit behind schedule.

And finally, after all that shopping leaves you feeling broke and guilty, you might as well pull yourself together and head out to the Billiken Club later that night for the release party of So Many Dynamo’s new 7″, “New Bones,” which you can stream now on their MySpace page. And, because it’s the Billiken, admission is free.

Be sure to check the Record Store Day official website to see other participating stores in your area.

And for a little extra glimpse into why vinyl is still around and going strong in this poor economy (compared to other manufactured wares, at least), czech out this little article on the Re-Arrival of Vinyl by some guy.